The 6 Best Graphic Design Programs: Free and Paid

Graphic design software allows artists and designers to create stunning visual content. With so many options on the market, deciding which Program is right for your needs can take time and effort. This comprehensive guide examines the best Graphic design programs available today, including paid and free options, to help you determine the best choice for your projects.

What Exactly is Graphic Design Software?

Before diving into the top programs, let's step back and clearly define what graphic design software is.

Core Capabilities

At its essence, graphic design programs provide tools that allow users to:

• Create, edit, and manipulate visual elements like images, illustrations, text, icons, shapes, charts, and more
• Arrange these elements into comprehensive layouts and professional designs
• Export finalised creations into various file formats for print, web, and other applications

In summary – graphic design programs give you a digital toolkit plus a canvas to craft beautiful visual content.

Key Features

While all graphic design programs share those core capabilities, the leading options stand out by also providing features like

• Intuitive and customisable interfaces
• Powerful typography controls
• Interactive page layout tools
• Integration with other programs and services
• Support for animations, 3D objects, etc.
• Libraries of templates, fonts, themes, and assets

Advanced tools like these allow skilled graphic artists to produce sophisticated, refined designs.

6 Top Graphic Design Programs

Which software options cut through the best of the best? Based on reviews from professional designers, surveys of the most popular platforms, and examination of core features – these six programs stand out from the competition:

1. Adobe Creative Cloud

As the industry leader, Adobe CC offers unmatched power and integration through iconic apps like

• Photoshop: Leading image editing and composition application
• Illustrator: Vector graphics creation with advanced illustration tools
• InDesign: Professional page layout and design for print and digital
• After Effects: Motion graphics, visual effects, and video production
• Adobe Fonts: Extensive fonts, Typekit, and typography management
• Adobe Stock: Collection of stock photos, graphics, videos, templates and more

Other apps expand capabilities for animation, drawing, web design, PDFs, and creative workflows. Tight integration through shared files, assets, settings, and convenient Adobe apps like Bridge and Adobe XD round out the ecosystem with advanced collaboration features.

However, the full suite has a steeper price tag, which can limit adoption by hobbyists. The monthly cost varies from $9.99 to $79.99, depending on the plan.

2. Affinity Designer

This increasingly popular graphic design and vector illustration alternative offers many comparable features at a fraction of the cost.

Key perks:

• One-time payment ($49.99)
• Fast rendering speeds
• Intuitive interface
• Pixel-perfect vector designs
• Expandable via Affinity Publisher + Affinity Photo
• Won Apple’s “Best iPad App of the Year”

While missing some higher-end features, Affinity still produces commercial-grade content and supports some PSD editing. The speed alone makes it a go-to for many designers.

3. Procreate

Procreate offers stunning results with natural media emulation for artists and illustrators interested in digital drawing and painting.

Standouts include:

• Over 190 handmade brushes
• Intelligent stroke stabilisation
• Onion skinning and Animation Assist
• 16K canvas support
• Best-in-class Apple Pencil implementation
• Easy GIF and video exports

As an iPad-only application, it has some limitations relative to desktop offerings. However, Procreate's portable power and tactile experience are unmatched. And a bargain at only $9.99.

4. Canva

Transitioning to more template and card-based designs brings us to Canva. What started as an accessible introductory tool has blossomed into legitimate graphic design software thanks to extensions like Canva Print and Canva Video.

Appealing aspects:

• A free tier with paid upgrades
• 100,000+ fonts, templates, illustrations etc
• Drag-and-drop simplicity
• Built-in photo editor
• Animated elements and presentations
• Heavily customisable with branding
• Integrates with apps like MailChimp and Google Workspace

For personal projects, non-profits, social media posts, and printable collateral – Canva can create some surprisingly professional-looking (and customised) content through quick modular assembly rather than intensive illustration.

