Graphic design software is an essential tool for creating and manipulating visual content. However, choosing the best graphic design software can be challenging among much available software.
In this article, I reviewed 6 best graphic design software available in the market. Whether you’re a professional graphic designer, digital artist, or just starting out, this graphic design software can help you bring your vision to life.
Canva
Canva is one of my favorite graphic design software. It saves my lots of time and energy and helps to create stunning visuals for my blog and social media.
I still use it daily for creating designs. The platform is very user-friendly. And without any prior design knowledge, you can easily create visual content such as social media images, graphics, presentations, posters, and other designs.
It offers a range of templates, design elements, and tools that allow users to create designs quickly. You can incorporate these assets into your designs.
Canva is a popular choice for businesses, non-profits, schools, and individuals who need to create professional-looking designs for various purposes due to its features, drag-and-drop functionality, and free access.
I wrote an in-depth canva review; you may check it to learn more about this software.
The company offers free and paid plans, making them accessible to a wide range of users with different budgets.
Here are some key features of Canva design software:
- Templates: Canva offers an extensive library of customizable templates for various design types, including posters, banners, presentations, social media posts, and more.
- Design Elements: The software has more extensive collections of design elements, such as icons, shapes, illustrations, and more, to enhance their designs.
- Drag-and-Drop Interface: Canva’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to add elements, move them around, and resize them as needed. Even a newbie can design perfectly with this software.
- Stock Photos and Assets: Canva provides access to millions of stock photos, illustrations, and other assets. Users can use them to create a stunning designs.
- Easy Collaboration: You can collaborate with others in real time. It will help to work on designs as a team.
- Branding Tools: Branding tools allow users to set their brand colors, fonts, and other elements to ensure consistent branding across all designs.
- Presentation Features: Presentation features such as slide transitions and animations help users to create professional-looking presentations.
- Accessibility: Users can access it from any device with an internet connection. So it is easy to work on designs from anywhere.
- Integrations: The integration feature allows users to integrate the software with other popular tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, Slack, and more.
Pros and Cons of Canva
Pros
- Pre-made templates
- Team collaboration
- Social media post
- Brand feature
- tons of design elements and credit-free images
- 100% free for primary and secondary teachers
- 100% free for k-12 students and teachers
Cons
- Video rendering takes a lot of time
Pricing of Canva
- Free
- Canva Pro: $6.49/month for one person
- Canva for Teams: $8.49/month for the first five people
Visme
Visme is a graphic design and presentation software that allows users to create professional-quality visual content such as infographics, reports, and presentations.
With various templates and design elements, Visme makes it easy for users to create visually appealing and compelling content. The software offers a variety of features, including the ability to add images, videos, and other multimedia elements to projects, as well as the ability to customize text, colors, and layouts.
The software suits individuals, businesses, and organizations looking to create engaging and compelling visual content.
Some key features of Visme include:
- Templates: Visme offers various customizable templates for creating different types of visual content, such as infographics, reports, and presentations.
- Design Elements: The software includes an extensive library of design elements, such as icons, images, and charts, for enhancing the visual appeal of the design.
- Text and Layout Customization: It allows users to customize the text and layout of their designs by selecting various fonts, colors, and layouts.
- Multimedia Elements: Users can add multimedia elements to their designs, such as images, videos, and audio.
- Collaboration: The Company allows users to share their designs with others and collaborate on projects in real-time.
- Presentation Mode: This allows users to present their designs to an audience professionally and engagingly.
- Interactive Elements: With this feature, users can create interactive elements such as buttons, pop-ups, and more.
- Animation and Transitions: It allows users to add animation and transitions to their designs to make them more engaging and dynamic.
- Export and Share: Visme allows users to export their designs in various file formats and share them easily across different platforms.
- Mobile compatibility: Visme designs are optimized for mobile devices so that you can create, view, and share your designs on any device.
These are just some of the key features of Visme, and the software continues to evolve, adding more features to make the design process more intuitive, efficient, and professional.
Pros and Cons of Visme
Pros
- Appealing presentations.
- Data visualization
- perfect social media design
- Professional animated infographics
Cons
- Could be better formatting and layout customization
- It takes much time to understand its uses perfectly.
Pricing Plan of Visme
Visme offers four different pricing plans
- Free
- Starter: $12.25/month, billed yearly
- Pro: $24.75/month, billed yearly
- Visme for teams: custom pricing.
Adobe Illustrator
Are you looking for vector drawing graphic design software? Then, Adobe Illustrator is the best solution for you.
You can use this software for vector art drawing, logo design, banners, posters, and other creative design purposes.
However, the software offers a comprehensive set of features and capabilities, making it a popular choice for professionals and businesses in various industries.
Here are some key features of Adobe Illustrator:
- Vector Graphics: Illustrator uses vector graphics, which allows designs to be resized without losing quality.
- Customizable Tools: The software has full customization features. It means you can play with templates, text, photographs, fonts, and more to create specific need designs.
- Custom Brushes: This feature allows you to expand your choices with endless possibilities.
- Integration with Adobe Creative Cloud: The software integrates with other Adobe Creative Cloud applications. So, it is easy to move designs from Illustrator to other applications such as Photoshop, InDesign, and more.
- Cross-Platform Availability: You can use this software in Windows and Mac operating systems. With an internet connection, you can access it from any device.
