Graphic designers designs most of the digital pictures, logos, banners, posters, visiting cards etc. They use various graphic design software to make pretty and attractive designs. These programs are Free. Today in this article I’m gonna talk about Top 10 Best Free Graphic Design Software for Windows and MAC. Let’s see all of them one by one. Jul 05, 2012 The best and most popular design software programs are Adobe Creative Suite, CorelDraw Graphics Suite and Xara Designer Pro, but this software was designed for professionals, not beginners. However, the following four free programs were created to give novice designers the opportunity to get their feet wet before diving headfirst into the water.
- Free Graphic Design Software For Mac For Beginners
- Best Graphics Software For Beginners
- Graphic Design software, free download For Mac
- Free Graphic Software For Mac
- Best Free Graphic Design Software
- Best Free Graphic Design Software For Beginners Mac
About the author:This guest article was written by Emma Best from Laptopical - a guide to the latest laptop reviews and laptop related news. You can also follow her on Twitter.
I've been using my MacBook Pro since a while now and I must say: I really love it. The most common app(s) that designers use has to be Adobe Photoshop (Or the full suite). The app(s) are great, but there is a downside: The price tag. Photoshop CS4 costs $699, CS4 extended is $999 and the full Creative Suite starts at an stunning $1799. For many people this is just a little bit too much to 'play around with'.
Luckily, there are also many free applications out there that can do the same kind of job that Photoshop could do for you. This article rounds up the best 15 free Mac Programs for Graphic Designers. Some of these applications can even do stuff that can't be achieved using Photoshop, or are much more simple to use. Ponomusic world app for mac.
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. This is a free open-source graphic design software that offers professional visual designing tools to both beginners and experts. The tool supports all sorts of Oss including Windows, Linux & Mac OS. If you are doing conceptual art, textures, illustrations & comics, this is the perfect tool for you.
Free Graphic Design Software For Mac For Beginners
Keep your wallet in your pocket, since all these programs will cost you nothing.
GIMP
The most popular of all free photo editing software, GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program, and is highly-supported and frequently updated. Comparative to Photoshop, users can perform basic tasks such as photo retouching, color correction, and image size, or more complicated tasks like image composition and creation. GIMP has a scripting interface for advance users, as well as plugins, extensions, and filters.
Seashore
If you want GIMP, but don't have X11, then Seashore is the appropriate software for you. Based on GIMP, it has nearly all the settings and functions of the more advanced program without the higher requirements.
Inkspace
An excellent alternative to Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw, Inkscape is a free vector graphics program supporting standard SVG format, as well as XML and CSS standards. This program can do everything you'll need in a vector graphics program - tracing, path operations, direct XML editing, etc. Import and export formats include all the common image types, including JPEG, PNG, and TIFF.
Front End Digital Media Workshop
Don't waste time manually resizing individual photos for your various projects. Front End Digital Media is a batch conversion app for images (as well as video and audio), and allows you to mass resize, resample, split, join, and up/down sample JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, PSD, and PICT image files.
Image Tricks
The biggest appeal for the Image Tricks app is the ability to apply dozens of different filters to over 20 different image formats. The finished photos can then be exported as either TIFF, JPEG, or PNG.
Comipro Plus
If you create cartoons of any type, Comipro Plus is an excellent app. Designed in Japanese but usable to English speakers, this program helps create modern-looking comics, including editing and adding word bubbles.
Google SketchUp
Different from a normal vector graphics program, Google's SketchUp allows you to not only create a design, but view it in 3D. It is easier to use than more complicated 3D software, such as AutoCAD, and is free.
Best Graphics Software For Beginners
Colorate
Colorate is used to change and manipulate the colors in a photo. The Library generates a color swatch based on the photo, then allow you to add a new color pallete, either blending the current one, creating a custom one, or randomizing a completely new pallete.
