Breton XpressTop is the single most advanced management software designed specifically around improving the kitchen top production cycle. XpressTop increases your productivity, while reducing costs to give your fabshop the competitive edge it needs. Dietrich's 3D CAD/CAM to specjalistyczne oprogramowanie do projektowania konstrukcji drewnianych. Dietrich's 3D-CAD/CAM Software: Chapter 3 - 2D to 3D Design Conversion - Duration: 16 minutes. Dietrich's offers professional 3D CAD / CAM software for joinery, carpentry, industrial or prefabricated construction and a modular and individual solution for planning, design and production that continuously adapts to the practical and changing requirements of timber construction. 31+ Best Free Graphic Design Software to Create Stunning Graphic Visuals. No matter whether you want to get started in graphic design or want to take your designing skill to.
There are lots of excellent graphic design programs available in the market, but not all of them are free. Thanks to some free graphic design software, you no longer need to burn your pocket for paying premium designing software cost. With the millions of graphics being designed and visuals being created now and then, it becomes quite important to have the best graphic design software to compete in highly artistic design sphere. Though Adobe Photoshop is a powerful designing software program that makes the work of designers incredibly comfortable as well as advanced. It is not the only way to go.
Many free design software programs and image editing tools might also be considered as Photoshop alternatives. I have compiled the best graphic design software list to help you in creating stunning visuals. Some of these are free design software online while others are available for free download on your PC – [Windows, Mac, Linux] as well as smartphone and mobile devices – [Android, iOS, Windows, Blackberry, etc.].
Dietrich's offers professional 3D CAD / CAM software for joinery, carpentry, industrial or prefabricated construction and a modular and individual solution for planning, design and production that continuously adapts to the practical and changing requirements of timber construction.
Check out: Top 10 {Free} Best Screen Recording Software for Windows
- Dietrich’s was the first company to make design software specifically for wood construction. It began in 1982 when German Master Carpenter Josef Dietrich wrote a program to calculate roof shapes, compound angles and cuts.
- We are currently working on updating our Engineering Software into one system that will include the full product line of ClarkDietrich Building Systems. For the time being, please use the below systems to help design your project: ClarkDietrich iTools Lookup Tools.
Contents
- Vector Drawing Art
- Image Editing Tools [Pixel Art]
- 2D/3D and Animations
- Infographic Designing [Data Visualization]
- Other Graphic Design Software Programs
- New Graphic Design Software for Free
- The Pro Review from TechReviewPro
31+ Best Free Graphic Design Software to Create Stunning Graphic Visuals
No matter whether you want to get started in graphic design or want to take your designing skill to advanced level – you’ll surely enjoy it. I have categorized the big list of graphic programs in various sections like vector art, image editor[pixel art], 3D and animations, infographics and other graphic design programs.
Vector Drawing Art
1. SVG-Edit – Vector Graphics Design in Browser
If you want to reproduce your drawing or vector art programmatically then, Scalable Vector Graphics [also known as SVG] is the format to do it. And the name of scalable vector graphics design software is SVG-Edit.
It is an open source software which means you may download it and tweak the codes to program it to work as per your needs. SVG-Edit is a powerful tool that lets you design or edit your SVG elements. The tool is built on CSS3, HTML5, and JavaScript. You may quickly edit and process two-dimensional (2D) vector graphics using this tool.
Though modern browsers come with capabilities to display PNG, GIF, JPEG, etc. files, if you are having trouble in viewing SVG files, you may fix it by installing Adobe SVG Viewer. Visit this SVG Tutorial page to learn more about various SVG element examples.
2. DrawPlus Starter Edition from Serif – Free Graphic Design Software for Windows
The starter edition of DrawPlus is amazingly 100% free graphic design software from Serif. It is a 2D vector graphics editor that lets you draw, design, edit and creates a perfect professional looking design.
DrawPlus has some outstanding features that let you make object 3D via extrusion, apply a broad range of 3D styles with a vast collection of brushes.
You may easily create bespoke designs, logos, technical drawings, animations and so much more with DrawPlus. There are various pre-defined templates and beginners tutorials also available to help you get started quickly.
