11+ Best Graphic Design Software for The Ultimate Design work

Affiliate Disclaimer: Artmellows.com may contain links to affiliate websites( Amazon and others), and we receive an affiliate commission for any purchases made by you on the affiliate website using such links. For more Info check our Disclosure here.

Looking for the best software for graphic design? This article provides an overview of the best graphic design programs available on the market today.

What exactly does “Graphic Design Software” refer to?

Illustrations, photos and graphics, images, icons, and other forms of multimedia material can all be designed, edited, and published with the use of software for graphic design.

Tools for graphic design may also contain functionality for editing video and film, audio recording, internet sharing, collaboration features, implementations for people who are not designers, and more.

What factors should be considered before selecting graphic design software?

There is a wide selection of graphic design software programs available today, and each one offers a unique set of advantages and disadvantages over the others.

In order to locate the piece of software that best suits your requirements, it is essential to have a solid understanding of the features that are offered and the ways in which they can be applied.

While certain Graphic Design Software packages are more suited for the creation of intricate graphics and illustrations, others are better suited for the creation of simple designs or for altering photographs.

It is also essential to think about the interface, namely how simple it is to use and navigate. Will you be able to pick up how to make use of all the features in a short amount of time?

Finally, think about how much money you’ll have to spend on the software. While other programs can be fairly pricey, others are available at a very reasonable cost. Be sure to pick a program that is affordable within the constraints of your financial plan.

In today’s fast-paced, digital society, graphic design is entirely dependent on software. Whether you are a hobbyist or a professional, personal computing and graphics tools have altered the conventional methods of work for designers and artists. Therefore, the question of the hour is: what is the best graphic design software for creatives?

As there is a great deal of graphic design software on the market that claims to be the best, it can be difficult to find the optimal solution. More potent and abundant options make the final decision difficult.

Don’t worry at all. I Promise, I have done the legwork for you by evaluating all well-known and some lesser-known graphic design tools. 

By narrowing the list down to eleven of the best graphic design software, I hope to assist you in locating the ideal solution for your design needs. 

Adobe Plans for Creative Cloud and more:

What is the Best Graphic Design Software for The Ultimate Design work

11+ Best Graphic Design Software for The Ultimate Design work

( Free & paid)

  1. Illustrator( Ai) — The best, stable Industry-standard vector graphics software
  2. InDesign(Id) — Layout and page design software
  3. Photoshop(Ps) — the best Photo editing software
  4. CorelDraw — Best vector-based Adobe Photoshop alternative 
  5. Canva — Best free drag-and-drop Adobe alternative and for NON-designers & marketers (Get 30 days free)
  6. Adobe Creative Cloud Express -A free and easy-to-use design software from Adobe (Get 65% discount here)
  7. GIMP — Best free Photoshop alternative
  8. Sketch — The best professional  & Most affordable software for Design work
  9. Affinity Designer — The most powerful & Value software for graphic design
  10. InVideo.io — A user-friendly and versatile online video editing option
  11. Designerr.io The Best eBook Maker in the Market
  12. Gravit Designer — The Fast & best design software for multi-platform use
  13. Inkscape — A free software for illustrators and designers 

1. Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator

The Best, most stable, and Industry Standard Vector Graphics Software

When it comes to vector graphics, Adobe Illustrator is the tool of choice for designers. It’s a sophisticated drawing application used to design logos, infographics, icons, and intricate images. 

PC Magazine named Adobe Illustrator the finest vector graphics editing tool in 2018. Illustrator’s standout features include collaborative editing, better glyph snapping, and cloud storage, among others. 

Pros- The best, most stable, and most powerful Industry standard Vector Graphics Software. Adobe Illustrator has given you a platform to express your creativity and progress it. You can design mind-blowing logos, branded businesses, and designed presentations, and vector icons. it is the best vector design in the market.

Cons- The only con Is pricey for a beginner and… the subscription pricing model… but I guess this is where the whole industry is heading to.  It needs some improvement in its capability to interact with other software, out of the Adobe family.

Download Adobe Illustrator Free Trial is available for Windows, iPad, and MAC.

2. Adobe Indesign

Page layout and design software

For layout and page design, millions of digital designers rely on Adobe InDesign. 

To produce more effective files, the program may be used to make interactive PDFs, digital magazines, books, eBooks, and posters, among other things. 

Some of the app’s notable features include subject-aware text wrapping, easy color placement, Adobe Fonts auto-activation, HSB compatibility, and so on.

Pros– It possesses an impressively robust set of tools, capabilities, and integrations in its arsenal.

This piece of software does not allow for the creation of nearly any kind of design.

Cons– It’s pricey…

It does not have a very pleasant experience for the user.

There are a lot of tools that do not have the level of simplicity that they should.

Despite the fact that both programs originated from the same developer, many of the same tools found in Adobe Photoshop behave somewhat differently in this software. In addition, the two programs do not share the same programming language.

Learn More About InDesign

3. Photoshop(Ps) — Photo editing software

The best Photo Editing Software in the market

Photoshop(Ps) — Photo editing software.

