There’s no question about it: the Adobe suite of graphic design and illustration software isn’t going anywhere anytime soon as the industry champion. Despite its quirks and teething problems that come with nearly every version update, it’s also arguably the best suite that money can buy.
My daughter needs some Mac illustration software for her thesis work at uni, and her supervisor has suggested Adobe Illustrator. Are there any more. This is a completely free Adobe Illustrator alternative. They have versions available for Windows, MAC, Linux, Chromebook, online version, and just recently a WordPress plugin. They have versions available for Windows, MAC, Linux, Chromebook, online version, and just recently a WordPress plugin. The best alternative to Adobe Illustrator is by far Corel Draw. Unfortunately because it is a name brand and is so good it isn’t really that much cheaper. It allows you to do pretty much everything Illustrator does; like experiment with colors, compositions and brush strokes. You can get the full studio effect. Inkscape: Alternative to Adobe Illustrator Adobe Illustrator is a standard tool suited for vector graphics editing and design. With an impressive set of drawing tools and effects, it is widely used for vector editing, posters creations etc.
The problem is, it takes a lot of money to buy it. Purchasing any of the CS titles outright can cost anywhere between $300 to $2,000 depending on which version you plump for, and Adobe’s attempts to convince people to pay on its new subscription model can cost anything between $50 to $200 every single month.
Obviously, that’s not an issue for those at NYFA’s illustration school who have got full access to the CS suite as part of their tuition program, but these are prohibitive price tags for everyone else. As such, today we’ll be exploring:
SVG-Edit
Platform: Any modern web browser
What It Is: An editing suite that deals solely in SVG (scalable vector graphics), which may sound like a restriction but is actually quite useful given the versatility of the format. If you’re scared of getting into SVG editing, you’re missing out, and this will break you in gently. Being a web browser platform also sounds limiting, but again, the speed at which it operates as a result is often superior to desktop counterparts.
Inkscape
Platform: Windows/Linux
What It Is: As with SVG-Edit, Inkscape is also geared towards those who want to work primarily in the SVG file format. Featuring both a clean and intuitive user interface, but packed with advanced features (such as alpha blending, object cloning and very accurate bitmap tracing), Inkscape comes as a highly recommended free alternative to Adobe Illustrator.
Affinity Designer
Platform: Mac
What It Is: Full rasterizing controls, layer management, multiple file format support, infinite zooming and every vector drawing tool you could ever hope for… Affinity Designer could quite possible become a true Illustrator killer. At the moment it’s only available to Mac users and the full version comes with a small price tag of $49.99 with free upgrades for two years, but the trial version is still remarkably functional and worth a shot if you’re looking for a free editor. It’s even worth it just to play with the infinite zoom function (yes, infinite.)
GIMP
Platform: All of them
What It Is: The one you’ve probably heard of. GIMP, an acronym for (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is more of an alternative to Photoshop rather than Illustrator since it its vector functions are limited, but what it can do in terms of image manipulation is second to none. Entirely free, open source, and loved by thousands (which have formed a very active online community since its release.)
OpenOffice Draw
Platform: Windows, Linux, Mac
What It Is: While Apache’s flagship vector illustrator looks a little outdated these days, that’s purely a cosmetic concern. It’s still packed with features and is especially geared towards diagram and object manipulation. It also comes with the very handy feature of being able to create Flash (.swf) files from your document.
Serif DrawPlus (starter edition)
Platform: Windows
What It Is: The starter edition of Serif’s DrawPlus is aimed towards the amateur illustrator given that A) it’s free software, and B) it’s very much a scaled-down version of the fuller release, but don’t let that put you off. It’s not limited in any way, there’s no pressure to shell out for the professional edition DrawPlus X6, and it does a good job of emulating its heavy weight cousins.
You might find you need to use a combination of the above free alternatives to Adobe Illustrator to get the job done, but for many people it’ll be worth the cash it saves and you may even find a new favorite. Got any others we need to check out? Drop a suggestion in the comments below!
Are you interested in the visual arts industry? Check out NYFA’s graphic design and 3D animation programs!
Adobe has long established itself as the de facto leader when it comes to design tools and software. In fact, Photoshop has become synonymous with graphic editing and design, and so has Illustrator in the field of vector graphics.
That said, what if you do not wish to use, or cannot use, Adobe products? Maybe you do not wish to spend money on Creative Cloud, or maybe you find Photoshop and Illustrator too complicated for your liking? Should you not look for alternatives to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator?
Whatever the reason might be, if you do not wish to ride the Adobe bandwagon, you do not have to! There are various other equally powerful design tools out there that you can turn to, instead of Photoshop and Illustrator.
