Best Graphic Software For Mac 2015
Good to meet a fellow Mac SWer:) This is a very useful piece of information. I didn't observe this weird behaviour with edge redrawing in 2015 MBP 15, but it's good to know VMware is another viable option to try. – texnic Jan 13 '18 at 8:44. Support many graphic files - The best design software - Heard very much about it. Its like clay to my hands - This best for deigning. This is My life. THIS IS BEST SOFTWARE FOR GRAPHIC DESIGN. I want a software. Great graphic suite, super. I used it & I really think it is the best software that coral draw cop ever made. May 18, 2017 Download.com hooks you up with the best Windows and Mac graphic design software. By Tom McNamara April 24, 2017. Last updated on May 18, 2017. Apps in this Guide. 30 best free Mac programs to download. For its developers who have carefully crafted it over time to produce one of the most fully featured pieces of free software available for Mac OS X. Jan 14, 2015 The 10 Best Games for Mac in 2015 By Sherlock on January 14, 2015 No Comments It is widely perceived that gaming isn’t the Mac’s strongest point, but given its powerful hardware and powerful high definition displays, it would be nonsensical if you won’t put video games into its arsenal. Oct 06, 2017 Another graphic design software platform that is highly recommended for Mac is Inkscape, a free and open source vector graphics editor with a unique native format that differentiates it from similar programs (Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Freehand, and Xara X). It has a clean, consistent, and very stable interface, and it uses SVG and Scalable. I don't want a current MacBook Pro, but I am considering a 15' 2015 MacBook Pro - used ones can be found for $1,200 currently. There were two breeds of 2015 15' MacBook Pros: MacBookPro11,4 (MJLQ2LL/A) with integrated Intel Iris Pro 5200 graphics; MacBookPro11,5 (MJLT2LL/A) with dual graphics (Intel Iris Pro 5200, and AMD Radeon R9 M370X).
Acorn is an image editor built with one goal in mind - simplicity.Fast, easy, and fluid, Acorn provides the options you'll need withoutany overhead. Acorn feels right, and won't drain your bank account.
- License: Shareware, $30
- Developer/Publisher: Flying Meat Inc.
- Modification Date: October 17, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.11 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 14 MB
Affinity Designer 1.7.3Affinity Designer is the fastest, smoothest, most precise vector graphicdesign software available. Whether you’re working on branding, conceptart, print projects, icons, UI, UX, or web mock ups, Affinity Designerwill revolutionise how you work.
- License: Buy, $50
- Developer/Publisher: Serif Labs
- Modification Date: October 1, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.7 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 411.2 MB
Download File Size: 411.1 MB - Demo
Download File Size: 1.1 GB - for iPad
Affinity Photo 1.7.3Five years in the making, Affinity Photo redefines the boundaries forprofessional photo editing software. With a meticulous focus on workflowit offers sophisticated tools for enhancing, editing and retouching yourimages in an incredibly intuitive interface, with all the power andperformance you need.
- License: Buy, $50
- Developer/Publisher: Serif Labs
- Modification Date: October 1, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.7 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 420.3 MB
Download File Size: 425.4 MB - Demo
Download File Size: 1.1 GB - for iPad
ArtRage 5.0.8ArtRage is a full featured digital painting program that brings togetherthe convenience of digital editing tools, the realism of traditionalpaint texture and colors and the fun of creating art in one easy to use,professional level, program.
- License: Shareware, $79
- Developer/Publisher: Ambient Design Ltd.
- Modification Date: July 26, 2018
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.8 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 114.2 MB
Art Text 3.2.6Art Text is an application to create high quality textual graphics,headings, logos, icons, web banners and buttons. The program implementsthe latest Mac OS X technologies which allow you to easily modify anytexts and vector shapes into a fancy graphic. Use the result with iWork,Microsoft Office, BeLight applications and other programs. Create morecompelling business presentations, brochures, flyers, postcards,business cards and Web sites with the program.
