Graphic design software is a program used in the graphic design industry to assist designers in graphics creation and editing. Many of these programs are simply referred to as “graphics software”, but I’ll use the more generic term “graphic design software” throughout this article.
Whether you are an amateur graphic designer or an experienced digital artist, using the right tools can multiply your talent exponentially. A well-built graphic design software provides intuitive controls and flexibility that can be easily understood by a beginner but also has vastly superior tools for an experienced user.
The best way to know which software would suit you best is to get hands-on with the tool and experiment with them. Each of the software is characterized by its features, ease of use, performance, cost, and availability. Many paid graphic design software provide a free trial for users to give them a better understanding of the product.
We have researched and put together a list of the best graphic design software in the field today. These tools are tried and tested and can help you create spectacular custom designs that will leave your clients spellbound. Graphic design can be used to take your portfolio website to the next level. Do check out our list of the top 25 Online Graphic Design Courses that will help you improve graphic design skills. And while you are honing your graphic design skills, don’t forget to create your graphic design portfolio website to showcase your work. Your design portfolio represents a window for the world to view your work and judge your talent, skills, and experience. So, if you haven’t built a website to showcase your design portfolio, start today with Pixpa. Here are some great examples of graphic design portfolios created on Pixpa for your inspiration.
Get ready to express yourself in stunning new ways and create awesome digital art with ease and efficiency!
Here is the list of top graphic design software that you can try for your work
- Adobe Photoshop
- Sketch
- Adobe Illustrator
- Affinity Designer
- Adobe InDesign
- CorelDRAW Graphics
- Designer
- GIMP
- Gravit Designer and more
Best Graphic Design Software
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is arguably the most popular graphic design software and is used by millions of artists around the world. Whether you are looking to create banners, posters, websites, or logos, this best graphic design software can do it all for you. From small edits to sophisticated designs, Adobe Photoshop has tools for every level. If you are someone who works with illustrative designs, you can even draw or paint anything you like.
Along with image editing, you can create naturalistic artwork and composition in this software. You can define the size of your canvas, isolate elements from backgrounds, create custom brushes, work in 3D, do much more.
Platform: Windows and Mac
Sketch
Sketch is a Mac-only graphic design program that focuses mainly on digital design. These digital designs are used to create websites, apps, and interfaces. Unlike Photoshop, Sketch isn’t built for photo editing or print work. With Sketch, you can create a prototype by collaborating with other designers on the platform itself. The program has a smart layout feature in which the component will automatically resize based on the content. There are hundreds of plugins in the software which will let you do vector editing and other design work with precision down to the pixel. Digital icons are another thing that can be created through this software. Sketch, on the downside, is not great for print design or illustrations.
Platform: Mac
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a design software that is centered around vector design. You can create artwork, icons, posters, etc. and the designs created in Adobe Illustrator can be used in business cards or billboards and from smartphones to 8k screens. You can use this software to draw, mix, and refine designs to create something spectacular. Adobe has made a mobile version called Adobe Illustrator Draw, which is one of the best graphic design apps out there.
To draw, you can use the shaper tool and create vector shapes. Geometric shapes can be added to other outlines and can be moved, reshaped, and scaled. Even the fonts in the software can be manipulated according to your needs by adjusting their weight, slant, or width. For beginners, Adobe provides professionally designed templates to save time. The user interface of the program is helpful, but there is a steep learning curve to get good at illustrator.
Platform: Windows and Mac
Affinity Designer
The Affinity Designer is a cheaper alternative to illustrator, which is especially suitable for someone who is in the early stage of design career. The software is known to work smoothly, which can improve your workflow and make you express your creativity more freely. You can move and zoom your artwork at 60fps; see the gradients, effects, and adjustments changing live along with the transforms and curve edits.
Affinity Designer lets you work on both vector and raster workspaces, and you can switch between them easily. This software can work on any device, and you can create unlimited artboards within it. Affinity designer provides a graphic design app for the iPad with the same features offered on the desktop versions. Advanced color controls are provided where you can work in RGB or LAB color spaces with up to 32-bits per channel. You can find a wide range of toolset in the program which can be used to achieve a high level of accuracy and productivity. The grids and guides are fully customizable, where you can change the spacing, sub-divisions, gutters, angles, etc. Another powerful feature of Affinity designer is that you get floating-point accuracy by zooming your artwork, even by more than a million per cent.
