Important to realize, that there is over 10, 000 known Free Graphic Design Software Online. Moreover, each and every day we interact with Graphics Content from all angles on Digital Online, and Social Media. For instance, using the right images can elevate a good website to a great one, and make for a better user experience. The only difficulty is finding the right graphics.
If you’re tired of using stock images, you can always create your own instead and even showcase them on an application platform such as Pixabay. Doing so enables you to have full control over the graphics you use, and helps you adapt them to your content and design. In this guide, we’ll look at a few graphic design software fundamentals that novice designers should know.
You’ll also discover some of the best graphic design software and tools for all types of designers. Not to mention, the use of custom graphic designs for websites has provided a more instant gratification that’s become an essential part of our overall online digital, social media, and internet-run lives.
The Graphic Design Fundamentals
Being a graphic designer isn’t exactly the cheapest profession there is. While you might not necessarily need to study formally to become a designer, you will need to know your way around graphic design software, and that can be expensive.
But the good news is that there are more options than ever around, and many of them are free.
While free graphic design software won’t give you as rich an array of features as software such as Adobe’s CC (get Adobe Creative Cloud here). Or even Affinity’s software, you may find that with the right combination of the tools below, you can do almost any design job.
And even if you have paid for some software, that doesn’t mean you can’t combine it with other free tools. The learning curve of the free, more basic graphic design tools is also often a lot gentler than trying to get to grips with the complex software and menus of the subscription-based or more expensive packages.
How Is Graphic Design Software Useful?
Important to realize, With the right angle and scope, combined with correct data, a good infographic can build a narrative for the reader. Even in marketing, consumers crave a good story, something that grabs them and distracts them from everyday life.
Notably, infographics receive three times more likes and shares than any other type of content. This increased engagement gives your audience more reason to share your infographic, thus driving traffic back to you as the source.
Just don’t forget to put your logo on it somewhere. Equally important, graphics give you the versatility that photos simply can’t provide. A marketing graphic can be:
- A call-to-action, encouraging likes, subscribes, shares, or a quick sign-up.
- An infographic (any graphic that is visually communicating data or information)
- Hidden throughout the text (drawing people’s attention or explaining concepts before they get to reading).
Even knowing you have data to communicate doesn’t limit your options, as infographics come in all shapes and sizes, from timelines. And also how-to guides to location-based and photo graphics.
It’s not just throwing numbers and pictures together at random, and it’s definitely not just putting a large, flashy font next to an important-looking chart.
There’s a complexity to graphics, they have the ability to tell a story in a way a photo could never achieve.
Here: Website Graphics » Design & Development Tips
Topmost Recommended Graphics Software
Just about every site uses images nowadays. They may appear as backgrounds, banners, or graphics to illustrate your content, and much more.
There are very few instances where your content couldn’t be made better by an image or two, so it’s important to use them whenever possible (if it makes sense to do so, of course).
Furthermore, images are useful beyond making your website look better. They can also increase your site’s usability in multiple ways, such as:
- Increasing your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) opportunities. You can optimize your images using ‘alt text’ and descriptive titles to improve your search results.
- Highlighting essential parts of your content. Images can help you make your point or offer additional context. Think about tutorials, for example, and imagine how hard it’d be to follow along without accompanying images.
- Providing breakpoints for long-form articles. In some cases, people might not want to read a wall of text. Using images can help you separate your longer content into digestible bites.
We’ve already established that images are useful, but finding the right ones can be tricky, especially when you factor licensing and usage rights into the equation.
You can always turn to stock image sites, but in most cases, you’ll want to make sure your graphics are as relevant as possible. One great way to ensure that is by making them yourself.
Below are the topmost recommended and free-to-use Graphic Design Software. You’ll find out that, some of them are simple and easy to use too.
Canva – Best Graphics Content Design Software for Beginners Online
Canva is a powerful tool that enables you to create several types of images, including infographics, posters, presentations, book covers, and more. It can be overwhelming at first glance, but once you see it in action, you realize it uses a very intuitive system.
All the magic happens using a simple drag-and-drop editor, and you get an extensive library of elements to play with such as custom icons, charts, and illustrations. You just have to arrange all of them however you want, export your work as an image when it’s ready, and upload it to your site.
Pixlr – With a Combination of Graphic tools to Use
Unlike Canva, Pixlr doesn’t enable you to create graphics from scratch. Instead, it offers you a combination of two tools – an image editor much like Photoshop, and a simple tool to add effects to your existing files.
Either of these options is great if you’re looking for a way to customize the stock images you’re already using. For example, you can add borders or stickers with just a few clicks, using the Pixlr Express tool.
In most cases, the stock images you’ll find online are free for you to modify, so tools such as this come in handy to adapt them to your style.
PicMonkey – Enables you to create your own graphics from scratch
PicMonkey is essentially a combination of the two tools we’ve covered so far. It enables you to create your own graphics from scratch, and customize your existing images with an editor.
To be fair, PicMonkey’s editing features are relatively simple. They include such basic elements as after-effects and custom overlays. It’s a great tool to touch up your images, but not as powerful as a full-blown editor such as Photoshop.
Where this tool does shine is when creating your own images. It works using a system very similar to Canva – albeit not as smooth to use – but it includes a lot more templates to help you create designs faster.
