20 Best Graphic Design Software for Beginners in 2023
If you’re new to the world of graphic design and you think you won’t be able to achieve great success with free graphic design software, then don’t jump to conclusions. Today’s software market offers many free products that seriously compete with paid top alternatives. These free analogs are in no way inferior to paid ones in the basic set of functions, and sometimes in the advanced one. That’s why I decided to compile for you a list of the best free option that will surely satisfy your requirements without emptying your wallet.
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Top 20 Free Graphic Design Software
To choose the suitable free design software, determine your level of knowledge and skills first. For beginners, it makes sense to look for a newbie-friendly product that supports drag and drop and offers a rich selection of ready-made templates. It will be important for experienced users that the program provides for the creation of projects from scratch.
Also, pay attention to the type of use of the tool – online or offline – to ensure the best user experience. I also made my list with the technical requirements of your PC in mind, so you can use all the listed tools even without the best computer for graphic design.
1. Adobe Express — Our Choice
Free Adobe Stock assets
Verdict: As one of the top cloud resources for designers, Adobe Express, formerly known as Adobe Spark, offers pro-level design creation and easy sharing options. In addition to tools for creating your designs from scratch, you can also use images, fonts, and various graphic assets from stock collections. It has all the options and features to meet the basic and advanced needs of almost all designers, no matter where they use it – from iOS, Android, or a browser.
This is a powerful free graphic design software for beginners and marketers because the creation of branded and advertising graphics without special knowledge and experience is quick and hassle-free. If after trying the limited options, you want to use an expanded arsenal, you learn how to buy Adobe InDesign without subscription.
2. Canva
For quick edits
Verdict: Canva has 10 million users and provides universal tools using which you can design anything you want, including email headers, presentations and infographics for blogs. The design of their website is very intuitive and beginner-friendly. It also has a drag-and-drop function and high-quality free graphic templates.
This software is a popular option for non-designers as a last resort because it works well with graphics. If you are going to work with simple graphics, this is the best free graphic design software. It’s wonderful if you want to make something fast and do not have much time to acquire professional skills.
3. Visme
The largest library of visual assets
Verdict: Visme is an online tool for branding and creating visual assets such as charts, slideshows, storyboards, and even social media ad units. You can cope with such a variety of tasks thanks to an extensive stock library of graphic resources. Visme focuses on brand aesthetics and has features to preserve color palettes, images, videos and other assets of your brand/company.
In addition to classic presentations, you can create short videos and animations with transitions. The software offers numerous templates and allows you to add text or select the transition you want. One of the most important innovations is the possibility to work as a team on the same file. You can draw up a special plan and develop a report or diagram of your business for your design team.
4. SVGator
Specialized toolset for creating vectors
Verdict: SVGator is a user-friendly program for drawing SVGs. You can open a free SVG maker in any popular browser and start your creative workflow. The highlight of the program is the possibility to create and export as many static SVG files as you need without spending a cent. Though SVGator is simple to use, the range of features is far from entry-level.
Seasoned graphic designers will surely appreciate quick node workflow, top-notch graphic tools, a high-end grid system, smart guides, and snapping options. All these functions are located on the UI for fast access. What’s more, there is a detailed tutorial on the website describing the process of using this software to create different types of graphic design. If you are currently in a creative rut, you can examine the work of other users, to get inspired.
5. Appy Pie
For app development
Verdict: Appy Pie is a web-based tool for creating apps. The best thing is that even inexperienced users can make a unique application, following the drag & drop algorithms. If you want to learn the intricacies of the app development process in detail, you should head to the section with knowledge resources and guidelines. Any app created on this platform is compatible with Windows, Android, and iOS devices.
When the development stage is over, you can share your app with other users in popular app stores. This is also a great way to earn some money for your project. Appy Pie is a go-to platform for small companies and individuals, who want to create different apps without grappling with coding.