Goldberg
This program is best used for those times when you're viewing your photos, and notice that a color is slightly off, or a side needs cropped a bit more. Instead of firing up a full photo editing application, you can simply make minor adjustments, including color correction, blurs, noise, and embossing.
NIH Image
If you need to animate one of your photos or designs, this program is for you. It's compatible with a wide array of programs, and in addition to animating images, it can also perform minor tweaks to contrast, sharpening, smoothing, filters, and more. It also analyzes particles, angles, and paths.
Scratch
This program is so simple, it can be used also immediately with no prior instruction. It is used for creating small games, interactive art, and animated stories, and is primarily marketed to children. Despite it's juvenile market, it is an excellent tool for putting together quick interactive banners and images without the learning curve.
DAZ Studio
If you're in need of realistic 3D models, DAZ Studio is an easy-to-learn 3D program for creating 3D objects, including people, animals, and objects (buildings, cars, etc). DAZ Studio is easier to use than other 3D animation tools, and is perfect for creating surrealistic and 3D art.
Bryce
Built to run with the aforementioned DAZ Studio software, Bryce is used to create real-looking landscapes using photos of real landscapes. Take a picture of your yard, a forest, some mountains, or other landscapes, import it into Bryce, and then add all the elements needed to turn it into a new world.
ArchiCAD
If you need a 3D design tool with more power and features than Google SketchUp, ArchiCAD is the right program to you. Similar to AutoCAD in both function and name, this program allows users to design their sketches and ideas into a realistic 3D render.
Graphic Design software, free download For Mac
JAlbum
Every graphic designer requires an efficient way to keep all their photos and images organized. JAlbum is the ultimate photo organizer, as it not only allows you to organize your photos and folders using simple drag-and-drop functionality, but it also creates thumbnails and HTML pages of your photos for easy online publishing. The HTML pages to publish can be made to either export a gallery or a slide show. In addition, there's support for IPTC and EXIF data, lossless editing, image filters, style sheets, and an integrated FTP client.
Bonus: Pixelmator
I've added Pixelmator myself to this list, as Emma didn't include this app to her top 15 list. I really love to use Pixelmator myself and I don't think it should be missing from this amazing list.
Pixelmator, the beautifully designed, easy-to-use, fast and powerful image editor for Mac OS X has everything you need to create, edit and enhance your images.
Bonus: Blender
Just like Pixelmator, I've added Blender myself to this list, as Emma didn't include this app to her top 15 list. Blender is a great open source app for 3d content.
Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License.
Are there more Mac Apps that you, as a graphic designer, love to use that is missing from the list above? Please share!
This guest article was provided to you by Emma Best from Laptopical.
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Spread the word and submit to:Not all designers have the money to kit themselves out with the most expensive design software, particularly when embarking on a new career in graphic design or starting a new business. With millions of newspapers, magazines and trade papers striving for designer’s attention, exclusive graphic design, layout, and content are important to achieve uniqueness, and the ultimate design software should have powerful tools and features that can render the most difficult tasks simple. Fortunately, there are lots of free graphic design software that you can choose to do the job well. We have compiled a list of the 7 best design applications and their features:
#1 Lunacy
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Icons8 Lunacy is a free graphic design software for Windows.
This app works offline and supports all .sketch files. Original idea was to build Sketch for Windows. To help developers and designers who use different operating systems to work together.
It is a full-fledged graphic editor with built-in design resources: icons, illustrations, and photos. Lunacy makes software and content work together.
One of the latest updates is a project shadow copy: your design is safe even if your computer suddenly shuts down.
#2 SVG-Edit
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is a graphics design format in which XML is used to detail the shapes. Once this is done, an SVG viewer is used to render the XML. Moreover, modern web browsers are just as capable of displaying SVG in much the same way they display GIF, PNG, and JPG. SVG-Edit is totally built into HTML5, JavaScript and CSS3, without the need for any server-side processing. The software is available over on Github and you can find the download link here, or you can try it live here.
