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. Mirrors full movie download.
Free graphic design software: Quick links
Google Web Designer, free download. HTML5 designer software for Windows: An HTML editor for power users to create HTML5 from Google. Includes tests and PC download for Windows 32 and 64-bit systems completely free-of-charge. Download our website building software for free. The application contains no viruses, spyware or malware of any kind. It is compatible with most versions of Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 or 10. If you experience installation problems you can ask our forum's user community for help. OpenElement is a free website building application with a WYSIWYG interface ('What You See Is What You Get'). The software automatically generates the necessary code for a website to display and function correctly, without the creative constraints imposed by other tools. 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. Although you might not necessarily need to study formally to become a designer, you will.
Software; Best free website builder 2019. Wix makes it very easy to design a website, while giving experts plenty of power to customize elements if they need it. Or download the software.
Vector art software
Image editing software
3D software
Data visualisation software
Other useful tools
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.
![Design Design](https://img.creativemark.co.uk/uploads/images/733/15733/img3File.jpg)
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.
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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).
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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.
26. Dribbble
- Platform: Browser, iOS, Android
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.
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Best free website builder
Read on for our detailed analysis of each service
Creating a website used to be the domain (geddit?) of professional designers and coders, but thanks to free website builder applications, these days it's something anyone can tackle.
The problem is that there are so many website creation applications and services vying for attention that it can be difficult to know which one to opt for – this is where we can help.
We've collated the very best free website builders available, including a mixture of offline software and online tools.
It's usually quicker, easier and more efficient to create and edit a site entirely online with a WYSIWYG editor, but if you want complete control over every aspect of your site's design and web hosting, you'll need a desktop-based free website builder.
So whether you're looking to create a site for your business, a new blog, or you just fancy creating an online presence for yourself, here are the best free website builder services to help you out.
- If you want website builders with more oomph and features, check out our best website builder shortlist which includes paid-for services.
1. Wix
A truly powerful website builder which is highly polished
$5
$11
$14
Very user-friendly ADI editor
Powerful and well-featured
Wix is a big-name website builder which offers a free plan, enabling you to have the run of this service without having to put your hand in your pocket. And you benefit from one of the most impressive website editors in the business.
This editor can be run in ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) mode, which has a very basic interface to keep everything really simple and user-friendly. This is great for beginners, as you can create a basic site without even remotely breaking a sweat (a range of attractive templates are provided, as well).
Those who want to get more involved with tweaking the design of their website can step up to the full Wix editor, which boasts powerful functionality, and the ability to really hone your website and get it looking just as you want. Visual previews of page elements make it easy to pick what you need for any particular part of a web page, too.
Wix is so polished that putting together your site using the editor feels more like using a native application rather than a website builder, and it also sports excellent support for a diverse range of media, and quality customer support as well, even on the free plan. In addition, Wix Turbo was recently released which improves the performance and speed of all Wix websites.
Powerful blogging functionality rounds things off nicely, and you’re getting a truly high quality offering with the free version of this website builder.
2. Constant Contact
Easy setup
60-day free trial
Constant Contact provides an intelligent website builder and ecommerce store platform, both of which are free to use.
Setting up a website is easy using drag-and-drop functionality, allowing you to set up a design simply and easily, and insert the features you need.
Settings are automatically optimized for mobile platforms and SEO, and there is a free image library with over 50,000 images included as part of the package.
The ecommerce platform allows for online payments through Paypal, Mollie, or Stripe. There are order and inventory features that automatically updates inventory with orders, and sends an email alert when items become out-of-stock.
While the basic level website is free, there are paid plans which add more features. Additionally, there is also a paid email marketing option available to allow you to reach new customers.
Overall, Constant Contact does a good job of setting up the basics. The free plan is a great way to set up your website, and there is a 60-day free trial if you do upgrade.
3. Weebly
Build a website with a user-friendly wizard and a WYSIWYG editor
$8
$12
$25
Powerful free solution
Tons of stylish templates
Weebly offers you two ways to build your website. Both involve creating it online, and both are as quick and painless as possible.
