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I don’t design anything print related so I don’t use Illustrator or InDesign. At my last job, I did have to use all three but I think it honestly depends on the job. I’ve also used AfterEffects from time to time.
- Best free and browser-based graphic design tool? - Reddit
Figma is the best alternative out there for vector graphics...
- What softwares do I need before going into graphic design?
LifelessMC. •. It would depend on what kind of designing you...
- Best free and browser-based graphic design tool? - Reddit
People also ask
What is the best graphic design software?
How do I choose the right graphic design software?
Are there free options for graphic design?
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Figma is the best alternative out there for vector graphics if you want to build everything from a single scratch. Canva is, no doubt, a good tool with templates. For free offline tools you could use:
LifelessMC. •. It would depend on what kind of designing you would want to do. Learning photoshop and illustrator can be beneficial for most fields, while tools such as Figma would be used more for UI designing. So first see what you want to do and ask or Google a more specific question.
- Shelby Putnam Tupper
- 2
- Contributor
- Adobe Photoshop. Best for Raster and Layer Editing. 5.0 Exemplary. A graphic designer who works with raster images and need compositing layers will have a hard time doing their jobs without Photoshop.
- Adobe Fresco. Best for Drawing and Painting on the iPad. 4.5 Outstanding. Adobe's painting, sketching, and watercolor app makes creating art on the iPad feel more natural than ever.
- Adobe Illustrator. Best for Vector Editing and Illustration. 4.5 Outstanding. Illustrator is the premier vector editing and drawing application bar none.
- Adobe InDesign. Best for Publication Layout and Design. 4.5 Outstanding. InDesign is another Adobe product that has become the industry standard, in this case for publication layout software.
- Overview
- The best graphic design software in 2024
- 1. Adobe Photoshop
- 2. Affinity Designer 2
- 3. Canva
- 4. Adobe Illustrator
- 5. CorelDRAW
- 6. Gravit Designer Pro
- 7. Inkscape
- 8. Sketch
Best
By Mark Pickavance
Contributions from
Brian Turner, Steve Clark
last updated 18 October 2023
Find the best graphic design software for your creative process
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Below you'll find full write-ups for each of the best graphic design software on our list. We've tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.
Specifications
Operating system: Windows, macOS, iPadOS, Android Plan: Subscription Today's Best Deals Creative Cloud All Apps $29.99 /mth Visit Siteat Adobe
Reasons to buy
+ Powerful toolkit for pros + Excellent sky replacement tool + Clean UI + Sets an industry-standard for graphic design software
Reasons to avoid
- Requires Creative Cloud subscription - May overwhelm design beginners Photoshop is a byword for graphic design these days. Adobe’s photo and design software dominates the industry - and with good reason. Setting the gold standard for design work and photo editing, its toolkit is bursting with features that even the best Photoshop alternatives struggle to match. When we reviewed the top tool, we found it offered best-in-class color management, layer handling, and selection tools, with AI automating a raft of effects from cleaning up images to object removal. After reviewing the tool, we ultimately felt that from subject selection to object removal, Adobe’s Firefly and Sensei models offer impressive performance. And although the results aren't always perfect straight off the bat, especially with uncanny neural filters, the software still provides excellent value. While Photoshop isn’t hard to learn, there is a slight learning curve that may overwhelm new users. Stick with it though, and you’ll be more than rewarded with high-quality, high-res results. It also means you’ll be familiar with other Adobe apps in the creative toolstack, since they largely follow the same interface. Adobe Photoshop is available as a standalone app or as part of the Creative Cloud All Apps subscription plan, where it seamlessly integrates with the likes of Lightroom and Illustrator. Read our full Adobe Photoshop review (Image credit: Serif)Best subscription-free graphic design software
Specifications
Operating system: Windows, macOS, iPadOS Plan: Perpetual license Today's Best Deals View at Serif Europe US
Reasons to buy
+ Multi-platform + One-off price, no subscriptions + Outstanding new tools + Easy to use
Reasons to avoid
