Hey there it's Wes from Printful.
In this video we'll look at some of the most popular
free Adobe graphic design software alternatives
that you can use to create your print files
or any other promotional materials for your online store.
You've probably heard about Photoshop and Illustrator,
they’ve been the industry leading image editors
for about 30 years or so.
They’re easy to use, offer a lot of features and are constantly updated.
However, in order to enjoy the limitless capabilities of those programs
you need to subscribe to their paid monthly service, Creative Cloud.
Together with our graphics team we’ve found the best free alternatives to these image editors.
Each of these programs can perform basic tasks like image editing,
and creating simple designs for your products and social media,
however in terms of structure and additional features
some may be more useful to you than others.
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Let’s get started.
First up we have Photopea.
It’s a free, browser based program that is a Photoshop clone.
It can be downloaded and it runs perfectly on Windows and Mac platforms.
This way you don’t always have to rely
on the stability of your internet connection and browser.
Photopea can be used to edit photos and create designs for various Printful products,
moreover, its interface and tools resemble Photoshop and are quite intuitive.
The keyboard shortcuts for the tools are the same as well.
If you’ve had any experience with Photoshop in the past,
working in Photopea should be fairly simple.
Its pre-sized templates make it really easy to create graphics for social media.
Among the few cons that our graphics team noticed,
there is a small delay in the brush tool,
and its ruler tool only measures in pixels,
which might need some getting used to
if you’ve been using different measurement units in other applications.
Also, Photopea doesn’t include some of the common font families
like Arial, Verdana, and Georgia.
The next program that we have on our list is GIMP.
This is a free and open-source raster graphics editor.
It runs on Windows, Linux and Mac.
As a Photoshop alternative this program can complete the same tasks
and if you’re tech savvy you can benefit from the ability to change its source code.
It’s possible to take GIMP’s functionality one step further
by installing the plugins created by its vast community
or creating them yourself.
Don't install a plugin unless it comes from a trusted source.
At first glance GIMP’s user interface can seem a bit intimidating
with the tools, shortcuts and workflow
being completely different from the standard set by Adobe.
For example, if you need to remove the background from your design
you need to highlight it with the FUZZY SELECT TOOL,
then add an Alpha Channel
and only then you`ll be able to remove it.
Also, the Fuzzy Select Tool needs some extra tinkering.
If you leave the default settings,
this may result in a white outline around your image
after the background has been removed.
If you prefer drawing your designs,
note that the brush tool might not work smoothly sometimes.
Next up we have Krita.
It's a free open-source image editing software
with its user demographic consisting mainly of digital painters and illustrators.
It’s available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Krita is a good raster graphics program that's packed with tons of features.
You can create your own custom designs,
draw artwork with its highly customizable brush tool, edit photos and more.
It stands out from our list as the only free raster graphics program
suited for creating seamless all-over print patterns,
thanks to the Wrap Around Mode.
This is how it works.
Your main layer is duplicated, merged together
and reflects all the changes made to the master layer.
This is really convenient if you`re creating pattern illustrations
relevant to the latest design trends.
Krita is full of options so it could be a bit confusing and difficult to start with,
but when you find the tools that you need, you'll be able to create a great design.
If you’re looking for a program designed specifically for vector editing,
then Inkscape is for you.
Vector graphics are especially useful
when you’re creating designs meant for printing on several different types of products.
Since it’s a vector graphic, the print file won’t lose quality
when it gets exported in different sizes,
and Inkscape allows you to set a custom DPI for it.
DPI stands for dots per inch,
it's the number of dots in a printed inch.
The more dots the higher the quality of the print,
meaning it’ll have more sharpness and detail.
With Inkscape, you can create complex text graphic designs
by choosing any font styles available on your computer
and adding various effects and adjustments to the lettering.
The Measurement tool can be especially useful in such case,
as it gives you precise value of the distance between the elements of your design.
But, similar to the programs listed, it has a learning curve
and takes some time to get used to,
especially if you’re transitioning from another software.
Canva might not be the most obvious choice for Photoshop alternatives,
yet it’s a useful platform for any designer.
It's available both on iOS and Android
and can be used in an online browser as well.
Their free toolkit is quite extensive,
however, you`re able to get the most out of this app
only by subscribing to Canva’s paid plans.
Such a simple feature as downloading a design
with a transparent background
is not available in the free version.
This application is perfect for creating designs for poster and canvas printing,
as well as designing promotional material for your online store
and takes zero effort in understanding how it works.
Before creating your designs in Canva
make sure you understand the limitations of their free stock,
to ensure that the design you’ve created
can be used for printing and commercial purposes.
Before you download any of the programs that we mentioned,
make sure to check out our Printful mockup generator.
You can access it directly on our website.
We offer many free sample designs and objects,
which you can use to create high-quality mockups and print files for your online store.
Be sure to reference our print file guidelines when creating a design for a product.
You want to make sure you are creating a file that will get you the best quality print.
On which platform do you create your designs, desktop or mobile?
I’d love to know all about it in the comments below.