There’s no question about it: the Adobe suite of graphic design and illustration software isn’t going anywhere anytime soon as the industry champion. Despite its quirks and teething problems that come with nearly every version update, it’s also arguably the best suite that money can buy.
The problem is, it takes a lot of money to buy it. Purchasing any of the CS titles outright can cost anywhere between $300 to $2,000 depending on which version you plump for, and Adobe’s attempts to convince people to pay on its new subscription model can cost anything between $50 to $200 every single month.
Obviously, that’s not an issue for those at NYFA’s illustration school who have got full access to the CS suite as part of their tuition program, but these are prohibitive price tags for everyone else. As such, today we’ll be exploring:
SVG-Edit
How can the answer be improved? Hello, I have used the 7 day trial for adobe illustrator and it has expired. I was wondering how much is the application itself one-time pay and not monthly. It doesn't cost anything to download and install both applications for a 30 day trial period after which you will have to pay money to continue using them. If you had asked this question before Adobe moved to their subscription model, I would wholeheartedly say yes, it absolutely is worth the cost. Back at the height of desktop publishing, when Quark was the 800 lb. Gorilla, XPress was an expensive, cumbersome application that was, for.
Platform: Any modern web browser
What It Is: An editing suite that deals solely in SVG (scalable vector graphics), which may sound like a restriction but is actually quite useful given the versatility of the format. If you’re scared of getting into SVG editing, you’re missing out, and this will break you in gently. Being a web browser platform also sounds limiting, but again, the speed at which it operates as a result is often superior to desktop counterparts.
Inkscape
- Adobe illustrator cs6 software similar download 32 bit adobe creative suite 6 master illustrator cs6 mac. Also, Lightroom is not good for any professional graphic artists, printers and publishers in book design and imagery for printing in.
- The cost of the newest Adobe Illustrator is only sold as a subscription-based model. A single app for individuals, students and teachers can cost $19.99 per month, while businesses will have to pay $29.99 per month, according to Adobe’s official pricing sheet.
Platform: Windows/Linux
What It Is: As with SVG-Edit, Inkscape is also geared towards those who want to work primarily in the SVG file format. Featuring both a clean and intuitive user interface, but packed with advanced features (such as alpha blending, object cloning and very accurate bitmap tracing), Inkscape comes as a highly recommended free alternative to Adobe Illustrator.
Affinity Designer
Platform: Mac
What It Is: Full rasterizing controls, layer management, multiple file format support, infinite zooming and every vector drawing tool you could ever hope for… Affinity Designer could quite possible become a true Illustrator killer. At the moment it’s only available to Mac users and the full version comes with a small price tag of $49.99 with free upgrades for two years, but the trial version is still remarkably functional and worth a shot if you’re looking for a free editor. It’s even worth it just to play with the infinite zoom function (yes, infinite.)
Adobe Illustrator Download Torrent
GIMP
Platform: All of them
What It Is: The one you’ve probably heard of. GIMP, an acronym for (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is more of an alternative to Photoshop rather than Illustrator since it its vector functions are limited, but what it can do in terms of image manipulation is second to none. Entirely free, open source, and loved by thousands (which have formed a very active online community since its release.)
OpenOffice Draw
Platform: Windows, Linux, Mac
What It Is: While Apache’s flagship vector illustrator looks a little outdated these days, that’s purely a cosmetic concern. It’s still packed with features and is especially geared towards diagram and object manipulation. It also comes with the very handy feature of being able to create Flash (.swf) files from your document.
Serif DrawPlus (starter edition)
Platform: Windows
What It Is: The starter edition of Serif’s DrawPlus is aimed towards the amateur illustrator given that A) it’s free software, and B) it’s very much a scaled-down version of the fuller release, but don’t let that put you off. It’s not limited in any way, there’s no pressure to shell out for the professional edition DrawPlus X6, and it does a good job of emulating its heavy weight cousins.
You might find you need to use a combination of the above free alternatives to Adobe Illustrator to get the job done, but for many people it’ll be worth the cash it saves and you may even find a new favorite. Got any others we need to check out? Drop a suggestion in the comments below!
Are you interested in the visual arts industry? Check out NYFA’s graphic design and 3D animation programs!
Once the scrappy upstart, InDesign is now the dominant page layout app. Is there any alternative that comes close?
Adobe's switch to software as a service has sent budget-minded creative professionals looking for alternatives to the Creative Cloud apps that don't cost them a monthly fee. As the Mac App Store has grown in popularity, alternatives have cropped up. Pixelmator serves many users' needs for a Photoshop replacement. Sketch 3 is an excellent alternative to Illustrator. But where's a solid alternative to InDesign?
I've checked around; I've even polled some of you on Twitter to find out what you like. And my results have come up a bit short. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think that there really is a solid alternative.
Disrupting the disruptor
InDesign exists in an interesting place in the design ecosystem. It started life itself as a market disruptor — Adobe introduced InDesign as an alternative to QuarkXPress at a time when Quark ruled the desktop publishing market. Because of unwise management, hostile customer service, and other foibles, Quark was utterly loathed by many of the businesses and users that depended on its software.
Adobe didn't hit a home run with the first version of InDesign, but steadily improved it and integrated it so thoroughly with other Adobe products that it eventually became indispensable. Now InDesign is the market behemoth, and at least for some, Adobe has become the evil empire they're trying to get away from.
Having said that, InDesign is a darn nice piece of page layout software. It's powerful and it's ubiquitous. If you have InDesign and are familiar with how it works, it's reminiscent of the old marketing phrase, 'No one ever got fired for buying IBM.'
Though the full Creative Cloud suite costs $49.99, it's worth pointing out that if all you need is InDesign, you can subscribe to just it for $19.99. And if you're a Creative Suite user, you can 'upgrade' to Creative Cloud for $29.99 per month for your first year.
- $49.99 per month - Download now
QuarkXPress: Everything old is new again
Quark, for its part, soldiers on with QuarkXPress. With QuarkXPress 10.1, Quark continues to iterate Quark with very powerful features. Last year's version 10 release saw a thorough under-the-hood and feature-rich modernization, with 50 feature enhancements, a throughly optimized graphics engine, improved interface elements and much more.
More recently, the 10.1 release makes tweaks that even further, incorporating InDesign-style Dynamic Guides (like Smart Guides), 8000 percent zoom, layout export, a reimplemented and greatly improved Books feature, and HTML 5 animation support.
Unfortunately, all that power comes with a price, and a hefty one at that: $849, a lot more than budget-conscious creatives will be willing to pay, especially those that still have a negative connotation of Quark.
- $849 - Download now
iStudio Publisher
iStudio Publisher came out in 2009, coincidentally the same year Apple really brought Pages into its own as a powerful page layout tool. If you've exhausted what the older version of Pages can do for you — or if you're horrified by what happened to it in 2013 – give iStudio a try. There are a ton of templates you can download, too.
C.Four published it then handed back to the original creators. It'll be interesting to see what they do with iStudio Publisher — certainly one to keep your eye on.
$29.99 - Download now
Swift Publisher: Consumer-focused page layout tool
Some of you pointed out Swift Publisher as a possible alternative to InDesign. In fairness, developer Belight Software isn't trying to copy InDesign feature for feature, or even attempting to make a professional page layout app. But they have succeeded in creating a surprisingly powerful, lightweight page layout app with a lot of cool features at a very low price.
Looking over Swift Publisher, I don't liken it to an InDesign competitor as much as a more sophisticated version of an tool like Print Explosion or The Print Shop — and that's squarely its market: for consumers looking for a way to make really pretty layouts for their projects. You can use it to print flyers, newsletters, brochures, calendars and other content either freeforming them from scratch or using built-in templates and clip art.
- $19.99 - Download now
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Pages: Apple's alternative
I can hear some of you out there groaning already. Pages took a big step backwards last year when Apple reworked the Mac versions of its iWork apps to work in lockstep with their iOS counterparts. And of all the apps, Pages took the biggest hit in terms of interface and functionality; changes I don't see it getting back any time soon.
Having said that, Pages' price for new Mac owners is certainly right — it's free with the purchase of a new computer, after all. What's more, it does have a powerful set of page layout features that make it powerful if you're patient enough to use it right.
But if you're a long-time Pages user, you're probably still suffering with some of the missing features and functionality from previous versions. Either that, or you're still using the older iWork '09-era version that Apple leaves behind when it upgrades.
- $19.99 - Download now
MultiAd Creator: Consumer or pro, it's your choice
It's been a few years since MultiAd has done anything significant to Creator, but it's still an alternative that some may want to consider. Creator combines page layout, drawing, illustration and image editing tools in one. It supports different export options, text on a path, automatic CMYK-RG conversions and full support of OpenType fonts.
Creator is available in two trim levels - Creator Express, a consumer-friendly version available for download in the Mac App Store, and Creator Professional, which is available for purchase directly from MultiAd. Professional adds a slew of important features like Pantone color library support, file conversion (including InDesign Interchange), trapping and more.
Creator Express:
- $29.99 - Download now
Creator Professional:
- $499 - Download now
Still looking
None of these options really fit the bill for what I was looking for — an inexpensive alternative to InDesign that's powerful enough for a creative professional to get by. It seems that we've come along way with image editing and illustration alternatives to Adobe products, but page layout still needs work.
Maybe I just have to accept that InDesign is the page layout king, and move on. Or maybe you're familiar with something that isn't listed here. If that's the case, I heartily welcome you to share your comments with me below.
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