Platform: Windows, iPad, and Mac
Adobe InDesign
Another software by Adobe that can be used to create designs is the Adobe InDesign. This graphic design software is used primarily in the publishing industry because you can design magazines, info sheets, books, posters, interactive PDFs, brochures, etc. with it. With the ‘adjust layout’ option that InDesign provides, you can change the text of your document, and the graphic will adjust accordingly.
The properties panel has been redesigned to give you more intuitive control over the tools. The Sensei technology integrated into InDesign makes the automatic arrangement and resizing of images. Beginners can quickly learn this graphic design software because it has a low learning curve. To work with other members of your team in creating a design, you can use Adobe InCopy. The Creative Cloud Libraries can help you share text, colors, and graphics with other members.
Platform: Windows and Mac
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019
CorelDRAW was earlier built only for Windows OS; it is now available for Mac as well. With this graphic design program, you can create professional vector illustrations. There are powerful design tools to help you work faster and smarter. You will find numerous customization options, whether you are working on logos, web design, or print projects. CorelDRAW now uses AI technology to provide you with LiveSketch, which converts sketching into precise vector curves. The suite contains tools for graphic design as well as layout. It has Photo-Paint and Corel Font Manager for photo editing and font management.
The software has web graphic tools and presets to develop creative web content; you can publish directly into your WordPress site through it. The file compatibility is also overwhelming; the program supports over 100 file formats.
Platform: Windows and Mac
Xara Designer Pro X
Xara Designer is built for both bitmaps and vectors. The program can handle desktop publishing, graphic design, illustration, photo editing, all in one place. The graphic design software provides you with hundreds of template layouts, design elements, and over a million archive photos to get you started quickly. While drawing any shape, lines, or curves using vectors, you would not face any loss in quality when you scale it up. You can create custom design elements and use them in any of your designs. Tools like gradients, outlines, and transparency in the software will give your artwork a special touch.
Platform: Windows
GIMP
GIMP is a free graphic design software that works on many platforms like Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. GIMP is an open-source program that allows you to change its source code and distribute the program. There are many customization programs and 3rd party plugins that can be used in GIMP to improve your productivity and create better designs. GIMP can also be used to retouch images, wherein you can even make creative composites. Interface components and mockups can also be designed, along with print designs such as icons and logos.
Platform: Windows, Linux, Mac
Gravit Designer
This is another free graphic design software that can be used to create vector-based designs. You can create logos, edit photos, and create animations and illustrations in this program. Gravit does not have an offline version in the free plan. The software is fully customizable according to the user’s needs. The pro version of Gravit is paid and has more advanced features like advanced export options, offline version, more color space, etc.
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS
Visme
Visme is an online design tool that goes above and beyond basic design capabilities, without requiring you to learn any complex software. It has an easy drag-and-drop editor, which lets both businesses and individuals create stunning and interactive visual content. There are hundreds of templates to choose from across 40+ categories, from presentation and infographics to press releases, reports and social media images. With a free Visme account, you can use some of these templates, but you get full access to millions of stock photos, videos, icons, animated graphics, fonts and graphs to customize these templates as much as you want. If you want to access premium templates and features like the brand kit, you need to upgrade to a paid account. There are multiple download formats available in Visme, from image to offline web. You can also publish your projects online and share them with a live URL. The unique thing about Visme is you can bring your content to life with advanced animation and interactivity features. For example, you can create a custom animated character, or add links, hover effects and pop-ups to your designs.
Platform: Web Browser
Genially
Genially is an accessible all-in-one tool for creating interactive and animated designs. You can choose from thousands of templates or you can start from scratch to create posters, infographics, social media content, client pitches, interactive images, website sliders, and more. Best of all, Genially puts no limit on the number of creations you can make as a free user.
There are thousands of visuals to choose from within Genially’s interface from vectors and image libraries (Unsplash, Giphy, and Pixabay are integrated within the editor) to maps and charts. You can also make any element interactive and add animation effects to it in seconds. Finally, Genially allows you to add buttons to your creations to turn your designs into microsites, product catalogs, and other interactive spaces, and it also gives you the option to insert media such as videos and social media posts within your creations.
