Free editor to create online diagrams. Use our diagram editor to make Flowcharts, UML diagrams, ER diagrams, Network Diagrams, Mockups, floorplans and many more. Open and save your projects and export to Image or PDF. Pixelmator Pro is a Mac OS app that combines many features and functions of other apps all into one tidy app. Pixelmator features many of the best features for drawing and the standard photo editing functions of other editors. It also features a 'layouting' mode for publishing and graphic design work.
Paid tools for digital painting have set the industry standard for what is possible with these programs, right? Not necessary. There is so much great free drawing software available today. Tired of subscription slavery and the epidemic of bloatware, professional artists are even switching from the paid apps they’ve been using for years.
The question is – where can we find these tools? Travel no further. We have handpicked the best free drawing programs that you can use to create compelling artworks without paying a single penny.
Platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS
Download link: krita.org
Krita is an open source painting program made by artists for artists. The tool is completely free and the only way you can support its creator is by donating. Its main focus is on the artistic painting for cartoons, anime or canvas art, meaning that some features that you may need for photo editing or image manipulation were not prioritized in development.
One of the main strengths of Krita is its brush engine. You can tweak and create brushes for ages, and Krita comes with more than nine brush engines. The customization process is versatile and one can create an almost infinite amount of brushes specific to the task. However, the default set of brushes is more than enough to start creating art – and you can always find more packs on the internet, free of charge.
Another advantage that Krita offers is its layers mechanics. The layering system resembles that of Photoshop and allows all standard operations: merging, blending, grouping etc. There is a variety of layer types that you can create: paint layers, vector layers, fill & file layers.
Krita supports layered PSD files, so you can open Photoshop files or export your work using that format.
Artwork made with Krita by David Revoy
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Platform: Linux, macOS, Windows
Download link: gimp.org
Gimp is one of the oldest raster graphic editors that’s free to use since it’s early release in 1996. It has a wide and devoted user base with many tutorials and documentation available online.
Up until the last year many new users were skeptical towards adopting the program, since for years it has had issues such as outdated UI, jagged brush work and poor performance on new PC’s. However, the recent big April update addressed all of these, being the result of six years of work (the previous version of Gimp was released in 2012).
Gimp was always more of an image editing program than a drawing one. With all the latest updates, its functionality is almost on par with Photoshop’s. Gimp has filters, adjustments modes, color management, and all the tools professional photo editors (photographers, designers etc.) might use in their daily work. Developers also polished PSD import, and added new image formats (OpenEXR, RGBE, WebP, HGT).
However, Gimp has a lot to offer digital painters as well. The newest version includes long-awaited updates for the brush work (symmetry painting, hardware pixel processing) and canvas management (rotating, flipping, previewing).
One particular advantage of Gimp is the highly customizable UI. With all the features it offers, Gimp is the closest alternative to Photoshop in terms of the number of things you are able to do with it, and the latest update brought it even closer.
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Platform: macOS, Windows, Android, iOS
Download link:sketchbook.com
In April 2018, Autodesk made the SketchBook Pro drawing program absolutely free. No hidden costs, no subscription fees — all you have to do in order to use this drawing software with all its premium features is simply create an Autodesk account. But even then, you don’t have to do it for the first seven days.
This has completely changed the dynamic of the free drawing software market, because the number of features this program offers for free is simply amazing.
Here’s a video with commentary and some valuable SketchBook Pro tips for artists:
Sketchbook is a part of the Autodesk software suite, a heavily engineering-oriented company. Engineers and industrial designers have been using Sketchbook for years in order to create accurate, yet simple and visually appealing sketches.
That’s why sketchbook offers wonderful perspective features: grids, dynamic vanishing point alignment, vanishing point managements, etc. It allows you to quickly build perspective grids for your art, which is valuable for concept artists, industrial designers, and architects.
French curves is another feature you won’t find in many painting programs. They allow you to trace smooth curves, a feature that is also widely used in industrial design.
The UI is simple, yet very effective. You can easily turn on only those sections of UI that you’re currently using, so that your work area is not swamped by a large amount of tools.
You can download additional brushes without having to browse the Internet — whole packs can be downloaded from the main menu of the program. This drawing program supports PSD files and all the common graphic formats you might need.
SketchBook also has a mobile version available on Android and iOS. So you can, for example, take a photo of something and then instantly start drawing over it.
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Platform: Linux, Windows
Download link:mypaint.org
MyPaint has been around since 2008 and it’s development model is contribution based, with the latest stable version released in 2016. The app is open-source, simple and stable.
