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Computer animation has come a long way since inception in the year 1960. The fundamentals of animation software or animation tool can be traced back to the time when William Fetter, a computer graphics designer made a diagram of a human body inside an airplane cockpit. Although the intention was to maximize the efficiency of Boeing's cockpits, it paved the way towards more sophisticated process flows and thus, towards animation generated by computers. The credit for the first animation software, however, goes to Ivan Sutherland, an MIT graduate. His program Sketchpad (developed in 1963) drew lines that looked like recognizable figures. Little did he know that his idea would become a multibillion-dollar industry in the years to come.
Slowly and steadily, more progress was made in the field. The movie Tron which was released in the year 1982, was one of the first movies to use computer-generated graphics. Movies like the Terminator, Jurassic Park, Toy Story, the Matrix, and Avatar further refined the process, adding more details and sophistication to computer animation. The animation software industry grew to great heights within this period.
Fast forward to 2021, we have a plethora of examples to celebrate the genius of CGI or computer-generated imagery. There are a variety of animation software available in the market, widely used by professionals at animation studios. Depending on the medium you choose —hand-drawn or 2D, 3D, or stop-motion and the price range, there are plenty of options to get started. A well-built animation software provides intuitive controls and flexibility that can be easily understood by a beginner but also has vastly superior tools for an experienced user.
Browse through this list of quality animation software, and select the one that best suits your requirement. We hope it will help you hone your foundation skills, practice animation styles, and help you get professional results.
Adobe Character Animator
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This animation software comes from one of the biggest development companies in the world and serves up to the hyped expectations. One of the recent additions to the Adobe family, this simple animation software uses facial recognition, gesture recognition, etc to animate cartoon characters. The Character Animator is a real-time animator that uses your facial expressions, hand movements, full-body motion capture, and various other inputs to animate characters. It is extremely smooth and fast and you can live stream your development process to share work with team members or your audience. Just plug in your microphone, web camera and start animating! You can also create a character from your artworks in a few mouse clicks using the built-in Adobe Sensei.
Adobe Character Animator is one of the best animation software and is used by many Hollywood film houses. The software offers a huge variety of options for animating. You can also use the built-in puppets to begin animating as soon as you open the software. Animation options include breathing, walking, blinking, behaviors, etc. It is a great animation software for beginners as well as experienced professionals.
The free trial lasts for 7 days after which you can buy the paid versions of this simple software for animation. You can buy all the Adobe applications (creative cloud) for around 52 USD per month, billed annually. Adobe has created different packages for individuals, businesses, schools, and professionals. You can check this link out for more information on pricing.
Toon Boom Harmony
Toon Boom by Harmony is a cartoon animation software for beginners as well as for professionals. The software allows the user the flexibility, fluidity, and the smoothness of traditional animation. The learning curve is moderate since the software is meant for newbies as well as for professionals. The software has been used by leading animation studios for more than 25 years.
GitHub illustrator and animator, Tony Jaramillo writes in his testimonial, 'Harmony makes it possible to level up our animation productivity without sacrificing quality...we're big fans'. Some of the most famous users of Toon Boom are Universal Studios, Fox Studios, Cartoon Network, Ubisoft, and Lucas Film.
New features that came with the latest update include a stabilizer for lines, stylus pressure responsiveness, and tilt and angle responsiveness. Standard features include a brush engine, traditional paperless animation, deformers, cut-out animation, 2D/3D integration, export to game engines, and pipeline integration. It is also easily integrable with software such as Adobe Illustrator, and extensions such as PSD, PSB, PDF, and Bitmaps.
Pricing options come in different packages that include this animation software. Harmony Essentials cost 16 Euros per month, billed annually. You can also choose to purchase the package for a one-time cost of 400 Euros. Similarly, Harmony Advanced is a 1,030 Euros one-time purchase (41 Euros per month if not purchased) and the Harmony Premium is a 2,085 Euros one-time purchase (78 Euros per month if not purchased). You can use the software for free for 21 days; a duration that is good enough to understand and explore this amazing animation software.
DigiCel FlipBook
This 2D animation software is easy-to-use but don't let the simplicity fool you. You can do a lot of things with this animation software although it is intended for beginners. Developed by DigiCel, FlipBook runs on both Windows and macOS. You can also call this a frame by frame animation software since the method it employs deals with designing one frame at a time. Since the learning curve is smooth, you can directly dive into animating. The software lets you easily scan your artworks from paper directly onto the software. You can also make stop motion videos if you want.
Some of the features of FlipBook include a multiple-frame work desk, lip-sync support, pan, zoom, rotate, blur options, import and export capabilities, and scanning options. The software is efficient and super-smooth. The speed is amazing as well. You can make changes while the animation is running and the changes are visible the next time the loop runs! As aforementioned, the animation software is simple to use. However, some big names have complimented the software and recommended it to their followers. Disney's Animation Director, Eric Goldberg calls it a great program and praises the draw tool provided by the software.
