Apr 07, 2017 This graphic design software offers a powerful tool for not just photo designing an editing but, one can also use it for producing creative logos, animations, posters and more. Just because of its oodles of illustrative features, it has been ranked as the top graphic design software by Toptenreviews. GIMP is a beautiful and efficient free graphic design software Windows which is packed full of features and also offers a clean interface. This platform is basically a powerful image manipulation program that is widely used for photo retouching, image composition and graphic designing.
Best graphic design software
Read on for our detailed analysis of each app
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While there are a large number of graphics programs, built to allow you to create, develop, and manipulate graphical images, there is a smaller set of dedicated graphic design software packages.
A key distinction between graphics software and graphic design software is that the former needs to be able to work to a wider range of formats, not least for printing.
This is especially a concern for the graphic design industry, where the images and designs used may need to be recreated in very large formats that require professional printing services. Therefore it's essential for the graphic design packages being used to be able to cope with clear distinctions and demands inherent to all levels of print and publishing processes.
A key concern isn't just faithful representation of colors, but also ensuring image integrity even when blown up to large sizes, regardless as to whether they are to be reproduced for short-run printing or long-run printing.
Additionally, an advantage of digital graphics design software is the ability to edit, adjust, or otherwise manipulate the same designs so they can be applied for different media.
Here then are the best in dedicated graphic design software platforms.
- We've also highlighted the best free software for graphic designers
1. Affinity Designer
Built for creating professional artwork for screen or print
As a replacement for DrawPlus X8, Affinity Designer isn’t a rehash and was built from the ground up over a five-year development project by Serif.
Specifically aimed at professional designers and how they work, this software can handle a very wide scope of design tasks, including web, branding, concept art, typography and even repeating patterns, as you might need on ceramics, wallpaper or soft furnishings.
Inherent cloud functionality also makes it a good option for teams of designers working towards a common goal. And all this functionality can be yours for a very modest £48.99 ($49.99) per seat on Windows PC or Apple Mac.
2. Adobe Illustrator CC
Essentially, Adobe Illustrator is the vector version of Photoshop, and the two share many common tools and functions to aid designers who use both.
However, if you want to design graphics that are can be rescaled from a postage stamp to a giant billboard, then Illustrator is certainly the tool of choice.
There was a time when you could buy Adobe Illustrator outright, but Adobe now only offers this product on the Creative Cloud (CC) suite, and it isn’t cheap.
There is a Student version, with a 65% discount, but a business customer will be paying £19.97 ($19.99) per month to have single seat access to this application.
It might have a powerful feature set, regular updates and be available for both Apple Mac and Windows PC, but the cost is prohibitive for occasional users.
3. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2018
The daddy of vector design applications
CorelDRAW was most designer’s first ever serious Windows application, and many still have great affection for it today.
However, this isn’t a cheap tool as you must spend £599.99 ($792) on the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2018 to get CorelDRAW, even if you only want that specific tool.
That makes it one of the most expensive per seat solutions, even making Adobe’s subscription costs look affordable.
What you get for the money is a massively powerful suite that can work with both vectors and bitmaps in a seamless design workflow. It’s remarkable in terms of the feature set and how relatively easy it is to learn.
4. Gravit Designer
Due to the complexity of vector illustrations, most software for creating them is locally installed, but Gravit Designer has online options too. Windows media player 12 64 bit codecs.
The cloud-based version that runs from any browser and can automatically save to the online storage or locally.
Alternatively, on Windows PC, Apple Mac, Linux and Chrome OS, there are installable releases that can better utilise the computer hardware.
Our experience is that the online version can get slow with complex designs, but the locally installed versions cope much better.
Whatever platform you use it on, the application is free, so there isn’t any excuse for not giving it a try. There are plenty of impressive examples designers have created using Gravit Designer that prove it can be very effective at some jobs.
5. Inkscape
A free tool with plenty of useful features
Most business people shy away from free software for often valid reasons, but Inkscape is certainly worth looking at before you commit to buying CorelDRAW or an Adobe CC subscription.
It’s 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 it 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 use.
Transferring data onto the Cruzer Blade USB Flash Drive is easy: simply plug it into your computer's USB port and drag files into the drive's folder. After a fast, first-time driver download, this USB drive lets you start storing, transporting, and sharing your data immediately. Sandisk cruzer blade usb driver.
For a complete analysis of Inkscape check out our full review.
6. Sketch
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, mostly 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.
Graphic Design App For Windows 8
Regrettably, Sketch is available only on a subscription model that costs $99 (£75.60) per year, although updates are released very regularly.
7. Xara Designer Pro X
A one-stop creative document solution
The company behind Xara started out on the Atari ST and Acorn Archimedes computers in the 1980s, before focusing its efforts on the PC when Windows came along.
Its latest version, Xara Designer Pro X, is a comprehensive design tool that can work with both bitmaps and vectors with equal aplomb. That means it can handle DTP (desktop publishing), graphic design, illustration and photo manipulation tasks in a single tool.
For those wanting to mock something up rapidly, a license gives you access to over a million archive photos and illustrations to incorporate, along with hundreds of template layouts and thousands of design elements.
The price is £199 ($299), and a cut-down version called Xara Photo & Graphic Designer is available that costs just £49.99 ($59.99). And Pro X can be found even cheaper on Steam.
Why use graphic design software?
We’ve tested graphic design software since 2009. In our most recent testing, we spent over 50 hours comparing these programs' features, tools and interfaces to determine which software creates the most professional work while still being affordable and easy to use. We’ve determined that Corel PaintShop Pro is the best overall program because it offers both vector and pixel-based tools in one inexpensive software.
Best overall
Corel PaintShop Pro
Graphic design software with a vast array of tools
Corel PaintShop Pro’s powerful mixture of photo editing tools and vector-drawing tools, coupled with its relatively low cost, makes it the best overall graphic design software we tested. You’ll find over 650 photo filters that you can apply to your projects, as well as vector brushes, pen tools and the ability to create custom brushes. This software might be a bit daunting at first because it has so many tools to learn. But the interface is easy to navigate, and the company provides plenty of learning resources to help you become a proficient user.
Although you’ll find advanced photo editing tools, like panorama stitching and HDR image creation, this program does not include automatic vector tracing. This means you need to hand-trace raster images if you want to turn them into vectors. Although this software is compatible with most major image file types, it doesn’t work with SWF files, meaning you can’t make that kind of animation file. PaintShop Pro is only available for Windows, so Mac users will need to look elsewhere.
Best Budget
Affinity Designer
A one time purchase graphic designer that provides value
If you’re familiar with Adobe Illustrator but you’re not keen on paying for the expensive monthly or yearly subscriptions, Serif’s Affinity software is the solution. Affinity Designer only requires a one-time payment, and it’s the least-expensive program we tested. However, there is no free trial period, so you cannot test the software before buying it. This software is comparable to Adobe Illustrator; both are vector-based design programs that are built to work alongside a photo editing program and a desktop publishing program.
Because you’re supposed to use this program in conjunction with Affinity Photo, a photo editing software, pixel tools are limited. However, unlike Illustrator, Affinity Photo has a few pixel-based tools, like a pixel brush and shape tools, which you can access in the Pixel Persona mode. That way, you’re not completely dependent on an outside program for basic image editing tools.
This software’s advanced pen and vector tools allow you to adjust stroke and line density, as well as node and curve positions, to truly give you creative freedom when you’re working on your projects. Many of the tools are the same as Illustrator’s, and many even have the same hot keys. One thing that is missing from Affinity Designer is automatic image tracing, which would turn a raster image into a vector at the click of a button. Affinity’s forum mentions that the company hopes to implement this feature in later versions, but for now, you’ll have to hand-trace images.
Best for professionals
Adobe Illustrator
Graphic Design Software For Windows 8
A professional standard illustrator tool
Adobe Illustrator is the industry standard for vector-based graphic design software due to its powerful, professional-grade tools. One of the best features of this software is the raster image tracing, which lets you convert pixelated images into editable vectors with the click of a button. When working with vectors, select the white cursor tool to rearrange node placement and curves. This gives you far more control over vectors than many other programs allow.