It’s well optimized for working with tablets, so the brush flow is smooth and glitch-free, which is great given that the program is not developed by a corporation, but by a number of volunteer developers.
Unlike trying to install heavier drawing solutions, MyPaint is easy on computer resources, so using it on old laptops and PC’s is a great option.
The UI is pretty up-to-date and feels more modern than, for example, Paint.net.
MyPaint supports layers and basic color adjustments. It also has cool features, like symmetry mode, connected lines, and curves. It comes with a set of brushes that have this almost organic feel to them. However, some advanced features are not there, e.g it has no animation tools.
Overall, MyPaint is a perfect choice for light sketching work, if you don’t need advanced features and want to rationally use system resources.
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Platforms: macOS, Windows
Download link: firealpaca.com
Despite the simple looking interface, FireAlpaca is a surprisingly workable free tool beloved by many artists. It supports all the core features digital artists need: brushes, layers, multiple image tabs and editing tools.
A simple UI allows you to focus on the primary goal: painting, and it makes this program very intuitive from the start. The brush control is no worse than paid software analogues; FireAlpaca supports multiple pressure levels and has an adjustable smoothing feature that aids the line work.
Unexpectedly elaborated are FireAlpaca’s perspective tools. Snap feature allows you to easily create perspective grids with multiple vanishing points, both linear and radial. This is especially useful for creating comics and storyboards with often uncommon perspective angles.
Artwork made in FireAlpaca by Manga-omega. Watch Speedpaint video here.
It’s also worth mentioning that FireAlpaca has a built-in basic animation toolset (though you might want to find a tutorial for that) and supports PSD file format.
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Platforms: Windows, macOS, iPad, iPhone, Android
Download link: medibangpaint.com
The key advantage of MediBang Paint Pro is its ubiquity – the program has a counterpart for almost every device you might have. With cloud storage you can effortlessly transfer your art between different devices. For example, you might start drawing something on your Kindle, and then later finish the drawing on your Mac.
The trick is, MediBang Paint and FireAlpaca are made by the same company. That explains why many features between these programs are quite similar, and why the brush workflow is great in both of them. It’s hard to point out differences between them, except for Medi’s cross-platformity and cloud tools. This, in turn, leads to MediBang Pro being compatible with a larger number of tablets, while FireAlpaca is mostly optimized for brand names like Wacom.
Artwork made with MediBang Paint by たく
Some specific features (e.g. materials) that are available in desktop versions may not be available on mobile versions, but then again, cloud sharing addresses that.
Overall, MediBang Paint Pro is one of these good free drawing programs that are surprisingly resourceful.
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Platform: Windows
Download link: getpaint.net
Paint.Net is a simple alternative to GIMP. It is a perfect match for those looking for quick photo and image editing, without skimming through pages of tutorials and additional menus.
But don’t let its simplicity fool you – the tool supports all the features one may need for all-around editing of images: layers, adjustment modes, and special effects. You can get rid of red eyes, blend images or adjust color as effectively as with any other feature-loaded analogue. Paint.NET also supports extensions, if you want to expand its capabilities.
The user interface resembles that of a Photoshop, so if you have had any experience with the program, using Paint.NET will feel even more intuitive. The app also features automatic updates, including bug fixes and new features.
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Just a decade ago we didn’t really have a choice: There was one paid program and one free. Nowadays there are so many great apps, it’s hard to pick one even among the free ones available.
There are no clear winners, and the only question that can really narrow down the choice is whether you are planning to use these programs for digital painting (Krita, FireAlpaca, MebiBang Paint Pro), or for photo & image editing (GIMP, Paint.NET).
Fascinating art can be created with any of these programs (yes, even with Paint.NET). So the question is how comfortable you are with the tools you are using, and there’s only one person who can answer that question.
Check the handy list of free software for vector drawing
Read useful tips on how to become a graphic designer and check 6 temptations of a graphic designer creating icons.
A PDF ( Portable Document Format) is a file format that is used to present documents which have texts and images. It is free styled format that can be used on multiple application software, hardware, and operating systems. There is no office, no school submission that hasn’t used a PDF file format for its presentation.
Below mentioned are the 10 Best free PDF Editing Software for Windows 2021.
