Art is life. It emanates joy, grief, mystery, and wonder in powerful ways. Expressing yourself through art is often more effective than words. This is why businesses express themselves today through captivating artistic designs. A graphic designer can connect these two.
As an artist, you have a passion for creating masterpieces. But your passion doesn’t pay your bills. Or wait, fortunately for you, this one can. Graphic Design is one of the most exciting professions out there. You can unleash your creativity, make money, create an impressive portfolio and help the businesses mentioned above achieve their branding goals, all at the same time.
Perhaps the most popular software for getting into the Graphic Design business is provided by Adobe. Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop are globally used for creating the most innovative designs. But the problem for most beginners is that you don’t make much at the start, and Adobe software can seem expensive at the time.
One solution for that problem is hiring someone who knows the work and outsourcing to them directly. For instance, Super Logo Designs is a reputable logo design company in Georgia. They can help you build up a presentable portfolio while polishing your skills.
To get going with this path, plenty of beginners look for free alternatives. Lucky for you, there are many out there. Today, we’re listing down just some of the most productive and useful ones out there. So read along to know the software that can help you get highly creative for free.
PIXLR
Pixlr is a simple tool for working on both raster-based and vector-based graphics. It helps you make the most of your creative ideas by offering cloud storage and cross-compatibility for all devices (web & mobile). With Pixlr E and Pixlr X, you get the best of all basic graphic designs for individual and business projects. It doesn’t offer the same features as Illustrator, but enough to keep your innovative ideas for creating, editing, and sharing digital designs afloat.
GIMP
GIMP is a raster-based graphic design tool, like Adobe Photoshop. This means it’s great for image editing and manipulation. Its vector-based functions are somewhat limited. However, it offers plugin integration for added functionality. You can integrate various third-party tools into it to avail highly customized designs. They also provide video tutorials to help you learn faster and get going. The tool’s not the best for beginners but deserved a mention due to its high flexibility.
CANVA
Canva is also an excellent tool with various free features for beginners. Its simple interface and easy-of-ease empower you to create impressive digital designs for your clients with the least amount of effort. There are multiple templates available for various formats like ebooks, business cards, and infographics. However, it’s not a completely free tool. While it does offer plenty of things for free, it has a premium version. But of course, that’s good if it helps you succeed with just the free features, and you decide to stick with it afterward.
INKSCAPE
Inkscape is perhaps the best free alternative for professional designers. When you switch from Illustrator to any free tool as a pro, you may notice many things missing. But with Inkscape, you get a ton of complex options like bitmap tracing, color painting, layering, grouping, and locking objects. This makes it a top-notch alternative for pros that want to make the switch for any reason. That doesn’t mean you can’t use it as a newbie. It’s still free, and it’s still just as good.
VECTR
Vectr is another free tool that’s easy to use for beginners. It allows you to design the most creative designs without hassle easily. With Vectr, you can either download the software or create things online. Either way, your work gets saved automatically for your ease. Plus, several video tutorials are available on the official website to help you get started. So you’re guaranteed a smooth learning path ahead. Another thing you get with Vectr is enhanced project collaboration through a shared URL option.
GRAVIT
Gravit is probably one the most recommendable free tools out there. It gives you the freedom to create designs from anywhere you want. All you need is a working web browser. Plus, the creators offer video tutorials for various methods. Of course, this means the learning curve is very low. But that’s still not where it ends. It provides you with several import and export options, including png, sketch, and jpg. That’s something even Illustrator won’t do for you.
ADOBE SPARK
Adobe Spark is also an Adobe software. So, how is it different from Illustrator? Well, it’s free for one thing. For another, it doesn’t have all the features. So why should you use it? In case you can’t afford Illustrator now, but you might be able to later. This would help you get the most familiar with Adobe software and shape your design strategies accordingly. Even without the premium features, it’s still pretty good for designing posters and videos. Plus, with the free templates from Adobe, it becomes an even more attractive option.
So, For Free Or Not For Free?
These are some of the best free tools for you to get your career running. Going with any of these is sure to help you succeed professionally. However, it’s imperative that you invest in paid software later on. Why’s that important, you ask? Well, for bigger projects, you’re going to need graphic-intensive tools with the most necessary features and timely updates. Free software can be your launching pad, sure. But there’s only so much free things can get you.
At the end of the day, paid tools are indeed worth it. Tools like Adobe Illustrator offer added benefits, increased customization, and overall higher value than most free counterparts. Plus, whatever you spend on the software, you can easily make back in less time. So, in the long run, we recommend paid tools.
To Summarize: free tools to jumpstart your career; paid tools for consistency and long-term ease.
Hopefully, this article helped you make a sound decision about shaping your graphic design journey. If it did and you’d like to see more exciting content, subscribe to our newsletter.
Stay connected with us for the latest tech trends, tips, and informative content on tech.