In this post, we take a look at some popular free and premium alternatives to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator Alternatives
01.Affinity Photo
Affinity Photois known as one of the most precise, fastest and professional photo editing software for Mac. It meticulously focuses on workflow enhancements, and offers a great variety of tools for enhancing, editing and retouching your images in an incredibly intuitive interface.
Affinity Photo is a professional photography tool to the very core, and not something you can use for logo design or banner editing. It can absorb an entire virtual desktop space for easy maneuvering. You can switch between Affinity Photo and other applications with just a swipe, and tools such as the zoom control can be controlled with a simple pinch.
Affinity Photo also uses the default OS X interface to import images form connected external devices.
Major Features
- Comprehensive RAW editing
- Work in any color space: RGB, CMYK, LAB, Grayscale with end-to-end workflow and color management.
- Unsurpassed file compatibility
- Always LIVE pan and zoom with live previews and tools.
- Professional adjustments like exposure, clarity, highlights, etc.
- Advanced lens corrections
- Variety of tools such as smudge, crop, burn, paint brush, and much more.
![Cs6 Cs6](/uploads/1/2/6/3/126318720/492787771.png)
If you are looking to simply edit photographs or something to retouch images, then Affinity Photo is an excellent choice.
Cost: £39.99
02.Affinity Designer
Affinity Designer is the modern graphic design app for Mac (albeit it is also gonna be available for Windows users soon). It is an incredibly accurate vector illustrator program that feels fast and at home in the hands of creative professionals. The user interface of Affinity Designer for Mac is everything you’d expect from a modern app — more beginner-friendly and very intuitive.
Affinity Designer features dedicated gradient and transparency tools. These allow you to apply multiple gradients within minutes without the need to open any dialog boxes.
Major Features
- You get multiple personas:
- Draw persona: This is where all of your vector tools lie for creating your designs.
- Pixel persona: This is where you get your full pixel preview and you can edit the image using tools which are not limited, which allows you to slice your design and take snapshots of it.
- Various shape presets, such as tear, heart, pie, donut, star, arrow, and many more.
- Enhanced zoom capabilities
- Live preview of effects
- Live Vector masking
Affinity Designer for Mac brings a fresh breath of air to traditional vector drawing applications.
Cost: $49.99
03.GIMP
GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)is a cross platform image editor available for GNU/Linux, OS X, Windows and many more operating systems. It is a totally free software, no matter how many times you download it or whichever platform you choose to use it on. Whether you are a graphic designer, photographer, illustrator, or a scientist, GIMP provides you with sophisticated tools to get your job done.
GIMP provides the tools needed for high quality image manipulation. From retouching to restoring to creative composites.
Major Features
- It gives users the power and flexibility to transform images into truly unique creations.
- It can be used for producing icons and other graphical design elements for user interface components.
- GIMP provides top-notch color management features to ensure high fidelity color reproduction across digital and printed media.
- GIMP provides extensibility through integration with many programming languages including Schema.org, Python, Perl and more.
Cost: Free!
04.Inkscape
Inkscape is professional quality vector graphics software which runs on Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux. It is used by design professionals and hobbyists worldwide, for creating a wide variety of graphics such as illustrations, icons, logos, diagrams, maps and web graphics. Just like GIMP, it is open source software and free.
Inkscape has a fresh user interface that presents the various tools and features in a very accessible way. It has sophisticated drawing tools with capabilities comparable to Adobe Illustrator. It can import and export various file formats, including SVG, AI, EPS, PDF, PS, and offers multi-lingual support and is designed to be extensible. Users can customize Inkscape’s functionality with addons and plugins.
The Inkscape project has a growing international user community and many learning materials exist to help get you started with your creations and imagination. However, since this is a free software, there might not be one-on-one priority support available.
Cost: Free!
05.Corel DRAW
Corel DRAW is not just an excellent vector graphics editor, but a full-fledged graphics suite that will satisfy industry veterans as well as users just getting into graphic design.
One of the biggest issues with graphics suites is tool overload, as offering various tools can lead to bloated UI. Corel DRAW addresses this with its pre-packaged workspaces. Apply the workspace you need, and the toolbar layout instantly morphs to better suit your needs. Corel DRAW also has powerful font tools for allowing you to set stylistic alternates.
Major Features
- Workspace selection
- Quick customization
- Font playground
- Multiple document interface
- Photo-editing tools in Photo-Paint (mentioned below)
- Built-in content exchange
- Photo zoom
- Corel Capture for screen capture and annotation
- Corel Website Creator for creating simple web pages
- Vector-illustration and page-layout application
Corel DRAW is a vector editor with a large user base. Whether you’re a first time user or an experienced designer, Corel DRAW makes it easy to get started.