The simplest option is to use the basic editor builder which will guide you through a series of questions before automatically creating a site for you. There is scope for customization, but the focus here is really on fast results for anyone who is terrified of designing websites.
A more hands-on approach is available if you decide to use the standard Editor. There are literally hundreds of stylish templates to choose from – and, yes, they are genuinely impressive – which you can tweak and tailor to your needs using a beautiful WYSIWYG editor.
Despite being a cloud-based website builder, Weebly gives you a great degree of control over the look of your site and placement of page elements. You can also liven it up using additional features such as a newsletter and live chat. This power and flexibility make Weebly a top-notch website builder.
4. WordPress
Ideal for static sites, portfolios, online stores and blogs
Lots of free themes
Causing a slight degree of confusion, there are actually two different versions of WordPress. The more complex variant can be downloaded from wordpress.org, and you will need to upload it to your own web space and install it using the automated online installer. You can then customize the templates and use add-ons to make the site your own.
This is the route many bloggers go down, but there is a simpler option for people who don’t want the hassle of fiddling about with scripts and getting dirty with hardcore editing.
The hosted version of WordPress lets you create your own site on wordpress.com. You can create everything from a blog or photo site, to a fully fledged online store, and there are a number of templates to choose from. Additionally, Mailchimp users have a benefit of adding a Mailchimp block, which can grow your mailing list among other things.
Whether you're creating a static site, or a blog-style site with regularly updated content, the online editor is a joy to use and allows just about anyone to create an impressive, professional-looking site. The only downside is the limited range of plugins and templates compared with the desktop website builder.
5. Incomedia WebSite X5
A desktop website builder that has a free version.
Flexible editing capabilities
Incomedia WebSite X5 received an overhaul in April 2019 with new templates, an updated interface, new paid versions and more. The main thing to note is that the service now has a free version for everyone (note that the free version for TechRadar readers is still available to download). There are two paid versions, Evo and Pro, priced at $79.99 and $229 respectively. This is a one time purchase and naturally, both versions come with additional and improved features compared to the free one. There is also a demo version of both paid versions that you can try out.
Unlike WordPress and Wix, WebSite X5 is a desktop website builder, which means you can work on your site offline and have more freedom to make your website look exactly the way you want.
There's a range of ready-made templates to choose from, or you can create your own design from scratch. Next, build up your site map, showing the hierarchy of your pages and how they connect to one another – a feature you won't find in most web-based site builder apps.
Once that's done, you're ready to start building your pages using Website X5's simple drag-and-drop interface, which includes tools for editing both rich text and photos.
If you don't want to be tied down to an online site builder, WebSite X5 is the tool for you.
6. CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor
Ideal for hand-coding, and packed with timesaving extras
Impressive range of templates
Not all features available for free
CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor is one of a dying breed of web building programs that don't use a CMS (content management system). While not in the same league as the likes of Adobe Dreamweaver, Free HTML Editor packs quite a professional punch. With split screen code/preview views, it's possible to see the effect the changes you make have straight away.
To help you get started quickly, there are a number of templates built into the program, and there are some very nice features such as tag and code suggestions as you type.
For absolute beginners, the program might seem a little overwhelming to start with, but it's worth sticking with – assuming you have some HTML knowledge. There is one slight issue; a number of features, such as spell-checking and code optimization, are only included in the paid-for version of the program.
7. Joomla
Another free website builder with online and offline versions
Online builder suitable for novices
Joomla is a well-known name in the CMS world. It may not be as popular as WordPress, but it offers the same two options: build a site using the web app at launch.joomla.org and have it hosted on the company's servers, or download the software from joomla.org and host it yourself.
If you choose the latter option, you'll notice that the interface is much less approachable than WordPress. It's not completely impenetrable, but there are lots of menus and options to work through and it doesn't feel quite as polished as WordPress.
Joomla's online website builder is nearly as complex, but doesn't involve the same setup process, making it a better option for beginners. Its key selling point is a huge collection of themes and extensions, which provide endless ways to customize the way your site looks and works.
You might also want to check out our other website hosting buying guides: