Graphic design tools that work are indispensable. Not only can they turn good projects into masterpieces, but they can also streamline workflow and expand creative expression.
Adobe Photoshop is a staple product among photographers, graphic designers, and digital artists; its image manipulation and photo editing abilities make it indispensable. Particularly noteworthy features of its AI engine include content-aware fill, face-aware liquify, neural filters and face-aware liquify.
1. Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based drawing and design program. Designers utilize it for creating branded content, posters, symbols and logos, icons and other visual designs.
This software supports both vector and raster images, offering advanced color settings to allow users to create color palettes or fill shapes with gradient fills.
Acquiring basic Adobe Illustrator knowledge is vital for anyone pursuing a career in graphic design, web design or digital art. AI’s streamlined design processes can save both time and money when used efficiently.
2. Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is an industry-leading image editing software, reigning supreme in graphic designing and multimedia industries worldwide. Trusted by millions of photographers and designers around the globe.
Features of layer-based editing allow for nondestructive changes to an image, and there are various selection tools such as the lasso and magic wand that enable precise selections by users.
Graphic design professionals use it to craft layouts, advertising campaigns and website graphics for print media and websites. Furthermore, branding and marketing specialists utilize it for logo creation as well as product mockups.
3. Adobe Sketch
Adobe Experience Design (XD), also known as Experience Designer is a vector graphics editor and prototyping tool. With its familiar user interface for Sketch and Figma users as well as anyone familiar with Adobe software products, XD makes prototyping easier than ever.
Sketch also features artboards and an extended layers panel, but also offers a similar plugin ecosystem and supports responsive properties.
However, XD lacks the power of symbols – an essential feature in Sketch that’s similar to CSS for web design. By linking symbols across documents automatically update when changes occur in one document and even between files within a library document.
4. Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is an intuitive layout design tool, ideal for text-heavy projects such as brochures and flyers, that includes advanced print preparation features. You can create master pages easily. Adobe InDesign’s learning curve is moderate compared to its counterparts – plenty of tutorials and templates exist online to get you up and running right away!
InDesign supports CMYK color space, offers precise layout control and offers a vibrant typography experience. Furthermore, InDesign lets you add interactive elements such as hyperlinks and cross-references into your designs – it even exports these creations as EPUB or HTML files!
5. Adobe Illustrator Draw
Illustrator Draw provides you with tools to create vector-based artwork. Vector graphics are resolution-independent, meaning their crisp edges remain when resized.
Example: Using the Pen Tool to draw a straight line and placing your cursor over label 2, the app automatically connects the two points with an ideal horizontal line.
Adobe programs allow you to enhance and modify your artwork further, from Photoshop and InDesign, all the way through animating it in Adobe After Effects. Plus, sharing your masterpiece is effortless!
6. Adobe Photoshop Mix
Adobe Photoshop Mix is an intuitive yet powerful photo compositing and editing app designed for iPad Pro with Apple Pencil but compatible with other iPad devices, making it a useful and engaging solution to support design projects.
Path Builder allows users to quickly and accurately draw paths that can serve as accurate selections or vector shapes or can even be filled in with patterns or colors for visual effect.
Lightroom Mobile provides support for layers, and files synced to Creative Cloud can be opened both by Photoshop CC and Lightroom Mobile (and vice versa). In addition, tools like Levels and Curves make quick adjustments to brightness or contrast levels for quick changes.
7. Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is known for its pinpoint accuracy, making it the go-to vector program. Perfect for logo design, intricate illustrations and typography projects.
Affinity Designer is an ideal option for graphic designers and artists seeking quality without the ongoing price tag of subscription-based software like Adobe Photoshop, excelling both vector- and raster projects alike.
With our top 10 graphic design tools list at your disposal, we hope that any design challenge can be met head-on. Make the most of your creativity!
8. Adobe Photoshop Sketch
Adobe Photoshop Sketch is a mobile drawing app designed for smartphones and tablets that enables users to draw and paint with an extensive selection of brushes and colors, save their work in layers, as well as take part in community-sharing sessions.
Sketch offers an impressive set of tools, from pencils and fountain pens to markers, erasers, acrylics, ink brushes and pastels – as well as watercolor-like effects. Sketch comes equipped with basic shapes like triangles as well as French curves preloaded. Furthermore, users can create and edit vectors – ideal for UX/UI wireframes!
9. Canva
Canva is a web-accessible design tool that regularly adapts based on user feedback, adding features that enable users to work with images, videos, templates, and elements.
This platform was designed to make designing visual content easy, and is accessible on both web browsers and mobile apps. With access to millions of photos, fonts and graphics for creating original pieces. Magic Resize makes resizing designs across platforms simple without compromising quality – while collaborative tools allow teams to work simultaneously.
10. Adobe Illustrator Draw
Best for: Illustrator is an industry standard for vector design and digital art creation, but Serif Affinity Designer provides an affordable alternative that excels in both vector and raster formats.
Affinity Designer features an expansive set of tools, such as its Corner Tool that dynamically rounds, bevels or chamfers corners on vector shapes dynamically; and offers CMYK color support. Sketch is often chosen by designers specializing in user experience while Figma serves as a browser-based collaboration platform that simplifies project collaboration; many graphic design applications also integrate AI for data-driven insights and more powerful automation.