Photoshop is the industry standard for photo editing software. It is used for generating picture compositions, editing, and applying effects to images and mockups of websites. 

However, the popular application offers much more than simple to advanced image editing tools.

Photoshop is a dynamic image editing and rendering application that can create and modify raster pictures, text, and vector graphics, as well as VFX and 3-D graphics. 

There are various versions of Photoshop, including Photoshop Elements, Photoshop Lightroom, Photoshop Express, and Photoshop CC. The application is iPad, Mac, and Windows compatible.

Pros 

  • Adobe Photoshop offers excellent tools for creating images from a blank canvas.
  • Users can generate dynamic images for many multimedia platforms.
  • The software is excellent for transforming simple photographs into pieces of art.

Cons

  • This software is not intuitive for novice users, especially if they have never used any Adobe design applications.
  • The price may deter some customers. Although you can subscribe to a monthly subscription for the cloud-based version, the standalone version is prohibitively expensive.
  • Having wizards for producing filters and various types of photo masks would be really beneficial. Easily accessible quick cuts would save so much time..

Learn More About Adobe Photoshop

4. Corel Draw-Graphic Design Options for all Skill levels

Graphics Suite-Graphic Design Options for all Skill levels

Corel Draw —Graphics Suite

Your fully loaded professional design toolset, CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite, can help you efficiently produce stunning vector illustrations, layouts, picture editing, and typography projects. 

With rapid, guaranteed access to new features and content, top performance, and support for the most cutting-edge technology, a cost-effective membership offers amazing continuous value.

Pros 

  • Very simple design interface Simple vectorization and recreation of designs
  • Can export to numerous prevalent formats
  • Highly user-friendly

Cons

  • When too many typefaces are installed, performance suffers.
  • Occasionally, exporting particular files takes longer.
  • I’d like to see a bit more consistency with PNG exporting. Sometimes it works properly, but other times it appears hit or miss with translucent PNGs.


Learn More About CorelDraw here

5. Canva

Canva-Easy graphics Design Options for all skill levels

Canva —Easy -to-use SAAS Graphics Suite

Canva allows its users to design graphics for social networking, presentations, posters, and other visual material.

Anyone can take an idea and turn it into something beautiful thanks to the program’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface, extensive library of pre-made templates, and a wide variety of design elements (including fonts, illustrations, stock photography, video, and audio content, and the ability to embed content from the web, like GIFs and Google Maps).

Canva may be accessed on desktop, mobile, and tablet devices. Canva is the ultimate social media, print, and beyond design tool, and now you can learn more about it.



Learn More About Canva here

6. Adobe Creative Cloud Express (Formerly Adobe Spark) — Social media graphics creation app

Social media graphics design software

Adobe Creative Cloud Express (Formerly Adobe Spark) — Social media graphics creation app.

When it comes to the production of promotional multimedia content, Adobe Spark, which is now known as Adobe Creative Cloud Express, is a vital solution that is ideal for creative professionals and small enterprises alike.

 It provides you with a variety of templates that can be altered to meet your specific requirements. Because of this, even among users who do not have any prior knowledge of design or other necessary talents, this software enjoys a great deal of popularity. 

Adobe Creative Cloud Express has replaced Adobe Spark. It is a simple-to-use program for designing graphics, collages, flyers, films, and animations. 

It provides a variety of templates for creating the most visually appealing posters. It additionally includes Adobe Photoshop Express and Adobe Premiere Rush. 

Personalize your project by adding your logo, colors, and font. It provides a variety of free photos and effects to choose from for your project. 

You can collaborate with other members of your team on the same project using the tag team edit. It can be used on mobile devices and the web and is compatible with Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android.

Pros

  • Numerous themes, pictures, and extras for creating professional images.
  • As it is a product that does not require a large amount of room to instal and facilitates the creation of social media postings in an easier and quicker manner.

Cons

  • The integration with additional services, such as Meta Business Suite and Instagram.
  • A little bit confusing for a newbie, especially if you are accustomed to a different method.


Learn More About Adobe Cloud Express( Spark)

7. GIMP

The Image Editing Software( Free Alternative to Photoshop)

GIMP is a piece of software used for modifying images. GIMP was developed to be a free-to-use tool that is user-friendly and available to everyone who is connected to the internet. 

It includes a straightforward user interface that provides access to a wide variety of tools and functions, including color palettes, brightness, and contrast sliders, and the capacity to crop, clone, and rotate photos. 

It is, in all practical respects, a freeware version of well-known image editing software products such as Adobe Photoshop.

Pros

  • The best part is that it’s free and open-source, saving you tons of money on licence fees. It can execute nearly all of Photoshop’s capabilities. I’ve been using GIMP for years to create social media posts and design graphics; it makes photo editing simple. 
  • Utilize primarily background removal and retouching tools for photo editing. Everything functions properly. It is simple to export images in several formats.

