Graphic design software has become more popular in recent years, which makes sense given the demand. Graphic designers are modern day artists, who are essentially designing for marketing purposes – everything from websites to posters can be created using graphic design software. Here is an article that takes a few minutes to read about graphic design software that are available for free download on the internet.
Now, in this post, I will be glad to present you the list of best free graphic design software for both professional and amateur level users. In this graphic design software comparison, you can find a variety of free designer tools. These tools are specially designed to help you in improving your drawing and designing skills.
Adobe Photoshop Sketch
Think of Adobe Photoshop Sketch as a bigger and better version of your analog sketchbook. The next time you’re away from your computer and your next best design idea strikes, whip out the app and use their assortment of brushes, pens, and shapes to get it all down on a digital piece of paper. You can even use grids to add another level of precision, and insert photos from your personal or Adobe stock library for reference.
When you get home, you have the option of easily importing your sketch into the desktop version of Photoshop to polish it off. The interface is simple enough that it feels intuitive, so we highly recommend you try it out!
Vectornator X
The Vectornator X app is an intuitive vector graphic software enabling you to create awesome digital work straight from your iPad or iPhone. The design tools offered within the app are very similar in function to those in Adobe Illustrator, so if you’re already familiar with AI, the learning curve here will not be so steep.
In fact, you can even export your Vectornator work directly into Adobe Illustrator to continue working there afterward if you wanted to. Alternatively, import your unfinished work from any Creative Cloud software so you can continue working on it, on the go within Vectornator.
Adobe Capture
Are you a designer that loves taking photos to fuel your inspiration? If so, Adobe Capture might just become your new favorite design tool and photo editing software. Using the app, harness the power of your smartphone or iPad’s high definition camera to create custom brushes, textures, color schemes, and even scalable vectors from the photos you take. Save all of these to your Creative Cloud account so you can use them the next time you open up Adobe software on your desktop computer.
The editing tools offered in this app are top-notch and will surely encourage you to gather even more inspiration during your daily adventures outside the house!
Adobe Capture CC
Adobe Capture is specifically designed for your iPad (or iPhone) and lets you turn photos into vector graphics to be used in other Creative Cloud apps such as Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Animate, Illustrator InDesign and Premiere Pro.
This app is the combination of Brush CC, Color CC, Hue CC and Shape CC – letting you play around with geometric patterns, colours, shape and custom brushes.
It can also be in conjunction with the upcoming Adobe Fresco app, through which your photos instantly turn into brushes.
Affinity Designer for iPad
Any lingering doubts regarding the iPad’s suitability as being better than a laptop for creative pros were obliterated upon the arrival of Affinity Designer for iPad last year. Here was full-fat, desktop-grade vector capabilities on Apple’s tablet – with the added advantage of being able to work more naturally on your work using the Apple Pencil and touch, rather than keyboard and mouse/trackpad.
The app has all the features of a desktop vector art tool – but you can draw directly on it with the Apple Pencil for the most natural way of creating. It also doesn’t find a scant few features carved from a desktop product and squirted into a basic app. In effect it’s Serif’s acclaimed desktop release, but on an iPad – in other words, a pro-grade vector design environment on mobile.
There’s scope for mixing vector and raster, too. Affinity Designer for iPad has dozens of built-in brushes, bringing rich media to your designs. Illustrators can ink in vector and colour in raster, on mobile, with no layer limitations. Non-destructive instant-preview adjustment layers – with support for masks, stacks and clipping layers – allows for further creative scope.
Affinity Designer is available for £19.99/$19.99 from Serif with no subscription.
Graphic
Graphic from Picta is a professional graphic design and illustration app designed for artists on the go, working seamlessly on the iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil.
Although it’s a little on the pricey side, it may be worth the investment if you’re wanting a polished look on your graphics.
The app allows you to create complex vector-based PDF and SVG files using the powerful pen tool for customised shapes.
This app offers layer effects such as shadows, glow, multiple strokes and fills, as well as canvas scale, rulers and units to create dimensions with precision.
