Canva - basics of graphic editing and creating images, illustrations and designs for social media
Canva is one of the tools that is increasingly being scrolled through by employers recruiting new employees. Its growing popularity is largely due to its simplicity and clear user experience, allowing it to quickly create neat infographics, interesting presentations or social media graphics. Canva works on a simple drag-and-drop basis, where you simply select the elements you want, then move them to the workspace and adjust them.
Quite a few of the resources and ready-made templates, including elements such as graphics, photos or fonts, are free of charge, although the full capabilities are only available in the Pro version. On the other hand, the user-friendly interface and intuitive navigation make it possible to create graphic designs really quickly and are the main advantages of Canva, which are important for those creating for social media.
GIMP - a raster graphics program and image processing tool
GIMP has been around for a long time and is one of the best editing programmes if you are new to graphic design. This doyen among graphics programmes appeared almost three decades ago and is sometimes referred to by many as Adobe Photoshop's twin brother, while the similarities are mainly due to the desire for maximum interface convenience, which makes GIMP similar to the Acrobat product. It is a free tool of the open source for editing raster graphics, which allows retouching, scaling, drawing, adding text and also quite advanced image processing.
These days, it doesn't stand out above the rest of the free software out there, but it's certainly worth paying attention to and familiarising yourself with its environment, especially before you plan to switch to advanced, paid software in the future. There are plenty of tutorials, video tutorials and tutorials to help you get the most out of GIMP, enabling you to both do excellent image processing and create and edit raster graphics from scratch.
Inskcape - free vector graphics editing software
Inkscape, like GIMP, was born as part of the GNU project and in its conception offers similar capabilities to Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw Graphics Suite. It is a free program for creating vector graphics, i.e. images using lines, shapes and arrows, useful for example in creation of logos. Unlike raster graphics, vector graphics are scalable, so any vector images can be enlarged and their aspect ratio changed without loss of quality, hence the basis of advanced design that any professional graphic designer will have to deal with.
Vector images can be easily converted into their raster counterparts, but conversion in the other direction is no longer so obvious. Vectors are used when creating an image that has a relatively small amount of detail, rather than for preserving the realism present in photographs - this is essential wherever you need to be able to scale graphics without loss, for example for printing, burning, or cutting with specialised machines. Inkscape should be sufficient in terms of its capabilities at the beginning of graphic design, for learning the basics and less professional applications.
Krita - graphic design software for creative artists in a digital world
Krita is a program open source for raster graphics, designed primarily for painting, although it is also suitable to some extent for photo editing. Comparable to Corel Painter, the application allows you to explore the world and the principles of creating intriguing images, for example black and white and colour sketches in a comic book style. With the help of this tool, one can feel like an artist, as it offers creators an imitation of painting with brushes with ink or oil paints or drawing with crayons. In this way, classic painted pictures or original graphics of the type pixel art.
A very user-friendly working environment and the ability to personalise the working panel are the hallmarks of this program, highly rated by users and supporters of free software. It is an excellent introduction to professional bitmap graphics editors, where you can develop your skills. The biggest advantage is that it is easy to use and suitable for creating graphics for larger projects.
Polarr - a free photo editing tool for Windows, macOS, Android and
Polarr is an interesting option for those wishing to process and edit photos, and the capabilities of this free programme do not differ from Lightroom. Available initially as an online version and mobile app, Polarr quickly became available for Windows 10 and macOS and is an intuitive tool offering advanced photo retouching options.
As well as correcting basic parameters such as focus, exposure, contrast or colour balance, it also allows you to improve the quality of your photo with sharpening and noise removal algorithms, local contrast or the ability to remove fog. Most useful options are free of charge, although some require a fee to access, but it is nevertheless a programme that is well worth starting your photo editing adventure with.
A licence for Adobe Photoshop, CorelDraw, Affinity or a free graphics programme for beginners?
Anyone who is starting out in computer graphics will undoubtedly be familiar with such programmes by name as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw or Affinity Designer. These are specialised graphics programs that help you create raster images, assist in advanced image editing or allow you to design vector graphics. So if you're planning a career as a graphic designer, it's essential that you familiarise yourself with the paid programmes, especially from Adobe.
If you want to design for your own use - e.g. for yourself or your own business etc., then our top5 free graphic design programs may be enough for you, especially Canva. Each programme looks and works a little differently, so you will need to learn each one. However, it is worth taking the time to master them, as they allow you to create professional-looking graphics without the need to hire a graphic designer or invest in expensive software.
Affinity - a paid but low-cost non-subscription alternative
While free graphics software is great for getting started, it's also worth looking at paid solutions that offer much more capability - and without the need for a subscription. A good example is the Affinity series of applications, namely: Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher. These are comprehensive and professional tools that successfully replace popular programs from the Adobe suite such as Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
Instead of paying every month, you buy the programme once - and use it without restrictions. All the applications in the Affinity series - that is, Photo, Designer and Publisher - cost around £255 for each programme. This is a one-off expense, with no subscriptions. If you buy all the programmes, you will pay around £609.99 at a time. Compared to the Adobe suite, where you pay as much as £100 per month for a single application, Affinity compares much more favourably - especially if you want long-term use and independence from subscriptions.
Privacy is an additional plus - Serif, the developer of Affinity, ensures that user data and designs are not used to train artificial intelligence algorithms. At a time when privacy issues are increasingly important, this is a major asset.
Affinity's programmes work across multiple platforms - you can use them on Windows, macOS and also on your iPad, giving you a lot of freedom to work wherever you are and whatever your device.
Best graphics software - when will a paid subscription be needed?
Free graphics programs work great, especially if you are creating for personal use - for drawing, creative projects or just playing with graphics. They allow you to develop your imagination, learn basic techniques and experiment freely. They are also great for creating simple illustrations, collages or social media graphics.
For example, the likes of Canva are ideal for people who don't yet feel confident in designing from scratch - it offers ready-made templates, intuitive tools and allows you to create pretty graphics in minutes, without knowing the rules of composition or typography. A super option for quick posts, testimonials, posters or presentations.
But if you're thinking of working as a graphic designer, then sooner or later it's worth investing in professional software such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign. These are the industry standard and give you full control over your project - from A to Z.
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