Graphic designers should have creative ideas. Apart from that, it is the effective tools which make the best graphic designers. Each day a new designer tool is arriving in the market to make the workflow smoother and more effective. There are ample tools providing nice templates, designs and other features. You can also get creative frames to enhance the websites.
Being a designer, you know well the value of time and how to finish each project within a time frame. Let us discuss the various software alternatives which you can use to get high-quality designing work.
1. Abstract
Abstract is the modern age tool specifically developed for designers. Whether you have an individual project or teamwork, this app helps in completing all the tasks easily. Further, it comes with a variety of features such as a drop box for storing data and Slack for communicating with teams.
You can now manage all your Sketch files with this app. It also offers various other features like the organization of files and comment section as well. Abstract app includes Git branches by which you can interact with the team members.
2. RoundPie
RoundPie is another robust tool for graphic designers. It has various benefits from easy installation to time tracking. This app gives you the advantage of synchronizing all your tasks and finishing them in no time.
Additionally, it is one of the best software alternatives to increase productivity in the work. You can use this app with notes management systems such as Todoist, Evernote and Trello. RoundPie gives designers the comfort to work with the task management system. It also gives you the reports daily, weekly or monthly.
3. PDFShift
The next on the list is PDFShift software. This tool converts all your web pages into PDFs effectively. You can convert up to 250 web pages in the free version. Besides that, PDFShift software has simple installation. Furthermore, you can add watermark, header or footer in your PDF.
This time-saving tool is the best choice for designers as you can promote your work on social media platforms. There is no need to pay maintenance costs and you can get good results as well.
4. Sketch
Being a designer, you ought to know this tool. Sketch is one of the most amazing designing tools with small documents. It includes a beautiful user interface and endless plugins. The tool contains creative images for making your pages more interactive and engaging for the audience.
Some of the unique features of Sketch include vector editing, pixel-perfect precision, prototyping, code export, and many others. Artboards and animations will make each of your pages more fascinating. After completing the work, you can save it on Sketch Cloud and later share it with your team members.
5. Adobe XD
Adobe XD is one of the most amazing software alternatives you should use for a better quality of work. This tool has features such as voice prototyping and artboards. You can create the most elegant graphical scale designs by using this tool.
Further, it offers benefits like responsive resize so that you can place scale designs in small displays. With Repeat grid feature, you can add styles and various design elements in the artboard. You can also add some amazing animations in the pages with this tool.
6. Squoosh
The next on the list is the Squoosh app. It is the free app which helps you a lot if you want to become a successful web designer. The app has an easy function to drag and drop images from your devices. Squoosh maintains the quality of each image.
You can use this app even without internet or Wi-Fi connection. It is particularly developed for saving the time of designers. There is no problem even if you drop a big size file as this app automatically balances the size.
7. Canva
Canva is the ideal tool for designers, small businesses and students. It helps you in gaining expertise in the field of designing. This software comes with a wide range of features such as different fonts, infographics, color generation, and others.
With over 100 stunning design elements, Canva also contains various templates. It synchronizes with Android and iOS devices. Canva also gives you the facility to share your pages on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
8. Snappa
Graphic designers simply love the apps which complete the work in less time. You can now add one more name to your list of best-designing tools this year. This tool adjusts all your images for email, ad or blogs.
Further, it contains 500,000 photos and various text styles. You can also add mind-blowing effects in your images. Snappa is one of the best software alternatives to ease the design process.
9. Avocode
Avocode is a good tool for managing all your sketch designs. You can export images and code the websites with the help of this designing tool. Furthermore, it comes with a comfortable user-interface for amateurs and students.
This app easily converts all your PSDs into designs within a few minutes. It is quite an affordable design tool with just $15 monthly price. You can easily use this app for your bulk work.
10. Gravit Designer
The last on the list is the Gravit Designer tool. It is one of the best tools for icon designs, illustration work, vector design, and others. You can use this tool online as well as offline on any device.
In addition to that, Gravit Designer tool easily exports different types of files likes SVG, PDF, and bitmap. It is very simple to use this tool and has features like text integration and cross-platform functionality.
Bonus
Venngage
Venngage is an excellent, easy-to-use online tool for non-designers and experienced designers alike in the B2B and B2C sectors. The site includes a host of attractive and customizable templates for infographics, banners, slide decks, reports, and newsletters. Additionally, the 'My Brand Kit' tool allows businesses to incorporate their branding across all their designs to ensure consistency.
Visme
Visme is an all-in-one design tool that’s both intuitively advanced and easy to use, perfect for designers and non-designers of all levels—access time-saving design features like an AI image generator, interactive options and social media scheduling tools. Plus, professionally designed templates that mean business tailored for specific project or role needs.
With over 20+ million active users, Visme offers its features via desktop and mobile, so you can enjoy designing anywhere, anytime on the go. You can also integrate popular apps like Mailchimp, Monday.com, Hubspot, Salesforce, etc., to go beyond design, collaborate with teams and execute projects from start to finish.
Conclusion
This is the list of excellent software alternatives useful for web and graphic designers. They have free as well as paid versions with different features. The easy setup, beautiful features, elegant dashboard, plugins, and various other points make these apps easy for designers to use.
Which tool would you use this year for gaining the extraordinary designs?
About the author:
Alex is a writer at Alternativoj. He mainly writes about productivity, project management, collaboration, teamwork and leadership. In this free time he loves to Travel.
What would you like to know and what would be the best way to share this information to you? What is the best tips & tricks, what workaround do you use? We'd really appreciate your insight on these ones to make our integrations better, more productive and much more efficient. Comments, tweets are always welcome.