What’s the best free graphic design software to use for creating stunning images? Obviously, I can’t answer that question for you. But what I can do is discuss a few of the top solutions used by professionals around the world. Hopefully, this can get you started.
People use a lot of computer graphic design software online. There are some free and some paid stuff, too. But what about these offline graphic design software? Is there still any good graphic designing software offline? This article will take a look at some of the best and most popular offline graphic design software available. We will explore each one in depth, and by the end of it you should have a greater understanding of what they are, how they work, and whether or not they are suitable for your next design project.
Vectr
Best for: Collaborative projects
Platforms: Windows, Linux, Chrome OS, Web Browser
Vectr is a free graphics software that lets you create vector graphics using a simple platform. Vectr is available as a downloadable program, or you can use the software online in your web browser.
The website includes a variety of helpful tutorials ranging from how to get started to creating beautiful professional presentations. You can also use the software to create business cards, typographic logos, social media headers, memes, resumes and more. In addition to the tutorials, you can also check out Vectr’s user guide for a more comprehensive description of how to use the software.
Perhaps one of the best features that Vectr provides is real-time URL sharing. You can send anyone a Vectr document for real-time collaboration online. You can create and edit designs live from both the web app or the desktop version. This makes it a great tool for collaborating with others on projects.
Pixlr
Best for: Mobile editing
Platforms: Web browser, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Pixlr is another great free graphic design software worth checking out. There are different editors available including Pixlr X for quick and easy graphic design and Pixlr E for advanced photo editing. When I tried out Pixlr, I used Pixlr X. It included all of the basic features you’d need for graphic design including layouts, templates, text, effects, filters, additional elements and more.
One feature that stood out to me about PIxlr was the “Remove Background” tool. If you need to remove the background of an image, you can visit this page to use the tool. PIxlr’s templates are definitely another one of the editor’s highlights, and you’ll find plenty available for free. Pixlr’s templates include YouTube thumbnails, Instagram stories and other social media elements. You’ll also find PowerPoints, resumes, business cards, newsletters, invitations, photo collage templates and more.
You can use Pixlr to create or edit images in your web browser or you can download the desktop version of the software. If you’re more interested in using your mobile device for creating and editing graphics, you can also check out Pixlr Mobile. The app has a 3.7-star rating out of 1.1K reviews on The App Store and a 4.3-star rating out of 1.2M reviews on Google Play.
Gimp
Gimp is a free open-source image manipulation program. You can edit photos and create original work/paintings with professional tools and features that give Photoshop a run for their money. Gimp is available for free on several platforms including Windows, GNU/Linux, OS X.
The interface is familiar and easy to adapt to if you’re used to using other popular software. It’s responsive and light on your computer but still brings a pack of powerful features you wouldn’t expect to be free. Because it’s open-source, you can edit its source code and share your version. Gimp is part of a family of other free open source programs that work together seamlessly, including Scribus for document formatting and Inkspace for Vector art.Whether you’re a graphic designer, illustrator or photographer, Gimp offers you all of the features you need for free to produce high-quality creative work. If you need more advanced features or a scalable program for a large organization, you might want to check the release notes on the official site to see if it has what you need.
RawTherapee
RawTherapee is an open-source raw- image processing program, a free alternative to Adobe Lightroom. Its powerful software allows you to develop raw photo files from your camera and edit them to your taste.
You can edit your files non-destructively thanks to the responsive 32-bit (floating point) engine. RawTherapee boasts of best-in-class de-mosaicing algorithms and the ability to work with multiple-frame raw files. The dark-mode interface is well-organized and if you need to help there are many tutorials online on almost every feature on the program as well as an active community of users to share insights with.
The software is available on Linux, windows and macOS platforms. Download from the official site.
Inkspace
If you’re looking for a vector drawing program available for free online, Inkspace is the best and most popular one out there. It’s packed with features you can only find in premium programs like Adobe Illustrator making it a great free alternative. There is a large community of graphic designers and developers constantly working to improve this open-source software. There’s also the large pool of add-ons available to customize or extend the functionality of Inkspace.
Inkspace has all the standard tools available in other vector programs; pen, pencil, text, calligraphy etc and it supports various file formats such as SVG, PNG, DXF, PostScript, EPS ans=d more. The community forum provides a place to share ideas and find the answers to most of the problems you may encounter when using Inkspace.
Inkspace is available for GNU/Linux, Windows and macOS. Download from the official site.
Krita
Krita is an image creation, painting and editing software available for free on GNU/Linux, Windows and macOS. It’s great for concept artists, illustrators and comic creators. Krita produces smooth responsive brush strokes in a wide range of textures. Produce high-quality digital paintings in as much detail as you want and Krita will handle your large files with relative ease. Krita is stable and capable. The interface is clean and allows you to customize it to your preferences.
There are no limits to what you can create with Krita as the features rival those of paid programs. Being an open-source program, you’ll get a lot of updates which is a good thing as bugs get fixed but it can be annoying and sometimes, new updates come with issues. However, Krita has great support to help you overcome this. My favorite feature on Krita is the pencils. The softness and realism is unlike those of any other program i’ve used.
Overall it’s a great free painting software for illustrators and graphic designers. Download from the official site.
Lunacy
Lunacy is a vector design tool that’s available on the windows store. It’s popularly used for designing icons and UI/UX but you can do vector illustrations, create mockups and design ads. Another great feature is the ability to produce AI-generated photos. The intuitive AI also gives you suggestions for icons and styles for your work and the Smart Upscaler improves the resolution of raster images as you scale them.You can do just as much with Lunacy as you can with macOS’ Sketch. It’s a free alternative to sketch and you can save land load .sketch files on Lunacy. Lunacy allows works both online and offline. Other features include cloud sharing, dark mode, code export and support for 16 languages. The software is completely free, no ads and you can use it for personal and commercial use. Web designers, graphic designers and illustrators will find Lunacy very useful.
Conclusion:
When I started out in the world of graphic design, you’d have to use your own time and hard-earned money for software, which was pretty much a part-time job. There are lots of great ways to create designs on your computer these days thanks to the vast number of software tools available — but as a beginner it can be hard knowing where to look.