5. Inkscape

In the realm of open-source vector graphics editors, Inkscape is among the best thanks to powerful capabilities like

• Scalable vector artwork
• Bezier curves and pen tools
• Alpha transparency and blur effects
• Object manipulation
• Extensions for charts, modelling, animations, etc.
• Broad file format support
• Text on path
• Collaborative editing

As free and open-source software, the feature set is impressive. And because SVG is the native format, content scales excellently from the web to high-resolution print—plenty for prosumers and budget-conscious creatives.

6. GIMP

When it comes to advanced image manipulation and composition, GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) fills a role similar to Photoshop as a free alternative.

Noteworthy aspects:

• Completely free and open-source
• Highly expandable via plugins
• Excellent for applying effects and touch-ups
• Layer-based editing
• Very customisable workspace
• Cross-platform functionality
• Batch processing automation

With adjustments and additions from the solid community-driven ecosystem, skilled users can achieve commercial-grade results – especially when applying finishing touches to vector illustrations or other graphic assets.

Comparison Table

Detailed Feature Analysis

Now, let's dive deeper into some of the key features and capabilities graphic design software may provide.

Interface and Workflow

A responsive, intuitive user interface can speed up your creative process tremendously through advantages like:

• Customisable toolbars and menus
• Keyboard shortcuts for everyday tasks
• Expandable with plugins and extensions
• Multiple document support
• Touch compatibility

Plus, conveniences like autosave/versioning, customisable palettes, nondestructive edits, magnetic alignment guides and smart snap-to functions are extremely helpful when constructing professional graphics or arranging complex layouts.

Text Editing

Robust typography controls provide fine-tuned influence over:

• Font selection
• Size, tracking, leading, kerning
• Glyph/character support
• Styles like italic, small caps, underline
• Paragraph tools
• Text wrap alignment
• Custom text paths and shapes
• Special effects

Essentially, you want the ability to work textual content seamlessly into the overall design without limitation.

Object and Shape Creation

At the core of any visual project is standard and customised shapes. Look for abilities like:

• Lines, circles, rectangles, and polygons with modifiers like rounded corners
• Path tools like pen and bezier curve with polygon and line smoothing
• Boolean shape combinations and layering
• Converting text to paths for manipulation
• Custom brushes, symbols, patterns and shapes
• Applying gradients, contours and artistic effects

Ideally, it is available in both raster and vector formats as needed.

Image Handling

Even if not used as the actual background, most designs will still rely on some photographic elements. Essential image functions include:

• Importing a broad range of file formats
• Cropping/resizing/rotating
• Batch processing repeat edits
• Manual touch-up tools
• Filters, adjustments layers and blending
• Masking with variable opacity

The better the native integration and non-destructive editing support, the better.

Illustration Power

For constructing original drawings, illustrations and icons from scratch, advanced options are provided:

• Pressure-sensitive pens with tilt support
• Stabilisation and smoothing
• Specialised pens, pencils, brushes, erasers and so on
• Custom brushes, scatter, textures
• Blend modes for backgrounds
• Raster/vector hybrid workflows

Plus, enhanced capabilities for drawing symmetry, perfect shapes, welding, duplicating, paths and contours.

Layout Strengths

For crafting full posters, flyers, brochures and other collateral, assembly tools like:

• Multi-page support with facing pages
• Master pages/templates
• Grid/column/margin snapping
• Alignment and distribution
• Adaptive text wrap
• Layer locking/groups with isolation mode
• Export print-ready PDFs

It allows complete control over stylistic layout details.

Animation and 3D

On the more advanced end, support for:

• Keyframe-based motion design
• Transitions and transformations
• Inverse kinematics rigging
• 3D model import/lighting/texturing
• Video compositing pipelines

It dramatically expands the multimedia and motion graphic capabilities.