- Advanced Design Features: Some advanced design features, such as the ability to create gradients, masks, and blends and support for graphic styles, symbols, and pattern swatches, will help to create stunning designs
- Shortcuts and Keyboard Customization: Illustrator includes shortcuts and the ability to customize keyboard shortcuts, making it easier to work efficiently.
- Community and Support: The Company has a comprehensive support system and a larger community. So it is easy to find answers to questions and access resources to help with design projects.
Pros and Cons of Illustrator
Pros
- Vector Illustration
- Font, text, copy handling
- Tracing
- Exporting files
- Connecting with other adobe software
- A massive amount of tools to create a unique design
Cons
- The user interface is a bit confusing.
- crashing problem
Pricing of Illustrator
- $20.99/month
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a top-rated image editing software. The software has a comprehensive set of tools for editing images perfectly. However, it also works well for graphic design. You can perfectly design banners, posters, cards, and more.
Though it is not ideal tool for print graphics, you can create stunning web graphics with this tool. It is an essential tool for photographers, graphic designers, digital artists, and other professionals. If you are creating a design for web graphics, you must try this tool at least once.
Here are some key features of Adobe Photoshop:
- Image Editing: Photoshop offers a comprehensive set of tools for editing images, including tools for color correction, retouching, layer and masking, and compositing.
- Design Tool: The software has many design tools, such as adding text and shapes to images,3D modeling, advanced compositing, motion graphics, filter and effects, and more. It helps designers to create designs and layouts.
- Third-Party Plugins: It supports a wide range of third-party plugins. So you have opportunities to access additional tools and features.
- Customizable Interface: Photoshop’s interface can be customized to fit specific needs. You can create and save custom workspaces.
- Integration with Adobe Creative Cloud: Photoshop integrates with other Adobe Creative Cloud applications. It allows users to move designs from one application to another quickly.
- Large User Community: Photoshop has a large user community, making it easy to find resources and support for using the software.
Pros and Cons of Adobe Photoshop
Pros
- Raw image editing
- Image manipulation
- Customizable user interface design
- Digital painting and matte painting
- Social media/web banners
- Any digital graphics design
Cons
- web graphics design
- A beginner may get confused due to its lots of feature
Pricing of Adobe Photoshop
- $20.99/month ( 7 days free trial before purchasing)
Affinity Designer 2
Affinity Designer is a vector graphics design software developed by Serif Labs. The latest version, Affinity Designer 2, brings some fantastic new features for graphic designers and digital artists.
Here are some key features of Affinity Designer 2:
- Grid System: It’s designed with a versatile grid system for video game designers. This system helps to set up grids for creating isometric images in any order. Users can control angles, gutters, spacing, and subdivisions. So they can create accurate layouts.
- Snapping Option: Designers can lock and position objects and elements based on many factors, such as grids, alignment guides, shapes, and metal nodes of other objects.
- Vector Wrap: This feature helps users to create wrap-over vector artwork and text. Users can see live previews even on complex illustrations.
- Shape Builder Tool: This feature allows you to add or subtract shapes and segments more effectively. Now, users can quickly create more complex shapes.
- X-ray view mood: This new feature allows you to show your work’s makeup. It is a handy feature for the targeted selection of a specific curve/object.
- DXF/DWG Import: You can import AutoCAD, DXF/DWG files and edit them more quickly.
Pros and Cons of Affinity Designer 2
Pros
- cost-effective software
- Multi-platform uses
- Import and edit AutoCAD
- Onetime fee
Cons
- beginners may get confused while using features
Pricing of Affinity Designer
- $69.99/one-time fee
- $169.99/ one-time fee (you will get affinity designer 2, affinity photo, and publisher access)
Corel Draw
CorelDRAW is a professional vector graphics software developed by Corel Corporation. It is not a single software but a bundle for graphic design solutions.
Therefore, it is compelling graphic design software in budget-friendly subscriptions. You will get all toolkits for vector illustrations, layout, image editing, and typography.
Some Key Features of Corel Draw
- Vector Illustration: This will allow for turning basic lines into complex artwork. You can create curves with versatile shaping and add creative effects to your artwork.
- Page Layout: This will help create the page layout for brochures, multi-page documents, and more.
- Font Management: You can use your favorite font without installing them.
- Photo Editing: With Corel Photo-Paint, you can edit photos by adjusting the color, removing unwanted objects, enhancing beautification, and more.
The non-destructive editing, bitmap to vector tracing, and collaboration features make the software useful in graphic design.
Pros and Cons of Corel Draw
Pros
- user friendly
- Easy to vector and recreate designs
- High-quality bitmap image editing
- Intuitive interface.
Cons
- The trial version has limited features
- Limited editing tools
- Layering could be better
Pricing of CorelDraw
- Free for 15 days. (free trial)
- Annual plan: $23.75/month
- One-time fee: $558
What Is Graphic Design Software
Graphic design software is a computer program that allows users to create and manipulate visual content for various design projects, such as images, illustrations, and typography.
These programs typically include various tools and features, such as creating shapes, applying color and effects, working with text, and importing and exporting various file formats.
With the increasing importance of visual content in modern communication and media, graphic design software has become an essential tool for many individuals and organizations.
Along with professionals, amateur designers and hobbyists also use this tool to design web banners, advertising elements, logos, illustrations, and other purposes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the best graphic design software depends on the user’s specific needs and design preferences. However, you must pay attention to some factors, such as cost, ease of use, supported file formats, and the availability of tutorials and support resources while choosing the software