Best Free Graphic Designing Software Everyone Should Know

Supportsoft TechnologiesNov 01, 2023

Eye-catchy and compelling graphic designs play a crucial role in attracting the attention of your audience, right? Marketers and businesses strive to create visually appealing content for their websites and social media, aiming to entice their audience into purchasing their products or services. However, creating perfect, appealing designs can be a challenging task, requiring both artistic skills, and most importantly, the right Graphic Design Sydney software. Many people believe that graphic design software is expensive to buy, but that’s not the case. In fact, there are numerous free graphic design software options available on the market that are no less than paid options in terms of functionality and quality.

If you are new to the graphic design world or a business seeking to create amazing designs without burning a hole in your pocket, this blog is for you. Today, we are going to explore the best free graphic design software and tools that you absolutely need to know. Trust us, with these designing softwares at your fingertips, you'll be able to create professional-grade, high-quality designs in no time.

So, what are we waiting for? Let’s get started.

1. Canva 

Canva is one of the most widely used and popular graphic design software. It has been named the world’s No.1 Most Innovative Enterprise Company by leading business media brand Fast Company in 2023. It allows its users to create stunning visual designs for various purposes. From crafting logos and social media posts to editing photos, designing collages, business cards, flyers, posters, invitations, brochures, websites, videos, and presentations. Canva offers a wide range of options to cater to diverse design needs.

Impressively, Canva has over 100 million monthly users worldwide and supports over 100 languages. Even if you don’t have prior design experience, you can easily navigate Canva's user-friendly interface and utilise its wide range of free templates. Moreover, its extensive media library further enhances the design process, offering a vast collection of free stock photos, infographics, videos, audios, and much more.

Canva stands out as a feature-rich design software, offering innovative features such as diverse font styles, a versatile colour palette, various image animation effects, resizable designs, and a text-to-image generator. With Canva, you can quickly and easily create, publish, and share your designs, making it an ideal choice when you are short on time to create eye-catching designs. Whether you are a professional designer or a beginner, Canva can be easily used by anyone. For additional features, you can explore its paid version.

Canva is available to download for free on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac. 

2. Adobe Express 

When it comes to cloud-based design software, Adobe Express, previously known as Adobe Spark, comes out on top. It provides users with the power to effortlessly create and edit various digital content, including social media posts, logos, invoices, banners, flyers, resumes, presentations, collages, and much more. Additionally, it offers the convenient feature of content planning and scheduling, all within the free plan.

Adobe Express serves as a comprehensive platform for performing and managing all design-related tasks in one place. From adding animations to removing backgrounds, creating, editing, and sharing. It would be right to say that it simplifies the design process, making it accessible to users of all backgrounds. You don't need specialised design knowledge or a degree in Graphic Design Sydney to make the most of this powerful tool. 

You can download Adobe Express on any of your iOS, Android, or desktop devices and create designs from scratch in no time. So whether you are a business looking to create professional designs or a student wanting to create designs for your project using a stock of innovative templates, photos, and videos. Adobe Express is the right choice for you. 

3. Inkscape 

Inkscape is a free, open-source graphic editor software packed with a comprehensive suite of design tools. If you are in the advertising or marketing business, then Inkscape is the best platform to create scalable vector designs, which are mostly needed in the advertising industry. Creating vector designs is not an easy task; it requires dedication, artistic skills, and attention to detail. However, Inkscape simplifies the process, allowing even beginners to effortlessly draw and edit vector designs in no time. In addition to scalable vector designs, Inkscape is a versatile tool for creating clipart images, diagrams, logos, banners, posters, and various other vector-shaped images. With an array of effects and filters at your disposal, you can enhance and add visual flair to your designs, making them stand out from the crowd.

What truly sets Inkscape apart is its node editing tools, a feature not commonly found in other free design software. These tools enable you to edit and manipulate even the most complex elements of your design, giving you precise control over every aspect. It also offers a multitude of freehand drawing tools that allow you to create any object with ease. From calligraphy tools to text, shape, pen, and pencil tools, Inkscape provides the necessary tools to create your design with ease. 

Please note that inkscape is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows operating systems. With this free-to-use software, you can easily and quickly create vector graphics without spending even a single penny. 