6. Design Wizard
Content licensed for commercial use
Verdict: Design Wizard enables you to produce spectacular videos and image designs within a short time. On top of it, you can develop your own design ideas with their free tools, or upload your logos, photos, and fonts to set up custom color palettes. A further advantage offers the library, which contains over 1,000,000 premium images, thousands of high-quality videos, illustrations, graphics, and more.
The company ensures that all videos and images in the library are licensed for commercial use. This way, you can forget about copyright issues. I am into it that their professional team for graphic design has set up thousands of templates that are consistent for printing and social media. You can edit every single element of the template you’ve chosen. More than that, uploading or changing backgrounds, videos, and colors, is also at your disposal.
7. Mega Creator
To create content for social media
Verdict: Mega Creator is an online tool, which lets you create stunning designs with a simple drag-and-drop action. With its pre-designed templates and intuitive interface, you can create pro-looking visual content even without skills, and design experience.
Additionally, Mega Creator offers an extensive library of built-in photos, illustrations, and icons to save tons of your time on browsing stock resources. Plus, it features free fonts collection for any need: from classic to fancy ones.
8. Vectr
For collaboration
Verdict: This free design software allows creating different projects – from t-shirt prints to full-fledged graphics for websites. Vectr has a simple and intuitive interface, allowing you to export created files in real-time, and is one of the best Adobe Illustrator alternatives.
Also, this software provides functionality for exchanging the information between different devices, which makes it convenient for team design. The Vectr’s learning curve is low. It’s very simple to find various tutorials using Vectr software as there are about 30 of them on their website.
9. Renderforest
Design and marketing tools
Verdict: Renderforest is an online service for creating high-quality graphic designs. The process is really intuitive thanks to the abundance of adjustable templates. You can find different options for creating logos, mockups, SMM and promo graphics, as well as printables.
Finding a proper template is simple – you can either navigate across the list or use the search window, entering the relevant keyword. Besides, it is possible to see how a particular template will look in an Instagram story or post, or a YouTube thumbnail.
If you want to personalize a chosen template, you can do it right in the program without using third-party tools. For instance, you can add and format text, insert assets, icons, and shapes, and upload images.
10. DesignHill
Fast speed
Verdict: Designhill Studio is an incredible photo editor tool that comes with an innovative and user-friendly interface. It has served millions of businesses and individuals across the world. You can not only edit your favorite images but also create & personalize your logo.
Surprisingly, the software offers an extensive library of templates, elements, and effects making editing a breeze. What makes it even more interesting is that it’s free to use. Both designers, as well as non-designers, can use it for varied purposes.
11. Corel Vector
For beginners
Verdict: The developers of Corel Vector (formerly Gravit Designer) software offer many possibilities. This is something between Inkscape and Vectr. It has more functions than Vectr and is as intuitive as Inkscape. This program allows you to do everything that you expect from a vector software and have some tools typically available in digital asset management software.
You can create curves, edit paths, manage layers and use the knife function. It supports SVG, PDF, JPEG, SKETCH and since recently, EPS formats for import and export too. Besides, you can work on your projects on different platforms.Gravit Cloud provides a smooth transfer of files between desktop and online versions.
12. Easelly
For infographics
Verdict: The next option might seem too creative for those who haven’t worked with infographics yet. Especially, if you take into consideration a set of different icons in the form of moving people, various lines and diagrams.
This free design software allows you to create and edit different infographics and display it in PDF or JPG formats. The basic version is free but additional elements are available for a small fee. However, unlike many other data visualization tools, Easelly is way cheaper.
13. Inkscape
For vector graphics
Verdict: This open-source vector free graphics program is widely known as a free analog of Adobe Illustrator. The difference between them is in the fact that Inkscape uses Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) as the main format. Designers, who are familiar with vector graphics, will easily master this program. Here you can create projects of any complexity.
It is a winner in Inkscape vs Photoshop battle, if you need a program for beginning graphic designers as it provides a large number of modern tools and effects, including complex path manipulations, node editing, bitmap tracing, and path-based text. As soon as you enter their website, Inkscape immediately shows that it’s a professional tool for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. However, there is a separate page that contains instructions and tells how to download it.