3. InkScape – Vector Graphics Editor for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux
Looking for a perfect alternative to Adobe Illustrator or CoreIDraw, then InkScape is the editing tool to go with. InkScape is an open source vector graphics editor with many powerful features.
It also has good SVG integration with advanced features for print as well as web design. It is a professional graphic editor with straightforward and easy to use user-interface.
There are also various tutorials and previously created work galleries as well as tons of information to help you get started.
4. Skencil – A Vector Drawing Program for Unix/Linux OS
Skencil is free software interactive drawing program which is known for vector designing on Linux/Unix OS. It is a flexible and powerful tool for illustrations, diagrams, and other purposes.
5. Ultimate Paint – Image Manipulation Tool for Windows
Ultimate Paint is a full featured 32-bit Windows graphic program for image creation, viewing and manipulation. The latest version comes with all basic functionality which you may use without any limitation.
It has a flexible brush handling method which encourages creative drawing. It supports PEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, PCX, AVI (reading only), TGA, WMF/EMF, ICO (reading only), IFF/LBM and WAP BMP image formats and Twain compatible scanners.
6. SmoothDraw NX – Free Handheld Drawing Tool for Tablet Users
SmoothDraw is an easy, natural painting and digital free-hand drawing software that you may use to produce high-quality pictures. It supports many kinds of brushes (pen, pencil, dry media, airbrush, bristle brush, image hose, etc.), retouch tools, layers, etc.
7. Fat Paint – Best Page Creator Draw Program
Fat Paint is known as web’s best graphic design software, paint, and logo maker. It is free to use image editing software that lets you create pages, vector illustrations, logos, edit photos and design products online.
8. My Paint – Open Source Graphic Design Application for Windows and GNU/Linux
If technical programs make you scared, then My Paint is a powerful digital graphic application that lets you focus on art rather than technical programs of software management so that you may concentrate on canvas without distractions.
It is a fast and easy to use open-source graphic design applications for digital painters and is available for Windows and Linux Users also.
Also See:6 Best Free Online Photo Collage Maker to Make Photo Collages Online
Image Editing Tools [Pixel Art]
9. Paint.net – Free Image Editing Software for Windows
Paint.NET is a free image and photo editing software for PCs that runs on Windows OS. Paint.NET is a perfect alternative to Windows inbuilt Microsoft Paint. It is simple to use image editing tool with some basic as well as advanced features.
Due to its powerful features, it is often compared to other digital photo editing packages like Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paint Shop Pro, Microsoft Photo Editor and the GIMP.
10. GIMP – GNU Image Manipulation Program for Linux, Windows and Mac OS
GIMP is another powerful image manipulation program which is widely used for photo retouching, image manipulation, image authoring and image composition, etc.
It is an open source free graphic design software that is popularly known as a Photoshop alternative. Though GIMP was debuted on Unix based operating systems now, it is available for other OS like Windows, Mac OS X, etc. also.
11. Pixlr – Photo Editor for iPhones, iPad, Mac OS and Android
Autodesk Pixlr also known as Pixlr is a powerful image editing app for iOS and Android users. You may get it for free from App Store or Google Play Store. It is a fun and powerful photo editor that lets you quickly crop, rotate, and fine-tune any picture.
With Pixlr, you may choose over 2 millions combinations of free effects, overlays, and borders to further personalize your image. It is so easy to use that you may perform fantastic photo editing even if you have never edited the photo before.
12. Sumo Paint – Free Graphic Design Software Online [Browser]
If you want to start Photoshopping in your browser – Sumo Paint is there to help you. It is a free online image editor that you may either use online for photo editing or download to access all its app in offline. However, it is worth noting that you need to pay a subscription cost to access offline.
Using Sumo Paint, you may edit photos right through your web browser without the need of installing anything. Though having Adobe Flash is required to use it.
13. Image Magick – Bitmap Image Converter for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, iOS, and Android
Image Magick is a powerful tool to convert images from one version to another. For e.g. convert .Jpeg into .Png. It is a free bitmap image editor that lets you create, compose, edit and convert bitmap images to other versions.
Useful features like shearing, rotating and transforming images into flip or mirror, etc. makes it even handier for graphic designers.