- License: Shareware, $30
- Developer/Publisher: BeLight Software
- Modification Date: September 6, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.10 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 669.3 MB
Canvas Draw 6.0Take your business to the next level with the most diverse contentcreation tool on the market. Designed for business professionals andcreatives alike, Canvas Draw includes a comprehensive set of vectorobject and advanced raster image editing tools, allowing you to combineadaptable text, image, object, and effect elements in a single document.
- License: Demo, $199
- Developer/Publisher: Canvas GFX
- Modification Date: June 21, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.13 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 240.5 MB
Comic Life 3.5.10Comic Life gives you a super-quick and easy way to create astounding comics, beautifulpicture albums and enticing instruction booklets to name a few of the many possibilities.
Included are professional and fun templates, ready to drag and drop onto your page forinstant attractive photo layouts. Or if you like to be in control, position your photosand panels how you like and save them for later use.
- License: Shareware, $30
- Developer/Publisher: Plasq
- Modification Date: October 2, 2018
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.6 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 67.4 MB - App Store
Download File Size: 72.2 MB - Demo
Download File Size: 202 MB
EazyDraw 9.3.4EazyDraw provides a balanced feature set that includes tools needed fortechnical drawing, web and App graphic design, print publishing, logos,page - text layout and more. Easy enough for everyone but with the depthyour project will need.
Includes comprehensive support for bitmap and vector graphic formats:Import and ungroup for edit PDF, and EPS. Import and export SVG and nowDXF. Preview and publish to EPS and TIFF with RGB or CMYK processcolors. Exchange scaled CAD drawings using DXF. Publish web graphics.Create macOS, iOS, and watchOS app development graphics and icons.
- License: Demo, $95
- Developer/Publisher: Dekorra Optics
- Modification Date: October 23, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.11 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 86.5 MB
ExifRenamer 2.3.3ExifRenamer allows you to interactively control the renaming process.You can have a file preview and can add a prefix, suffix, change thename or can add a time difference.
The photographs can now be sorted in chronological correct orderjust by displaying them in alphabetical order. The used namingconvention is: YYYY-MM-DD_hh-mm-ss.jpg The program supports many cameravendors (for example Casio, Olympus, Canon, ..). Just selectExifRenamer as Automatic Task in ImageCapture..
- License: Freeware
- Developer/Publisher: Stefan Robl
- Modification Date: February 9, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.11 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 7.2 MB
ExifTool 11.72ExifTool is a platform-independent Perl library plus a command-lineapplication for reading, writing and editing meta information in a widevariety of files. ExifTool supports many different metadata formatsincluding EXIF, GPS, IPTC, XMP, JFIF, GeoTIFF, ICC Profile, PhotoshopIRB, FlashPix, AFCP and ID3, as well as the maker notes of many digitalcameras by Canon, Casio, DJI, FLIR, FujiFilm, GE, HP, JVC/Victor, Kodak,Leaf, Minolta/Konica-Minolta, Motorola, Nikon, Nintendo, Olympus/Epson,Panasonic/Leica, Pentax/Asahi, Phase One, Reconyx, Ricoh, Samsung,Sanyo, Sigma/Foveon and Sony.
ExifTool is also available as a stand-alone Macintosh OS X package and aWindows executable: (Note that these versions contain the executableonly, and do not include the HTML documentation or other files of thefull distribution.)
OS X Package
Download the ExifTool OS X Package from the ExifTool home page.
(The file you download should be named 'ExifTool-10.82.dmg'.)
Install as a normal OS X package.
(Open the disk image, double-click on the install package, and follow the instructions.)
You can now run exiftool by typing 'exiftool' in a Terminal window.
- License: Freeware
- Developer/Publisher: Phil Harvey
- Modification Date: October 23, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.6 or higher
Download File Size: 4.6 MB
Free Ruler 2.0.3Features:
* Horizontal and vertical rulers.
* Pixel units.
* Float rulers above other applications (press F to toggle).
* Move windows independently or as a group (press G to toggle).
* Show or hide the shadow behind rulers (press S to toggle).
* Align rulers at mouse location (press O for origin).
* Reset ruler locations with Command-R.
- License: Freeware
- Developer/Publisher: Pascal Balthrop
- Modification Date: October 26, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.14 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 4.3 MB
GeoTag 4.6.2GeoTag is a free OS X application that allows you to update imagemetadata with geolocation tags by panning and zooming in a map windowand then clicking on the location where a photo was taken. It is a goodway to add location information to photos or fine tune existing locationinformation.
Version 4 uses Apple Maps and contains its own copy of ExifTool.
- License: Freeware
- Developer/Publisher: Marco S Hyman
- Modification Date: August 4, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.12 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 12.5 MB
GIMP 2.10.12The GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freelydistributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, imagecomposition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, inmany languages.
Since the 2.8.2 version, GIMP runs on OSX natively. No X11 environment is required.
- License: Freeware
- Developer/Publisher: Gimp Project
- Modification Date: June 13, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.6 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 166.8 MB
GraphicConverter 11.1GraphicConverter offers everything you would need and expect from anall-round image editing program on your Mac with ease of use, anexcellent range of features, stability and reliability.
- License: Shareware, $40
- Developer/Publisher: Thorsten Lemke
- Modification Date: October 8, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.9 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 159.7 MB
HoudahGeo 5.4Use HoudahGeo to geocode and geotag your photos. “Pin” photos to theexact places where they were taken.
HoudahGeo stores latitude, longitude and altitude as geotags rightwithin the image file. Just like a GPS-enabled camera.
Geotags tie your photos to geographical locations. View your photos on amap. Use your favorite photo cataloging tools to organize and findphotos by places.
Future-proof your photos with geotags. HoudahGeo writes EXIF, XMP, andIPTC metadata tags to JPEG and RAW image files. Industry standardsensure that the information can be used by a wide variety of softwareand services.
- License: Shareware, $39
- Developer/Publisher: Houdah Software
- Modification Date: October 11, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.10 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 24.4 MB
Illustrator 23.1The industry-standard vector graphics app lets you create logos, icons,sketches, typography, and complex illustrations for print, web,interactive, video, and mobile.
- License: Demo, Starting at $20/month
- Developer/Publisher: Adobe
- Modification Date: October 2, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.12 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 2.3 MB Installer
ImageMagick 7.0.8-68Use ImageMagick to create, edit, compose, or convert bitmap images. Itcan read and write images in a variety of formats (over 200) includingPNG, JPEG, JPEG-2000, GIF, TIFF, DPX, EXR, WebP, Postscript, PDF, andSVG. Use ImageMagick to resize, flip, mirror, rotate, distort, shear andtransform images, adjust image colors, apply various special effects, ordraw text, lines, polygons, ellipses and Bézier curves.
- License: Freeware
- Developer/Publisher: ImageMagick Studio
- Modification Date: October 5, 2019
- Requirements: macOS
Download File Size: 13.8 MB
Homebrew installation: $ brew install imagemagick
Intaglio 3.9.5Patterned after the original Macintosh drawing applications, Intaglio isintuitive to beginners and familiar to traditional Macintosh users.Intaglio builds on the 2D graphics, text, color, and scriptingcapabilities of Mac OS X to provide unprecedented power and flexibilityin an inexpensive drawing program. Intaglio isn't just compatible withMac OS X, it was designed from the ground up to fully exploit thecapabilites that make this platform ideal for graphics work. NaturallyIntaglio is great for casual users, but it is also an ideal tool forexperienced graphics experts who need special features or want asimpler experience than what is provided by the usual multi-platformgraphic franchises.
- License: Demo, $89
- Developer/Publisher: Purgatory Design
- Modification Date: October 15, 2017
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.8 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 11.5 MB
iWatermark Pro 2.5.10iWatermark is the worlds No. 1 watermarking application for Mac andWindows. Stylishly Copyright all your images in just minutes.
iWatermark includes new effects like aqua and emboss.
iWatermark is an essential tool for anyone with a digital camera,professionals and beginners or graphic artist.
- License: Shareware, $30
- Developer/Publisher: Plum Amazing
- Modification Date: August 14, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.7 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 59.2 MB
Krita 4.2.7.1Krita is a professional free and open source painting program. It is made by artists that want to see affordable art tools for everyone.
* concept art
* texture and matte painters
* illustrations and comics
- License: Freeware
- Developer/Publisher: Krita Foundation
- Modification Date: October 3, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.12 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 173.6 MB
Lightroom CC 2.4.1With Lightroom, your photography goes where you go. Organize, edit, andshare your photos from anywhere - on your computer, on the web, on youriPad, and on your iPhone or Android device. It's all your photography.All in one place.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software is the professional photographer'sessential toolbox, providing one easy application for managing,adjusting, and presenting large volumes of digital photographs so youcan spend less time in front of the computer and more time behind thelens.
- License: Demo, Starting at $10/month
- Developer/Publisher: Adobe
- Modification Date: September 18, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.12 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 2.3 MB Installer
Painter 20.0The top choice in painting software by artists worldwide
Achieve painting perfection with the most realistic and professionaldigital art studio. Painter offers Natural-Media and unlimited artmaterials to delight any illustrator, photographer or fine artist.
- License: Demo, $429
- Developer/Publisher: Corel
- Modification Date: May 22, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.13 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 558.8 MB
Peeler 1.0.1Peeler is a graphics program that can 'peel' logos and illustrations offtheir backgrounds, producing transparent backgrounds.
Peeler 'peels' a graphic image off of its background much like peeling atransparent sticker from its backing.
The result is a transparent image with colors true to the original imagethat can be layered or composited into other artwork or simply usedas-is on other backgrounds.
- License: Demo, $19
- Developer/Publisher: Bergdesign
- Modification Date: April 14, 2016
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.7 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 3.7 MB
Photos 5.0Photos helps you keep your growing library organized and accessible.Powerful and intuitive editing tools help you perfect your images.Memories displays the best images from your photo library in beautifulcollections.
- License: Comes with your new Mac
- Developer/Publisher: Apple
- Modification Date: September 26, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.15 - 64-bit, Earlier versions come with earlier operating systems
Create anything you can imagine. Anywhere you are.
The world's best imaging and design app is at the core of almost everycreative project. Work across desktop and mobile devices to create andenhance your photographs, web and mobile app designs, 3D artwork,videos, and more.
- License: Demo, Starting at $10/month
- Developer/Publisher: Adobe
- Modification Date: October 23, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.12 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 2.3 MB Installer
Photoshop Elements 2020Get the new release to automatically organize your photos, make themlook amazing with intelligent photo editing options, turn them intostunning creations, and easily share your memories.
- License: Demo, $100
- Developer/Publisher: Adobe
- Modification Date: September 4, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.13 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 3.2 MB installer
PhotoStickies 5.6.7PhotoStickies displays one or more photos (located on your local drivesor in the Internet) on your screen, shows webcam pictures, acts as afast image viewer, and records and replays slideshows. Also,PhotoStickies can be used as a wallpaper utility.
- License: Freeware
- Developer/Publisher: Devon Technologies
- Modification Date: October 30, 2014
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.6.8 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 2.6 MB
PhotoZoom Pro 8.0.4PhotoZoom Pro not only creates larger images than any other software(up to 1 million by 1 million pixels), it also produces higher qualityresults. PhotoZoom Pro is equipped with S-Spline Max, a unique,award-winning image resize technology which excels at preserving cleanedges, sharpness, and fine details.
Even noisy, compressed originals can be enlarged successfully. Normally,noise and JPEG compression artifacts become disturbingly visible duringenlargement. PhotoZoom Pro 7 however offers the tools to eliminate thesedistortions. You'll be amazed by the amount of detail PhotoZoom Pro 7 isable to dig up from below the mess.
- License: Demo, $169
- Developer/Publisher: BenVista
- Modification Date: August 30, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.9 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 13.8 MB
Pixelmator 3.8.7Pixelmator, the beautifully designed, easy-to-use, fast and powerfulimage editor for Mac OS X has everything you need to create, edit andenhance your images.
- License: Buy, $30
- Developer/Publisher: Pixelmator Team
- Modification Date: October 22, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.12 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 116.3 MB - App Store
Download File Size: 119.5 MB - Demo
Pixelmator Pro 1.5.1Pixelmator Pro is an image editor packed full of innovations. From areimagined editing workflow and simplified editing tools to machinelearning powering all-new, intelligent image editing features. So thetools at your fingertips are smarter and more powerful, yet moreintuitive and easier to use than ever before.
With intelligent, intuitive tools for moving, resizing, and arranginglayers, Pixelmator Pro makes it incredibly easy to put every object inyour composition exactly where you want it. The Arrange Tool isnondestructive so you can resize and rotate with total freedom. Smartspacing guides appear automatically to help evenly arrange objects. Andadvanced alignment tools give you a way to align multiple objects with asingle click. So no matter what kind of composition you're working on,Pixelmator Pro is the perfect app for building it up, piece by piece.
- License: Buy, $40
- Developer/Publisher: Pixelmator Team
- Modification Date: October 25, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.13 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 184.4 MB
Download File Size: 187.8 MB - Demo
Posterino 3.6.4Rather than let those photos on your hard drive collect digital dust,use Posterino to create a beautiful collage. Just choose a template andadd your favorite photos. Posterino will randomly shuffle your imagesinto a poster-worthy keepsake. Changes to the layout, frames and filtersare accomplished with a single click. Your memories will be ready fordisplay in minutes, and you can let the viewing begin.
- License: Shareware, $20
- Developer/Publisher: Zykloid Software
- Modification Date: October 15, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.9 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 117.9 MB
Preview 11.0View and annotate PDFs, fill out and sign forms, and edit images. Whenyou’re done, share your file, export a password-protected PDF, or exportimages in a variety of file types.
- License: Comes with your Mac
- Developer/Publisher: Apple
- Modification Date: August 24, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.15 - 64-bit, Earlier versions come with earlier operating systems
Procreate is the most powerful sketching, painting and illustration appever designed for a mobile device, built for creative professionals.This complete artist’s toolbox helps you create beautiful sketches,inspiring paintings, and stunning illustrations anywhere you are.Procreate features ground-breaking canvas resolution, 136 incrediblebrushes, an advanced layer system, and is powered by Silica M: thefastest 64-bit painting engine on iOS. Create a canvas and startpainting with any of Procreate’s exclusive dual-texture brushes. Use theimmediately responsive smudge tool to perfectly blend color with anybrush in your library. With Procreate’s incredibly high-resolutioncanvases you can print your artwork at massive sizes. Experience therevolutionary selection, transform, and perspective tools builtexclusively for multitouch and finish your illustration with stunningcinema-quality effects. Procreate’s powerful and intuitive interfacealways puts your art in focus.
- License: Buy, $10
- Developer/Publisher: Savage Interactive
- Modification Date: September 27, 2019
- Requirements: iOS 11.1 or higher
Download File Size: 193.5 MB - for iPad
Download File Size: 164.7 MB - Procreate Pocket for iPhone
Seashore 2.4.12Seashore is an open source image editor for Cocoa. It featuresgradients, textures and anti-aliasing for both text and brush strokes.It supports multiple layers and alpha channel editing. It is basedaround the GIMP's technology and uses the same native file format.
