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Often when we talk about design tools we have a very easy time thinking about the larger, more expensive programs. Names like Adobe and Affinity designer quickly come to a head.
The programs are very good, but steep learning curves and high prices make it difficult for those who have recently taken up design to learn the programs. With time, the options on the market have become far broader, and more and more competitive programs are beginning to challenge the largest players we know of. In this article you will find our recommendations for what we believe are the best free tools which is available now!
Canva is a design program that offers a wide range of different tools that easily allow you to create designs for everything from social media posts, book covers, infographics, t-shirts and much more. In Link Development, we use Canva mainly for organizing and posting social media.
Canva has very good social media integration that allows us to easily post directly from Canva into the various media. It is also very easy to set up own project folders that we can share with the others on the team, this allows us to jointly enter and edit on the different projects.
- Ease of use. The program is very easy to learn, with a good user-interface and simple but effective design features.
- Social media compatibility. In addition to being able to post directly to social media from Canva, the tools are incredibly suitable for creating good and visually beautiful illustrations for social media.
- Wide selection of templates. Canva keeps abreast of trends within its various audiences and makes sure templates are available for most things you may need them for.
- Premium Features. Canva is a free tool, but has paid solutions as well (Canva Pro). It can sometimes feel overwhelming that you don't have access to everything.
If you want to try your hand at graphic design, Figma is the tool for you. Figma offers a variety of tools that easily allow you to customize everything from your ideal logo to web design, icons, illustrations and more. The community page of Figma allows you to explore various plugins, templates and widgets that can help you with your design.
In its free version, Figma offers unlimited storage by drafts! This is unusual for free versions of such tools and can be very helpful for those of us who like to have some files lying around.
- Unlimited file storage in free version. Speaking of storage, Figma offers its free version more than several of the larger paid design programs.
- The community page of Figma. The community page offers a hub where designers share their smart solutions to help other users of Figma.
- Can be used across platforms. In the free version of the program it is still possible to use the same Figma project on phone and pc.
- Limited shareability at free version. In the free version, the number of projects you can share with others is limited. For those who have many projects and partners, this can be challenging.
- Administration and security costs. Many of the security features that Figma has implemented won't become available until we upgrade to their next-most expensive $45 a year package.
Gimp is a free ''open source', or ''open source' program for graphic design. This means in addition to being free, the consumer gets the right to enter and modify the source code.
Gimp has a steeper learning curve than other similar programs, but in return offers an excellent image editor with a large community and a lot of support.
- 100% Free. The program is completely free and offers no paid solution to provide access to more tools.
- Powerful image editor. The tools Gimp offers are very powerful and there is very little that can be done in e.g. Photoshop that can't be done in Gimp.
- Active community. Guides, user manuals and books are constantly uploaded to share experiences that can make the best use of the software.
- Compatible with Photoshop files. Despite a bit of a knot thanks to Photoshop's frequent updates, Photoshop files should generally be compatible with Gimp.
- Steep learning curve. As with most open source programs that are out there, usability is not the first priority, therefore the program can be a bit challenging to use for some.
In Link Development, we master a variety of programs to deliver the best possible product. Feel free to contact whether there is anything we can do for you or if you would like to hear more about how we use the tools.
Sources:
https://www.trustradius.com/products/GIMP/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons#reviews
https://www.figma.com/pricing/?fuid=1031897532804487770#cid-20p4Q0lWSOxIWj30zTY6P2
https://www.figma.com/blog/about-figmas-new-starter-plan/
https://webflow.com/blog/graphic-design-software?utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=general-paid-workhorse&utm_term=keyword-targeting&utm_content=dynamic-search-ads-t1&gclid=CjwKCAiA4KaRBhBdEiwAZi1zztZTRhXbdgrw_zVJbkXdAqRImUF50Grfeiz4GjCWZsZdzWR68_4bTRoC3TAQAvD_BwE
By Vegard Kallhovd