- No auto-save on Mac - Not quite as many tools as Illustrator Serif Affinity Designer 2 is primarily a vector-based graphic design software for Mac and Windows, although it does also possess a powerful array of raster-type tools as well. The latest major revision of the program primarily focuses on the vector side of designer, introducing powerful and highly requested features such as a Shape Builder, and various Warp tools, among many others. We were quite surprised at how easy and intuitive such powerful features were to use, adding flexibility and versatility to an already impressive app. We would argue that Designer has enough tools in its arsenal to be considered a potential Adobe Illustrator alternative, even if its subscription-free, value-for-money price tag might make you think otherwise. With a one-off $70 / £60 / AUI$105 payment, this is one very attractive piece of graphic design software. Even better, $170 / £145 / AU$255 will get you the entire Affinity creative suite - Designer, Affinity Photo, and Affinity Publisher for Mac, Windows, and iPad. Now that’s a price-to-quality ratio that’s hard to beat. Read our full Affinity Designer 2 review (Image credit: Canva)Best free graphic design software
Specifications
Operating system: Web, Windows, iOS, iPadOS, Android Plan: Free, Subscription Today's Best Deals Canva Free Canva Pro $9.95 /mth Canva Enterprise $30 /mth Visit Siteat Canva
Reasons to buy
+ Free + Incredibly fast and easy to use + More powerful than you'd think + Includes logo maker, video maker, PDF editor
Reasons to avoid
- Premium assets locked behind subscription - Not a full graphic design suite Canva is an ideal solution for designers and non-designers creating branded assets - an impressively easy-to-use graphic design app that largely relies on dragging, dropping, and resizing vector graphics. The beauty of Canva is in its simple execution. Whether you’re a skilled artist or you’ve never opened Photoshop in your life, you have the tools to create incredibly professional-looking graphics to boost your online presence, promote your brand, and more. There are plenty of templates for fast creation that can be fully customized to fit your branding. Little wonder it’s become a firm favorite in marketing departments where the demand to create a lot of high-end visual content fast is a necessity. But this is as much a content marketing tool as it is a design app, and under the hood you’ll find a simple video maker (see our Canva Video review), website builder (see our Canva Website Builder review) and a PDF editor (see our Canva PDF Editor review). Each is a delight to use - so long as you temper expectations, this is graphic design streamlined, so it lacks advanced tools for precise or very complex designs. Use the left-hand sidebar to find the assets you want - from illustrations to stock photos and videos, or upload your own media. Brand-conscious organizations may want to opt for the Canva Pro subscription, which unlocks the Brand Kit, ensuring design consistency across all creations. Read our full Canva review (Image credit: Adobe)Best graphic design software for illustrators
Specifications
Operating system: Windows, macOS Plan: Subscription Today's Best Deals Adobe Illustrator $20.99 /mth Visit Siteat Adobe
Reasons to buy
+ Very powerful & versatile + Cross-platform + Integrates with Adobe creative apps + Improves creative workflows
Reasons to avoid
- Subscription only - Collaborative tools and Quick Actions need expanding Adobe Illustrator is a powerful, complex, and highly versatile vector-based graphics creation program that has been around for what seems like forever, and keeps going from strength to strength. Case in point, Adobe released version 27 in October (also called Adobe Illustrator 2023). It introduces some interesting new features, such as Intertwine, which allows you to create complex overlaps between objects by altering the layer order at specific sections of the image. You’ll find it an immense time saver. Collaboration tools are also most welcome, but they somewhat feel a little like a work in progress. Despite that, they do function as expected. Quick Actions allow you to perform multi-step changes with a single click. This has great potential, or at least it will once we get more than five of them. You’ll also find a good number of performance improvements, and new collaborative tools as well, via a monthly or annual subscription. You can opt for the standalone app, or go for the Creative Cloud All Apps subscription, which grants access to other Adobe tools, including Photoshop and Lightroom. For a more Canva-like simple graphic designer, see our Adobe Express review. The subscription price starts at around $21 / £20 / $30 per month. See how to download Adobe Illustrator free or with Creative Cloud. Read our full Adobe Illustrator review (Image credit: Corel)Best graphic design software for beginners
Specifications
Operating system: Windows, macOS Plan: Subscription, Perpetual license Today's Best Deals CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019 $198 /year Visit Siteat Corel Corporation
Reasons to buy
+ Easy to learn and use + Plenty of tools and features for designers + Core app in Corel's design app
Reasons to avoid
