Free Vector Software Like Illustrator Mac

There’s no question about it: the Adobe suite of graphic design and illustration software isn’t going anywhere anytime soon as the industry champion. Despite its quirks and teething problems that come with nearly every version update, it’s also arguably the best suite that money can buy.

The problem is, it takes a lot of money to buy it. Purchasing any of the CS titles outright can cost anywhere between $300 to $2,000 depending on which version you plump for, and Adobe’s attempts to convince people to pay on its new subscription model can cost anything between $50 to $200 every single month.

Free Vector Graphics Software Design with Vectr. Vectr is a free graphics software used to create vector graphics easily and intuitively. It's a simple yet powerful web and desktop cross-platform tool to bring your designs into reality. Jun 19, 2020  Open source vector graphics package Inkscape is staggeringly powerful, and is the best free Adobe Illustrator alternative for pro and semi-pro illustrators, graphic designers and web designers. Free Vector Graphics Software Design with Vectr. Vectr is a free graphics software used to create vector graphics easily and intuitively. It's a simple yet powerful web and desktop cross-platform tool to bring your designs into reality.

Free Vector Software Like Illustrator Mac

Obviously, that’s not an issue for those at NYFA’s illustration school who have got full access to the CS suite as part of their tuition program, but these are prohibitive price tags for everyone else. As such, today we’ll be exploring:

SVG-Edit

Platform: Any modern web browser

What It Is: An editing suite that deals solely in SVG (scalable vector graphics), which may sound like a restriction but is actually quite useful given the versatility of the format. If you’re scared of getting into SVG editing, you’re missing out, and this will break you in gently. Being a web browser platform also sounds limiting, but again, the speed at which it operates as a result is often superior to desktop counterparts.

Vector

Inkscape

Platform: Windows/Linux

What It Is: As with SVG-Edit, Inkscape is also geared towards those who want to work primarily in the SVG file format. Featuring both a clean and intuitive user interface, but packed with advanced features (such as alpha blending, object cloning and very accurate bitmap tracing), Inkscape comes as a highly recommended free alternative to Adobe Illustrator.

Affinity Designer

Platform: Mac

What It Is: Full rasterizing controls, layer management, multiple file format support, infinite zooming and every vector drawing tool you could ever hope for… Affinity Designer could quite possible become a true Illustrator killer. At the moment it’s only available to Mac users and the full version comes with a small price tag of $49.99 with free upgrades for two years, but the trial version is still remarkably functional and worth a shot if you’re looking for a free editor. It’s even worth it just to play with the infinite zoom function (yes, infinite.)

GIMP

Platform: All of them

What It Is: The one you’ve probably heard of. GIMP, an acronym for (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is more of an alternative to Photoshop rather than Illustrator since it its vector functions are limited, but what it can do in terms of image manipulation is second to none. Entirely free, open source, and loved by thousands (which have formed a very active online community since its release.). Have a look at the images on sosgame.com which used GIMP to create all the slot games images.

OpenOffice Draw

Platform: Windows, Linux, Mac

What It Is: While Apache’s flagship vector illustrator looks a little outdated these days, that’s purely a cosmetic concern. It’s still packed with features and is especially geared towards diagram and object manipulation. It also comes with the very handy feature of being able to create Flash (.swf) files from your document.

Serif DrawPlus (starter edition)

Platform: Windows

What It Is: The starter edition of Serif’s DrawPlus is aimed towards the amateur illustrator given that A) it’s free software, and B) it’s very much a scaled-down version of the fuller release, but don’t let that put you off. It’s not limited in any way, there’s no pressure to shell out for the professional edition DrawPlus X6, and it does a good job of emulating its heavy weight cousins.

You might find you need to use a combination of the above free alternatives to Adobe Illustrator to get the job done, but for many people it’ll be worth the cash it saves and you may even find a new favorite. Got any others we need to check out? Drop a suggestion in the comments below!

Are you interested in the visual arts industry? Check out NYFA’s graphic design and 3D animation programs!

Invented at the MIT Lincoln laboratory by Ivan Sutherland, vector graphics brought in a new dimension of images. Utilizing polygons to illustrate images, vector images promised and still delivers non-pixelated images, irrespective of its scale or size. The foundation of vector graphics are from the word itself. It uses vectors which are run through various areas known as points or nodes, these have a position on the Y axis and X axis of a work plane. These also judge the way the route is lead and can also be given attributes to be unique not only in place but in shape, colour, stroke etc. Thus, you need to know about the best Free Vector Software out there.

Soon after the invention of Vector graphics, the world of media changed as every consumer and supplier of any media were hungry to create and use images which never got pixelated. Listening to the outcry for resources, software developers rushed to their aid to create suites of application which would harness this magical technology. One such developer was Adobe but in particular, their software named Illustrator. Developed in 1985 as an Apple exclusive product, Adobe illustrator stood the test of time and criticism proudly.

Contents

  • 2 Top 6 Best Free Vector Software

Introduction

Bringing the best in the class editor for vector graphics, they soon became an industry standard and even digressed to create software for Windows which even today is used by the major population of the media world. Currently available under the name Illustrator CC 2018, they provide a stable station for any graphic designer to work in.

Boasting a cloud server specially for their users, Illustrator CC 2018 packs in the best class performance, online storage, the ability to use a lot of artboards and so much more to make any graphic designer just drool. But unfortunately the pricing of such a product is not deep neither is it justifiable to a point, this is because of the new payment strategy utilized by Adobe.