DigiCel's Flipbook is priced according to four different packages that are Lite, Studio, Pro, and ProHD. If you use the free version of this animation software, all published exports are watermarked. The Lite version is listed at 98 USD but is currently at a sale price of 19 USD! The package offers 2 columns, 300 frames, and 800x600 screen capabilities. As the packages advance, so do their features. A complete pricing list can be seen here.
Moho Debut by Anime Studios
The Moho Debut is an animation software suitable for beginners interested in learning the art of animation. The interface is easy to understand and allows you to animate real fast. The simplicity does not, however, undermine the strength and the robustness of this software. The tools offered by Moho Debut are powerful and can be used to convert your strangest imaginations into an animated story. The software comes with multilingual support and has the capability to handle English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and Japanese.
The software runs on both macOS and Windows and offers advanced and sophisticated freehand tools. Features such as bone rigging, pen pressure support for tablets, animated effects for shapes and layers, brushes that can be used to easily edit and animate, PSD support, and keyframe options are available. Advanced masking options and an auto freeze tool are also available. The software is priced at 69.99 USD. The free trial can be availed for 30 days.
Moho Pro by Anime Studios
The Moho Pro is the advanced version of its lighter version, the Moho Debut. The user base is more professional and advanced. The software is costlier but has more features that can be used to create better animations. This 2D animation software includes all the features of Moho Debut. The latest version Moho Pro 13 integrates the best animation technology with the most sophisticated tools. The software runs on both macOS and Windows and requires a minimum RAM of 4GB and 2.0 GHz Intel i3 processor.
Moho Pro offers a bone rigging system, physics engine, dynamic bones, and smart bones to control complex movements, frame by frame capabilities, vector tools with Bezier handles, accurate SVG, AI, and EPS import, 4K video export, vector export, motion blur, and multilayer and multi-channel control. The newest update adds bitmap frame by frame capabilities, bitmap freehand drawing tools, custom bitmap brush creation, 3D objects light manipulation, 3D objects material properties support.
You can also purchase add-ons to improve the experience. The 100 Brush Pack, for example, is priced at 39 USD. Other add-ons include the Retro Space Pack, School Days Pack, Content Pack, and the Puppets Pack. This animation software is priced at 399.9 USD with a free trial that lasts for 30 days.
Pencil2D
This is a great free animation software for people who are into traditional hand-drawn animation. The software allows you to work with both raster as well as with vector graphics. The minimal design of the interface makes it easy and smooth to work with. The clutter-free UI/UX experience is one of the selling points of this free software. Pencil2D is a cross-platform software that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. The software is open-source which has allowed a great and helpful community to develop around this product.
The software has a variety of handy animation tools and options. You can also upload your Pencil 2D project to aid in the development of the software; one of the plus points of being open-source. You can import GIFs and export them as well. The latest version, v0.6.4 released last year with several new tweaks and adjustments. Bug fixes and patches were also part of the update. Upcoming features may include a new undo/redo system, x-sheet support, new layer manipulation operations, etc.
Adobe Character Animator is one of the best animation software and is used by many Hollywood film houses. The software offers a huge variety of options for animating. You can also use the built-in puppets to begin animating as soon as you open the software. Animation options include breathing, walking, blinking, behaviors, etc. It is a great animation software for beginners as well as experienced professionals.
The free trial lasts for 7 days after which you can buy the paid versions of this simple software for animation. You can buy all the Adobe applications (creative cloud) for around 52 USD per month, billed annually. Adobe has created different packages for individuals, businesses, schools, and professionals. You can check this link out for more information on pricing.
Toon Boom Harmony
Toon Boom by Harmony is a cartoon animation software for beginners as well as for professionals. The software allows the user the flexibility, fluidity, and the smoothness of traditional animation. The learning curve is moderate since the software is meant for newbies as well as for professionals. The software has been used by leading animation studios for more than 25 years.
GitHub illustrator and animator, Tony Jaramillo writes in his testimonial, 'Harmony makes it possible to level up our animation productivity without sacrificing quality...we're big fans'. Some of the most famous users of Toon Boom are Universal Studios, Fox Studios, Cartoon Network, Ubisoft, and Lucas Film.
New features that came with the latest update include a stabilizer for lines, stylus pressure responsiveness, and tilt and angle responsiveness. Standard features include a brush engine, traditional paperless animation, deformers, cut-out animation, 2D/3D integration, export to game engines, and pipeline integration. It is also easily integrable with software such as Adobe Illustrator, and extensions such as PSD, PSB, PDF, and Bitmaps.
Pricing options come in different packages that include this animation software. Harmony Essentials cost 16 Euros per month, billed annually. You can also choose to purchase the package for a one-time cost of 400 Euros. Similarly, Harmony Advanced is a 1,030 Euros one-time purchase (41 Euros per month if not purchased) and the Harmony Premium is a 2,085 Euros one-time purchase (78 Euros per month if not purchased). You can use the software for free for 21 days; a duration that is good enough to understand and explore this amazing animation software.
DigiCel FlipBook
This 2D animation software is easy-to-use but don't let the simplicity fool you. You can do a lot of things with this animation software although it is intended for beginners. Developed by DigiCel, FlipBook runs on both Windows and macOS. You can also call this a frame by frame animation software since the method it employs deals with designing one frame at a time. Since the learning curve is smooth, you can directly dive into animating. The software lets you easily scan your artworks from paper directly onto the software. You can also make stop motion videos if you want.
Some of the features of FlipBook include a multiple-frame work desk, lip-sync support, pan, zoom, rotate, blur options, import and export capabilities, and scanning options. The software is efficient and super-smooth. The speed is amazing as well. You can make changes while the animation is running and the changes are visible the next time the loop runs! As aforementioned, the animation software is simple to use. However, some big names have complimented the software and recommended it to their followers. Disney's Animation Director, Eric Goldberg calls it a great program and praises the draw tool provided by the software.
DigiCel's Flipbook is priced according to four different packages that are Lite, Studio, Pro, and ProHD. If you use the free version of this animation software, all published exports are watermarked. The Lite version is listed at 98 USD but is currently at a sale price of 19 USD! The package offers 2 columns, 300 frames, and 800x600 screen capabilities. As the packages advance, so do their features. A complete pricing list can be seen here.
Moho Debut by Anime Studios
The Moho Debut is an animation software suitable for beginners interested in learning the art of animation. The interface is easy to understand and allows you to animate real fast. The simplicity does not, however, undermine the strength and the robustness of this software. The tools offered by Moho Debut are powerful and can be used to convert your strangest imaginations into an animated story. The software comes with multilingual support and has the capability to handle English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and Japanese.
The software runs on both macOS and Windows and offers advanced and sophisticated freehand tools. Features such as bone rigging, pen pressure support for tablets, animated effects for shapes and layers, brushes that can be used to easily edit and animate, PSD support, and keyframe options are available. Advanced masking options and an auto freeze tool are also available. The software is priced at 69.99 USD. The free trial can be availed for 30 days.
Moho Pro by Anime Studios
The Moho Pro is the advanced version of its lighter version, the Moho Debut. The user base is more professional and advanced. The software is costlier but has more features that can be used to create better animations. This 2D animation software includes all the features of Moho Debut. The latest version Moho Pro 13 integrates the best animation technology with the most sophisticated tools. The software runs on both macOS and Windows and requires a minimum RAM of 4GB and 2.0 GHz Intel i3 processor.
Moho Pro offers a bone rigging system, physics engine, dynamic bones, and smart bones to control complex movements, frame by frame capabilities, vector tools with Bezier handles, accurate SVG, AI, and EPS import, 4K video export, vector export, motion blur, and multilayer and multi-channel control. The newest update adds bitmap frame by frame capabilities, bitmap freehand drawing tools, custom bitmap brush creation, 3D objects light manipulation, 3D objects material properties support.
You can also purchase add-ons to improve the experience. The 100 Brush Pack, for example, is priced at 39 USD. Other add-ons include the Retro Space Pack, School Days Pack, Content Pack, and the Puppets Pack. This animation software is priced at 399.9 USD with a free trial that lasts for 30 days.
Pencil2D
This is a great free animation software for people who are into traditional hand-drawn animation. The software allows you to work with both raster as well as with vector graphics. The minimal design of the interface makes it easy and smooth to work with. The clutter-free UI/UX experience is one of the selling points of this free software. Pencil2D is a cross-platform software that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. The software is open-source which has allowed a great and helpful community to develop around this product.
The software has a variety of handy animation tools and options. You can also upload your Pencil 2D project to aid in the development of the software; one of the plus points of being open-source. You can import GIFs and export them as well. The latest version, v0.6.4 released last year with several new tweaks and adjustments. Bug fixes and patches were also part of the update. Upcoming features may include a new undo/redo system, x-sheet support, new layer manipulation operations, etc.
The biggest disadvantage of using Pencil2D is that the software requires you to fill in your preferences every time you open it.
Synfig Studio
Another open-source 2D animation software that comes free of cost. If you are not comfortable with a frame by frame animation software, this is the perfect tool for you. You can run this free animation software on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Since the software is open-source, you can make changes to the source code and submit enhancements and upgrades.
One of the main features of Synfig Studio is vector tweening; you can convert any vector graphic into another form easily. The software offers powerful tools to help you achieve that. Synfig also provides more than 50 layers to make artworks and animations. Some of the layer types are geometric, transformations, gradients, filters, distortions, fractals, etc. The bone system is also full of options and is a powerful tool on its own. The software also provides an additional skeleton distortion layer. Finally, you can connect different layers via mathematical expressions. With the help of this, you can make characters, puppets, and complex dynamic structures. The software has a steeper learning curve for beginners.
Cartoon Animator 4
Cartoon Animator 4 is a 2D animation software intended for both beginners as well as for professionals. You can design characters and digitally animate them via expressions and lip-sync capabilities. The Cartoon Animator 4 community is a strong one and materials for learning the software are easily available. Much like Adobe's Character Animator, you can use your facial expressions and your voice to make animations. A few examples of videos made using this animation software are given here; The Curious Child, a TV series by Eon De Bruin, and an Animated comic by Fransesco.
Key features of this amazing animation software include webcam and iPhone facial mocap, hand tracking and digital puppets, full-body motion capture, sprite-based facial system, audio lip-syncing, precise FK/IK system, smart motion retargeting, stretch animation, and so much more. If you want to explore all the features of this superb software, head to this link for a detailed view. The software also lets you integrate your work with Adobe Photoshop and allows you to use PSD templates for designing. Pipeline features include capabilities to import 3D motions into 2D artworks and to create custom and unique elastic motion libraries. Finally, you can work with a huge number of file extensions without any trouble. It supports up to 4K resolution monitors.
The free trial is for 30 days after which you can buy the pro edition for 99 USD, the pipeline edition for 199 USD, or avail special bundle discounts.
Stop Motion Studio
An animation software for beginners, Stop Motion Studio helps to create high-quality stop motion videos. Adopting the frame by frame animation technique, this software can help you make 4k stop motion videos with ease. The software is cross-platform and cross-device and can run on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. Your projects are accessible from all the devices where you have your account.
You can use your phone camera to click the single frames or you can even hook up your digital camera to your device. You also have the option to use a second phone to add more perspective to your videos. Editing these images is also easy and just requires a few touches or clicks. You can add audio clips, titles, credits, and filter effects to your videos as you click the frames. There is also the option to add looping to your videos using in and out set points. The software has built-in sound clips that you can use in your videos and you can directly record our voice and apply it on the video as you work your way through the project. Other features include grid and onion skinning options, paint tools, magic eraser, and import of images, audio, video files, etc.
This animation software costs just a dollar and 99 cents on Windows. The mobile application costs 4.99 USD and the macOS version costs 9.99 USD.
Blender
Probably the best free animation software on this list and one of the most recommended software for animation by professionals, Blender is an open-source software that runs on different platforms with ease. It is one of the few 3D modeling and animation software that is free of cost, yet it does not lack any power or robustness of its paid counterparts. In fact, it might just have a slight edge over them. This animation software is suitable for beginners as well as for professionals. With the help of Blender, you can develop animations, games, animated models, renders, and other types of 3D projects. It is available on macOS, Linux, and Windows.
Blender is a pretty good animation software when it comes to the features it offers. Blender provides real-time viewport review as well as CPU and GPU rendering. With Blender, you have PBR shaders and HDR lighting support. Other features include VR rendering support, advanced modeling, sculpting, and UV tools, advanced rigging and animation tools, powerful visual effects, auto-tracking, manual tracking, camera reconstruction, drawing in 2D mode оnto the 3D viewport, onion skinning, etc.
Blender is one of the best free animation software that you can use at all levels. Blender has some amazing open projects where you can contribute. Ever since the year 2005, the Blender Foundation has tried to invite developers and animators to contribute to open projects to promote creativity and innovation in Blender. The first such project was called ‘Elephants Dream', which won the best short film award. Here is the official link to all open projects started by the Blender Foundation. If you are an advanced animator, make sure to check these out.
Some of the drawbacks are that the learning curve is very steep and it would take beginners a lot of time to learn to use this software. It is also not easy to make image animations since the software aims more at 3D animation.
Animaker
Animaker is a browser-based animation software that can be used by beginners, professionals, and animation enthusiasts. It is a great tool for making handcraft videos, whiteboard videos, short marketing bits, animated infographic videos, and educational videos. Used by huge brands such as Amazon, Nokia, Siemens, and Dell, Animaker's buffed-up client base speaks for itself. With Animaker, you can make 2D and 2.5D videos via a variety of tools and features. You can choose from different plans based on your needs.
Animaker supports full HD and both horizontal and vertical layouts. Animaker provides great features for animation such as record, curve, camera in/out, multimove, transition effects, and enter/exit effects. Along with these, the animation software also has a deck feature that allows users to use animations as videos or presentations. The software also has some amazing audio features such as text-to-speech, preloaded background tracks, sound effects, voice recording, etc. You can also use libraries for pre-defined templates.
With the free package, you can download your animations with a watermark. The free package also lets you work with HD support. The starter pack is priced at 19 USD per month and is intended for individuals and startups. The starter pack supports full HD and you can download 6 premium animations without the watermarks. The business pack is priced at 39 USD per month and has all the features that this great animation software has to offer.
OpenToonz
OpenToonz is a free animation software that you can use to make cartoon animations. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. OpenToonz was customized by Studio Ghibli and is in use by the same for many years. It was first used in the making of the famous film, ‘Princess Mononoke' by Studio Ghibli. Since it is open-source, you can contribute to its source code as well.
OpenToonz has all the features required to make a great animated film. Its unique features have been specifically customised to meet those requirements of the production staff. The scanning tool or 'GTS' for instance, that specializes in animation. OpenToonz also comes with an effects development kit developed by Dwango. The SDK is a plug-in effect for image processing. Other features include digital drawing tools such as vector and bitmap drawing tools, indexed color palettes, animated special effects, and composite scene, scripting, motion tracking, frame-by-frame animation, motion tweening, bones character animation, particle systems for dust, rain, and similar effects, etc.
It can be used free of charge for both commercial and non-commercial videos. In case you face any issues, you can post your query in the developers' forum or any community blog. The plug-in effects of this animation software are, however, very limited.
Powtoon
Another browser animation software that is free to use, Powtoon is intended for beginners but can also be used by more advanced animators. It can be used to make dynamic video presentations. Used by brands such as Microsoft, IBM, Google, Adobe, Coca Cola, eBay, Cisco, and Starbucks, Powtoon is a trusted software that can be used to develop engaging infographic videos and marketing bits. The official website describes Powtoon as a platform for visual communication. Hopping on the visual communication description, the animation software is a great means to talent acquisition, change management, internal communications, and marketing. Schools and universities can also use Powtoon to make infographic videos and educational tutorials to teach their students. In fact, during times such as these when the world is fighting against COVID-19, such a tool can come in handy to reach out to colleagues and team members.
With Powtoon's free version, you can export YouTube videos, Facebook videos, Vimeo videos, and PDFs, and Powerpoints. The version also offers customs styles and you can change the aspect ratio as well as sizes. You can implement image files and animate and make GIFs. Once you get past the beginner level, you can choose from the various packages based on your requirements. Powtoon is one of the best animation software that you can use to learn about animation. You can import themes from Microsoft Powerpoint as well in case you don't want to start working from scratch.
The three paid packages that come with this animation software are Pro, Pro +, and Agency. At 19 USD per month, you can buy the Pro package which gives you access to free content and 2 GB of storage. The Pro + is priced at 29 USD per month and gives you access to all the content and 10 GB of storage. With Agency, the cream package, you get all the features of Powtoon and 100 GB of storage at 99 USD per month.
Tupi
Here's a treat for Mac users; a free animation software with amazing features and lots of content. The software was developed by animators who wanted to allow people to make and edit videos without having to pay for them. The learning curve of this software is moderate and you can create quality 2D videos once you get the hang of it. You can contribute to the Tupi source code as well and tweak it in case you require specific customizations or would like to help the community.
Features of Tupi include support for vector illustrations, adding shapes, filling areas, import raster images, export all your finished images into different file formats, support for tweeting positions, etc. You can also make lip-sync animations using Tupi. The software also supports vector illustrations and different file formats. The official website contains lots of resources for animators of all levels. It features an extensive resource base of examples and tutorials. One of the drawbacks of Tupi is that it cannot be used to make 3D videos.
Terragen
Terragen is a free animation software for Windows. You can use it to make CG animation. It is meant for moderate level users but can be used by beginners who are interested in learning animation. The learning curve is moderate and it requires some time to get the hang of it. The newest feature, the ray-traced preview is great for animation. It can be installed on all Windows devices and is an amazing animation software for 3D animation. Developed by Planetside Software, Terragen 4.4, the latest update is feature-rich.
Besides ray-traced preview, some of the other features include photo-real clouds, ozone simulation, faster rendering (almost double), lens effects, and new shaders and enhancements, etc. Terragen Pro comes with FBX, render layers and AOVs, spherical cameras, full 3D motion blur, and stereo cameras. The price list of Terragen can be found here. The drawback of this animation software is that its interface looks very complicated. However, with use and understanding, you can work on it effortlessly.
Although the list of animation software is exhaustive, we have tried to put together the best intuitive software programs, and we hope it'll give you a good start. You might want to check out our list of the best graphic design software. Tech-savvy creatives would also like our feature on the best drawing and art apps.
As you get creative with your animation portfolios, do remember to create your portfolio website to showcase your work. Here's a great article on how to create a portfolio website. Your design portfolio represents a window for the world to view your work and judge your talent, skills, and experience. So, if you haven't built a website to showcase your design portfolio, start today with Pixpa. Here are some great examples of graphic design portfolios created on Pixpa for your inspiration. Explore all features that make Pixpa the perfect choice for creative professionals. Get ready to express yourself in stunning new ways and create awesome animation clips with ease and efficiency!
What Is The Best Art Program For Pc Protection
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How would you like a chance to find amazing graphic design software, free of charge? This selection of cool image and photo editing software is your 12-way ticket to create cool vector graphics, graphic design artworks, digital sketches and paintings, photo manipulations, logos, original clip art, cartoons, animations and web graphics. Impressive effects and brilliant drawing tools are just a few clicks away with these amazing open source programs, add-ons and tools with capabilities similar to Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or CorelDraw - but without a heavy price tag. Take a look at this list of stunning alternatives to the pricey programs, download them for free and start creating fabulous designs.
The availability of a wide selection of free tools enables graphic designers, illustrators and web developers on a tight budget to learn graphic design and present their work in a similar manner as if they would work with purchased software. Well known design software like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDraw, FreeHand or Flash that are being used for years are going through constant upgrades to provide their users the hottest and the best tools and techniques. Unfortunately a premium price has to be paid for the licenses of these software packs, especially if you wish to use them in numbers. Thankfully open source volunteers have introduced free software, which can considerably reduce your expenses, and yet provide the capabilities of the propitiatory ones. Inkscape, GIMP, Paint.NET, Xara Xtreme, Artweaver, Draw Plus, Pencil, Picasa, Paint Star, Smooth Draw, Spray and Karbon are free programs that can be used effectively for creating and modifying images and graphics.
INKSCAPE
Inkscape is a vector graphics editor application similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw or Freehand using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. Inkscape is comparatively easy to execute and does not require a lot of experience to be able to use it. The user-friendliness of Inkscape makes you realize that there is not much difference between the capabilities and user experience of Inkscape and Adobe Illustrator. However, creativity is something that an illustrator or designer must posses, so don't expect miracles. Inkscape is cross-platform and operates on various operating systems like Windows, Mac and all variants of Linux.
Inkscape imports formats such as PNG, JPEG, TIFF and exports PNG as well as multiple vector-based formats. Shapes, text, markers, transforms, patterns, clones, paths, gradients, alpha blending, and grouping are supporting features included in the program.
A lot of icon packs which are being used for Linux have been created using Inkscape. Using Inkscape, you can brand your projects, create icons for desktop, design web pages, create marketing materials, as well as create maps for gaming. These features make Inkscape perfect to be used instead of a proprietary SVG graphics editing utility. You can create and modify objects like maps, logos, and icons - similar to Illustrator. Some of the common tools in Inkscape are the pencil tool, calligraphy tool rectangles, text tool, pen tool, ellipses, stars/polygons, spirals, embedded bitmaps, clones etc. All objects created by Inkscape and other SVG files are easy to modify and edit using vector editing programs. Affine transformations, grouping objects, Z-order operations, copying and pasting objects, alignment and distribution commands, multiple layers are some of the features available to the designers.
The work of a designer is not just limited to image creation and manipulation, but also includes working on typography. Just like designing and aligning the layouts of print projects and magazines, designers also need to adjust, align and layout the text provided. Inkscape provides graphic designers with tools to adjust the text elements according to their needs. A few tools of importance concerning text manipulation can be used to work on multi-line text, right-to-left scripts, kerning, installed outline fonts, letter spacing, line spacing adjustments, text on path and text in shape. Inkscape supports Creative Commons meta-data, complex path operations, layers, flowed text, bitmap tracing, direct XML editing, node editing, text-on-path and more advanced features.
To obtain dynamic images, you need to play around with color, layers and gradients in an image. Fill and stroke images can be used with other elements like text and graphics. Color selector, color picker tool, dashed strokes, a gradient editor capable of multi-stop gradients, copy/paste functions, pattern fills, path markers are some of the options provided in Inkscape. Sometimes the images may not be imported to the program directly. As a result these images and their paths need to be worked out. Meta data of these images requires editing to some extent. Inkscape facilitates this and provides node editing, converting to path, Boolean operations, path insetting and outsetting, Bitmap tracing features and path simplification for achieving the best possible results.
You can download Inkscape from Inkscape.org
GIMP
GIMP or GNU Image Manipulation Program is a raster graphics editor mainly used as an editing and image-retouching tool. This program can also be used as a basic paint program, an online batch processing system, an advanced photo-retouching program, mass production image render software and an image format converter. You can download it for free for Mac, Windows and variants of Linux. All these capabilities make GIMP an excellent replacement for Adobe Photoshop. The software uses GIMP toolkit called GTK+ to build its interface. Since the beginning GTK+ has evolved into an individual library, and is now available as part of the setup engine. Using GIMP you can also create simple animated images in the GIF format, and edit and create original graphical essentials of web pages, images, icons, and art for the user interface elements of free software.
Although GIMP was originally designed for Linux, it has evolved for easy usage for Windows and Mac as well. You have to follow a set of steps to install GIMP, just like any other purchased software that in installed on your operating system. You can download the appropriate installer the GIMP.org website and save it in the desired destination folder or select the default install option on GIMP. You can control specific aspects using the custom install feature, but the ideal way to do it is through the full install. The GIMP installer automatically installs GTK+. GIMP runs like other Windows/Mac program once it's installed.
XCF, the native format of GIMP, is designed to store an image with all its features specific to GIMP like its channels, layers, and vectors. Read only formats include Adobe PDF documents. GIMP also has the ability of exporting to MNG layered image files, ASCII Art and HTML. GIMP has import and export support for popular image formats such as PNG, JPEG, TIFF, and GIF along with the file formats of several other design programs like Adobe Photoshop and Corel Paint Shop. Other formats with read/write support include X bitmap image, PostScript documents, and Soft PCX. GIMP can also read and write path information from SVG files and read/write ICO Windows icon files.
GIMP has a number of tools such as a circular and rectangular selection tool, a fuzzy select tool and a free select tool that can be used to create custom shape selections. The advanced selection tools include the select by color tool which selects adjacent regions of color, and the scissors select tool which semi-automatically creates selections between areas of highly contrasting colors. The quick mask mode allows you to use a brush to paint the areas of selection. You can extract foreground elements such as a person or a tree in focus with the help of the foreground select tool. You can create vectors using the path tool. Paths can be applied to create complex selections around natural curves, which can also be named, saved, and painted with brushes, patterns, or a variety of line styles.
You can select a variety of colours through palettes or use an eyedropper tool to select your color of choice on a canvas. The inbuilt color choosers include RGB/HSV selector or scales, CMYK selector, watercolor selector, and a color-wheel selector. You can also select colours by using hexadecimal colour codes. GIMP has native support for indexed and RGB colour spaces, whereas other color spaces are supported using decomposition where each channel of the new colour space becomes a black and white image. The blend tool can be used to do colour blending. Gradients are also included into tools such as the brush tool. When you use the brush tool to paint the output colour slowly changes. The GIMP includes several default gradients, and you can also create custom gradients with the tools provided.
With GIMP, you can import any image using the open image option from the files menu or even through drag and drop. You can even play around with different layers and channels in an image. The layers toolbar on the right side of the software can be used to separate different channels of the image. Click on the view of a particular channel to be provided with its functionality. Once the channels are separated you can control them as individual entities. You can resize and play around with this image by using the drag and control tool present on the left. A perspective toolbox can be used to view and edit the relative effects on channels.
The common tools in GIMP include a pencil, paintbrush, airbrush, eraser and ink tools that create new or blended pixels. The smart tools feature the clone tool that copies pixels using a brush, and the healing brush which copies pixels from one point to another and corrects the tone and color. The bucket fill tool and blend tool are used to blend images and change large regions of space in an image. The blur and sharpen tool is a brush that blurs or sharpens. The dodge and burn tool is a brush that makes target pixels lighter or darker. The GIMP transform tools include the align tool, crop, shear, rotate, move, scale, perspective and flit tools. GIMP has approximately 150 standard effects and filters including blur, drop shadow, motion blur and noise filter. An image is made up of several layers that are all stacked up, and each layer is made of several channels. The text tool enables you to create text layers that allow you to write on an image.
Download GIMP installer from gimp.org
PAINT.NET
Paint.NET is a free, open-source image and photo manipulation software designed to be used on computers that run Windows. The Paint program started as a college design project mentored by Microsoft, but is currently maintained by alumni who originally worked on it and an enthusiast group of volunteers. Intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint software that comes with Windows, Paint.NET has grown into a simple and powerful graphic design and photo editor tool. An active online Paint.NET community provides help, plug-ins and tutorials. This freeware design program features an innovative and intuitive user interface with support for special effects and a wide variety of useful tools. Paint.NET supports the common image formats PNG, JPG, TIFF and GIF but not high-resolution RAW files. The open-source freeware editor includes tools to resize images, rotate, crop, create collages and adjust colors. The pleasing interface supports layers and history functions, has an action manager and basic effects as a red-eye removal tool, dents and crystallize effects and surface blurs. If you look for a free and easy program for tasks as basic photo retouching or image composition, Paint.NET is a must-have.