- Won't fit all budgets - Occasional lags CorelDRAW is part of the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite - a software bundle rather than a single application. The package includes Photo-Paint for photo manipulation, AfterShot to handle RAW files, PowerTRACE to convert bitmap images into vectors, and FontManager for organizing the text styles you do actually use. The main star, of course, is CorelDRAW itself, which isn't just a vector-drawing package but also includes a desktop publishing feature as well, so you can design projects with a multi-page layout. The latest version includes a number of improvements, such as for handling web graphics, editing vector effects, and the template menu has been simplified. In addition to these, is the ability to easily search through your images as thumbnails. Another plus is that after a break it has returned to the Mac with a fully functional version. Overall, the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite offers a veteran range of software that remains very up-to-date, and widening its use to Apple users as well as Windows can only be a plus. Read our full CorelDRAW review (Image credit: CorelDRAW)Best online vector editor
Specifications
Operating system: Web Plan: Subscription Today's Best Deals Check Amazon VISIT SITE
Reasons to buy
+ Free + Online + Easy to learn
Reasons to avoid
- Complex designs make it slow - Top-end resolutions only available to Pro subscribers Due to the complexity of vector illustrations, most software for creating them is locally installed, but Gravit Designer has online options too. The cloud-based version runs from any browser and can automatically save to both online and local storage. Alternatively, on Windows PC, Apple Mac, Linux and Chrome OS (which you'll find on a Chromebook), there are installable releases that can better utilize the computer hardware. Our experience is that the online version can get slow with complex designs, but the locally installed versions cope much better. However, with a limited free version to use, there isn’t any excuse for not giving it a try. There are plenty of impressive examples designers have created using Gravit Designer that proves it can be very effective at some jobs. Gravit Designer PRO allows for unlimited online storage, increases resolution to up to 300dpi, and adds CMYK and HSB print options on top of RGB. Plus, there's also the ability to work offline, advanced export options, and version history, all available for a reasonable yearly subscription. Gravit Designer is now Corel Vector - a web-based graphic design app. We'll update this mini-review as soon as we've had a chance to test the new software package. (Image credit: Inkscape)Best free Adobe Illustrator alternative
Specifications
Operating system: Windows, macOS Plan: Free Today's Best Deals VISIT SITE
Reasons to buy
+ Free + On Windows, Linux and Mac + Powerful vector illustration tool
Reasons to avoid
- Can be slow at times - Vector-focus Most business people often shy away from free software for valid reasons, but Inkscape is certainly worth looking at before you commit to buying CorelDRAW or an Adobe CC subscription. Inkscape is a vector design tool that offers broad file support, extensive text manipulation, and both Bezier and Spiro curve types. It also has an extension model that allows new features to be easily installed, and there are some amazing ones available. The only reservations we have are that even on a powerful PC, this software can be slow at times when a complicated process involves rendering. As a GPL-licensed app, along with Windows, Linux, and Apple Mac versions, you can also download the source code and compile it for whatever version of Linux you are using. Read our full Inkscape review (Image credit: Sketch)Best graphic design software for UI
Specifications
Operating system: macOS Plan: Subscription Today's Best Deals VISIT SITE
Reasons to buy
+ Easy to learn + Regular updates + Great for mockups and prototyping
Reasons to avoid
- Mac only - UI design focus Rather than the scatter-gun approach of other applications, the creators of Sketch built a tool to address a relatively narrow requirement. Sketch is focused on screen design, specifically creating the icons and interface elements for websites and applications. And, as the software is exclusively available for the Apple Mac, most designers working on iPhone, iPad and macOS applications are going to find it useful. That said, it can be used more generally, but its strength is creating slick user interfaces. Sketch is one of the best UI tools in the market and it offers a brilliant, minimalist user experience with its intuitive keyboard shortcuts and smooth running. It also boasts a vast library of Sketch Plugins and is quite feature-rich. Sketch is available for a single-user license. However, licenses for multiple devices are available. (Image credit: Xara)Best graphic design software for Windows
Jun 20, 2024 · We compared the best free Adobe Illustrator alternatives for managing graphics files without a Creative Cloud subscription.
May 14, 2024 · Whether you're a web or print designer, you need the best graphic design software on the market. Here are your best options this year.
