Having the right tool is essential in any business to maximise efficiency and productivity. The right tool can help your company save money and streamline the process to increase productivity.

In the design industry, tools are critical and essential. Graphic design is an art form that requires creativity and technical skills to produce visually appealing designs. And without these tools, designers cannot create high-quality visuals.

So in this article, we will tell you the importance of graphic design software and prove the 10 best tools for your designers.

Why Use a Graphic Design Software?

Graphic design tools are essential for businesses to create visually appealing and engaging content. With the help of these tools, companies can easily create logos, brochures, websites, advertisements, and other visuals that will attract customers and help them stand out from their competitors.

Graphic design tools allow users to manipulate images and text, add effects, and adjust the visual elements of a design. They also provide features such as colour palettes, templates, fonts, shapes, icons, etc. which help designers create unique designs quickly and easily.

Furthermore, they can be used to create animations or videos for marketing campaigns or website presentations.

Top 10 Graphic Design Software of 2023

Finding the perfect tool can be difficult, especially since there are tons of available software on the internet. So, to help you choose the best design tools, here are 10 graphic design software for you!

1. Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a powerful graphic design software that enables users to create stunning visuals, edit photos and videos, design websites and mobile applications, and more. It is the industry standard for digital imaging professionals, graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, video editors, and web developers.

With its intuitive user interface and powerful features, Photoshop lets you quickly transform your ideas into reality. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional designer or photographer, Adobe Photoshop can help you create stunning visuals with ease.

Price: USD 20.99 per month

Features:

• Manipulating the colour of images, including hue and saturation, levels, colour channels, filter, sharpening, etc.
• Cropping, resizing, and cutting images.
• Image flaw repair
• Drawing on images
• Adding text and other elements

Pros

• All-purpose software with various features.
• Unparallel image editing features.
• Edit images fast and efficiently.
• Various pre-sets, filters, brushes, and more are available online.
• Thousands of free resources and tutorials online

Cons

• Expensive pricing
• Complex learning curve.
• Developers usually release beta versions of the application.
• Not suitable for multiple or batch works.

2. Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is another powerful vector-based graphic design software. It allows you to create illustrations, logos, icons, and other artwork for print and digital media. With its comprehensive tools and features, Adobe Illustrator enables users to create high-quality designs easily.

It is widely used by professionals in the creative industry for creating stunning visuals for websites, magazines, advertisements, books, and more. Whether you are a graphic designer or just starting in design, Adobe Illustrator is an essential tool in your arsenal.

Price: USD 20.99 per month

Features:

• Layer Comps to easily create, manage, and toggle multiple layout versions.
• Artboard tool to produce numerous artboards in one single file.
• Various pen tools, including paintbrush, pencil, etc.
• Art and calligraphic brushes
• SVG files are supported.
• Ability to export as PDF, etc.
• Realistic 3D effects, including light, illumination, etc.
• Shape builder tool to create or combine shapes and make complex objects

Pros

• Create a variety of graphics, including logos, web pages, illustrations, and more
• Helpful user interface
• Easy file size management.
• Works with both apple and windows pc

Cons

• Difficult learning curve
• Pricing limitations and can be expensive.
• Requires a lot of storage space.
• Limited support for raster graphics

3. Adobe InDesign

Adobe InDesign is a powerful desktop publishing graphic design software that creates a wide range of print and digital documents. It is used to create documents such as brochures, magazines, newspapers, books, posters, flyers, and more.

Moreover, InDesign has features that allow users to create interactive PDFs and web content. Adobe InDesign provides users an intuitive workflow to instantly design high-quality documents with text formatting options and graphics tools. With its wide range of features and capabilities, Adobe InDesign can be used for a variety of projects, from simple flyers to complex magazine layouts.

Price: USD 20.99 per month

Features:

• Multi-page design publication for several projects
• In-app integration
• Resizing content in frames
• PDF Accessibility
• Easy text management
• HTML Export

Pros

• Produce excellent quality content for print and digital.
• Be able to apply tags to the page for easy sorting.
• Seamlessly modify object size and reposition them across the documents.

Cons

• Does not have an editing tool for vector images or raster images
• Requires an ample storage space.
• Pricey software
• Difficult to work with

4. GIMP

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free graphic design software used to manipulate digital images. It can be used for photo retouching, image composition, and image authoring. GIMP has a wide range of features that make it suitable for professional photographers, graphic designers, illustrators, and other artists.

With GIMP, users can create stunning graphics and edit images with ease. It also supports various file formats, including JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and more. With its powerful tools and intuitive interface, GIMP is an excellent choice for anyone looking to create unique digital art.

Price: Free

Features:

• Layer support
• Colour management
• Photo retouching
• Basic adjustments like brightness, contrast, hue/saturation
• Advanced features like layers, masks, filters

Pros

• Easily create stunning visuals for their projects and artwork
• Open source and free of charge
• Small learning curve and is excellent for beginners.
• Can edit various image formats.

Cons

• It can only handle 8-bit RGB and grayscale.
• Limited third-party plugins
• Cannot create good-looking shapes like arcs, etc.

5. Canva

Canva is one of the best free graphic design software that helps users create stunning visuals for various purposes. It offers a wide range of features to help users create professional-looking designs quickly and easily. With Canva, users can create logos, flyers, posters, infographics, and more.

