Although Adobe Illustrator is one of the best tools for making vector graphics, it is really expensive. Luckily, there are some free alternatives available on the market that are available to designers.
In contrast to raster graphics, vector graphics utilize mathematical expressions to create lines, colors, and shapes. This means that they are highly scalable. Vector graphics are best used for designing website graphics, posters, charts, logos, and icons. In illustration tasks, the current standard is SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics).
What are the best free vector graphics maker software? Adobe Illustrator has always been many graphic designers’ best friend when it comes to creating vector graphics. But since it’s an expensive tool, designers often look for cheaper or free alternatives, especially if their needs are simple. So, hereby present to you the best free Adobe Illustrator alternatives that can prove to be excellent options, especially if you have relatively simple requirements.
A collection of the top 6 best free vector graphic maker software: Adobe Illustrator alternatives
Check out the 6 free alternatives to Adobe Illustrator that you can find online. Read on!
Canva
Commonly used free vector graphic maker software download: Canva is one of the most popular browser-based design tools that can be used as an alternative to Adobe Illustrator on any given day. The web-based software offers more than 50,000 templates for different purposes. The software can be used to design advertisements, posters, ebook covers, logos, icons, and much more.
Even though it’s impossible to design anything from scratch (since Canva doesn’t have any drawing tools), there are many templates that can be used and customized according to your needs.
Canva simplifies the design process, helping you create more complex, elegant, and professional vector designs without any design features.
Inkscape
Source: inkscape
Inkscape is arguably the best alternative to Adobe Illustrator. This feature-rich image editor contains a comprehensive toolkit that offers excellent support and frequent updates. However, the tool can be slow at times.
Inkscape is a powerful tool that can be used by professional illustrators, web designers, and hobbyists. In addition to the standard drawing kit, Inkscape also offers specialized spiral tools and tools for building difficult patterns. It also offers advanced object manipulation capabilities, diverse filters, and some classic fill settings.
Inkscape is an open-source software. As a result, users with technical knowledge can edit Inkscape and customize it according to their needs. Although some users complain about its slow behavior, its performance depends entirely on the device you’re using.
Gravit Designer
Commonly used free vector graphics maker software download: Gravit Designer is one of the best vector design tools that is powerful, fast, and free. Gravit Designer is compatible with all major browsers and can also be downloaded for Mac, Linux, Windows, and Chrome OS. You get full cloud sync integration with all of its editions.
The software contains basic features that you can find in Illustrator. It also includes a pen tool and a freehand sketch tool. Users find it relatively easy to design custom shapes using the Pathfinder tool. There are many keyboard shortcuts in Gravit Designer to make the job easier. The best part is that many of the shortcuts do match the shortcuts in Adobe Illustrator. It helps make the transition to Gravit easier. Similarly, there are many libraries of pre-designed shapes, lines, icons, and illustrations. The software even supports CMYK.
SVG-Edit
Source: github
What are the best free vector graphics maker software? SVG-Edit is a good alternative to Adobe Illustrator used by many web developers. It is a web-based tool that does not have any server-side processing capabilities, and its tools are relatively less complex than its counterparts. If you want to develop SVG files for your website, SVG-Edit is the perfect vector graphic design tool for you. It’s free and lets you easily create and edit SVG images.
It supports any modern browser and offers basic vector editing toolkit features. Some of its features include the Path tool, Text tool, Shape tool, and Freehand tool. SVG-Edit is open source. So, users with technical expertise and developers can always add new features to the tool.
SVG-Edit is built on top of JavaScript, CSS3, and HTML, and it has no server-side functionality.
Vectr
Source: Vector
A collection of the best free vector graphic maker software: Vectr is one of the best Adobe Illustrator alternatives that is available as a web app and a desktop app. It creates vector designs simply and quickly.
Although Vectr isn’t as feature-rich as Gravit or the other tools on the list, it has all the essential features to make beautiful vector designs. The app is designed for the development of social media cover images. To simplify the process, there are pre-adjusted document sizes. So, it becomes convenient to import images and include text at the top.
It also supports seamless cloud integration. Images developed in Vectr have their unique URLs. As a result, they can be easily shared with anyone. You can even export images in JPEG, PNG, and SVG formats.
Boxy SVG
Source: boxy-svg
A collection of the best free vector graphics maker software: Boxy SVG is a web-based vector image editor that is easy to use, available in the form of a browser extension and supports almost all formats.
Boxy SVG is one of the best browser-based alternatives to Adobe Illustrator. It creates scalable vector graphics files and includes basic tools such as basic shapes, text, Bezier curves, pens, and the ability to add paths, transforms, and types. The USP of the app is that it has an extremely simple user interface. As a result, it is a quick learning tool. You can export files in PNG and JPEG formats.
These are the best free alternatives to Adobe Illustrator that can be easily downloaded or used online. Although none of the above tools match the full range of Adobe Illustrator’s skills, they can definitely prove useful when creating logos, illustrations, posters, and more. We hope these tools can help you create inspiring vector designs.
