Top 6 Best Free Graphic Design Software For Beginners Jun 10, 2016 0 Comment read Design, Development, Fresh Off The Presses, Resources Not all designers have the money to kit themselves out with the most expensive design software, particularly when embarking on a new career in graphic design or starting a new business. The best Mac for print design is the 27in iMac 5K. Once you get beyond business cards and tiny flyers, print projects tend to benefit from a large canvas on which to design.
So you’re an aspiring graphic designer but you don’t have the resources, or willingness, to spend hundreds of dollars on your needed software. Well, below is a list of five great alternatives to commercial software for graphic design.
(1) Image Manipulation
Best rts games for mac os x. GIMP – Alternative for Adobe Photoshop and Corel Paint Shop Pro
GIMP, short for “GNU Image Manipulation Program”, has been written about several times before on this site. However, I felt it was worth another mention because of its versatility as a Photoshop alternative.
There is a bit of a learning curve when switching from Photoshop to GIMP, because of a different menu layout but GIMP remains powerful enough so that you can pretty accomplish the same tasks as you would in Photoshop. It can also open a variety of file types, so you can continue editing images in GIMP that were previously saved in other programs.
The GIMP is available for Windows, Linux, and OS X. Additionally, check out Gimpshop if you want. Gimpshop is a port of the GIMP with interface tweaks that mimics that of Photoshop’s, attempting to minimize the learning curve.
(2) 3D Modeling and Animation
Blender – Alternative for 3ds Max and LightWave
When it comes to 3D modeling and animation, there aren’t very many open source/free alternatives that are as powerful as their commercial counterparts. That’s where Blender is the exception.
Blender is a very feature-full 3D animation program that can be used for a variety of uses, such as modeling, simulation, animation, and pretty much anything else that can be done on commercial software. What’s also great about this software is its small installation size and ability to run on Windows, Linux, and OS X.
However, the user interface needs a bit of work, as it does seem a bit unintuitive and cluttered at the moment. You really need to sit down with this program for a while and learn how to use the application before you can harness its robust power.
(3) Vector Graphics
Inkscape – Alternative for Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw
Graphic designers will be amazed with Inkscape’s ability to create, open, and edit vector graphics. This program has the ability to open and edit with Adobe Illustrator AI, PDF, and other commercial proprietary vector formats.
However, you won’t be able to save your work in these formats, but you can still save them in the cross-software standard compliant file types such as SVG, EPS, and PostScript. The menu layouts of Inkscape are quite different to that of Illustrator’s or CorelDraw’s, but its tools and features remain easy to find.
Users will have little trouble switching back and forth from Inkscape and commercial programs, as long as they’ve spent enough time with both to know where everything is. Inkscape is available for Windows, Linux, and OS X.
(4) Desktop Publishing
Scribus – Alternative for Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress
Do you need to make that company newsletter, create an eye-catching brochure, or make a family calendar? Then check out Scribus, which is useful for a variety of projects such as newspapers, flyers, books, and the sort. It runs natively on Windows, Linux, and OS X.
The program is quite simple to use and you’ll be able to create stellar publications as long as you have the creative genius to do so. However, even though you can export in formats such as PDF and SVG, you won’t be able to open or edit commercial file types such as those from InDesign or QuarkXpress.
Nevertheless, if you don’t plan on working with others who use only these formats, you’ll have no problem using Scribus.
Explore more about: Image Editor, Web Design.
- Good article. Better than Scribus, which will make you sweat blood (unstable and clunky) get yourself version 9 of Serif's PagePus. Rock solid, plenty of features, 10 bucks! You can even try a watered-down version for free here.
- I really want to learn 3d animantion, is blender easy to use? thanks a lot!
- How to open system preferences on mac. nice.thank you
- I like the GIMP as a piece of free software but the last time I used it (six months ago, probably), it didn't have a CMYK option. I don't know if this has been fixed in the latest version or if there are any ways around this. If not, I'd be wary of using it for a print job.Also it doesn't support Pantone colours.
- You might want to specify that they're for the designer who knows what they're doing. Installation on these things looks complicated.
- Nice list! I didn't know GIMP had an update! Looks better!
There's another good software, Paint.NET
http://www.getpaint.net/index.html- Yea Paint.NET is good, I've used it before .. only that it's Windows only right now
- This is a great list. I like blender alot for 3d animation.
The best graphic design software programs are high-end applications used primarily in a professional environment, whether that is for in-house graphic design or by freelance graphic designers.
It's almost impossible to name one 'best,' but of the high-end professional applications, Adobe InDesign is certainly the most prolific page layout program, and it continues to improve with each new version. Along with its partners, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, this Creative Cloud trio is arguably the best graphic design software on the market today.
Choose Graphic Design Software Based on Task
That said, the best graphic design software is the software that works best for you. Specific programs are better suited for certain tasks than others. Although the previously mentioned programs are considered industry-standard; they are not the only choices. Here's an FAQ for you:
Who Are the Key Publishers of Graphic Design Software?
- Adobe is the maker of InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Framemaker, Dreamweaver and other software.
- Quark's powerhouse page layout software—QuarkXPress—is still massively popular despite losing its crown to Adobe.
- Microsoft produces Publisher, which is ubiquitous on Windows computers.
- Corel develops CorelDraw and PaintShop Pro X9, among others.
- Serif's PagePlus, PhotoPlus, DrawPlus, and WebPlus are affordable alternatives.
What Are the Graphic Design Software Categories?
- Page Layout
- Illustration
- Photo Editing
- Web Design
Minimum Requirements for Graphic Design Software
In addition to a word processing program, every designer needs either page layout or web design software (depending on their field) and photo editing software. Most also need a scalable vector graphics drawing program, but some SVG features are incorporated into high-end page layout software, so you might be able to get by with those unless you are doing logo design.
A logo designed in Photoshop cannot be enlarged without losing quality; a logo designed in a vector art program (like Illustrator) can be sized to fit on a business card or the side of a huge truck with no loss of quality.
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What About Web Designers?
Free Graphics Software For Mac
You need to know HTML and CSS like the back of your hand. When you do, you can write a killer website using only a word processing program. That doesn't mean you might not prefer to use a software program to help you out. Adobe's Dreamweaver is just such a high-end program, but there are affordable alternatives such as CoffeeCup and Kompozer.