Likewise, Canva provides templates to make the design process easier and faster. It offers a library of images, illustrations, and fonts to help users customise their designs. Its intuitive drag-and-drop editor makes it easy for beginners to create beautiful visuals in minutes.

Price: Free for basic, USD 74.95 per year

Features:

• Easy-to-use tools
• Drag-and-drop functionality.
• Thousands of pre-made designs and templates, photo editing tools, text editing tools
• Free stock photos and illustrations that you can use in your projects

Pros

• Simple user interface, you can easily create amazing visuals without any design skills
• Low learning curve
• Budget-friendly
• Variety of ready-to-use elements and templates

Cons

• Overused designs
• No local file storage
• Limited export settings for free accounts
• Can be glitchy.

6. Sketch

Sketch is a powerful and versatile graphic design app for PC that allows you to create stunning visuals quickly. It’s the perfect choice for web and mobile designers, UI/UX designers, illustrators, and product designers.

With its easy-to-use tools and intuitive interface, Sketch makes it simple to create high-quality designs quickly. You can use it to develop website layouts, create illustrations or logos, design wireframes for apps or websites, and much more.

So, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced designer looking for a new tool to add to your arsenal – Sketch is a perfect choice!

Price: USD 9 per month for standard / USD 20 per month for business

Features:

• Draw shapes and other elements.
• Add text to the image.
• Apply image effects and filters.
• Customise colours to create unique visuals.

Pros

• Collaborate with other designers.
• Share the work with clients using the built-in sharing options
• Ideal for both amateurs and professional designers
• Intuitive interface, easy-to-create visuals,

Cons

• Software can be buggy and crash.
• The community is small; therefore is hard to find tutorials.
• Available only in MAC and Web

7. Figma

Figma is an online collaborative design platform and front-end web tools. It enables teams to create, prototype, and share designs quickly and easily. With Figma, users can collaborate on projects in real time from anywhere in the world. They can also access their work from any device with an internet connection.

The drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for designers to quickly create high-quality designs that are visually stunning and functional. With its intuitive features, Figma allows teams to iterate faster.

Price: Free for a standard account. USD 12 per editor per month for unlimited access.

Features:

• Intuitive user interface
• Powerful and easy-to-use prototyping tools
• Inspect the tab for real-time collaboration capabilities.
• Zeplin integration
• Real-time project updates

Pros

• Free for three projects
• Allows teams to create, share, and collaborate on designs quickly and easily
• All-in-one tool for design, prototyping, and front-end creation.
• Unlimited plugin
• Cloud-based app

Cons

• Relies on the internet due to it being cloud-based.
• Requires decent RAM and Graphics card for the app to run smoothly.

8. Affinity Designer

Affinity Designer is a powerful vector-based design software for Mac and Windows. It is designed to help designers create beautiful graphics, logos, illustrations, and typography in an intuitive and user-friendly environment.

Likewise, Affinity Designer provides comprehensive tools for quickly creating stunning visuals. It offers professionals a range of advanced features, such as precise vector manipulation, precise colour control, and support for multiple artboards. With its advanced features and intuitive interface, Affinity Designer makes it easy to produce professional-level designs quickly and efficiently.

Price: One-time payment of USD 69.99

Features:

• Vector-based drawing tools
• Text formatting options
• Layer-based editing capabilities
• Intuitive user interface

Pros

• The interface makes it easy for designers to create stunning visuals.
• A zoom function is at 1000000%
• Available for both desktops and iPad.
• One-time payment and no subscription.

Cons

• Pricey application
• Cannot export files as AI.
• Layer functions can be confusing.
• There is no natural perspective grid.

9. Procreate

Procreate is an advanced digital painting and illustration app for iPad and iPhone that allows users to create stunning artwork with powerful tools. It includes many features such as layers, brushes, textures, effects, and more.

With Procreate, you can easily create professional-looking artwork from anywhere. Whether you’re a professional artist or just starting out in digital art, Procreate has the tools to help you create beautiful works of art.

Price: One-time payment of USD 12.99.

Features:

• Comes with the best brushes.
• Complete colour control tools
• Can create 3D model paintings, etc.
• Video recording during your work

Pros

• Unique brush technology
• Intuitive interface
• Customisable tools

Cons

• Available on iPad Pro only
• Steep learning curve
• Some updates do not work on earlier versions of iPad Pro.

10. Visme

Visme is a powerful yet intuitive online graphic design software for beginners that helps create stunning visuals for their projects. It provides an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface, allowing users to quickly create presentations, infographics, reports, social media graphics, and more.

With Visme’s extensive library of templates and assets, users can easily customise their designs to fit their needs. Additionally, Visme offers collaboration tools that make it easy for teams to work together on projects in real-time.

Price: Free for basic plans, USD 12.25 monthly for starter accounts.

Features:

• Infographics creation
• Various templates perfect for marketing and social media
• Intuitive user interface
• Content database

Pros

• Easy to use, perfect for beginners.
• Templates available for easy designs
• Versatile application

Cons

• Expensive design software
• Does not support collaboration.

Create Your Visuals Using These Design Tools!

In conclusion, graphic design tools are essential for businesses as they enable them to create professional-looking visuals that will capture their audience’s attention and increase their sales.

Need help using this software? Our graphic designers can help you! Contact Flexisource IT to learn more.