Content sharing has become a trend nowadays due to the revolution in the field of technology and the Internet. You must have observed the latest trend of people sharing maximum content in the form of short graphic clips and logos for every occasion and for marketing purposes as well as making graphic designing the most popular career option among the young generation.
Also, being a pro designer doesn’t only require having the newest of the tools latest software, and hardware but having creative ideas and the ability to execute them is the essence of graphic designing not to forget that having a good toolkit for this purpose is a mandate.
So, whether you are a beginner who is looking for a great start in the field of graphics designing or a seasoned expert looking for advancement in your current creative tools, this ultimate guide will help you choose the vital tools that will enable you to transform your overall work experience and will enhance your creativity.
Let’s begin with this:
1. GIMP
It is free and an open source software for image editing. GIMP is a feature-laden software that can fine-tune images easily and it can also create attractive artworks from simple images. It offers features like layer marks, Bezier curves, animation packages and filters for professional users. It has a user-friendly interface that requires no training in using it. It supports third-party, pre-installed, or downloadable plugins. A few of its impeccable functionalities include:
• Noise Reduction feature
• Colour Adjustment Tools
• Image Enhancement Tools
• Brushes that can be customized
This product may not contain the vast functionalities of a good commercial designing tool but it for sure has all the editing and customization features required for enhancing user experience.
2. Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud
Adobe Illustrator CC provides vector graphics solutions that permit a user to develop beautiful designs, sketches, illustrations, and topographies. It is highly recommended for advanced graphic designers as it offers diversified tools that help them create logos for brands, graphics for websites, games, etc. Its in-built templates and designs contribute to faster design creation. Its features include:
• Merge data using CSV or XML files
• A range of variable fonts
• Redesigned color screen panels
• Puppet Warp
It could be integrated with Adobe Creative Cloud and one could share projects easily. Illustrators act as a keystone for artists and designers to create vector-based art.
3. MyFonts
This software has a plethora of fonts. A graphic designer always needs a huge variety of fonts for their different piece of work. Its unique “WhatTheFont” provides graphic designers access to different new and old fonts even if they don’t know the name of that font making it a compulsion for every designer to have it, a designer just needs to upload a screenshot of the piece of a font which they are looking for and voila! they have it. It tracks the origin of a font by uploading it to the WhatTheFont tool. This app has a wide array of free as well as exclusive subscription fonts for designers at all levels.
4. Inkscape
It’s an open-source graphic design software well known for its capability to create vectors in its wide range of vector editing tools makes editing much easier for an artist or designer. These tools support the customization of clones, shapes, text, transparency effects, paths and many other of these graphics aspects. It supports operations like:
• Node Editing
• Circumfluent Object Text
• Path Operations
• Creative Common Metadata
Projects can easily be saved into SVG, PNG, BMP, JPG, and TIP formats which could be easily shared with other vector-based formats. Inkscape is a free software and offers robust editing solutions which are equivalent to solutions offered by expensive tools.
5. Krita
This is a free, open-source painting and sketching tool that is suitable for the needs of both beginners as well as seasoned graphic designers and design artists. It painting abilities. This tool is a must for illustrators, texture, and even visual effects artists prevailing in the movie industry. This tool provides solutions like:
• Manipulation of a highly Dynamic Range image
• Smoothening
• Colour Blending
• Mirroring
• Pressuring and Layering
Krita offers a range of Nine brush engines to pick from as depending on the needs of artists and designers. Users can also create their brushes and can, later on, tag them using an already-developed tagging system. You can use this tool by simply signing up for its services.
6. PhotoImpact
This software is designed keeping in mind the needs of both amateurs as well as novice designers. It has a user-friendly interface making it a must-have for the graphics designer. Loaded with tons of features like:
• Single Click
• Quick Fix Mode
• Digital Art Tools with Cutting Edge Technology
• Customizable Project Templates
It adds a high-quality professional touch to your work. Its unique features help enhance your work by providing you with space to come up with extraordinary graphics for Slideshows, DVDs Videos, etc. Drawing and painting tools offered by PhotoImpact are so spontaneous that they allow you to experiment with your creativity in designing graphics.
7. ACDSee Photo Editor
This software is ideally the best substitute for expensive pixel-based photo editors currently available in the market which assists users in making quick alterations by improving an image, precision target, and applying filters in images. It is recommended for those who usually do not want complex image alteration functionalities. Its wide array of tools offers features like:
• Easy image adjustments through the automatic process
• Layered image editing
• Pixel Targeting
• Smart Erase
• Frequency Parting
It is backed by RAW which helps in balancing colors, providing sharpness to images, or for any other such kind of adjustments. All these features make this editor an idyllic alternative to choose from the more expensive ones.
8. Adobe Fireworks CS6
The Adobe Fireworks CS6 simplifies graphic designing for applications and websites it is a powerful yet very light software for image editing. You can easily create graphics, and images here without the use of any intricate codes. Along with access to API, it also supports CSS creation and iQuery mobile theme skinning. Adobe Firework CS6 enables you to:
• Crops Graphics
• Perform Vector and Bitmap Editing for Websites
• Automates Repetitive Tasks
• Offer tools for Drawing, Pop-Up menus, and Rollovers for apps
This tool may not be as powerful as others but can make CSS sprites and can also easily retain codes from CSS designs. It can save images of different formats along with HTML which can be used in websites further.
9. ArtRage
This is an application intended to serve the needs of both conventional as well as contemporary graphic artists. With this drawing and painting application, you can create concept-based artwork for video games, animated movies, traditional artworks, and graphical illustrations for picture books, etc. It has a wide array of unique features like:
• Accessible Workspace
• Visual References
• Interface Options
• Natural Media Pencils
Its tools are based upon traditional paintings which help in editing, designing, and drawing processes. This app is compatible with both iOS and Android smart devices.
10. Adobe Photoshop CC
It is among one of the most reliable image and graphics editing tools that a designer at any level must possess. It provides inbuilt tools and templates that help the graphic designer in designing banners, posters, icons, mobile apps, and websites. Using this tool, you can create and improve illustrations effortlessly. It also helps in the modification of different artworks through its brush aids, exceptional tools, and patterns. Its other features include:
• 360 Panorama Work View
• Group Layer Arranging
• Curvature Pen Tool
• Luminance Range Masking
• Access Lightroom Photos
It offers its users the benefit of sharing their work and projects directly from the app with several services and on almost most of the major social media channels.
Wrapping up
Graphic designing is not a layman’s task it requires working with creativity and that work should match the client’s requirements one must show up with a unique, ground-breaking piece of work that must be attractive too. To keep up with the good work designers surely require the latest tools and here you have it a list of 10 must-have tools for graphic designers to bolster their efficiency.