2D/3D and Animations
14. Daz Studio – 3D Models, 3D Animations, 3D Software for Windows, Mac
If you want to start learning 3D animation design, don’t look further and just visit Daz Studio now. Here you’ll get enough tutorials that would make you a 3D animation ninja – no matter, whatever your skill level is.
With Daz Studio, you may create your custom 3D characters, avatar, graphic design elements or create your virtual world with virtual moving animals, places, buildings, people and much more.
Create your artwork for short films & animations, illustrations for books and magazines, etc. This free 3D Animation software is beneficial in developing your 3D skill.
15. Sculptris – 3D Sculpting Design Software for Windows, Mac
If you want to unleash the power of 3D Sculpting, 3D Painting and move in an exciting World of 3D, then Pixologic has brought a powerful 3D sculpting tool for you.
It is a powerful 3D sculpting software with some robust features that lets you enter in a world of digital world without barriers. Whether you are new to 3D sculpting and 3D painting, or you want to take your sculpting skills to the next level, Sculptris is the best place to start with.
16. Blender – Free and Open Source 3D Creation Software for Windows, Mac, Linux
Blender is one of the best 3D graphics program available for 3D art creation. It is an open source software which is available for free download on various platforms including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, etc.
Blender has a bunch of 3D artwork tutorials and previous creations available on the website to learn 3D graphics design. There is also a very helpful community who are willing to answer your queries and help you succeed in 3D design.
17. Google SketchUp – 3D for Everyone Windows & Mac
3D SketchUp is so far the easiest way to draw in 3D. It is a powerful 3D modeling software that allows you to build 3D models quickly. The 3D graphic design program is quite simple to use. You can create almost anything with your imagination.
No matter whether you want to learn 3D drawing for educational purposes, use it for personal projects or professional 3D work – various versions of Google SketchUp is available for your needs.
18. 3D Canvas – 3D Crafter, 3D Modelling Software for Windows
3D Crafter (also known as 3D Canvas) is an intuitive 3D modeling software which comes with real-time 3D modeling and animation tool. It provides you with an easy control over 3D scenes with its drag-and-drop approach for 3D modeling.
It is a powerful graphic design software developed by Amabilis Software. It comes in three versions – 3D Crafter, 3D Crafter Plus, and 3D Crafter Pro. The basic version is free while Pro and Plus costs money. Though advanced version provides you with an edge, still basic 3D Crafter has many advanced features. It runs on Windows 7/8/Vista.
19. Art of Illusion – Open Source 3D Modelling Software for Java
The Art of Illusion is a free, open source 3D modeling and rendering studio software. It is written in Java, so it is a powerful 3D design software to be used in many Java virtual machines.
On its website, you’ll get lots of tutorials, galleries of previous work as well as an active member forum who don’t mind helping you. So even if you are new to 3D modeling and looking to get started, Art of Illusion is perfect graphic design program for you.
20. Anim8or – 3D Modeler Software for Windows
Anim8or (pronounced as “animator”) is one of the oldest 3D modeler software which was introduced in 1999 and is still actively used all around. It is a 3D modeling and character animation program for Windows.
Anim8or has many powerful features like 3D modeler to create and modify 3D models, TrueType font support for 2D as well as 3D text, built in the 3D object browser, Joint character editor and much more. You may also sign up for Ian’s new fantastic Anim8or course.
Want to Explore More? Checkout:11 Best Free 3D Modeling Software for Beginners to Make 3D Printing Easier
Infographic Designing [Data Visualization]
21. Google Developers – Google Chart Tool Web Apps
Google Chart is a powerful tool offered by Google developers to create and customize charts from various data on the web. It is a simple to use free data visualization tool that helps you in creating interactive pie charts, line charts, column charts, area charts, tree maps, bar, etc.
With Google Chart, you can easily create your data representation visuals and get the code to embed them into your web pages, spreadsheets, etc.
22. Visual.ly – Create Interactive Infographics Web Apps
Infographics are the new way of visual data representation which is blooming at a faster pace. Visual.ly is the best visual design software to create stunning infographics. It is a free graphic design software that lets you create and share interactive visuals.
Since Visual.ly is a social platform to create and share infographics, so you may also interact with other infographic designers and share your interactive visuals.