Coming under a monthly subscription fee of nineteen dollars for an individual, the consumer will feel the need to question the efficiency and effectiveness of the program for his or her utilization. Hence making many users refrain from using Adobe as there are cheaper or even free alternatives floating on the internet. There are also circuit designing sofwares out there. But like all Free Vector Software out there, the quality of such products is questionable.

Top 6 Best Free Vector Software

Gravit Designer

Initially known as Gravit, this free vector software is the best free vector download software ever. It is number one on our list. This is because it provides an ever growing and in-depth toolbox which we can compare to even Adobe’s Illustrator which you will have to pay.

The best part is that you don’t even have to download it as it can even run on your browser without the loss of features. The application also has a beautiful GUI which welcomes the user to keep creating artwork after artwork without distracting him/her.

It also has a cloud service which allows you to access your imagery from anywhere and everywhere. Hence, there should be no question that this should be your goto application if you can’t afford the paid software.

See also: 8 Best Audio File Editor Software | Free Download

Vectr

Free vector software for windows

Ranking number two on the list is Vectr Free Vector Software. This free vector graphics software is for the people who love to collaborate in work. Vectr provides a rich and diverse toolset for any graphic designer. It can also run on your browser just like the number one on our list. But the unique part is that it allows many users to come together and work on a single project, in sync and in live.

Free Vector Software Like Illustrator Machines

This service is available even if you are using the browser version. Even if your teammates are using the installed standalone version. Its also has a simple and easy to use GUI which anyone can get a hold in ten to fifteen minutes. Also, these reasons make Vectr take its justifiable position in the second in our ranking.

SVG Edit

Coming in at a strong third place is SVG Edit Free Vector Software. This free vector design software is very lightweight and is one of the most straightforward application a graphic designer can use. The application provides a detailed toolset which can execute the job as good as Adobe Illustrator. The application has a foundation on HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript, hence allowing it to have no back-end processing.

The best part is it’s an open source application. This will allow coders and the like to modify the script to their own liking. Unfortunately, there exists no standalone version of it and can only work in a browser. Alternatively one can use some of these drawing tools instead. Irrespective, being basic and simple has its perks, hence allowing us to give it a well deserved third rank on our list.

See also: 4 Best Free & Paid Game Optimizer Software for Windows

Inkscape

Coming last on our list but certainly not the least is Inkscape. This is a free vector software. It offers very good integration, a simple interface and a mediocre at best toolbox for editing. It clearly lacks advanced features like alpha blending, cloned objects, and marking extensions.

The other disappointing aspect of this software is that inkscape download is easy to install on windows. It is hard to for Mac, but it’s still possible. Looking at the advantages and disadvantages of this product has allowed us to justly give it a ranking of being fourth on our list.

Free Software Like Illustrator

Boxy SVG (Free)

Boxy SVG is developed using modern platform and is a modern vector graphics editor. It is a very versatile software with support to many basic and advanced features. The software allows the user to use a wide range of transformations, groupings and painting options.

It supports you to import images in many different formats such as .JPG, .PNG, .SVG, .GIF etc. The user can download the software or can also use it inside the web browser. It is available free of cost and is the best canvas for crazy young painters and designers.

LibreOffice Draw

LibreOffice Draw is a very good open source drawing tool. It is often used for drawing flowcharts and graphs, but you can also use it for designing posters, posters, logos, brochures and many such basic aspects.

This software is a more basic version with a light interface. It can prove to be a very good choice if you are looking for a software for official charts and diagrams used for office work. It may not prove to be that satisfactory if you are looking for a artistic tool.

Autodesk Graphic

Autodesk Graphic is a new version of the previously known tool iDraw. The tool after upgradation has become a bit expensive but it offers support for import of .SVG files, .PDF .EPS formats and also allows import an export of .PSD formats for photoshop users.

The tool provides a good range of tools for sketching and drawing and also provides addtional features such as technical drawing .The tool is also available in an iPad version which also has a support for cloud uploads so that you can access your work anywhere, anytime.

Mac Vector Graphics Editor

DrawBerry

DrawBerry stand out for being very light weight. It is a simple tool that may not wow you with its illustrator tools but it still makes up into the latest iOS version without any updates since OS 10.5. Inspite of being so simple in terms of features and interface, you may still find it useful when you are just trying to pull out something really basic for your low budget project.

Pixelmator

Pixelmator is not exactly a vector designer but it consist of some of the basic lines and shapes that can help you with basic designing. The vector mode can be activated with few clicks, however advance users will find it short of features as they have been used to getting all of the vector designing tools.

Free Vector Software Like Illustrator Mac Download

New users can have a look at the tutorial section to explore more about the tool. Despite of all the basic functionality we still feel as if Pixelmator can get your back when you need to get some urgent and simple logos with basic lines and symbols.

Free Vector Programs Like Illustrator

Conclusion

Free Vector Software For Windows

Here are some of the best Free Vector Software that can help you to create all those crazy images you always wish existed. You can use these software for professional work as well as for simple everyday work.

Hey everyone! I’m just a simple guy who absolutely loves tech. It’s my dream to make sure that all the updates in the tech world reach everyone is simple words. Hope you have a good time on my blog! 🙂

Comments are closed.