Cons

  • It occasionally crashes when working with huge photos. It operates sluggishly and requires a lot of resources. 
  • Beginners must devote a great deal of time to learning it. The user interface is not as intuitive as Photoshop.



Learn More About GIMP

8. SKETCH

The best tool for the Collaboration design process

Sketch software is a unified platform that was developed to assist businesses in the creation of icons and vector graphics, the facilitation of collaboration among team members, and the modification of designs’ topography or fonts. 

You may create really professional-looking graphics and wireframes with the Sketch application, which is a very high-quality design tool. 

The sketch is a visual design tool that may be used for the prototyping of applications. It comes with a broad selection of extensions and plugins and has an active user community.

Pros

  • Sketch’s plugins are a big reason why people use it. Link Autolayout, Magic mirror, and Git sketch plugins help. 
  • It connects simply to Invision for prototyping and presentation. Switching from Adobe illustrator or photoshop to sketch is easy.

Cons

  • The sketch is almost perfect, but it’s only available on Mac OS, which makes it tough to share editable files with clients and freelancers. 
  • Sketch doesn’t allow file access from anywhere or collaborative file editing.


Learn More About SKETCH

9. Affinity Designer

The best software to Create Architectural layouts & designs

Graphic designers, web designers, game developers, and professional illustrators can all benefit from the use of this vector graphics program, which helps them produce UI/UX designs, typography, icons, and concept art. With the help of 

Affinity Designer’s contour tool, graphic designers may use artboards of any size to create abstract forms that can be used for constructing logos or designing architectural layouts. 

In addition, the solution features functionality that allows for a zoom of one hundred percent and a pixel preview, which enables teams to inspect vectors in retina quality to ensure that the artwork is accurate.

Pros

With Affinity Design, You can promote my services in any way you want. It’s a great piece of software.

Cons

Some small features are missing (like the object tracing or the shape builder) but those are needed only for advanced users

Also Read: Affinity designer vs. Adobe illustrator

Learn More About Affinity Designer

10. InVideo

the Best Videomaker software in the market

InVideo is a web-based video editor that makes it simple for anyone to produce and edit videos in a matter of minutes, regardless of whether or not they have previous expertise editing videos. 

InVideo provides assistance to content producers and brands in the production of various sorts of compelling videos for distribution on YouTube and other social media channels. This enables brands and content creators to expand their audiences and their businesses.

Users of InVideo come from all different types of companies, including startups, creative agencies, and huge enterprises. 

When it comes to producing high-quality films, social media marketers and news producers will find that InVideo’s extensive library of video editing templates and tools is extremely helpful.

Learn More About InVideo

11. Designrr.io- eBook Maker

The best ebook maker

The absolute best app is available for Creating ebooks!
The editor does have some flaws, but the process of importing blog articles is so ridiculously simple and effective that it more than makes up for them.

Using it to create lead magnets for your marketing work is priceless…

Learn More About Designrr.io

12. Gravit designer

The best software for Illustrations and Vector Graphics

Gravit Designer is a system for producing vector graphics that is hosted in the cloud and offers assistance to graphic designers in the creation of illustrations, mock-ups, and wireframes. 

Text boxes, blending, object clipping and styling, character and paragraph controls, and more are some of the features that are included.

The dashboard allows professionals to define the height and breadth of papers that they are working with. 

Additionally, it provides a variety of predetermined canvas sizes for use in print, online design, social media content, and other applications.

Pros: 

A professional service provider who works not only with other professionals but also with the people who will actually use the services. It’s just like everyone has the same suit.

Cons

It’s pricey, because it can be hard for small consumers to use the services of such a platform. If this could be made better, there’s nothing like it.


Learn More About GravitDesigner

13. INKSpace

The best Open source alternative to Adobe Illustrator

Inkscape is a free and open-source alternative to Adobe Illustrator that, like GIMP, was developed by a group of passionate and skilled enthusiasts. It offers a wide range of powerful features. 

It has a great deal of versatility and power, making it an outstanding instrument for graphic designers.

Pros 

  • Extensible with add-ons, Excellent support for a variety of file formats and A comprehensive range of vector editing tools.
  • Inkscape is a great program for editing vector graphics. It lets you make beautiful vector designs and save them in SVG format so that other programs can use them. The tools that come with the package are very useful and come in many forms.

Cons

  • Processing can be a little bit sluggish at times
  • Sometimes, using Inkscape is a little strange, and not all of the tools are easy to figure out. Still, it doesn’t take long to get used to these habits and quirks.


Learn More About INKSpace

About the Author:

Manny Acharya is the co-founder of Artmellows. Your go-to place for Design, Digital Art, Digital sculpting, Photography, Design Tools and gears Info, and Product Reviews. Manny is a Digital Artist, 3D Sculpt Designer, Ardent Photography, Drone flying Enthusiast, and tech Lover. He supercharges Digital Art and design by crafting memorable 3D sculptures & 2D Design and art. Learn more About Manny:

PS: Manny has created a Beginner Friedly ebook to Learn the Nomad 3D Sculpt App. Know More about the eBook. Know more about Manny

Similar Posts