Illustrator is a great tool for any designer, but at the same time it has its fair share of challenges. It can be too complex for some projects. Not only that, but if you want to learn how to use Illustrator, then you may need to spend the time and study it properly. Many designers just want a simpler or in some cases, more affordable tool when compared to Illustrator. And yes, there are a variety of great apps that will help you here, with the ones listed below being some of the top you can use.
Affinity Designer
A lot of people consider Affinity Designer to be the best Illustrator alternative and for a very good reason. It’s super easy to use, and it can import/export PSD and AI files without a problem. They also offer some extra features aside from Illustrator too, like vector and raster workspace switching, unlimited redos and 1 million+ zoom. All these things really add up and they help convey an exceptional experience and very good results all the time.
Another thing to note about Affinity Designer is its interface. They do a very good job at allowing you to work with all the features from a well-made interface and it all works flawlessly and without issues. On top of that, the quality is nice and people like the fact that the app has backups and other cool features. Of course, it’s ideal on mobile, but it also has desktop tools too, which is great. And they do bring in plenty of new features often, something that does make the experience different and exciting.
Sketch
When it comes to Sketch, we like the fact that it’s very good at vector drawing. You will find it ideal for digital design, but it can be useful for app and web designers too. The versatility you get from this tool is unlike anything on the market. Plus, they double down on the icon and UI design, and you can easily create all kinds of designs, be it simple or even more technical ones too.
Sure, it’s not for very complex art or illustrations. But if you want something a tad simpler and still very useful and interesting, it gets the job done. If you buy their license, it gives you a year of free updates. Even if the license expires, you can still use the app, but you will be lacking updates. So it has a very interesting way to function, definitely more different than your regular stuff there.
CorelDraw
What’s great about CorelDraw is the fact that it’s a great tool and many consider an industry standard too. The advantage is that CorelDraw managed to grow a lot over the years, to the point where it can bring in front an exceptional set of results. It has a stellar community and new features are being added to the app all the time.
You can import pretty much all kinds of image files, and the best part is that you can start working on them right away. In addition, the interface is very similar to Illustrator, which is why a lot of people are confused when it comes to which is the best tool out of them. They do have a free trial though, so even if you have the smallest interest in testing it out, you should give it a try and that’s what will make it stand out.
- D) Inkscape
Inkscape is an open source, free tool, so from the start it will gain your attention because you don’t have to pay for it. Granted, this is not as complex as many of the other tools out there. But people love it because it’s a lot of fun to use, and the fact that it works on low powered computers is always a major plus.
In addition, it has all kinds of tools like shapes, drawing, layers, pen and pencil tools, bitmap tracing and so on. They also offer support for most major image and design formats, which is really helpful. The downside for Inkscape is the overall performance, because it can get laggy and slow at times. Yet if you get past that, it’s certainly worth giving it a shot.
Conclusion
As you can see, Adobe Illustrator CC is not the only design tool that you can use, there are a variety of other alternatives that you can check. All you have to do is to find the right one to suit your needs. We highly recommend giving these alternatives a try because they are well worth your time, iconic and professional. Plus, some of them are free or at least have a free trial, which means you can play around and test them out before committing to a certain app!