23. Infogr.am – Create Infographics and Visual Charts Online
Infogr.am is another powerful online tool to create stunning visuals and infographics. With Infog.am, you may create infographics, charts and other visuals in 3 simple steps: choose a pre-built template, visualize your data then publish and share.
You may also select charts and graphs from over 30 interactive chart types including bar, line, area, map and much more for free.
24. Easel.ly – Create and Share Visual Ideas Online
Easel.ly is another powerful infographic maker where you may start creating best of infographics easily. Even if you don’t know how to make an infographic, all you have to do is click on an infographic template after visiting the website and get started.
Easel.ly is a free graphic design software where you’ll find a huge number of graphic shapes and objects as well as infographics templates to create easily and share visuals online.
25. Visualize.me – Visualize Your Resume Online
Visualize.me is a personalized resume builder tool that lets you set up and Visualize your resume in one click. It enables you to create your infographic resume for free.
With over 500,000 infographics already created, Vizualize.me is the #1 infographics maker for resumes. There are many powerful tools present here that help you in creating a killer infographic resume.
Other Graphic Design Software Programs
26. Favicon Generator – Free Favicon Generator
It is a free favicon generator tool that lets you generate free favicon icon of your website. Just upload your file and click on generate favicon to get your favicon for free.
27. ColorPic – The Desktop Color Picker
ColorPic is a free desktop color picker to pick any color quickly from the screen. It allows you to grab color palettes of up to 16 colors at once. You may also use four advanced color mixers to pick a spectrum of possibilities.
28. Fast Stone Image Viewer – Photo Viewer, Editor and Batch Converter
With advanced features like red-eye removal, color adjustments, photo browsing and emailing, cropping, etc. Fast Stone Image Viewer is another full featured powerful photo viewer, editor and batch converter.
29. Pixel Toolbox – Design Desktop Graphics for Windows
Pixel Toolbox is a powerful tool designed to help you create stunning graphics for your Windows systems. Create, edit, and apply 1-bit patterns, wallpaper tiles, icons, and cursors – all from a single pixel tool.
30. Prezi – Free Presentation Software
Prezi is a powerful free presentation software that helps you create, edit and explores presentations remotely from anywhere at your ease. It is available for desktop PCs as well as smartphones and tablets users which mean you may access it from anywhere. There is also inbuilt cloud integration that adds advanced features to it.
New Graphic Design Software for Free
31. Canva – Amazingly Simple Graphic Design Software
Canva is a new sensation in the list of graphic design programs. It is a free web-based app that let you ideally design almost anything. The simple drag-an-drop feature makes it so easy that you don’t need to be a designer to design stunning graphics.
Checkout: 9 Best Free Online Logo Maker Sites to Create Custom Logo for Free
The Pro Review from TechReviewPro
Neither you have to be an expert designer, nor you need to pay the premium graphic design software subscription cost to create stunning graphic designs. All you have to do is find out some free graphic design programs and get started to put your imagination on canvas and join the artistic sphere.
As I have already provided you with best design software tools – so just get started! I wish you all the best!
Don’t Miss:
You need the best free graphic design software around to make it as a graphic designer in this expensive tech-heavy industry. We've found the best of the best options to cover the basics of what you'll need.
Free graphic design software: Quick links
Vector art software
Image editing software
3D software
Data visualisation software
Other useful tools
Although you might not necessarily need to study formally to become a designer, you will need to know your way around graphic design software, and that can be expensive. But it doesn't have to be. While free graphic design software won't give you a plethora of fancy features like software such as Adobe's CC (get Adobe Creative Cloud here) or Affinity's software, you may find that with the right combination of the tools below, you can do almost any design job. And choosing what you get for free means you can splash out in other areas, when you fancy it, to combine premium and paid-for tools.
The learning curve of the free, more basic graphic design tools is also often a lot gentler than trying to get to grips with the complex software and menus of the subscription-based or more expensive packages.
Below are our best free graphic design tools – divided into handy sections: software for creating vector art, creating and editing images, creating data visualisations and other useful tools you might like. Just use the menu above to navigate to the section you want.
If you can't find what you're looking for here, our best digital art software and best 3D modelling software posts have lots of great options too, we've also got a roundup of the best places to find free vector art, and you could also check out our list of the best video editing apps.
