I know what it’s like to be on a budget and have a dream. That was me throughout my whole life. BUT just because you don’t have money, doesn’t mean you give up. I grew up thinking there is always a way. Graphic Design software is expensive, and the industry standard is Adobe. Although I am a big fan of Adobe, it’s expensive especially if you’re learning and experimenting for fun.
If you are a student in college, you can actually get a HUGE discount on Adobe. Go to this website http://store.collegebuys.org/ and look for your school. You need your college ID as proof that you are a student.
Even though I think Adobe is better than every product on this list (I’m biased because I learned everything in class with Adobe), here are the free counterparts of each design program. Also note, brackets is owned by Adobe.
Photoshop
1. Gimp
2. Pixlr
Illustrator
1. Inkscape
Dreamweaver
1. Brackets
2. Coda
Laziness
1. Canva
I listed Canva as laziness because it’s a site that I use when I am lazy. It comes with templates for social media sites, blog posts, ads, resumes, email headers, and so on. Canva is great for beginners because they have pre-made templates and graphics already ready to use. You can also import your own images and create graphics from scratch.
Do you have any free programs that you like to use for design? Let me know in the comments below.
– Paigon | Natasha Lane Design Co.
