Best Software & Tools for Graphic Designers | Graphic Design Software list | 11 Best Graphic Design Software & Tools of 2025 (Free and Paid)
What Software do Graphic designers use?
- Compatibility – graphic designers often deal with a wide array of file types PDFs, Jpegs, AI, CDR and so much more. Being able to import or export an artboard into any of these will help smooth your workflow as a graphic designer.
- Functionality – Functionality is also important. As a graphic designer, you will also undertake a lot of different types of tasks, some simple and some more complex.
- Ease of use – Of course, this one-factor ease of use of graphic software produces faster results however this often comes at the cost of functionality.
- Support and documentation – Support and documentation for those annoying little items you just can’t seem to get right
What is the best Graphic Design Software:
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In computer design, graphic design software refers to a program or collection of programs that enable a person to manipulate or create images or models visually on a computer.
Graphic design software can be classified into distinct categories: raster graphics and vector graphics, with further 2D and 3D variants. Many graphics programs focus exclusively on either vector or raster graphics, but there are a few that operate on both. It is simple to convert from vector graphics to raster graphics, but going the other way is harder. Some software attempts to do this.
In addition to static graphic designs, there are animation and video editing software. Different types of software are often designed to edit different types of graphics such as video, photos, and vector-based drawings.
The exact sources of graphics may vary for graphic design different tasks, but most can read and write files.
Best Software for graphic designers:
In summary:
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Canva
- Gimp
- Coreldraw Graphics
- Webflow
Honorable mentions:
- Inkscape
- Blender
- Affinity Designer
- Gravit Designer
The list:
Adobe Creative Cloud tools
This graphic design, video editing, and web development software have become a standard in the graphic design industry. No list of design tools would be complete without mentioning Adobe Creative Cloud. It’s much easier for designers who use Adobe to share files with other creative professionals. We started off with Adobe Creative Cloud and its suite of products as they are the industry standard.
1. Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator working with a vector image
Adobe Illustrator sets the standard for professionally designed logos, artwork, infographics, icons, and much more. Taking no.1 on our list of best graphic design software. Of all the tools in the Adobe suite, if you could have just one, this would be it as it has so much functionality packed into it.
You can work from a freehand sketch to a vector image that is scalable to any size. Adobe Illustrator works with graphics differently, using mathematical formulas instead of pixels for seamless resizing. From drawings to logos to actual photos, Illustrator generates all kinds of images.
Adobe Illustrator output of image files with its save for web function also makes it a great tool to prepare images for websites.
Adobe Illustrator can convert images into vector graphics and in fact, Adobe Illustrator also digitizes images for other industries such as the print or embroidery industries.
Digital artists love the ease of adjusting the layers and artboards in this vector graphics design program. Illustrator is a cornerstone for graphic designers and digital artists creating vector-based art. Those willing to endure the learning curve will find it well worth their while.
Cost of Adobe Illustrator:
Adobe Illustrator has multiple tailored for graphic design freelancers, agencies, students, and schools.
| For freelancers | For graphic design agencies | For Students and teachers | For schools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illustrator503.70 per month, including VAT | Students and teachers can save over 65% on the Creative Cloud All Apps plan, which includes Illustrator. The first year costs R438.15 per month, and then R767.05 per month after that. | Creative Cloud for education is sold through authorized resellers in your country or region (South Africa).Find a reseller | Creative Cloud for education is sold through authorized resellers in your country or region (South Africa).Find a reseller |
Adobe Illustrator Compatibility –
Adobe Illustrator has great compatibility with file types. It supports the import of all image types. Jpeg, Png, Tiff. PDF and SVG are also no problem with Illustrator. Illustrator can also make use of font files. In terms of exporting, you can export files in AI, EPS( Which is supported by CorelDraw), PDF, and all image formats.
Adobe Illustrator Functionality – Adobe Illustrator was designed for vector-based and raster image editing. When it comes to this no other graphic design software comes close. Illustrator also has a lot of features for photo manipulation.
Adobe Illustrator Ease of use –
Illustrator has a moderate learning curve for graphic designers, this is due to the vast amount of functionality it offers.