Free graphic design software: Vector art
01. Gravit Designer
- Platform: Browser, Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS
Gravit Designer is a full-featured vector design app from the company behind Corel Draw. It's suitable for all sorts of design jobs, from screen, app and icon designs to presentations, illustration and animation.
With a clean and intuitive interface that adjusts itself as you need it, this free graphic design software packs a wealth of tools for creating detailed and beautiful vector imagery, including non-destructive booleans, a knife tool and path graphs, plus multiple fills and blending modes, and a powerful text engine.
You can use Gravit Designer online or download a copy to your computer; note that you automatically start out on a (free) trial of Gravit Designer Pro when you sign up, and once your trial is over you transition to the free version, but lose the Pro features – unless you pay for a subscription of course.
However, Gravit Designer's free version is still excellent. You can export as PDF, SVG or bitmap, and you get access to the Gravit Cloud service that enables you to get to your work wherever you are. See the full comparison between the Pro and free versions here.
02. Vectr
- Platform: Browser, Windows, Linux, Chrome OS
Available both as a browser-based web app and as a stand-alone desktop app, Vectr is a free editor for creating 2D vector graphics. With all the vector features you'd expect, plus a wealth of options for using filters, shadows and fonts, it's versatile enough for day-to-day design tasks. Its live collaboration and synchronisation options are particularly handy, as they essentially enable anyone to watch you design, live, meaning it's really easy to create in tandem or send feedback. This is a genuine alternative to Adobe Illustrator CC.
03. SVG-Edit
- Platform: Browser
If you're looking to quickly output SVG or edit an existing SVG file, there are a few online editors that will do the job just as well as Adobe Illustrator. SVG (scalable vector graphics) is an open format that allows you to reproduce your Vector drawings programmatically, and one of the nicest projects is SVG-Edit.
This is built entirely on HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript without requiring any server-side processing. So not only can you use it to create and edit documents, but as it's open source you can also download and modify the code using one of the best code editors – making your own version if you want.
The standard – albeit basic – toolset of every vector-image editor is here, and although it's limited to the SVG format, it's surprisingly capable. Note that if you're not familiar with code, this option probably isn't for you.
04. Inkscape
- Platform: Windows, Mac OS, Linux
As with many of the free options available, Inkscape focuses on the SVG format as its primary file format. This highly capable editor has a very good SVG integration, supporting many of the more advanced features that aren't always available in other apps – such as alpha blending, cloned objects and markers.
Full support for different colour modes means this is a viable alternative to Illustrator for both print and web design, and although the interface is somewhat simpler than Illustrator, it's still possible to achieve extremely sophisticated artwork. Of particular note is the ability to trace bitmap images, support for variable width strokes and native import of Illustrator files.
6 must-have tools for creatives
Free graphic design software: Image creating and editing
05. Canva
- Platform: Browser, iOS, Android
It seems harsh to place Canva under the 'Image Editing Software' heading because it does so much more. Canva is a photo editor, colour palette tool, font combination picker, learning resource, and photo collage maker, and it even features a dedicated infographic maker with hundreds of free design elements and fonts at your fingertips.
It's really more of a full graphic design suite than a photo editor, and while it comes some way short of offering the breadth of abilities of Adobe Creative Cloud, its simplicity, variety of useful tools, and inspirational learning assets make Canva a hit. You can use Canva in the browser for the full experience, but most tools are available for both Android and iOS.
06. RawTherapee
- Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux
RawTherapee enables users to correct distortion, boost colours, recover details and much more, meaning users can make tweaks to their photos until they're looking exactly how they want.
This free, open-source software also speeds up your workflow by allowing you to batch process images. You can also send images to other software, such as GIMP, if you wish to.
07. Photo Pos Pro
- Platform: Windows
If you're on a Windows PC and need a decent set of image editing tools without Photoshop's price tag or GIMP's immense toolset, Photo Pos Pro should hit the spot. Built with image enhancement and editing in mind, it's perfect for typical photo editing tasks such as fixing contrast, lighting and saturation, but it'll also stretch to more advanced techniques.
It boasts an extremely user-friendly interface as well as an in-depth help system to get you started, and if you want to expand its tools to fit your needs, there are plenty of expansions and plugins available.