There are many different softwares that help one in the task of editing PDF files or saving/transferring their work onto the PDF file format. On this list of the 10 Best free PDF Editing Software for Windows the next software to feature is Nitro Pro PDF. Apart from the default features that enable one to edit to their heart’s content, Nitro Pro offers its users safety and security of their documents. Documents created with this software are safe with digital audit trails, SSL AES encryption, and industry-standard cloud service facilities that meet PCI DSS, HIPAA, SSAE 16, and SOC requirements. While the majority number of companies cater to the tried and tested features for document editing, such features earn our kudos for out of the box thinking!
Compatibility: Windows 10, 8, and 7 (64 bit)
The first name on our list for the 10 Best free PDF Editing Software for Windows is PDFelement. This software offers the users easy to use interface where in any text, image format can easily be edited. It offers features like simple editing, annotate, conversion of PDF to and from one format to another, signature application and PDF form filling among others. This helps the users access their MS Word files in a PDF format for editing. The latest version boasts of multi-tiled screen display and text extraction from non scanned PDF documents.
Compatibility: Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista
Next PDF editor free download in our list is PDF-XChange Editor. it is one of those few softwares that help a user in creating PDF files from scanned documents, images, text files, Markdown files etc. It can also be used to convert MS Office documents in to a PDF file. (this feature is a rarity and not offered by many other PDF applications) This software includes additional features like Ribbon UI, AutoSave/AutoRecover options, MRC (Mixed Raster Content) and expanded Snapshot and Select Text Tools, which include development of date macros. With the option of adding watermarks, one can customise a document and avoid counterfeiting.
Compatibility: Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista
Sejda PDF Editor helps the users to extract and separate text and split it by size, text or bookmark. It helps the users to convert its text documents in to MS Word, Excel and image formats of one’s choice. It also compresses the files due to which they can save on the space on the drives. For added focus on security, it allows for password protection and thus preventing unauthorised access to the PDF files created.
Compatibility: Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista
For the art students, the architects, the creative souls, Inkscape comes as a boon in the disguise as a PDF Editor. This software may pop halfway through our list of 10 Best free PDF Editing Software for Windows but, it is the only software that offers unlimited options for image and illustrative edits apart from from the usual text edits. This software, has flexible drawing tools, Bezier and spiro curves tools that support manipulating images. It is also perfectly compliant to SVG format file generation and editing. A must try software, for all your PDF edit needs which makes it one for the best free PDF editor for windows.
Compatibility: Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista
How can a list on PDF file format be remotely complete without mentioning Adobe Acrobat? Considered by many as one of the most easy to use software for PDF editing, Adobe Acrobat remains a people’s favorite. A free to use software, it offers the users basic edit functionality and also offers the option of converting PDF files into MS Word, Excel or extract text that can be used in any other file format. It has the basic image altering tools which help in image manipulation.
Compatibility: Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista
Foxit Softwares has always tried to give stiff competition to Adobe Acrobat. This race of one upmanship has resulted in the user as the winner. The multiple features that have been offered, has made using these softwares very easy. One of the most uniques selling points about Foxit Phantom is that it offers users extraction and conversion of text into HTML files. With the option of Comments, one can easily converse with other writers and have a better content in hand. There are many version of this software available. Standard, Business and Education. Many of their versions are not free. So, make sure before you click download.
Compatibility: Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista
Probably the most easy to use software on our list of 10 Best free PDF Editing Software for Windows is AbleWord. This software allows the users to edit, extract, insert and convert text into multiple file formats. It can even be used as a substitute of MS Office as this one stop software has it all. One can create word files directly on AbleWord. The best part about this software is its multiple edit features are easy to learn and make a user confident in editing their content. Be warned, it doesn’t offer any more new updates or additional features.
Compatibility: Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista
Offering versions such as Standard, Pro and Pro+ OCR (Optical character recognition ). Soda PDF is one of the most user friendly of PDF Editing Softwares. While all versions allow easy editing, PRO+ OCR provides the added feature of scanning a PDF file and then reading it a word document. Make sure which version shall serve your needs the best and then download.
Compatibility: Windows 10/8/7,Vista and XP
Last but not the least on our list of 10 Best free PDF Editing Software for Windows is PDF Buddy. This software’s name is the perfect explanation in regards to it’s features. An online portal, there is no need to download anything. Simply log on and upload your file. Then feel free to edit as per your wish. Additional focus has gone towards security as matters are to be uploaded online, hence, PDF Buddy uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and AES-256 bit encryption.
Compatibility: Windows 10/8/7,Vista and XP
There you have it folks. The entire list of the 10 Best free PDF Editing Software for Windows. Do drop us a line if you want more softwares featured.