If you need a tool that allows you to draw, learn more about graphics software, or create logos then we have a variety of great open source options for you. These open source applications are freely available, which means they won’t cost a penny.
Have you ever heard about Open source graphics software before? Maybe you’re a designer who wants to learn about open source graphic design software. Or maybe you’re looking for the best open source graphics software for your next big project. In this article, I will cover everything related to open source graphic design and best open source graphics software.
Lucidpress (Free But No Open Source)
Lucidpress is free for all graphic design software, a simple and intuitive option for beginners and experienced designers. The tool has been handy to speed up the designing task with hundreds of predesigned and professional templates. There is a data automation facility, which means you don’t have to look for the information every time.
The free graphic designing tool also offers the benefit of template locking allowing the designers to customize the shared templates. Furthermore, the application improves brand management, team management, real-time collaboration, and multi-channel distribution.
Source: Lucidpress
Features
- Lucidpress is a user-friendly and intuitive graphic design software that helps to grow your brand.
- Seamlessly collaborate with your teammates while working on a project.
- The software provides lockable and customizable templates.
- You can even customize the content storing all information in one place.
- You don’t need to download the software as the designs can be accessed from a web browser.
- Auto-fill the information in the templates and save time to update the content.
When you explore the internet world, you will come across several other graphic designing tool options to showcase your creativity, imagination, and upsurge brand image. But Adobe Illustrator has excelled above all to become the preferred choice of many graphic designers.
Pencil2D (Free and Open Source)
Pencil2D is a top-rated and intuitive free and open source graphic designing tool specializing in 2D handmade animations. You can create hand-drawn animations with vector graphics and bitmap. One of the advantages of using this tool is that it is user-friendly and lightweight, providing full comprehensive support while making animations. It also becomes much more comfortable to shift between the vector workflows and raster while drawing graphics and using ink or paint.
Pencil2D is a free cross-platform graphics designing solution that operates seamlessly across all critical operating systems such as macOS, Linux, Windows, and FreeBSD.
Source: Pencil2D
Features
- Pencil2D is an easy to use and lightweight tool perfect for minimal Design.
- Seamlessly switch between the raster and vector workflows while sketching with ink and paint.
- The software supports all major platforms.
- You can also find tutorials and guides on creating designs and animations.
Gravit Designer (Free But No Open Source)
Gravit Designer is a free graphic design tool and a comprehensive vector graphics tool that seamlessly runs on all platforms. The application helps you unlock your creativity with flexible tools built to suffice professional graphic designers’ needs.
The tool is best suited for creating eye-catching graphics on varied topics such as marketing, website designing, user interface design, making presentations, and any other art for a particular purpose. The vector tools allow you to unleash imaginative power and precision. Also, you can build wireframes and mockups with different symbols, shapes, and shared styles. The application offers a wide range of photo effects such as lighting adjustments, filters, and blending for perfect editing.
This is free software that does not offer any open source feature.
Source: Gravit Designer
Features
- Gravit Designer is compatible with all operating systems, and the designers can access it from anywhere.
- The tool is empowered with a graphics processor and accelerated rendering engine.
- The designers can create diversified designs such as printed artwork, logo, branding, banner, etc.
- The software is also available on mobile phones and touch screen devices.
- Free graphic design software is suitable for both beginners and experienced professionals.
- The application automatically saves the cloud-based files with the option of customizing the time interval.
- The designers can save and synchronize the work in the cloud and access it from anywhere, anytime.
Inkscape (Free and Open Source)
Inkscape is one of the best free and open source graphic design software that provides you free and flexible designing tools with spiro and Bezier curves. These powerful applications help you create outstanding illustrative images, vector diagrams, flowcharts, and simple drawings.
Thus, Inkscape is a top-rated graphic designing tool and a vector graphics software, photo editing software, flowchart solution, and drawing application. The users can also unleash the benefit of efficient text tools. The best part is that the developers have fixed the bugs and updated the software with a multiple-language support facility.
The designers can edit the Design in a CSS stylesheet, enabling them to select whole objects within a specific CSS selector. The software is compatible with CMYK using Scribus. Besides that, there are various other useful applications such as pencil and shape tools, text tools, and more.
Source: Inkscape
Features
- Inkscape is credited with a wide range of handy tools for freehand drawing, creating curves, calligraphic strokes, and carving out different shapes.
- The designers also get various other useful applications such as clones, embedded bitmaps, and text tools.
- The software provides graphic designing applications for manipulating objects, groupings, and transformations.
- The designers are free to play and use their imagination with color selectors, dashboard strokes, and path makers.
- The free and open-source graphic designing software allows node editing, boolean operations, path simplifications, etc.
- The other features include rendering, multi-line text support, and support for different file formats such as SVG, PNG, XML editor, etc.
GIMP (Free and Open Source)
GIMP or GNU Image Manipulation Program is a free and open source graphic designing software and popular cross-platform image editor. The free graphic design tool supports all major operating systems such as Linux or GNU, Windows, Mac, etc. Since it is an open-source solution, the software allows designers to change the source code and distribute the modifications.
The software proves incredibly helpful for graphic designers, illustrators, photographs, and even scientists. The sophisticated tools simplify the designing tasks and surge efficiency with the third-party plugins and customization options.
GIMP also becomes a crucial component of the desktop publishing workflow system, helping color management and color reproduction generate high-quality digital prints.
Source: GIMP Features
- Graphic designers, artists, and illustrators can convert and transform ordinary images into stunning and unique creations with high-end tools.
- The software provides the best-in-class graphic designing components that are highly suitable for creating beautiful icons, different design styles, interactive user interfaces, and mockups.
- GIMP has a top-rated tool for the best image manipulation. It can help you to redefine your imaginative power and restore creative composites.
- The software can easily integrate with other designing tools such as Inkscape, Scribus, etc.
- GIMP also offers extensions during integrations with various programming languages resulting in the best customization.
Blender (Free and Open Source)
Blender is another free and open source graphic design software that offers best-in-class tools for creating 3D animations and objects. The graphic design application supports a complete 3D pipeline that includes animation, modeling, rendering, motion tracking, stimulation, and more. You can also create 2D animations and edit videos.
If you want to customize the tool and specifically implement applications, you can use the application programming interface (API) for Python scripting. The software proves an ideal suite for small studios and individual designers who can take advantage of the responsive development process.
Blender is well compatible with popular platforms such as Windows, Linux, and macOS. The interface of the cross-platform tool uses OpenGL to provide an improved user experience.
Source: Blender
Features
- The best free and open source graphic design software is entirely developed for creating stunning animations, 3D and 2D images, and rigging.
- Blender allies you to create splendid digital sculpting, modeling curves, retopology, and eye-grabbing renders with the help of an extensive toolset.
- The VFX tool enables you to track motions, amplify camera settings, compositioning, and masking.
- Enhance the 2D and 3D designs with a 3D viewpoint and grease pencil feature.
- The software provides robust simulation tools such as MantaFlow and Bullet, and it can easily integrate with several pipelines.
- This is also a video editing tool with essential features and functionalities.
Conclusion:
You might not know it, but there are quite few options of open-source creative graphics software available. Whether you’re a designer, illustrators or just looking to create your own graphic designs, following free and open-source graphics tools can be very useful. The software you use on a regular basis is not the only free Adobe Photoshop alternative out there. There are many free open source graphics programs you can use for graphic editing, video editing, and more.