Platform: Windows and Mac
Vectr
Free graphics software, Vectr can be used to create vector graphics. These vectors created won’t lose their quality when scaled. Vectr doesn’t use pixels to create the design; it uses mathematical equations. This free graphic design software is available both online and for desktop. Vectr provides you with an easy to use platform which you can use to create any 2D graphics. It can be business cards, logos, posters, brochures, etc.
Vectr provides you with detailed guides on how to use the program, which you can use to learn and create anything with your imagination.
Platform: Windows, Web Browser, Linux, Mac, and Chrome OS
Colorcinch
Colorcinch is a fan favorite! It’s a simple-to-use free online photo editor that is rich in features. You can quickly and easily edit photos using the array of editing tools to adjust exposure, contrast, color, etc, or crop and rotate images, but Colorcinch goes much further than basic image editing. It can be used for creating all kinds of graphic design projects too. You can use their specialty effects such as the cartoonizer to turn any photo into a cartoon with a huge variety of cartoon styles, and they have the most extensive libraries available on the internet for filters, effects, overlays, masks, graphics, and icons.
All of this is wrapped up in one of the most polished and efficient UI’s of any online photo editor. Getting started on Colorcinch couldn’t be simpler – there’s no need to register with the site, and you can simply upload your image and start editing. When it comes to exporting your finished image, there’s a choice of export options to suit you.
Platform: Web Browser
Crello
Crello is an online graphic design tool for those in need of original and impressive visual content. It allows creating customizable social media, web, print, and ad content for your personal and professional needs. With its intuitive online editor, not only does it offer a massive library of trendy templates, but it also lets you download content and create your own designs from scratch.
Everything you need to do is sign up for free, choose a template, and customize it the way you want. Instruments are many: add texts and objects, remove image backgrounds, change colors and fonts, resize images, upload illustrations, and much more. Crello offers about 10,000 animated objects to follow the latest trends in design and helps you craft high-quality visuals. Most instruments are free here; for the unlimited downloads and some extra features, you can upgrade to a Pro plan for a token payment.
Platform: Web Browser
Canva
If you have no previous experience in designing and you are looking for something very easy, then Canva is for you. This free online graphic design software allows you to create designs easily and quickly. There are a ton of templates, fonts images, many of which are free to use. Canva works on the drag and drop concept, where you only need to select the elements and drag it to your work area and customize it. This program does not provide you with advanced features like Photoshop. It, however, solves a beginner’s design need who doesn’t want to get into the process of learning and purchasing premium software. Canva is available as a graphic design app that can be used in Apple and Android devices. The basic features in Canva are free; you will, however, be charged if you want to use more features in it.
Platform: Web Browser, Android, iOS
PixTeller
PixTeller is an easy to use editor tool that can be used to create graphic images (downloadable in PNG, JPG, PDF format) and animations (downloadable in MP4, GIF format). Anyone can use it to make images, animated gifs & videos for personal or business use, with no technical or design knowledge. Creating graphics is a time demanding process, but with this design tool, anyone can make personalized visuals from scratch or by customizing any pre-made templates in minutes.
Platform: Web Browser
Design Wizard
Design Wizard is an online graphic design software, the pricing of which starts at free and increases along with the features. This graphic design software provides users with more than a million curated images, 15000+ templates. Another interesting feature of Design Wizard is its integration with Hubspot, Marketo, and Buffer.
Platform: Web Browser
Infinite Design
This graphic design app is built only for Android devices, which can be used to create vector graphics. The app can be used to create complex and eye-catching designs without much effort. As the name suggests, this app provides an infinite canvas where you can zoom, pan, or rotate. There are four types of symmetry that you can experiment with, and there are unlimited layers that you can work on. This app provides advanced features also like translate, scale, flip, distort, etc. The image you are creating on the graphic design app can be turned into a fully editable vector path. The advanced features in this app are accessible by purchasing it only.