14. DesignCap
Huge collection of templates
Verdict: DesignCap offers a platform that invites you to create unique and professional-looking banners and flyers with thehelp of the included templates and visual assets. This website provides an array of advanced editing features that let you customize nearly anything about your designs including size, placement, angle, text font, color, effects, background, and much more.
DesignCap allows you to enhance your posters and flyers further using the integrated library of fonts, shapes, backgrounds, and stock photos. Moreover, you can use this online software for visualizing various data and creating charts and graphs. Personalize the design until it meets all your needs and then present data to your customers and business associates in a clear, concise manner.
15. GIMP
Powerful toolset
Verdict: GIMP graphic design software is well-thought-out and surprisingly free. It provides a versatile editor for photos that can work on all main operating systems. GIMP is for those who are looking for robust software to perform different manipulations with photos, create paintings or mock-ups.
When comparing GIMP vs Photoshop, the interface of these free graphics software is similar. A few tool icons are the same and the layer setup is not worse than in Photoshop. The developers consider the requests of the users and do everything to enhance the functions of this software.
16. Lunacy
Provides real-time collaboration
Verdict: Lunacy is a tool that allows you to create vector graphics for UI/UX and web design. It offers superior performance to Figma and is more advanced than Sketch! Additionally, it enables users to work together on a single project in real-time even if they’re using different platforms. This software has modest technical requirements and offers great responsiveness even on mid range laptops.
Lunacy allows you to create and edit both cloud- and locally-stored projects, as it gives you the ability to switch between the two modes whenever needed. The software also offers Sketch format support, meaning you can employ its main hand-off and version control features such as Avocode, Zeplin, Abstract, Simplie, and multiple others. If needed, you can also conveniently open .sketch projects in Figma and XD.
17. SVG-Edit
For simple tasks
Verdict: SVG-edit is one of the free design programs that does exactly what its name implies. It edits SVG and creates its own. This is a free online program that is available in the majority of browsers. A set of functions is standard.
Here you can create shapes, draw with pencil, transform lines into paths, color and add images. The result can be exported to popular web formats, such as WMP, JPG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and, of course, SVG. The interface is quite simple and reminds me of drawing programs from the beginning of the 2000s – there is nothing special here.
18. Daz 3D
For creating 3D graphics
Verdict: This is the best free graphic design software for animators, illustrators and designers. It can be used for 3D animation, figure posing and rendering. The software represents a combination of various graphic design platforms, solutions and additions, such as Hexagon, Genesis 8 and Daz Studio. They work together in order to create the possibilities of designing 3D rigged human models.
Also, using Daz 3D, you can create amazing digital locations, animations and illustrations. It’s a universal software that offers a lot of functions that help adjust scenes and characters and make masterpieces out of them. Daz 3D has a figure platform and character engine that enables the creation of detailed characters.
19. Blender
For 3D content and graphics
Verdict: Blender is one of the best graphics programs for creating 3D computer graphics. It is used for 3D modeling and visualization in different spheres. Also, Blender will be useful for creating outdoor advertising, print products and web-design. It is often simpler and faster to model the object from the right angle than to search for it, select it or draw.
The result looks more realistic as when visualizing the object, its physical features are taken into account. If you need to include objects in your design that don’t exist in real life, you can only model them or draw.
20. Krita
For drawing
Verdict: Krita is the best free graphic design software with an open source for illustrators and concept artists. It will be most useful for comic book artists as it has a set of tools, such as halftones and ready-made templates, specifically for these tasks.
However, the software is suitable for other types of drawing as well. Krita offers a large set of drawing tools, including vanishing points, smooth shapes, layer masks and many more. Moreover, the program is often advertised as a great alternative to Adobe Ps, and there are mant Krita vs Photoshop reviews covering their similarities and differences.