Adobe Illustrator Support and documentation –
Given its popularity and age illustrator is well-documented and has a very strong online community.
Why it is a great software for graphic designers:
The world’s best image editing software adds mind-blowing neural filters, automatic sky replacement, and even better selection tools.
Best for Raster and Layer Editing
Best graphic design software for Windows
Best graphic design program for professional designers
PROS
- Many photo correction and manipulation tools
- Slick interface with a lot of help
- Tools for mobile and web design
- Rich set of drawing and typography tools
- Synced Libraries and Cloud Documents
Cons
- No perpetual-license option
- Premium assets aren’t cheap
- Interface can be overwhelming at times
2. Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop
There are raster graphics editing programs, then there’s Photoshop. It’s the industry standard for manipulating digital photos and photorealistic computer art. It is by far the best photo editor on the market.
Photoshop offers:
- 2D image manipulation
- 3D image manipulation
- Compositing
- Video editing
- Image analysis
Photoshop is a part of the graphic design zeitgeist. Digital artists who don’t know Photoshop but want to create pixel-based art should plan to learn it or get left behind. In terms of raw image editing power, photoshop is graphic design software used by a very large amount of graphic designers.
Like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop offers a seven-day free trial. Interestingly, you can get Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom at a cheaper cost. The trial for Photoshop includes 100 GB of cloud storage, and Lightroom includes 1 TB. It also has some extra functionality with its paint application, Adobe Fresco, and its storytelling program, Adobe Spark. The collaboration between the programs is outstanding.
Cost of Adobe Photoshop:
Adobe Illustrator has multiple tailored for graphic design freelancers, agencies, students and schools.
| For freelancers | For graphic design agencies | For Students and teachers | For schools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stand-alone app: R503.70 per month or R5,782.20 per year, including 100 GB of cloud storage | Student Creative Cloud All Apps plan: R438.15 per month for the first year, then R767.05 per month after that | Student Creative Cloud All Apps plan: R438.15 per month for the first year, then R767.05 per month after that | Student Creative Cloud All Apps plan: R438.15 per month for the first year, then R767.05 per month after that |
Adobe Photoshop Compatibility – Photoshop being made mostly for photo manipulation offers support for all image formats, however, its support on nonimage format files is limited. It allows exporting to all image formats and PSD files.
Adobe Photoshop Functionality – If you are looking for graphic design software that can do almost anything with images this is the one. Photoshops’ image editing abilities, and layer and mask creations are unrivaled in the graphic design industry.
Adobe Photoshop Ease of use – Photoshop has a slightly steeper learning curve again due to the complexity of the functionality it offers.
Adobe Photoshop Support and documentation –
Photoshop also has an online community for support. The community tends to be very knowledgeable and helpful as most graphic designers using this software are top-tier. Photoshop interestingly also has a lot of YouTube videos that are really helpful to help you learn more about how the software works.
Why it is a great software for graphic designers:
The world’s best image editing software adds mind-blowing neural filters, automatic sky replacement, and even better selection tools.
Best for Raster and Layer Editing
PROS
- Many photo correction and manipulation tools
- Slick interface with a lot of help
- Tools for mobile and web design
- Rich set of drawing and typography tools
- Synced Libraries and Cloud Documents
Cons
- No perpetual-license option
- Premium assets aren’t cheap
- The interface can be overwhelming at times
3. Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is the industry-leading layout and page design software for print and digital media. Create beautiful graphic designs with typography from the world’s top foundries and imagery from Adobe Stock. Quickly share content and feedback in PDF. Easily manage production with Adobe Experience Manager. InDesign has everything you need to create and publish books, digital magazines, eBooks, posters, interactive PDFs, and more.
Cost of Adobe In design:
Adobe Illustrator has multiple tailored for graphic design freelancers, agencies, students and schools.
| For freelancers | For graphic design agencies | For Students and teachers | For schools |
|---|---|---|---|
| IllustratorUS$24,14 /mo |
Single AppUS$39,09 /mo per license (inclusive of VAT) |
Creative Cloud for education is sold through authorized resellers in your country or region (South Africa).Find a reseller | Creative Cloud for education is sold through authorized resellers in your country or region (South Africa).Find a reseller |
Why it is a great software for graphic designers:
InDesign maintains its relevance, giving the commercial creative of 2019 an edge in satisfying ever more demanding client requests. Despite minor quibbles, InDesign is a must-have for any professional designer.