Platform: Android
Inkscape
Inkscape, like many other platforms, provides multi-purpose use. It can be used by designers, illustrators, or web designers. The software has flexible drawing tools, which make it easy for beginners to understand the software and create art without difficulty. As the text is an integral part of graphic design, Inkscape has a powerful text tool at your disposal. This software is open source and can be used with any platform. A designer has to spend some time understanding how to use this software. This software is best used to create images that are vector-based and needs to be required in SVG format. Inkscape provides a lot of filters and a helpful community for the designer to grow.
Platform: Windows, Linux, and Mac
Adobe Comp
Adobe Comp is a graphic design app designed to be used along with other Adobe software like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. Designs can be created with the use of text and shapes. Adobe provides free fonts from Typekit library, which are the same as desktop. With Comp, you can convert your rough designs into crisp graphics and finish the designs on your desktop with other Adobe software.
Platform: iOS and Android
What software do most graphic designers use?
Adobe Photoshop is the most popular and versatile software on the market that is favoured by most graphic designers, digital artists and photo editors etc.
Which software is best for graphic design for beginners?
Canva is an incredibly accessible software that is designed especially for people with no graphic design training or knowledge. It is easy to use and the templates make graphic design possible for everyone.
What software is needed for graphic design?
You need a designing and editing software that can handle both text and graphics for graphic designing. Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, GIMP, CorelDraw and Canva are some of the popular graphic design softwares on the market today.
How much does a graphic design software cost?
Depending on the software, graphic design applications can be expensive or accessible. GIMP is a popular, free and open source graphic design software. Adobe Photoshop which is the most popular software on the market costs $20.99/ month billed annually.
» What is the meaning of graphic design?
In technical terms, graphic design meaning represents the communication of messages or ideas utilizing visual means. Graphic designers use multiple elements, such as illustrations, colors, typography, and shapes, to make an impact through their design.
» What is Graphic Design Software?
Graphic design involves the art and science of communicating the messages in the best visual format. Businesses can take this opportunity to build and send the marketing messages which the target audience can receive quickly. Graphic Design Software simplifies the task of creating the artwork. It also brings in the uniformity of design across the organization.
Graphic design has not completely gone digital. But to complement the designs the best graphic design software is always a must. Many of the repetitive tasks can be simplified using design software. The use of a template is one such example. It saves a lot of time in recreating the same things and also it provides a uniform look and feel.
» Is it worth investing in Graphic Design Software?
Definitely Yes. Graphic Design Software will help an organization in many ways. It helps the marketing team by providing various options for showcasing the product. Instead of using the boards, pencils, and sketches, the graphic design software will provide easy to use user experience which includes drag and drop features. Maintaining a standard template across the organization for any presentations will make the company look more professional in all ways. And also, it shows that various divisions like marketing, sales, and others work as ‘One Team’ instead of silos to the customers.
» Before you choose any Graphic Design Software
So before going out for a market survey to check for the best graphic design software, it is important to understand the needs of your organization. Also, understand the standards and the best practices to be followed at the industry level. Get to know the needs of the actual team who will be using this software for their daily activities. They are the best judge, as they understand the pain points which they face daily and can come out with the actual product requirements and features that they are looking for, to make their job complete faster and better.
Meeting other stakeholders like the business owner, product owners, leads from different departments can help in providing more details. Though they might not be the actual end-users of the software, they can help in finalizing some of the required features of the software. And above all, they can help in arriving at the budget, which can be allocated for this purchase and maintenance of the design software.
Adapting to the new software will have some amount of learning curve by the design team. They need to transition all the current ongoing projects from the existing system on to this new system. This may lead to some unproductive time. So, choosing the system which has less time for the transition can also be one of the factors which can be looked upon before choosing the graphic design software.
When all these groundworks are complete, you will have the requirements document ready to go in for the software. At the initial search for graphic design software, you may find a huge number of them. It’s always better to list down or study the pros and cons of each such software and make a decision matrix with the requirements and the software. This would help in finalizing the best fit for graphic design software for your company.
» Key features of Graphic Design Software
With lots of graphic design software available in the market today, each one tries to offer various features in their product. But overall, there are few key features to look for in any design software. Below listed are few of the key features:
› EASY TO USE GUI:
The software must provide an easy to use graphical user interface. This will make the software look more intuitive and help the designers to work in a collaborative manner. It should be easy to start with the basic building blocks of the software by more drag and drop features. The advanced tools and features can be added on a need basis.