4. Krita 

Krita is absolutely free, open-source software for creating illustrations and digital paintings. It is just the perfect tool for artists of all levels to create digital drawings, animated graphics, concept art, and 2D paintings quickly and easily. One of the key advantages of Krita is its library of customizable templates. These templates serve as a starting point for artists, allowing them to jump right into their creative process without any constraints. Additionally, Krita offers a variety of frames and colour themes to suit different artistic design styles and moods, enabling artists to freely create designs of their choice.  Moreover, it also facilitates you with tools like over 100 professional brushes, brush stabilisers, and engines, as well as in-built vector tools. These tools ensure precise strokes and smooth lines, giving artists complete control over their artwork. Isn’t it amazing to have so many tools on one platform. 

Don’t worry if you are new to digital art. Krita provides a user-friendly experience. Its intuitive interface and comprehensive tutorials make it easy for beginners to navigate the software and explore its vast capabilities. Plus, Krita supports PSD files, making it compatible with a wide range of projects and workflows.

Whether you're on Windows, Mac, or prefer web browsers, Krita is available across these platforms. If you are a freelance designer or work for a Graphic Design Agency Sydney looking for a free design tool, then you should definitely try Krita.

5. Lunacy 

Are you new to web design or UI/UX design? Don’t worry, Lunacy can help you create high-quality and creative designs for your website. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced designer, Lunacy will streamline your workflow and elevate your design game. Lunacy is smart and efficient design software. Its intuitive interface and powerful features make it a must-have tool for creating vector graphics such as logos, icons, and illustrations. It offers a plethora of valuable features that will revolutionise the way you approach design. Its flexible auto-layout designs and auto-shaped colours ensure that your designs are visually appealing and structurally sound. Moreover, the ability to edit live web pages directly within Lunacy provides unparalleled convenience and efficiency.

Wait, there’s more! Lunacy also provides users with access to an extensive library of thousands of photos, illustrations, and free icons, giving your designs endless creative possibilities. Seamlessly integrate these resources into your designs without incurring any additional costs, saving you valuable time and effort. Another noteworthy aspect of lunacy is its accessibility. It does not require any special hardware or technical prerequisites and is compatible with Windows, Linux, and Mac. Lunacy can be easily installed and used on any device or operating system, making it accessible to designers of all levels.

Whether you prefer working on the cloud or locally, Lunacy has got you covered. You can create and edit designs anytime, anywhere, without being dependent on internet availability. 

6. Vectr

Vectr is a simple and powerful graphic editor specially designed to create and edit vector graphics. One of the best parts about Vectr is that it is forever free. Yes, you read that right! This incredible design software is available to you on browsers and desktops without any cost, making it accessible to everyone. You don't have to worry about trial periods or hidden fees. It is designed with both beginners and professional designers in mind and offers a range of creative design tools that cater to every skill level. From simple graphics to advanced designs, you can create any design of your choice using Vectr. 

The groundbreaking feature of Vectr is that it facilitates live collaboration. Imagine being able to share your design with others and work on it in real time. Vectr makes this possible by allowing others to view your creation through their web browser. This seamless collaboration enhances teamwork. But that's not all. It also has a real-time chat feature, enabling smooth communication with your design team. Discuss changes and edits directly within the editor, eliminating the need for back-and-forth emails or confusion. This streamlined process saves you valuable time, ensuring your artwork is completed efficiently and accurately.

With Vectr, you can focus on what you do best, which is creating impressive, high-resolution vector graphics, whether you're designing logos, illustrations, or digital art. 

7. Blender

Blender is a powerful graphic design software that is not only free but also open source. Whether you're into 3D printing, motion graphics, video editing, or even animated films, Blender is just the perfect tool that you get for your design endeavours, and that too for free. It allows you to quickly and efficiently create 3D models from scratch for high-quality designs. With a wide array of tools at your fingertips, you can bring your imagination to life and design intricate 3D masterpieces. From sculpting to rendering and masking, Blender offers a plethora of options that allow you to create your beautiful designs with ease. 

You will be amazed to see the final results of your design created using Blender. The level of realism it can achieve in your design is unmatchable. The software's advanced rendering capabilities make your creations come to life with breathtaking authenticity. Whether you're working on a product prototype or a visual effects sequence, Blender ensures that every detail is perfectly rendered, giving your work a professional touch.

Yes, Blender does have a bit of a learning curve. However, once you grasp its functionality, the possibilities become endless. The satisfaction of mastering this powerful tool is well worth your time and effort. Plus, it’s available on Linux, Windows, and MacOS, making it cross-platform and accessible to everyone. 