Therefore, if you want to create professional-looking graphics as quickly as possible, PicMonkey is a good option.
Creativity is everywhere. now Photoshop is too – (Adobe)
Adobe Illustrator – Best Vector Graphics Software
Adobe Illustrator is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud platform, a suite of design tools powered by the cloud. It is one of the most mature graphic design tools in the market, having been around for over 31 years and counting. If you’ll be able to crack its key, well and good. But if you wish to experience its full force, please Order Online.
I have been doing quite a bit of designing over the past few years myself. I’m nowhere near as good as most of the design talent you will find on the internet, but I have been using a range of graphic design tools.
Adobe Illustrator has been one of them, and it is my top choice for this roundup of the best graphic design software. Although it requires continued practice and exercise on its key features and elements. Of course, you find more guides on YouTube whenever you get stuck.
Here: Adobe Creative Cloud for Beginners in Graphics
Gravit Designer – Best Free Graphics Software
Gravit Designer ranks #5 on our list of the best graphic design software. It is a full-featured vector design and illustration app which can serve a range of purposes, from presentations, and corporate identity to animation, concept art, and more.
Made by the Corel Corporation (creators of CorelDraw), this free graphic design software comes with a nice and elegant UI, and is available for online use, on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Chrome OS.
Gravit has a detailed SVG editor that can edit SVG images to perfection. It supports non-destructive Boolean which makes it ideal for UI design.
CorelDRAW – Feature-Packed Graphics Software
Next up is Corel Corporation’s CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019. It is a feature-packed design tool aimed at professional designers, illustrators, and creatives.
The only drawback for those thinking of moving to CorelDRAW is that this is not available as a standalone option, unlike the apps in the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite.
We’ve worked with print collateral quite a bit, and one thing is for sure – CorelDRAW is an absolute must-have for most print vendors. It has a range of quick keyboard shortcuts that make working inside the tool easier than most apps.
Adobe Photoshop – Best Graphics Software for Mac
Notably, Adobe Photoshop is often considered the king of photo editing and manipulation, and rightly so. It is an all-in-one solution for all your photo editing needs.
We’ve seen Photoshop being used extensively for all kinds of design work, including UI design, video editing, animation work, print collateral, designing magazines and editorials, and more.
Adobe Photoshop is also part of the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite; however, it is available as a standalone option if you’re looking for one.
Vectr – Best Graphics Software for Beginners
Vectr comes in on the 8th spot for our roundup of the best graphic design software. It is often considered an alternative to Adobe Illustrator because it offers a comprehensive set of features for day-to-day vector design tasks.
Another big plus for Vectr is that it’s free to be used. Also, with Vectr’s live online collaboration and synchronization options, you can co-design and co-create with anyone, anywhere, anytime.
It is a great free graphic design software for beginners who are just venturing into the graphic design industry. Vectr is available for free for Windows, macOS, Chrome OS, and Linux. It is also available as a web app with identical functionality.
Additional Less Complex Graphic Design Software
If you’re feeling good about graphics but aren’t sure how to go about creating them, you have options. There are plenty of resources that can help you make them yourself, even if you aren’t the most experienced graphic designer.
Some of the more common tools, such as Canva, Design Bold, Stencil, Desygner, PicMonkey, Pixlr, Pattern Library, BeFunky, Google Charts, Acorn, and PowerPoint templates, can help you on your way to creating your own graphics.
But, here are a few that you may not have heard of. Such as fixel, piktochart, easelly, infogram, over, ezgif, and also pictaculous.
Fixel
Flixel, for example, lets you create cinemagraphs, pictures with subtle looped movements that give the impressions of living photographs. You can see them in action at Weltrade’s recruiting microsite.
Piktochart and Easelly
Piktochart and Easelly help you create your own infographics using their templates, while Infogram helps to visualize your data into charts, maps, and other graphics.
Over and EzGIF
Over is an app that lets you play with text and images while Biteable helps you make animations “in minutes.”
EzGIF lets you make GIFs without throwing a watermark on them like many easy-to-use sites.
Pictaculous and ArtStation
Pictaculous generates a color palette based on any photo you input. But, once again, it’s not as easy as tossing elements together. A good sense of design, as well as communication, is important.
ArtStation provides you with a simple, yet powerful way to show your portfolio and be seen by the right people in the industry.
It’s super fast and sleek. Showcase images, videos, Marmoset and Sketchfab 3D scenes, 360 panos, and more. Add your work and production experience. Please Learn More!
Takeaway,
Of course, hiring a Freelance Designer (or employing one in-house) makes it more likely your graphics will be consistent. And also of high quality. Alternatively, you could pay for a visual content service such as Visually, which brings added marketing context to their work.
Hopefully, the above-provided guide was helpful in your Online Graphics Design and development research work. Otherwise, if you have additional information, contributions, and suggestions, feel free to submit them to the jmexclusives. Equally important, share more of your thoughts through the Comments Box below this Blog Post.
Resourceful References:
- How-to Geek: How to Find and Install a Color Profile for a More Accurate Monitor on Windows and macOS
- Design Space: How To Create Cool Graphics For Your Website
- Rose India: What is Web Graphics?
- Creative Bloq: The best free graphic design software
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