You can also use classic brush and pencil tools for fluid drawing and sketching.
Graphic is available for £8.99 or US$8.99 from the iOS App Store.
iFontMaker
iFontMaker is the original font app dedicated to the iPad – and it still holds its ground.
Create your own typeface and install it on all your devices, or use as a webfont.
It last major revision was version two, offering new brushes and multitouch support, Bezier editing, kerning customisation and image and GIF animation exporting options. Last year’s 2.93 update supports the new iPad Pro resolutions.
iFontMaker is available for £7.99 or US$7.99 from the iOS App Store
Astropad Graphics Tablet
Astropad Graphics Tablet is an iPad app, but it works with a Mac app to turn your iPad into a graphics tablet.
Yes, that’s right, you can use your iPad to draw directly into Photoshop or another applications on your Mac including Illustrator, Lightroom, Corel Painter, Manga Studio, Pixelmator, Mischief with Astropad.
Essentially, what you see on your iPad is the same as your Mac. A technology called Liquid allows twice as fast performance compared with AirPlay, better than JPEG files, and designed specifically for Wi-Fi.
It features palm rejection, pinch and zoom, customisable shortcuts and importantly, pressure sensitivity to allow it to work with lots of styluses, including the Apple Pencil.
Unlike some apps featured here, it’s regularly updated, meaning the software is optimised for the latest iPad Pros.
Astropad Graphics Tablet is available for £28.99 or US$29.99 on the App Store.
Adobe Comp CC
Adobe Comp is able to work on your iPad in compatibility with all Adobe software – but this app lets graphic designers play around with text, shapes and fonts.
Free fonts are available to choose from Adobe Fonts, and the latest version now lets you play around with third-party fonts installed on your device. It also lets you instantly view mock ups, edit multiple selections and use keyboard shortcuts.
The best part of Adobe software is of course having your files sync to any device whenever you need them, meaning you can seamlessly pick up your work from the iPad to edit on your desktop.
Adobe Illustrator Draw
You can create vector art with Illustrator Draw, with lots of handy tools at your fingertips to make the experience easier and more efficient.
You can zoom up to 64x to apply fine details and customise your toolbar and brushes. Adobe Ink and Apple Pencil (with iPad Pro), Adonit and Wacom styluses work alongside this app.
You’ll be able to create perfect lines and curves thanks to the Touch Slide digital ruler, and add images from multiple sources including the Creative Cloud market for tracing and collage.
2GB of complimentary storage for file syncing and sharing comes with the basic level of Creative Cloud membership.
As with Photoshop Sketch, Illustrator Draw comes included in your Creative Cloud subscription.
Support for pressure sensitive styli offers added appeal, too.
Illustrator Draw is free to download from the App Store. Don’t confuse it with the upcoming Illustrator for iPad that was recently announced.
Photoshop Express Photo Editor
Adobe has an impressive suite of photo editing and graphic design tools. This Express Photo Editor is primarily a collage maker. You can collect all your sweet memories and create beautiful picture collages.
Trusted by millions, this editor offers a range of free photo effects and editing features. You can personalize your experiences by using borders and text. Play with myriad colors and imagery to create share-worthy moments. Premium version opens a gamut of tools to master the art of graphic design.
Price: Free (Photoshop Express Monthly – $4.99)
Autodesk Sketchbook
Autodesk Sketchbook is everybody’s app. A human brain generates countless ideas. You can draw or sketch that idea on your iPad using Autodesk.
If you are a newbie in the creative realm, you can hone your skills with sketches. Packed with powerful sketching tools, this app is an inevitable part of any creative process.
The app supports your second-generation Apple Pencil. Make the most of this feature, which also enables you to double-tap on stylus.
Price: Free
Conclusion
Marketing your business online requires the use of good graphic design software. While there are many free graphic design programs, sometimes you just need to use industry standards like Photoshop or Gimp. This, unfortunately, is not always free.