Best for Publication Layout and Design
PROS
- Superbly balanced interface.
- Easy, smart automatic global page adjustment.
- Contextual information at your fingertips.
- Huge selection of downloadable fonts.
Cons
- Requires subscription.
- PDF comments integration needs polish.
4. Canva
Canvas simple user interface for basic graphic design
Canva is an all-around solution for creating a variety of projects, such as infographics, web design, or T-shirts. It uses an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that is easy to use for individuals with no previous experience in graphic design.
The program has a huge selection of images, templates, backgrounds, and fonts to get the ball rolling. While Canva offers a number of these items for free, many of the images and graphics require in-app purchases. Canvas graphic design software is completely online which has its pros and cons.
Canva shines in that it can work with a broad range of industries, thanks to its huge template gallery.
However, its ease of use as a graphic design tool pays the penalty for the lack of functionality in simple things such as being able to draw freehand lines and create custom shapes, clipping masks, or transparency layers. To put it simply if it isn’t in their template library you will have to create it in another graphic design software and then import it.
Great for graphic designers starting out or for the small business who just want basic graphics for their business. It does allow you to create brand kits, bundling your brand color scheme and fonts together making creating designs much faster and even though it lacks advanced features it’s incredibly user-friendly.
Cost of Canva Graphic Design Software.
| Free Version – Everything you need to start designing | Pro-designing together just got better. Professional design is made easy with unlimited access to premium tools and content. | Canva Teams – Empower your team, manage your brand, and scale your content all in one place | |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.00 | $12.99 per Month | A plan for teams that costs $10 per user per month or $100 per year. It includes features for collaboration, task assignment, brand management, and team folders. The minimum number of users for this plan is three. |
Canva Compatibility – Canva will support basic image types and PDF file formats. It does not support CDR or AI files.
Canva Functionality – If you started on Illustrator or CorelDRAW you will find Canvas as a simplified version with limited functionality as graphic design software. Simple things such as creating transparency layers and clipping masks of your own shape, drawing your own shapes are missing and can be quite frustrating for a graphic designer.
Canva Ease of use – Very easy. This is Canva’s biggest straight. With its massive selection of editable drag-and-drop templates and simplified user interface, even people who aren’t graphic designers can use this software to create decent-looking designs. Canva also has templates arranged in templates such as business cards, letterheads, posters and so much more. The other major drawcard for Canvas as a graphic design software is its affordability and its free stock images and videos are an invaluable bonus to graphic designers. T
Canva Support and documentation – Canva support team is adequate. However, it does have a massive active online community as other graphic design software does. However, this may be because the ease of use of Canva leaves no need for that.
Why it is a great software for graphic designers:
Canva is a highly capable collaborative app for entrepreneurs and small businesses that enables anyone to design, manage, and share branded content, regardless of their creative skills.
Best for Non-Designers Making Branded Content
Best graphic design software free
PROS
- Good for non-graphic designers & beginners
- Excellent tools and resources for creating branded content
- Offers many different types of app integrations
- Completely online graphic design software
- Drag and drop from an extensive library of templates
Cons
- No video calling, audio calling, or screen sharing capabilities
- Can’t see cursors of collaborators while co-editing
- Weak video editing capabilities
- Completely online graphic design software
- Lacking advanced features
5. Corel draw
Coreldraw graphics artboard
An alternative to Adobe Creative Cloud products, Coreldraw does have a steep learning curve when compared to other graphic design software but when compared to items in the Adobe suite not that much more functionality if any.
Whether the graphic design is a pastime, or you create with a purpose, CorelDRAW® Standard has everything you need to produce compelling graphics for home projects or your small business.