Adobe intends this software to be used in conjunction with Photoshop, so it doesn’t really have photo editing tools. This means it lacks color correction, content-aware fill, lens correction tools, HDR image creation and panorama-stitching features. However, you have access to masking tools, a history log and a few templates.
You can test this software using the seven-day trial. This is shorter than the average 30-day trial, but it’s better than nothing. As with most other Adobe software, this program can be used only through subscription payments. You can choose between monthly payments and yearly payments, but there is no way to make a one-time purchase.
How much does graphic design software cost?
Graphic Design App For Windows 10
You can typically find basic graphic design software between $30 and $100. There are more advanced programs, which can sell for as high as $300 or require a subscription. Some, but not all, of the less-expensive software provided fewer tools. However, other affordable programs, such as Corel PaintShop Pro, have just as many design tools as more expensive software. Just determine which tools you need most, and then purchase the program that provides them.
Why trust us on graphic design software?
In our most recent evaluation, we spent over 50 hours testing and comparing graphic design software to see which programs were the easiest to use and offered the most creative freedom. We also evaluated the tools and features of each program to see if they warranted the cost of the software. To get further insight, we reached out to a professional graphic designer, Brooklyn Parks.
How we tested graphic design software
Graphic Design Program For Windows
When you are learning how to use new software, you focus on how easy it is to use and if it can complete your desired tasks in a timely manner. To evaluate the software, we focused on both the illustration tools and the image editing features of each program. We determined which tasks we were able to complete, how long those tasks took and how easy the software was to use.
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To explore the different effects the software offered, we used the same three images for all of the programs: a portrait, an image of a landscape and a still image. Then, we used common design tools – such as those for cropping, inserting text and resizing – and applied them to each of the images, noting how long it took to complete each task. The software interface played a significant role in how quickly we could find the tools, with clean and user-friendly workspaces helping the most.
To test the illustration tools in each program, we created a brochure that included text, graphics, gradients and shapes. These common tasks required a combination of tools. We evaluated how quickly we were able to do each of these tasks, as well as the speed of the software and the quality of the image after we had manipulated it. All of these factors made up each program’s ease-of-use score. Programs that lacked illustration tools, such as the pen tool or vector brushes, required more time to create design elements.
Overall, most of the programs performed similarly, but some outshone the rest. If you are looking for software to create dramatic effects on your photos, consider the number of photo filters the software has. Some programs, like Corel PaintShop Pro, provide dozens of filters.
Free Graphics Software From Microsoft
The workspaces and tools differ from one program to the next. However, most allow you to customize your workspace, which helps you navigate the software. We looked for software that came with both predesigned templates and support within the application because these factors make the software easier to use. CorelDRAW comes with hundreds of such templates.
Your specific uses for the graphic design software will determine which program will work best for you. We created an ease-of-use score that reflects how quickly we could complete common tasks. You should also look for a program that has all of the tools you need to create your designs.
Printing: how important is the finished product?
When you’ve finished designing a project and you want to present it to others, you need the best printing features. For printed articles, you should set up your page to “bleed” so that the creases of your magazine appear continuous and colored. Equally important is the option to show your printer’s marks. This will help you immensely in the package-and-print process.
The best graphic design programs offer on-screen color proofs that allow you to preview the colors on your page. For example, it confirms that a rose-red heart you created will print as the right color, and not a dark shade of pink. Using a Pantone swatch significantly helps with this, as Pantone creates the colors with an exact chemical process that ensures the colors print the same anywhere. Another important feature is prepress support, which automatically ensures there are no errors before the project is sent to the printer and alerts you of any necessary changes.
Importing & exporting files: Will you use other files on your software?
Compatibility can be an issue with graphic design software. When you share files, you want people to be able to open them no matter which program they use. Most software supports different file types, especially common ones such as JPEG, BMP and PDF. The more file types the graphic design software offers, the more versatile it is. You should not let file types limit your designs or your learning.