Just give this free tool a shot and take your Graphic Design Sydney skills to the next level.

8. Paint 3D

Paint 3D is excellent graphic design software from Microsoft, best known for creating captivating 3D designs and doodles. As a replacement for Microsoft's previous Paint program, it offers a user-friendly experience exclusively available on Windows. This powerful tool allows you to effortlessly craft stunning 3D artworks and enables you to convert your 2D designs into mesmerising 3D creations. Using Paint 3D is very easy, so it can be used by anyone, whether they are beginners, complete non-designers, or even children.

The navigation in Paint 3D is simple, and you'll find a vast array of creative tools at your fingertips. From effects, colours, text, stickers, and shapes to a wide selection of customizable brushes and art tools like watercolour brush, oil brush, pencils, erasers, fill tools to help you create your design. Using its extensive 3D library, you can easily access thousands of free 3D models, enabling you to incorporate and edit them into your own designs.

For beginners, Paint 3D is an excellent starting point. Its simplicity and accessibility make it the perfect tool to explore and experiment with your creative ideas.

9. GIMP

GIMP, which stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program, is a widely used graphic design software by Graphic Design Companies Sydney. It is compared with a popular graphic design software, Adobe Photoshop. Yes, you heard that right- a free software that can compete with the industry’s leading graphic design software. 

GIMP provides you with all the essential tools you need to manipulate images, create captivating artworks, and design eye-catching elements such as mock-ups. But that's not all; it also supports programming languages like Python, C, C++, and more, allowing you to customise and enhance your designs. One of the main reasons behind GIMP's popularity is its multifaceted editor. Unlike other software that restricts you to specific operating systems, GIMP is designed to seamlessly run on all major platforms.  

It is the perfect software to kickstart your creative journey. Its extensive array of tools and features allows you to experiment, learn, and develop your skills. From the colour picker tool to brush-based tools, the versatile path tool, and many more, GIMP equips you with everything you need to create beautiful artwork.. 

Even if you're new to designing and image manipulation, don’t worry! To use GIMP, you don’t need any prior experience with image manipulation. Its user-friendly interface and intuitive design make it easier to learn and navigate. You should definitely try your hands on this software. 

10. Design Wizard

With Design Wizard, you can create impressive designs and videos in just a few minutes. This powerful free tool offers a plethora of free features that allow you to customise posters, logos, social media posts, flyers, invitation cards, and so much more. As well as, directly share your creations on your social media platforms. 

You know what the best part is about a design wizard? You don’t have to start from scratch. It provides a vast selection of templates to choose from, making it easy to find the perfect starting point for your design. Additionally, the software offers a library of free stock photos and high-quality videos from which you can choose something that goes well with your design. Its user-friendly interface and categorised templates make it quick and convenient to find exactly what you're looking for, whether you need a flyer design or a social media post template. 

Design Wizard content is licensed for commercial use only. This means you can confidently use the designs in the software for your business needs without worrying about any legal implications or copyright issues. You have the freedom to edit every minor element, ensuring that your design truly reflects your vision. Plus, you can resize your designs, upload your logo, choose fonts, and customise colours to match your brand.

Let’s Wrap It Up 

In the end, we can say that there are so many free graphic design softwares available, offering a wide range of options for designers of all levels. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced artist, these tools have something to offer. With their unique features and capabilities, these free software options give tough competition to paid graphic design software on the market. 

These free tools provide advanced features and a diverse set of tools that empower you to create unique and eye-catching designs. From social media posts to flyers, posters, logos, brochures, and invitations, these platforms have it all in one place. You can explore different types and styles of designs without limitations.

While considering these free graphic design softwares, it's important to keep in mind the specific platforms and purposes they cater to. Compatibility with your device and operating system is another crucial factor to consider when selecting graphic design software. Ensure that the software you choose is compatible with your setup for a smooth and hassle-free design process. As your design needs evolve and grow, you can also explore the option of upgrading to paid versions or plans that offer additional features and functionalities. This decision ultimately depends on your personal requirements and preferences. 

The Graphic Design Sydney experts at Supportsoft Technologies are masters at creating unique and visually stunning graphics. Our team will help you elevate your digital presence by creating jaw-dropping designs using the latest and best design tools. Whether you need help designing a logo, business card, or UI/UX design, you can trust us. 

Reach out to us to learn how our Graphic Design Agency Sydney can help your business through our bespoke services.