9 tools to master to become a graphic designer

Customers want to hire professionals who can create what they need using the best tools available.

This article discusses the top design tools you should master to advance your career as a graphic designer.

1. Adobe Illustrator

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If your work as a graphic designer revolves around vectors and vector images, then Adobe Illustrator is your best friend. Illustrator is part of the Adobe Creative Suite, an all-inclusive collection of tools for video editing, web development, graphic design, and photography.

This software allows you to create unique graphics, logos, fonts and vector illustrations in one place. This means you'll spend less time switching between different apps trying to put together your best work.

In addition, there are many hidden tools in Adobe Illustrator that you can use to create amazing designs. Of course, vector designs are not affected by pixelation and other image quality parameters, so you can rest assured that your work will look great, even if it is scaled or size.

2. Adobe Photoshop

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Adobe Photoshop is the most popular graphic editing tool for graphic designers today, setting the gold standard for other image editing software globally. It's the first major professional-grade editing tool you'll likely use when creating and editing images and other graphics.

If you're a new graphic designer, some simple techniques to help you learn how to use Photoshop can be invaluable. You can learn how to apply basic editing techniques like removing backgrounds, creating custom shapes, and adding unique effects to photos and images.

Plus, Photoshop is useful for everything from manipulating 2D and 3D images to performing analysis and image composition. Of course, you can also use it to edit computer-generated images and actual photos.

3. Adobe InDesign

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Creating graphics for eBooks, online magazines, and other publications can be challenging because you have to account for the potential effects of fonts, layouts, and other placeholders. That's where Adobe InDesign comes into play.

One of its key features is Adobe InCopy, which allows team members to collaborate on projects in real time. It also features AI-powered auto-aligning and resizing, making it easier to create layouts and designs. Therefore, creating and saving digital magazines, brochures and newspapers is invaluable.

4. Sketch

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Sketch runs exclusively on Apple's Mac computers and is one of the best drawing and coloring apps for digital artists. Sketch has a user-friendly interface and offers some of the best photo editing features you'll ever use.

In addition, the Sketch app is great at helping you create optimized workflows and is compatible with many plugins. If you need help, you can turn to the active Sketch community for solutions.

5. Inkscape

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Inkscape is a free and open source vector graphics engine that is compatible with several platforms. It provides file integration and support with tools like Adobe Illustrator and allows you to import files from CorelDRAW.

However, its user interface is not as friendly (or beautiful) as many of the other tools in this article. You can read the forums and familiarize yourself with updates and documentation about this tool. Conversely, it's easier to understand if you're familiar with the other graphic design tools in Adobe's Creative Cloud.

6. Canva

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Canva is a free graphic design tool with an intuitive user interface that even design novices will find easy to use. It contains thousands of templates, fonts and backgrounds, allowing you to create easily manageable graphics from scratch by mixing, matching, and editing features you like.

No matter what kind of graphics you want, Canva has a responsive option. There are also some hidden Canva features that you can use if you know where to look.

The best part: the software is mostly free, although you will have to pay to access some templates and fonts. Paid options are Canva Pro and Canva For Enterprise, depending on your needs.

7. GIMP

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GIMP is one of the best free tools for professional photo editing and graphic design. Today, it is considered a viable lightweight alternative to Adobe Photoshop. It is an open source graphic design software similar to Inkscape, although its user interface is much more user-friendly.

On the contrary, one of the main strengths of GIMP is compatibility. You can run GIMP on Solaris, Windows, Linux, and macOS devices, with slight differences in functionality. The software also has a strong community, with lots of helpful documentation for newbies.

GIMP is also updated regularly, keeping it fresh and able to handle any graphics editing and creation tasks you perform.

8. Affinity Designer

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Affinity Designer is a budget-friendly alternative to Adobe Illustrator with similar design tools, features, and functionality. It's a great tool for novice graphic designers, with a user-friendly interface and extra features that improve its practicality.

In addition, it contains a grid system, snapping options, and a dual environment feature, allowing you to create vector designs and pixel images in one workspace to view designs in real time. .

Affinity Designer's Zoom feature can be up to 1,000,000%, the level of CAD software (computer aided design). Thus, it enhances the ability to create detailed designs. You can trace up to 8,000 steps to find older versions of your work on a design and build from there. This makes it easier to make customer revisions and improves collaboration.

9. Adobe After Effects

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After Effects is best known for its animation capabilities, but it's also a great tool for graphic designers. It is a blend of motion graphics and visual effects software with features similar to those of Adobe's graphic design products.

If you're a graphic designer familiar with motion effects and incorporating them into your work, then you'll enjoy After Effects. This software allows you to create stunning, professional images using images, templates, textures and many other special effects. As a result, you will be able to create 3D images that stand out from the crowd and delight your customers.

Jessica Tanner

Update 17 February 2023