08. Krita
- Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux
Designed with the VFX industry and concept artists, illustrators, matte and texture artists in mind, Krita is a free and open source painting tool that's been in development since 1999. It comes with a full set of brushes suitable for all manner of work, and there's a whole host of plugins available, from advanced filters to painting assistants for perspective work.
Notable features include brush stabilisers to smooth out any shaky lines, a wrap-around mode for creating seamless textures and patterns, and a pop-up palette for quick colour-picking.
09. Pixlr
- Platform: iOS, Android
Free graphic design software Pixlr claims to be 'the most popular online photo editor in the world'. It boasts over two million combinations of free filters, overlays and borders, and lets you do all the main things you'd expect from a photo editor, from cropping and resizing to removing red-eye and whitening teeth.
If you're used to using Photoshop, then you'll find Pixlr's user interface easy to pick up, as it's very similar. This free app is available in both iOS and Android varieties. Note that the app does offer in-app purchases – you can pay $2.99/£2.99 to remove the ads, for example, and you also pay extra for things such as borders and stickers.
10. Paint.NET
- Platform: Windows
Paint.NET is a Windows-based alternative to the Paint editor that Microsoft shipped with versions of Windows. Don't let that put you off, though, as it's surprisingly capable, useful graphic design software.
The focus is on ease of use, and there's a definite tendency towards photo editing rather than artistic creation. That said, there are a range of special effects available, allowing you to easily create fake perspective, blend and push pixels around the canvas, tile and repeat selections, and so on.
A good range of selection tools, support for layers, and adjustments such as curves and brightness/contrast mean that Paint.NET is a great alternative to Photoshop for photo editing, especially if you can do without some of the more recent additions to Photoshop's toolset.
11. Sumo Paint
- Platform: Browser (requires Adobe Flash Player)
Sumo Paint is a highly capable browser-based image editor. All the standard features you'd expect from a desktop tool are present and correct (and by buying the Pro version you can install a desktop version of the app if you prefer).
You need the Adobe Flash Player to use this tool, so you're not going be using Sumo Paint on your iPad. That said, it's lightweight and quick to load, and the free version is very usable.
The standard range of tools and adjustments you'd expect are all included. Brushes, pencils, shapes, text, cloning, gradients and so on are all quickly accessed from the Photoshop-esque floating toolbar. It can also open saved documents from your hard drive, making Sumo Paint a perfectly viable option for editing and re-editing.
12. GIMP
- Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux
Open-source free graphic design software that debuted on Unix-based platforms, GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. Today it's available in versions for Linux, Windows and Mac.
GIMP's interface differs somewhat from Photoshop, but a version of GIMP is available that mimics Adobe's look and feel, making it easier to migrate over if you're ditching Photoshop. The full suite of tools is available here – everything you're accustomed to is within easy reach, including painting tools, colour correction, cloning, selection and enhancement.
The team that oversees development has worked hard to ensure compatibility too, so you'll be able to work with all the popular file formats without any trouble at all. You'll also find a very capable file manager built in, along similar lines to Adobe's Bridge.
Free graphic design software: 3D
13. SketchUp Free
- Platform: Browser
For getting your first foothold in the world of 3D, it's hard to go wrong with SketchUp, and its free version, Sketchup Free, is an ideal starting point. It provides a friendly and forgiving introduction to building stuff in 3D, starting you off by simply drawing lines and shapes that you can then push and pull around to turn them into 3D forms.
If you need a bit of inspiration, you can search the SketchUp 3D Warehouse's immense library of models and download them for free.
14. Daz Studio
- Platform: Windows, macOS
Daz Studio is a 3D figure customisation, posing and animation tool that enables artists of all skill levels to creating digital art using virtual people, animals, props, vehicles, accessories and environments.
With Daz Studio, you can create custom 3D characters and avatars, design virtual environments, produce graphic design elements and much more. There's also a handy table that shows you what this free tool offers in comparison to its paid alternatives (scroll down to the comparison table here).
15. Hexagon
Also from Daz 3D is Hexagon, a free 3D modelling tool. Hexagon includes everything you need to create detailed 3D models ready for final render. Features include Daz Studio 3D Bridge, sculpted primitives, freehand modelling brushes, micro-displacement modelling tools, comprehensive UV-mapping modules, advanced 3D paint, and instant ambient occlusion.
