For many years, the vector-based graphics software Illustrator with other apps from
the creative juggernaut—Adobe, was considered the industry standard.
While Adobe apps are fun and relatively easy to work with, as you know, some good
things have a monthly subscription fee. In this video, I’ll tell you about free
Adobe Illustrator alternatives that you can use to create vector designs.
And specifically how they level up when creating products for print-on-demand.
Hey, I’m Michael from Printful. Do you know why it’s a good idea to use vector editing software
for your custom product designs? Vectors are made of objects such as lines, curves, and polygons,
and designs created in vector editors can be resized without damaging their quality.
This way you can create artwork that will look great when printed on regular t-shirts or hoodies,
all-over-print apparel or accessories, or embroidered on your favorite beanie.
Let’s get started.
Gravit Designer is a vector-based graphics app. It has a free version that works on all desktop
operating systems, as well as on Android and iOS tablets.
This app is easy to use for complete beginners and
offers a wide range of the basic tools you’d need from a vector design app.
If you’re looking to create custom embroidery designs for any of the Printful products, like
hats, apparel, or bags, the pen tool will come in handy for detailed custom line art designs.
When you hover over the tools, you get a little pop-up window that shows a quick animation
on how they work. These integrated tutorials are useful for beginners
since there’s no need to look up information online to understand how to use them.
You also have the option to set the DPI as high as 300 for your exported designs.
DPI or dots per inch represent the quality of your design file for printing. The higher the DPI of
your exported file, the better print or embroidery results you’ll get. For example, the minimum DPI
for Printful’s direct-to-garment printing is 150, but for embroidered designs—300. So Gravit
Designer lets you create vector graphics that will turn out great when printed or embroidered.
Although it offers a great designing experience, there are some limitations.
The free version of Gravit Designer cannot open Photoshop or Illustrator project files.
The app doesn’t have a dedicated ruler tool, instead,
you can hold down the Option or the Alt key to find out the distance between design elements.
Overall, the basic functionality of the free
version of Gravit Designer makes it a great choice for beginners.
Vectornator is a free app designed for Apple devices.
It has cross-platform functionality that allows you to work on the same project
on a Mac, iPad, and iPhone. This way you can keep designing wherever you are.
Vectornator has a friendly, easy-to-navigate user interface, intuitive gesture controls,
and third-party stylus support. What makes it stand out among other mobile apps is the
autotrace feature. It allows you to convert raster images, made from pixels, into vector shapes.
In addition to that, Vectornator has a built-in integration with Unsplash—a
stock footage website with free-to-use images. This way you can import images from Unsplash
into your composition, vectorize them, and use them in your design.
If you think of using this app to create designs for Printful products,
you’ll be glad to hear that it supports Adobe Illustrator files. That means you
can use our print file templates for accurate measurements and design element placements.
While this is an impressive app packed with advanced features,
there are a few things it’s lacking.
There is no tool for measuring distances between design elements,
which is useful for creating graphics for embroidery. It’s important to measure the
thickness and spacing between elements, if you’re designing embroidery files for Printful products.
But you can be creative and create reference shapes that are in the
right size and measure the elements with them.
In Vectornator, you can’t set a custom DPI for your project files.
When you export the design for a printed product as a JPEG or PNG, you may find that it shows up
in the Printful Design Maker with a DPI below 150. So you need to make multiple exports with
different file resolutions until you get the one that will show up with an acceptable DPI value.
The team at Vectornator is constantly improving the application by adding new features,
so there is a possibility that future updates will expand the app’s functionality.
Next on my list is Inkscape—a full-featured, free,
open-source vector graphics editor built for all desktop platforms.
Its comprehensive toolkit gives you control over every aspect of your design.
Inkscape has tools to measure distances between objects. So if you’re creating embroidery designs,
it’s a little easier to follow the element thickness and spacing guidelines.
Just like in Vectornator you have the option to convert raster images into
vectors. When you’re done creating, you can set a custom DPI value for your exported print file.
Most graphic editing applications tend to make their interface similar to Adobe’s,
so that new users who make the switch would feel comfortable.
At first glance, Inkscape’s user interface can appear overwhelming, since the toolbar
occupies the entire perimeter of the screen. You might need some time to adjust to Inkscape.
But a little bit of patience is a small price to pay for a feature packed free design software.
If you need an easier solution to create designs for print-on-demand products,
try Printful’s Design Maker. It’s a free design tool with thousands of free assets you can use
to create stunning designs and eye-catching mockup images for any product from the Printful catalog.
Our team has made it possible for anyone with no experience using graphics editing software
to create high-quality designs. Let me show you how easy it
is to create a design on this hoodie. Click on Add Clipart, choose a design,
and reposition it. Then click here to add a custom text, adjust the font, color, and add a shadow.
Alternatively, you can jump-start your creative process by using
our quick designs that you can customize in any way you want.
Think of it this way. Instead of wasting time searching the internet
for design elements with free commercial use or tutorials about a specific tool or effect,
you can save time on creating designs, and focus on running your business and making sales.
Now that you know various options where to create your next design,
check our Printful Academy course about creating print-on-demand t-shirt
designs with the help of Printful’s Design Maker. When you finish the entire course,
you’ll receive 200 points to use for purchasing any of our cool perks, like an extra sample order!
Are you already using one of these apps or maybe you have some awesome tips to share with our
subscribers? Let me know in the comments. Don’t forget to subscribe and hit the bell
button to never miss the latest updates. Thank you for watching, see you next time.