Cost: $669
06.Corel Photo-Paint
Corel Photo-Paint is an advanced image editor with features like professional photo retouching and enhancement, powerful RAW image editing, advanced bitmap creation and digital painting and streamlined web exporting. This application offers professional editing tools and support for the latest PSD files, plus extensive RAW file support for over 300 types of cameras.
The features are great to have especially the Edit Fill tool dialog that makes it easy to work with various textures. The Liquid tools in Corel Photo-Paint can greatly enhance your photos and designs. Corel Photo-Paint, much like Photoshop, offers a plethora of special features such as multi monitor support, 4K and Real-Time Stylus support, new start-up tours, workspace customization options, enhanced editing dialog boxes, blur lens and many more.
Cost: $699 (included within Corel DRAW suite)
07.Paint Shop Pro
Paint Shop Pro was started by Jasc Software, but it has since been acquired by Corel. It comes with features such as enhanced layers, more precise selection tools, faster brushes and extensive productivity-boosting improvements.
Paint Shop Pro is a versatile software meant for photo enthusiasts who want software that can act as a photo manager, editor and adjuster in one easy-to-use-package that won’t break the bank.
Major Features
How To Get Adobe Illustrator For Free
- Text wrapping
- Lens correction
- Gradient preview
- Selection tool options
- Faster and more responsive interface (consumed way less memory)
- Layer workflow
- Camera RAW lab
![Alternative To Adobe Illustrator For Mac Alternative To Adobe Illustrator For Mac](/uploads/1/2/6/3/126318720/385846962.png)
Paint Shop Pro features three applications in one: Manage, Adjust and Edit which gives you access to tools specific for that particular task, keeping the interface clean and making it easier to use and understand.
Cost: $79.99
08.Acorn
Acorn by Flying Meat is a powerful Mac photo editing software. It is user friendly, has various editing tools, provides several ways to share photos and supports a variety of file formats. This Mac photo editor has an interface similar to other photo editing apps, making it recognizable and easy to navigate. It features standard editing tools, including selection, resizing, cropping, and brushes.
Acorn supports the use of layers, which preserves your original photo file during the editing process. You can add text to your photos and even create cool text effects to make the words stand out. The editor has 210 font styles to choose from. With 108 creative filters, you can alter the color, texture and appearance of your photos. The software offers batch processing. You also can create HDR images.
Acorn supports eight common file types, including RAW, JPG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, PSD and PDF. Plus, using Acorn, you can post your pictures directly to your Flickr account or on online galleries or send them as email attachments.
Cost: $29.99
09.Sketch
Sketch is an innovative and fresh look at vector drawing for the Mac. Sketch gives you the power, flexibility and speed you always wanted in a lightweight and easy-to-use package. It is built for modern graphic designers, and it shows in every fibre of the app. From a flexible workflow with support for multiple pages and Artboards, powerful features like Symbols and Shared Styles, Sketch is what you would use when you wish to work without having to deal with any bloatware.
Sketch features an intentionally minimalist design based upon a drawing space of unlimited size and layers free of palettes, panels, menus, windows, and controls. Though simple to use, it offers powerful vector drawing and text tools like perfect Boolean operations, symbols, and powerful rulers, guides and grids.
Sketch can create complex shapes using vector Boolean operations and its extensive layer styles.
Cost: $99
10.Krita
Krita is an open source sketching and painting program/tool designed for digital artists, illustrators, and texture artists and the VFX industry.
Krita has been in development for over 10 years and has had an explosion in growth recently. It was created with concept art, texture painting as well as comics in mind. It offers many common and innovative features to help the amateur and professional alike.
Major Features
- An intuitive user interface that stays out of your way. The panels can be moved and customized for your specific workflow.
- Brush stabilizers, that is, add a stabilizer to your brush to smooth the shakiness of your hand.
- Pop-Up Palette that you can use to quickly pick your color and brush by right-clicking on the canvas.
- Brush engines to customize the brush.
- Add textures by wrap-around mode.
Krita, in spite of being a free tool, comes with unique features such as drawing assistants, mirroring tools, layer management, layer masks and others.
Cost: Free!
11.Figma
Figma is the collaborative interface design tool where you can design, work online, do the editing and can work with others at the same time on the same design. Your designs are constantly saved. It can work on any operating system, because it is an online tool.
Yes, you read that correct. Figma works from the cloud, and does not require anything to be download. It is a relatively newer entrant in this field, and it remains to be seen whether Figma will be able to impress and gain followers or not. It is still in the prefinal stage, and you can reserve your spot as of now for the early release offers.
Over To You
Which of these popular alternatives to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator appeal to you the most? Share your views in the comments below!