CorelDRAW provides significant capabilities for graphic design and layout in a single application. Flawless photo editingImprove any image with the powerful layer-based photo editing features in Corel PHOTO-PAINT™ Standard.
Create confidently with intuitive tools, tips, and tutorials at your fingertips—no matter your skill level or area of expertise.
Develop captivating web content with a collection of web graphics tools and presets. Ensure any graphic you export for the web has crisp edges with a series of pixel-perfect tools.
Cost Of CorelDraw Graphics Suite:
| Annual Plan | One-Time Purchase | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| R 6 140,00/year or R511,67 Monthly- CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2024 – Subscriber-Exclusive features and updates – Professional collaboration tools – Additional fonts and templates |
R12300- Buy it once, own it forever – Access to the current version only |
Coreldraw Compatibility – Coreldraw has full image compatibility. SVG and PDF Compatibility and it can even open AI and EPS files. ( Native Illustrator Files ).
Coreldraw Functionality – CorelDRAW is a program designed for drawing. The application is used to create a variety of documents, from cards to bitmaps. However, it also has decent vector image editing and photo manipulation functions
Coreldraw Ease of Use – No matter if you are a beginner graphic designer or an absolute noob, you can easily learn it. It is one of the widely used software for making banners, posters, and logos. Therefore, it is a good idea to step into the graphics designing industry with the knowledge of this software.
Coreldraw Support and Documentation – CorelDraw offers a knowledge base for support for its graphic designers.
Why it is a great software for graphic designers:
CorelDraw is a powerful and capable graphic design app that offers unique tools and collaboration features for creative workflows—now available for macOS as well as Windows. Best for All-in-One Illustration and Page Design
Best graphic design software for Mac
Best graphic design software for professional designers
PROS
- Professional-level features, some of which are unique
- Fun, easy, instant-gratification effects
- Highly customizable interface
- Subscription and perpetual licenses available for reasonable rates
- Easier to learn than Illustrator for a pro-level tool
Cons
- Inconvenient for teams vested in an Adobe workflow
- Some ease-of-use issues
- Not immediately compatible with Extensis Suitcase Fusion font manager
6. GIMP
Gimp Layers
GIMP has come a long way as one of the first open-source graphic design software programs. Its strength is in photo editing, whether it’s a quick fix or a redesign. It’s a lightweight alternative to heavy hitters, such as Adobe Photoshop. GIMP provides much of the same functionality for free and has a customizable workspace with user-friendly navigation.
GIMP usually plays nicely with Photoshop files.
However, Photoshop updates its platform more frequently, causing compatibility issues. The support with GIMP is outstanding. The documentation, knowledge base, and community are very helpful. That’s a good thing, too. While it’s robust, GIMP has a steep learning curve, which is often the case in open-source software.
Cost of Gimp – Free
Gimp Compatibility – The GIMP is great for the price and is certainly usable on a professional level for screen graphics. It’s not equipped to handle professional print color spaces or file formats, however. For that, you’ll still need PhotoShop.
Gimp Functionality – Gimp has a decent set of functionality given that it’s open-source. For beginner graphic designers it’s more than sufficient. One interesting fact about GIMP that we must mention is that it has the ability to import o install and use third-party scripts which will allow for a lot more functionality. Just not out of the box.
Gimp Ease of use – Gimp may have less functionality than Corel or Adobe suite products yet it comes with a learning curve that’s steeper than expected. It is somewhat lacking when it comes to an intuitive user interface for graphic designers.
Gimp Support and documentation – offers a knowledge base for support for its graphic designers. It also has a surprisingly strong community of graphic designers and developers to support it on its forum and YouTube.
Why it is a great software for graphic designers:
The GIMP is great for the price and is certainly usable on a professional level for screen graphics.
Best Free graphic design software
PROS
- A huge array of professional-quality functions for fine-tuning snaps and creating your own artwork from scratch
Cons
- Inconvenient for teams vested in an Adobe workflow
- Some ease-of-use issues
- Opensource and free graphic design software
- Not immediately compatible with Extensis Suitcase Fusion font manager
7. Webflow – Responsive web design tool
Webflow UX
While strictly speaking our next entry is not a graphic design software per se, since most graphic designers also create websites it’s quite a handy tool.