Team Workflows

Finally, for larger organisations or collaborative projects, consider the following:

• Cloud-based access with version history
• Role-based permissions
• Real-time co-editing
• Commenting and project management
• CC library sharing of colours, character styles, etc
• Linked assets cross documents
• Package files for collect and organise

Specialised Use Cases

Let's change gears now and consider some specialised use cases to highlight ideal program pairings:

Logo Design

For professional logo development, Adobe Illustrator and Affinity Designer allow precision control over scalable vector shapes, bezier curves, custom gradients, typography styling, etc.

Once finalised, easily export clean SVG files for web usage or high-resolution PNGs suitable for large-format printing.

Information Graphics

When creating sleek presentations, reports, dashboards, or marketing analytics, Adobe Illustrator provides everything needed for the visualisation of diagrams, flowcharts, and data trends.

Quickly build charts or graphs with smart links to live data in Excel or other sources. Map graphics integrate nicely with Location Services and GIS systems as well. Animating transitions between data visualisations is simple for interactive slide decks.

For interactive web publishing, export responsive SVG graphics enhanced with CSS and JavaScript as needed.

Photo and Video Editing

If focusing specifically on raster image editing, compositing and photography – Adobe Photoshop delivers unrivalled results through features like:

• Complex/non-destructive layer editing
• Precise selections and masks
• Content-aware adjustments
• Camera RAW processing
• Plug-ins like Alien Skin Exposure

For assembling Hollywood quality video composite shots or CGI animations, Adobe AfterEffects brings similar adjustment layer flexibility with:

• Multi-camera sequencing
• Keyframing and tracking data
• Particle systems and physics
• Expansive third-party support

Photoshop and AfterEffects provide a robust pipeline for creative photography and videography professionals.

Book Covers

For indie authors and publishers seeking custom eBook or print covers, Canva offers an easy way to create compelling layouts by remixing and customising from:

• Book and Magazine templates
• Genre-specific themes with matching graphics
• Library of font pairings
• Photo filters and focal adjustments
• Frames, borders and text boxes

And integrated services for direct printing or formatting to distribution standards. Making self-publishing more accessible for non-designers.

Presentations

To complement Excel chart exports or other lower-cost Microsoft PowerPoint enables creatives to transform raw data into user-friendly stories through:

• Professionally designed slide layouts
• Photo, video and graphic insertion
• Smart transitions and animation build sequences
• Presenter tools like laser pointer, pen markup and presenter view

For wide distribution across devices, PowerPoint output adapts seamlessly into the Microsoft ecosystem of apps like Sway, OneDrive and Stream – ensuring smooth playback regardless of hardware limitations.

Budget Options

While premium programs offer exceptional capabilities, free or lower-cost alternatives can still achieve solid results:

Canva: Extremely user-friendly application for simple graphics and printable templates

GIMP: Provides more advanced photo editing and illustration capabilities at no cost

Inkscape: Full-featured vector design and illustration tool under open source licence

These options allow casual users or budget-constrained teams to produce decent graphics, YouTube thumbnails, posters and visuals.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Graphic design programs encompass various applications – each with unique strengths and specialisations. By identifying critical requirements around illustration power, layout needs, photo editing, animation pipelines, and pricing constraints – creatives can zero in on just those tools purpose-built for particular projects.

For most professionals, the unmatched integration and collaboration potential of the full Adobe Creative Cloud suite makes it the primary one-stop shop. But compelling alternatives like Affinity Designer demonstrate that pro-calibre results don’t necessitate high subscription fees either. Plus, the flexibility of jumping from desktop to iPad for specialised apps like Procreate grants artists fantastic freedom of movement.

Even lower cost tiers like Canva, GIMP and Inkscape unlock basic design capabilities to hobbyists that simply weren’t accessible just a few short years ago – fueled by enhancements from the open-source community.

While every genre presents unique demands and nuances, this guide provides an overarching framework for evaluating graphic programs through multiple lenses and narrowing the focus to the essentials that best align for specialised applications and individual budgets or team needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

The post The 6 Best Graphic Design Programs: Free and Paid is by Stuart Crawford and appeared first on Inkbot Design.