Use it alongside Daz Studio for a complete 3D suite, for free – ideal for those just getting started with 3D.
16. Blender
- Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux
If you're serious about 3D but struggling to afford software, then you're in luck. Blender is a free, open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems.
Started by Blender Foundation founder Ton Roosendaal back in 2002, Blender is now largest open source tool for 3D creation. Its makers are constantly working on its development, but you can pretty much do anything 3D related with this software, including modelling, texturing, animation, rendering and compositing.
17. Sculptris
- Platform: Windows, macOS
If you're interested in the art of digital sculpting, check out 3D software Sculptris from Pixologic. Perfect for all skill levels, the software is a great starting point for users new to the discipline, while more experienced CG artists will find the it a quick and easy way to realise concepts.
Sculptris is based on Pixologic's ZBrush, the most widely-used digital sculpting application in today's market. So, when you're ready to move on to the next level of detailing, skills learned in Sculptris can be directly translated into ZBrush.
18. Houdini Apprentice
- Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux
Houdini is a 3D animation and visual effects tool, used widely throughout the media industry for film, broadcast, entertainment and visualisation. And its cheapest version costs just a little under $2,000.
But the makers of the programme – SideFX – are a good bunch and, knowing that cost can be an issue, offer an Apprentice version for free. With this you can access all the features of the full version in order to develop your skills and work on personal projects. The programme is purely for use non-commercial and learning purposes.
Free graphic design software: data visualisation
19. Google Charts
- Platform: Browser
Google Charts tools are powerful, simple to use, and free. You can choose from a variety of charts and configure an extensive set of options to perfectly match the look and feel of your website. By connecting your data in real time, Google Charts is the perfect infographic generator for your website (see our best infographics here).
20. Vizualize.me
- Platform: Browser
It was only a matter of time before an infographic resume generator turned up. With this you can visualise your resume in one click and also take a look at previous examples and resume templates. Enabling people to express their professional accomplishments in a simple yet compelling personal visualisation, we think this is an option worth exploring.
21. Infogram
- Platform: Browser
Infogram is a great free tool that offers access to a wide variety of graphs, charts and maps as well as the ability to upload pictures and videos to create cool infographics.
The data upon which the infographics are based can be found in an Excel-style spreadsheet, which the user can easily edit and see the results change in real time. When you're happy with your infographic you can publish it to the Infogram website for all to enjoy, embed it in to your own website or share it via social media.
Free graphic design software: Other useful free tools
22. Klex
- Platform: Browser, Windows, macOS, Linux, Chrome OS
Made by the people behind Gravit Design, and sharing the same engine, Klex is an easy-to-learn and accessible tool for anyone who wants to create impressive graphics in just a few clicks. While obviously not aimed at pro designers, it's the perfect tool for anyone who wants to quickly bang out memorable designs.
There's a plethora of ready made templates to choose from, plus thousands of assets and a great selection of effects and filters, as well as customisation options and a load of fonts and text assets.
23. Google Fonts
- Platform: N/A
The Google Web Fonts project – renamed Google Fonts – is an extensive catalogue of free and open source designer web fonts, presented in an intuitive directory. The initiative invites users to explore and test fonts in more than 135 languages, and create their own customised collections of font families.
24. Behance
- Platform: Browser, iOS, Android
With millions of views each month, online creative community Behance is a key resource for artists of all disciplines. It's a fantastic way to see what your peers are up to, as well as finding new work and creative inspiration from top web and graphic designers, agencies and illustrators.
25. WordPress
- Platform: Browser, iOS, Android
There are a whole lot of designers who don't have their own blog, but Wordpress is a great way to showcase your fantastic work, get recognition in your industry, earn extra income and get new clients. Don't believe us? See our examples of WordPress websites. WordPress is the most popular platform for blogging, and while it can be a little fiddly to set up, there's lots of helpful information online to get you going, including these 40 brilliant WordPress tutorials.
Dietrich Design Group
26. Dribbble
- Platform: Browser, iOS, Android
Dietrich Design Software Pdf
Dribbble enables designers to share their creations easily, and is a good source of inspiration as well as a great way to promote your own work.
Dietrich Design Software Store
Related articles: