macOS is one of the most popular operating systems in the world. If you just bought a Mac, you may need some apps that are very easy to use to help you edit some photos or even create some great icons or logos on your Mac.
- The best Mac for 3D design work is the iMac Pro. The iMac Pro is colossally expensive. At its cheapest, with no added extras, you're talking £4,899.
- While it's only available for Mac users, the vector editor software Sketch is quickly becoming a favorite for many in the design industry, especially those focused on web, app, user experience, or interface design. Priced at $100, this graphic design software is comparable in many ways to Illustrator and, in some aspects, Photoshop as well.
Best Graphics Program For Mac
So, here are the best 15 graphic design apps for Mac:
1. Icon Plus
If you are looking for an app that can help you create or modify an icon or logo then we recommend you try out Icon Plus. This app comes with some amazing features like combining images and text for creating fabulous logo designs. You can also edit existing graphics for obtaining great user interfaces. You can download it from the Mac App Store for just $4.99.
2. Gravit Designer
GraphicConverter is an all-purpose image-editing program that can import 200 different graphic-based formats, edit the image, and export it to any of 80 available file formats. The high-end editing tools are perfect for graphic manipulation as well as the ability to use Photoshop-compatible plug-ins.
Gravit Designer is one of the most complete apps in this business. This app can be used for all sorts of design jobs (app icons for example) and even animations and presentations. You have to pay if you want to use the PRO version of this app, but the free one is really excellent too.
3. Inkscape
Inkscape is a very useful design tool which you will find on the Mac App Store. It focuses on the SVG format and it offers some special features that are not available with other apps such as alpha bending, markers and cloned objects, all for free.
4. Krita
This one is pretty cool. Being in development since 1999, Krita is a great painting tool that comes with different types of brushes and with advanced filters that will make your work easier. You can download this app for free.
5. GIMP
Graphic Design Apps For Mac
If you are searching for a free app that is very similar to Photoshop you should download GIMP. Even if it's free you can use the full suite of tools like painting tools, clonning, correction or selection.
6. Image Tricks
If you are the type of person that likes to play with images and edit them, this app is perfectly suited for you. As the name suggests, Image Tricks gives you the possibility to apply a multitude of different photo effects on your pictures, all for free.
7. Comipro Plus
Comipro Plus is the creation of a Japanese company but it can be used by english speakers too. This app was made for the cartoon enthusiasts and enables them to create various modern comics. You can get this app for free from the Mac App Store.
8. Scratch
If you have a passion for animations you have to download Scratch. This app is very easy to use and you can create animated stories or small games just for fun. This application is completely free.
9. DAZ Studio
If you want to create 3D programs where you can use 3D objects, people and animals this app is perfect for you and you need to download it immediately. You can download DAZ Studio from the Mac App Store for free.
10. ArchiCad
If Google SketchUp isn't enough for you and you need a 3D design app with more features, then ArchiCAD is the app for you. This tool allows you to bring your ideas to life in 3D, all for free.
11. Adobe Ilustrator CC
This app is one of the best in the business, it helps you create some great graphic designs for websites, video games or apps. It also comes with a state-of-the-art digital illustration tool. Even if it's not cheap, this app is a must-have.
12. Canva
Canva is a great app that can be used by both begginers and professionals, by both individuals and teams. Canva is an app that lets you create professional graphic designs very easily. It offers you access to over a million graphics or images.
13. Corel PaintShop Pro
This image editing software is an easy to use tool for anyone. It comes with a lot of features that help you create graphic designs or improve your photos and it is very similar to Photoshop. It might not be free, but is a very useful app.
14. Piktochart
If you are looking for a very easy to use infographic maker, Piktochart is exactly what you need. It comes with a large library of themes and templates that help you customize your multimedia projects, all for $12.50/month.
15. Venggage
This app is pure gold. It helps you tell your stories and present your data. It is especially created for marketers and it helps you create whatever materials you want.
Have you ever wondered what the best graphics software is?
My answer - it depends.
Computer graphics programs are generally created to work with particular types of images, so it depends on what type of images you're working with and what you want to do with them. The two most common types of images are bitmap and vector.
Bitmap Graphics Software
Another name for bitmap is raster. Bitmap programs are pretty well synonymous with photo-editing. Bitmap images are created from millions of small dots called pixels. The more pixels, the higher the quality of the image. If you want to apply effects such as lighten, darken, sharpen, blur, crop, color correct, colorize, paint, and other operations along those lines, bitmap software will work best.
Bitmap graphics excel at displaying a multitude of colors in photographic images. Your phone or digital camera produces bitmap images. The shortcomings of bitmaps are large file sizes and the fact that they cannot be enlarged beyond a certain point without pixelating. When a bitmap image is scaled beyond its capacity, it begins to look blocky because it's composed of pixels. The most common bitmap file types are jpg, png, and gif.
The grandfather (grandmother?) of bitmap graphics software is Photoshop. It's been around since 1988 and has undergone many updates since then, with new features continually being added. In fact, for the average user, you'll never scratch the surface of most of its capabilities. You pay a price for those features - both in terms of money and the learning curve required to use the software effectively. Adobe software is now subscription-based. You can't purchase Photoshop outright. You may use it only as long as you pay the monthly fee.
If you don't have the need or the budget for Photoshop, the most popular open source (free) equivalent is GIMP. While GIMP doesn't have all the features of Photoshop, it has more than enough for the casual user. In fact, many of GIMP's tools and operations work in a similar way to Photoshop and other bitmap programs. You can get a head start as a graphic designer or just learn how to touch up your own photos by mastering GIMP.
My GIMP Graphics Course is designed for those with no prior computer graphics skills. I like to say you'll be an 'ExperGIMPer' when you complete the course.
A very nice bitmap program that falls somewhere in between GIMP and Photoshop, in terms of price and capabilities is Affinity Photo. The program I use the most right now is a very old version of Photoshop, from back in the day when you could actually buy the software. I'm anticipating that at some point, a Windows update will render my old Photoshop software inoperable. When that happens, I plan to use Affinity Photo instead.
Vector Graphics Software
Vector images are not composed of pixels. Vectors consist of lines and curves based on mathematical formulas. Don't let that scare you! You don't have to be a mathematical genius to work with vector graphics.
Many of the tools are similar to those used in bitmap programs. But, the primary vector tool is the pen or path tool or some variation of that. Those tools allow you to create and shape the lines and curves used to build vector drawings. Vector images have the advantages of small file sizes and infinte scalability without pixelating. They're commonly used for logos, icons, and various illustrations created from scratch. If you need an image placed on a billboard or the side of a building, a vector image can be scaled to that size easily with no loss of quality.
As GIMP is to Photoshop, Inkscape is to Adobe Illustrator. Inkscape is the most popular and full-featured, free vector graphics program. I just finished what I consider the most thorough course on Inkscape. With 120 video lessons, I cover in detail how each of the tools and operations work. There are graphics assignments that allow you to practice the skills as they're covered. And the course culminates with a fun project - recreating the playing board for an imaginary board game.
There are also some vector programs that fall between Inkscape and Illustrator. For the Mac, Sketch is a popular program. Corel Draw is available for Windows. The full version is rather pricey, but a home and student version is also available. And, last but not least, the makers of Affinity Photo have a program called Affinity Designer which runs on both Windows and Mac.
Inkscape is a very useful design tool which you will find on the Mac App Store. It focuses on the SVG format and it offers some special features that are not available with other apps such as alpha bending, markers and cloned objects, all for free.
4. Krita
This one is pretty cool. Being in development since 1999, Krita is a great painting tool that comes with different types of brushes and with advanced filters that will make your work easier. You can download this app for free.
5. GIMP
Graphic Design Apps For Mac
If you are searching for a free app that is very similar to Photoshop you should download GIMP. Even if it's free you can use the full suite of tools like painting tools, clonning, correction or selection.
6. Image Tricks
If you are the type of person that likes to play with images and edit them, this app is perfectly suited for you. As the name suggests, Image Tricks gives you the possibility to apply a multitude of different photo effects on your pictures, all for free.
7. Comipro Plus
Comipro Plus is the creation of a Japanese company but it can be used by english speakers too. This app was made for the cartoon enthusiasts and enables them to create various modern comics. You can get this app for free from the Mac App Store.
8. Scratch
If you have a passion for animations you have to download Scratch. This app is very easy to use and you can create animated stories or small games just for fun. This application is completely free.
9. DAZ Studio
If you want to create 3D programs where you can use 3D objects, people and animals this app is perfect for you and you need to download it immediately. You can download DAZ Studio from the Mac App Store for free.
10. ArchiCad
If Google SketchUp isn't enough for you and you need a 3D design app with more features, then ArchiCAD is the app for you. This tool allows you to bring your ideas to life in 3D, all for free.
11. Adobe Ilustrator CC
This app is one of the best in the business, it helps you create some great graphic designs for websites, video games or apps. It also comes with a state-of-the-art digital illustration tool. Even if it's not cheap, this app is a must-have.
12. Canva
Canva is a great app that can be used by both begginers and professionals, by both individuals and teams. Canva is an app that lets you create professional graphic designs very easily. It offers you access to over a million graphics or images.
13. Corel PaintShop Pro
This image editing software is an easy to use tool for anyone. It comes with a lot of features that help you create graphic designs or improve your photos and it is very similar to Photoshop. It might not be free, but is a very useful app.
14. Piktochart
If you are looking for a very easy to use infographic maker, Piktochart is exactly what you need. It comes with a large library of themes and templates that help you customize your multimedia projects, all for $12.50/month.
15. Venggage
This app is pure gold. It helps you tell your stories and present your data. It is especially created for marketers and it helps you create whatever materials you want.
Have you ever wondered what the best graphics software is?
My answer - it depends.
Computer graphics programs are generally created to work with particular types of images, so it depends on what type of images you're working with and what you want to do with them. The two most common types of images are bitmap and vector.
Bitmap Graphics Software
Another name for bitmap is raster. Bitmap programs are pretty well synonymous with photo-editing. Bitmap images are created from millions of small dots called pixels. The more pixels, the higher the quality of the image. If you want to apply effects such as lighten, darken, sharpen, blur, crop, color correct, colorize, paint, and other operations along those lines, bitmap software will work best.
Bitmap graphics excel at displaying a multitude of colors in photographic images. Your phone or digital camera produces bitmap images. The shortcomings of bitmaps are large file sizes and the fact that they cannot be enlarged beyond a certain point without pixelating. When a bitmap image is scaled beyond its capacity, it begins to look blocky because it's composed of pixels. The most common bitmap file types are jpg, png, and gif.
The grandfather (grandmother?) of bitmap graphics software is Photoshop. It's been around since 1988 and has undergone many updates since then, with new features continually being added. In fact, for the average user, you'll never scratch the surface of most of its capabilities. You pay a price for those features - both in terms of money and the learning curve required to use the software effectively. Adobe software is now subscription-based. You can't purchase Photoshop outright. You may use it only as long as you pay the monthly fee.
If you don't have the need or the budget for Photoshop, the most popular open source (free) equivalent is GIMP. While GIMP doesn't have all the features of Photoshop, it has more than enough for the casual user. In fact, many of GIMP's tools and operations work in a similar way to Photoshop and other bitmap programs. You can get a head start as a graphic designer or just learn how to touch up your own photos by mastering GIMP.
My GIMP Graphics Course is designed for those with no prior computer graphics skills. I like to say you'll be an 'ExperGIMPer' when you complete the course.
A very nice bitmap program that falls somewhere in between GIMP and Photoshop, in terms of price and capabilities is Affinity Photo. The program I use the most right now is a very old version of Photoshop, from back in the day when you could actually buy the software. I'm anticipating that at some point, a Windows update will render my old Photoshop software inoperable. When that happens, I plan to use Affinity Photo instead.
Vector Graphics Software
Vector images are not composed of pixels. Vectors consist of lines and curves based on mathematical formulas. Don't let that scare you! You don't have to be a mathematical genius to work with vector graphics.
Many of the tools are similar to those used in bitmap programs. But, the primary vector tool is the pen or path tool or some variation of that. Those tools allow you to create and shape the lines and curves used to build vector drawings. Vector images have the advantages of small file sizes and infinte scalability without pixelating. They're commonly used for logos, icons, and various illustrations created from scratch. If you need an image placed on a billboard or the side of a building, a vector image can be scaled to that size easily with no loss of quality.
As GIMP is to Photoshop, Inkscape is to Adobe Illustrator. Inkscape is the most popular and full-featured, free vector graphics program. I just finished what I consider the most thorough course on Inkscape. With 120 video lessons, I cover in detail how each of the tools and operations work. There are graphics assignments that allow you to practice the skills as they're covered. And the course culminates with a fun project - recreating the playing board for an imaginary board game.
There are also some vector programs that fall between Inkscape and Illustrator. For the Mac, Sketch is a popular program. Corel Draw is available for Windows. The full version is rather pricey, but a home and student version is also available. And, last but not least, the makers of Affinity Photo have a program called Affinity Designer which runs on both Windows and Mac.
I plan to create courses for both Affinity products in the future.
Artistic Drawing
An area of computer graphics that doesn't fall fully into either the bitmap or vector divisions above is what I call Artistic Drawing. You can get by in the first two types of computer graphics with minimal artistic skills, but for the artistic drawing software, you'll need to have at least some basic drawing or painting ability.These programs typically produce bitmap images, but you'll be drawing and painting them from scratch.
One of the best programs for this type of art is Corel Painter. And a free alternative is Krita.
