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Graphic Design Software Programs Guide

Are you looking for good graphic design and photo editing software? Whether you are a professional or a hobbyist, this guide will help you.

As a professional graphic designer, as I give advice to other artists and students, I usually tell them that they are going to have to (eventually) buy Adobe products to survive in the graphic arts or design business. I'll discuss the Adobe a bit later - let me start with the programs that won't make you go broke.

Freeware or Shareware?

You may wonder what the difference is... Basically freeware is free software that you download and never have to pay for, though some of the people who make the programs have the option for you to donate to them. Shareware usually has a free trial, but then requires you to pay a fee to use the full version. Some shareware programs' functionality will end completely or partially if you don't pay for a license for the full version (and some don't!).

My Favorite Freeware

Photo Editing

One of my favorite free graphic software programs has a weird name, it's called GIMP (the GNU Image Manipulation Program). This is sort of a photoshop-type of program, you can make layered files with. I've used it for simple image editing and cropping and have found it really easy to use. You can use it for photo retouching, and image creation or authoring, too. The smart programmers that made this have versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. I've heard other professional artists say they like this one too. (To find this go to GIMP.)