Download Paint.NET from getpaint.net
Best Apps For Digital Art Windows
XARA XTREME
No matter what's your level of experience, Xara Xtreme is a fast yet powerful graphics tool, illustration and vector-based drawing program for Windows. This top-notch program is suitable for your illustration projects, compositing, web graphics, technical drawings, cartooning and animation. Xara Xtreme supports CMYK colors for print, zero-memory bitmap editing and 32-bit alpha-channel bitmaps. You can draw with the pen tool, quick shapes function, shape editor or pressure-sensitive natural media brushes or create navigation bars, rollovers or image maps and export your images as optimized web graphics. With the new photo tool, you can also enhance bitmap based images and photos, crop or rotate them without leaving the program. You can add shadows, transparency, bevels and feathering effects to bitmap or vector-based objects.
With the Xara Xtreme live tools, your can apply effects interactively and check the results in real time, so you can see exactly what results you're going to get. The new rendering engine in Xara Xtreme performs as its name says extremely fast. Professional designers and illustrators who require high-end features such as multi-processor support, advanced output and color separations can purchase the Xara Xtreme Pro Version. If you're just getting started with illustration software, Xara offers video demos and tutorials to help you design and create your own images.
Download Xara Xtreme free trial version from Xara.com
MORE FREE, COOL & CREATIVE SOFTWARE
ARTWEAVER
Artweaver is a Windows freeware program, allowing you to create sketches from photos and existing images, experiment with colors and simulate natural brush tools with the help of a huge range of creative painting tools. Similar to commercial programs like Corel Painter and Photoshop, Artweaver produces artistic effects as airbrushes, pencils, oil paintings, acrylic or pastel strokes to create natural looking creative images. Artweaver supports TIFF, PNG, PSD, GIF, JPEG and BMP formats and offers image editing tools like magic wand and lasso selection, crop, fill, emboss, mosaic, sharpen, blur and gradients tools and pen tablet support for a realistic results.
Free Artweaver program download
DRAW PLUS
DrawPlus is a cool graphic software pack by Serif's creative design program developers that enables you to create vector images, eye-catching layouts and high impact animations. Features include vector drawing tools, color selection and schemes, studio resources, editable envelopes, blends and transparency functions, backdrop and watermark wizard functions. If you are a design enthusiast or vector art lover, DrawPlus is an excellent creative weapon of choice.
Download free DrawPlus design software by Serif
PENCIL
Pencil is a free and open source drawing and animation program for Windows, Mac and Linux. Pencil lets you create hand drawn cartoons using both vector art and bitmap format. That makes Pencil a great application for illustrators wanting to create breathtaking, funny and original cartoons and animations.
Download free Pencil software from Pencil-Animation.org
PICASA
Share your art with the world! Picasa is Google's free desktop photo management application and photo-hosting service. You can easily manipulate your pics with Picasa and use the 1GB of free hosting to upload your images and share them with the friends, family and the creative community. Picasa supports TIFF, JPEG, PSD and standard movie files and let you fix red eyes, crop without quality loss and enhance your original pictures with several handy tools.
Download the free Picasa application
SPRAY VECTOR GENERATOR
Spray Vector Generator was originally developed to be used with Xara X, but the program also functions with Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw. Spray helps you to kick start your graphics by generating a huge number of shapes with random positions. Functions include outline color, fill objects, rays, grids and random paths. You can export the generated Spray shapes through the clipboard to your favorite vector illustration program.
Download free Spray application from XaraxTV.at
PAINT STAR
Digital image processing software suitable for such tasks as image morphing, composing and authoring digital artworks, retouching of images. Paint Star supports the common editing techniques and offers many tools and filters: gradient fill, transformation tools, pencil, paintbrush, blur and sharpening effects, filter brushes, smudge, cloning, airbrush and eraser.
Download free Paint Star software
What Is The Best Art Program For Pc Free
SMOOTH DRAW
The good news about Smooth Draw is that this powerful freehand drawing program let you produce smooth and expressive design strokes with your graphic tablet, but also adapts mouse input for digital artists who don't have a tablet. The free version of Smooth Draw is limited, but offers several kinds of cool graphic effects: pencils, pen, bristle brush, airbrush, image hose and dry media. Definitely a great application for illustrators starting to explore the world of digital freehand drawing.
Download free trial version from SmoothDraw.com
KARBON
Karbon is a free vector drawing application by the Koffice development team and offers creative solutions for the lovers of vector logos, illustration art, artistic clip art or photorealistic vexel images. Karbon is a cross-platform application and works with Mac, Windows and Linux. Karbon comes with a user-friendly interface that lets you chose where to put your toolbars and supports graphic formats SVG, PNG, PDF, ODG and WMF. Functions include pattern and gradient tools, snapping features, various drawing tools, standard shapes as stars and circles, calligraphy drawing tool, snapping features and complex path operations.
Download Karbon for free from the Koffice website http://www.koffice.org/karbon
Illustrations by Thiago Art