As one of the most amazing tools for web and graphic design professionals, Webflow allows you to create sites in a relatively short time. You can design and develop at the same time, with minimal effort with Webflow. You do not need to know how to code to work with this tool; you can just export and change the site’s HTML / CSS tags according to your needs.
8. Sketch
Sketch graphic design software UX layout
If you’re looking for the best graphic design software specifically for UI design, prototyping and/or making icons, then you might want to consider Sketch (at least if you work on a Mac). It doesn’t have the depth of software like Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Designer, but we think it has everything that most people need for UI design and is easier to use if you only have that purpose thanks to its stripped-down, minimal interface.
We found that Sketch makes it easy to get started, with less of a learning curve than those of more fully featured vector design software. It offers a good range of features if you need them, though, thanks to a big library of plugins. The software came in for a major revamp in 2021, with the addition of better collaboration features. For example, developers can now view, inspect, and measure your Sketch designs in any browser on any operating system.
Why it is a great software for graphic designers:
Sketch is great for most graphic designers looking for software that’s not too complete but not lacking in function, it strikes a great balance for most graphic designers.
PROS
- This graphic design software is easy to use with a good range of features.
Cons
-
9. Affinity Designer
Affinity Designer – Graphic Design Software
Affinity Designer is a graphic designing and UX solution that helps businesses create concept art, logos, icons, UI designs, print projects, and mock-ups, among other illustrations. It enables web designers to build and preview gradients, adjustments, effects, transformations, and curve edits in real time. In terms of function and style, Affinity Designer is an impressive, low-budget alternative to Adobe Illustrator. It’s suitably simple for beginners to use as a learning tool but sufficiently powerful for freelance graphic artists on a budget.
Why it is a great software for graphic designers:
Affinity Designer is a great Image editing tool that helps businesses edit and enhance photos, create digital drawings & store files in a centralized repository. Best for Low-Cost, Full-Featured Vector and Raster Editing
PROS
- Enables graphic designers to build and preview gradients, adjustments, effects, transformations and curve edits in real-time
Cons
- Lacks the more advanced features of Adobe products such as Illustrator and photoshop and CorelDraw
Pricing:
$54.99 on Windows or Mac or $19.99 on iPad — subscription free.
- Lack of extended functionality of major graphic design software such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
10. Gravit Designer
Gravit Designer Dashboard
Gravit Designer is a full-featured free vector design app right at your fingertip. Gravit Designer is a Graphic Design that helps you create designs for free. It has features like an SVG editing tool, presentation, options to set the height and width of the document, and 19 preset dimensions for print. Gravit Designer has a wonderful deployment supporting various operating systems and very customizable designing options, which helps the user to create beautiful effective marketing materials.
Why it is a great software for graphic designers:
The main benefits of Gravit Designer are its free software, advanced and intuitive dashboard, customizable interface, drag-and-drop functionality, and advanced editing tools. What is good about Gravit Designer is that aside from being free, it offers a set of helpful features and tools that can match other solutions in its class. Among its remarkable features is the SVG editing tool that offers users unparalleled precision. Knife and tool support are also available for non-destructive Boolean, which makes it great for UI design.
PROS
- SVG editing tools
- free and paid graphic design software
Cons
- Supports only up to 300DPI
Pricing:
Starting Price: $99 per yearFree Version: Free Version available.Free Trial: Free Trial available.
-
Paintshop-pro
11. Corel Paintshop Pro 2023
Corel PaintShop Pro is a raster graphics editor and digital photo editing software developed and published by Corel. It is designed to be a more affordable alternative to Adobe Photoshop and is geared towards photographers and graphic designers.
PaintShop Pro includes features such as layers, masks, color adjustments, and filters, as well as tools for creating graphic designs and web content. It also has tools for managing and organizing digital photos, including a built-in photo browser, batch processing, and support for EXIF metadata.
One of the main advantages of PaintShop Pro is its price, which is significantly lower than Adobe Photoshop. It is also known for its user-friendly interface and helpful tutorials, making it a good choice for beginners and casual users. However, it may not have all the advanced features and tools that professional designers and photographers require.