Apart from using SVG-Edit to create documents from scratch and edit them, you can also download and modify the code. The software was designed for 2-dimensional vector graphics, and you would have to look up X3D for 3-dimensional formats. For a brief guide on the capabilities of this software, you can read more here.
#3 Serif DrawPlus Starter Edition
While DrawPlus may not initially come across as a design App that professional graphics designers can use, it is actually surprisingly capable, and it is packaged in a free version that has muscled itself into the list of the top free graphics design applications. The software is intuitive to use and features an array of tools that mirror the functionality of Adobe Illustrator.
Moreover, it features a few extra features implemented in a more user-friendly manner than Adobe’s design software, with 3D-rendering being the chief example. For example, you can quickly make a 3D object via extrusion and apply a plethora of 3D styles that will be instantly applied to your created object. Similarly, the app features a collection of pre-defined templates and brushes to get you started quickly
DrawPlus works well in CMYK and allows you to output print-ready artwork easily in addition to being able to work with Pantone color profiles.
#4 Easel.ly
Easel.ly is a free graphic design application developed to create infographics. While you may notice a few rough edges when you first begin using this software, it lives to its creators’ promise of being easy to use. Simply select a theme, objects and shape then drop some text in and you will end up with an acceptable infographic within no time.
The software allows you to select from a wide range of color-coordinated themes that are fully developed and can be edited to match your information requirements. In most cases, the result would be a comprehensive and visually pleasing infographic that has a professional look, and at virtually no cost at all.
#5 Daz Studio
Daz Studio is a 3D figure animation, customization, and posing tool that allows users to create remarkable illustrations and digital animations. Its is among the best free tools available to design unique artworks and create animations using environments, animals, virtual props, vehicles, accessories and more. You simply have to select your subject and or settings, set up the lighting, and then arrange your accessories to start creating eye-catching images.
Free Graphic Software For Mac
With this graphic design freeware it is easy to produce illustrations for books and book covers, create custom 3D characters and avatars and other graphic design elements.
#6 GIMP
GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program and it is an open-source free graphics design software that debuted on Linux and other UNIX-based platforms. Today versions of the software are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Best Free Graphic Design Software
GIMP offers functionality that is almost similar to Photoshop, but its interface differs slightly. However, a version of the program that mimics Adobe’s feel and look is available and this makes migration easier for those ditching Photoshop. It offers the full suite of tools you will find in Photoshop; virtually everything that you are accustomed to, and this includes color correction, painting tools, selection, cloning, and enhancement.
The team that is in charge of GIMP’s development has put in much effort to ensure compatibility, so you don’t have to worry about problems manipulating images in popular file formats without any trouble at all. Moreover, GIMP comes with an inbuilt file manager that functions along the same lines as Adobe Photoshop’s Bridge.
One of the best uses of GIMP is by web designers and web developer for editing of high-resolution images and photography to create a web-friendly version. Typically, photographers and other creatives would send large, high-resolution images, several megabytes in size, which would not work on the web, due to website speed issues. GIMP is a great alternative to photoshop because it allows you to tweak such high-resolution imagery to create web-safe versions. With such software it would then be easy to create photography or portfolio sites with high-quality images, but which are small in size. Click here to learn more about how to use this to create the best WordPress themes for photographers.
#7 Sumopaint
This is one of the most capable web browser-based image editors. It offers most of the standard tools you will find on desktop based graphics design application (you can opt to install a PC-based version of the software if you like, by purchasing the Pro version for just $19).
To use this tool, you will need to have the latest version of Adobe Flash player installed, so this rules out using it on your Android tablet or Apple iPad. With that in mind, it is light and loads quickly. You will find the standard range of adjustments and tools. These include pencils, Brushes, shapes, cloning, gradients, etc that can all be accessed with ease from the Photoshop-esque floating toolbar. The browser-based tool can also open saved documents from your PC’s hard disk, making it a nifty choice for editing and re-editing.
Which one of these graphic design software would you try? Tell us in the comment section below.