› EASY TO LEARN:
With an intuitive GUI comes an easy to learn features. The new software must offer an easy learning path for the designer. This would reduce the learning curve and also the non-productive time for learning and picking up the new software features. This is always an added cost for the organization, and this has to be factored.
› TOOLS:
Look for the software which supports various tools for complete graphic designing. The software must have all the basic tools come as out of the box features, and some of the advanced tools can be an add-on and purchased as required. But look for a versatile and robust software that can offer the latest trending tools, so that you don’t have to look for an alternate software for any particular tools.
› TEMPLATES:
Creating anything new in the design area from scratch will always take a lot of time. This is where the templates can come for help. Graphic Design Software comes with pre-defined templates. They provide a basic foundation on which the design work can be built. These templates also provide a uniform look and feel for all the projects and give more professional looks. Many design software offers templates that can be customized as per the needs. Also, you can build new templates and use them across the projects.
› IMAGE DATABASE:
A design project would need lots of Images to make the idea look complete. Imagine how helpful it will be if these images are all part of the software itself. Many of the Images might come for free and need to have to pay any royalty charges. So as you shop for the graphic design software, look out for the image database which the software can offer. Also, this Image DB should allow you to keep extending and enhancing by adding more images to it. This also allows the team to share the images across the team members.
› COLLABORATIVE TOOLS:
Graphic design is always a team project. Teams should be able to share their projects, images and other related files with their team members. Latest design software offers cloud-based services that help to share and edit the files in real-time. You can restrict access to the files at any level. Collaborative tools greatly boost productivity, accountability, and success.
» Key Benefits of Graphic Design Software
Graphic Design Software provides a platform for creating world-class designs for an organization. The key benefits of using design software are:
› BOOST EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY:
Graphic design Software offers the latest tools and technologies which can boost employee productivity. The Collaborative tools help the team to work more closely by sharing and speeding up the project.
› SAVES TIME:
Many features like templates, image database will save a lot of time in reinventing the wheel. Templates will provide a platform on which the designs can be based on. The image database will provide access to all the standard images needed for the design.
› SAVES MONEY:
Without a good Graphic Design Software, a company will be highly dependent on other vendors for all their graphic needs like logo designing, website designing, and other design needs. With an efficient in-house graphic designers team and world-class graphic design software would save a lot of money that would have to be spent on other vendors for the company’s project.
› GRAPHICAL COMMUNICATION:
The marketing and sales team are very much dependent on the graphic design team, who in turn are dependent on the software they use. Good graphic design software can bring in the ideas of the marketing and sales heads into a graphical representation. Graphics are always more appealing and catch the eyes of the customers more than the words.
› BRAND BUILDING:
No company can be imagined without its brand logo and the names. Good graphic design software can help in designing a crisp and clear logo for the company, which reflects the company’s vision to the outer world.
» How to choose the best Graphic Design Software?
As already understood, there is no ‘Perfect’ software which can meet the requirements of all the organizations. So, try to choose the ‘Best Fit’ design software as per your company’s needs. By spending a little extra effort in understanding the company’s needs, and then carefully comparing all the advantages and disadvantages of all the software, you can arrive at the best fit software.
The following 2 factors can also help in choosing the best fit design software for your organization:
› SOFTWARE SUPPORT:
Every product purchase will come with a support mechanism to it. It is always good to understand the support features, the available days and timing, and the cost of the support – annually. A good support team is very important to answer any queries or issues faced by you. Ensure to purchase annual subscription support for better pricing.
› UPDATES AND UPGRADES:
None of the Software products comes as complete. There will always be updates and upgrades planned. Try to understand the update cycles. There can be some downtime also planned during an upgrade. So, all such considerations are a must to be factored for.
Also, try to explore the option of demos or free trials from the vendors. This would make a big difference. As the actual end-user (Design Team) puts their hands on the software, they can provide a better judgment in the selection criteria. Their feedback can help in making a better selection.
Conclusion
Graphic design software is used for creating graphics, logos, illustrations, charts, etc. I use Graphic Design software for all my logo designs. It’s expensive if you’re starting out but it’s worth it. Not only because of the countless fonts and icons you can use but also because of the program’s features that will never be replaced.