Why it is a great software for graphic designers:
If you are a graphic designer or a photographer both looking for who is either more comfortable with Corel Draw or looking for a cheaper graphic design software alternative to Adobe Photoshop then Paintshop Pro is for you. Paintshop Pro is also available at a once-off price starting from R1299.
Pros:
- Significantly cheaper than Adobe Photoshop.
- User-friendly interface and helpful tutorials.
- Tools for creating graphic designs and web content
Cons:
- Lacks some of the depth of Photoshop in terms of functionality.
Sublime text – Text editor
Sublime text is the text editor that you are surely going to fall in love with. A minimalist coding editor will let you focus completely on your code. If you are working on websites that so often graphic designers do, this will give you great power providing powerful shortcuts and tools to leap about a document, filter the file, and quickly make edits.
Extra tools for graphic designers
As experienced graphic designers who have studied graphic design and been in the industry for years there are some things that just never change. Know that there are some types of tools that are always just a massive bonus to have for speeding up your workflow and design quality.
Iconfinder
Icons are everywhere in every design from business cards to website blurbs. It makes sense for a graphic designer to have a library of icons at their disposal. The visual language is getting into a new trend and Iconfinder is the best place for designers to gain inspiration and brilliant icons. It hosts the world’s largest collection of premium icons. You can access all 2,171,326 icons in SVG, PNG, and IconJar formats. This is probably the easiest way to get icons with a license that fits commercial purposes.
Coolors – Color scheme generator
Color selection is a big process in branding and designing and often requires a lot of tweaking. This is where Coolors comes as a great tool. It is a super fast color scheme generator that creates, saves and shares the perfect palette in seconds. Choose your favorite colors and get your Material Design palette generated and downloadable. Save them to your account, or export them as PNG, PDF, SVG and more. Coolors is also available as an iOS App, Adobe Add-on and a Chrome Extension.
WhatTheFont
In your time as a graphic designer, you will have clients provide you with images of items they would like to redesign. They won’t know what the font is and instead of spending hours running through font libraries trying to find out, you can use this nifty little tool.
How it works: WhatTheFont uses deep learning to search our collection of over 133,000 font styles and find the best match for the fonts in your photo. It even works with connected scripts and when there’s more than one font in an image. Just upload an image, click the font you want to identify, then check out the results.
Stock Photo Accounts
Images are often not available or the ones provided by clients are not of the best quality. Your design is heavily dependent on the quality and nature of images and thus a stock photo account is a must for every graphic designer. Great images can help take your graphic design projects from good to jaw-dropping.
What tools do graphic Designers use?
iPad Pro + Apple Pencil
Being another Apple product, this iPad Pro in combination with the Apple Pencil is not the cheapest, but the larger display on this stylus and tablet combo is a game-changer. You can adjust the display color tones, there are more colors than the non-pro models, the scrolling is smoother and for detailed art strokes, the stylus is extremely precise due to a tighter connection between the display and glass.
Graphic designers who want something so thin they’ll barely feel it in their bag will also love the higher speed refresh rate further enhancing the Apple Pencil’s performance.
A setup with multiple high-resolution displays
Having two (or more) separate screen displays allows for more efficient multitasking. Of course, it’s possible to work on one screen, but it gets a little hairy especially when using a full-screen mode app.
Multiple displays:
- Help you avoid icon clutter on your high-quality screen
- Maximize screen real estate
- Help you work faster and more efficient
- Professional graphic designers and digital artists who maximize clients and spend long hours on projects will benefit from the organization Two Screens provide.
Reliable hard drive or online storage.
Want all your hard work gone because your computer decided to call it quits? Didn’t think so. Get a reliable hard drive and online cloud storage service to store your design files.
While this is by no means a complete list of graphic design software out there, such a list would be massive, this is a list of what we’ve found to be the common software and tools that graphic designers use. Depending on your goals or your experiences and preferences as a graphic designer you may have your own set of go-to graphic design tools. Comment them in the section below if you really feel we missed out!
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