- License: Freeware
- Author/Publisher: Mark Pazolli/Fork by Robert Engels
- Modification Date: September 26, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 10.4 MB
Home PageSimple Comic 1.7Features
Page Layout - Pages laid out as they would be in print
Page Ordering - Left to right or right to left
Page Scaling - Original size, window fit, horizontal fit and defined height
Fullscreen - Maximize viewing area
Archive Handling - Seamlessly deals with .cbr, .cbz, .zip, .rar, tar, 7z, lha and others
PDF Handling - Opens PDF based comics
Multiple Sessions - View multiple comics at one time
Auto-save - Comics are automatically bookmarked and reopened at launch
Page Rotation - Rotate the pages to maximize display area
- License: Freeware
- Developer/Publisher: Dancing Tortoise Software
- Modification Date: April 28, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.5 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 3.2 MB
SimpleImage 6.3.1SimpleImage is a simple but powerful image and movie viewing application thatlets you view all the most popular image and movie formats, like JPEG, GIF,animated GIF, TIFF, PICT, PNG, MPEG, AVI and more in a single, sleek application.
- License: Shareware, $20
- Developer/Publisher: Christopher Wood
- Modification Date: November 30, 2018
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.11 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 38.1 MB
Sketch 59.1Professional digital design for Mac.
Sketch gives you the power, flexibility and speed you always wanted in alightweight and easy-to-use package. Finally you can focus on what youdo best: Design.
- License: Demo, $99
- Developer/Publisher: Bohemian BV
- Modification Date: October 21, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.11 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 58.4 MB
Download File Size: 11.9 MB
ToyViewer 5.6.0ToyViewer is an image viewer, which also provides various editingfunctions and image converting filter services to other applications. IfToyViewer is installed in your Mac, you can see image files in PCX, PPM,Sun Raster, etc. on other Cocoa applications.
- License: Freeware
- Developer/Publisher: Takeshi Ogihara
- Modification Date: November 30, 2019
- Requirements: macOS 10.12 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 8.6 MB
Xee 3.5.3Xee is a lightweight, fast and convenient image viewer and browser. It is designed to be aserious tool for image viewing and management, with a sleek and powerful interface. Xeeworks as a much more useful replacement for Preview, or most any other image vieweravailable on Mac OS.
- License: Shareware $4
- Developer/Publisher: Dag Agren
- Modification Date: August 16, 2017
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.7 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 18.0 MB
xScope 4.4xScope is a powerful set of tools that are ideal for measuring, aligningand inspecting on-screen graphics and layouts.
Graphic Design Software For Mac
xScope is really six tools in one that will help any designer do theirjob faster and produce more accurate results:
* Rulers - On-screen rulers that measure distances and angles
* Screens - A dynamic view of smaller screen sizes and web browser content areas
* Loupe - A magnifying glass that gives you a close-up view of your work
* Guides - Markers for precise horizontal and vertical alignment
Best Graphic Software For Mac
* Frames - Markers for precise width, height & origin alignment* Crosshair - Finds the exact location on screen
- License: Shareware, $50
- Developer/Publisher: ARTIS Software & The Iconfactory
- Modification Date: August 14, 2019
- Requirements: Mac OS X 10.8 or higher - 64-bit
Download File Size: 29.8 MB
About the author:This guest article was written by Emma Best from Laptopical - a guide to the latest laptop reviews and laptop related news. You can also follow her on Twitter.
I've been using my MacBook Pro since a while now and I must say: I really love it. The most common app(s) that designers use has to be Adobe Photoshop (Or the full suite). The app(s) are great, but there is a downside: The price tag. Photoshop CS4 costs $699, CS4 extended is $999 and the full Creative Suite starts at an stunning $1799. For many people this is just a little bit too much to 'play around with'.
Luckily, there are also many free applications out there that can do the same kind of job that Photoshop could do for you. This article rounds up the best 15 free Mac Programs for Graphic Designers. Some of these applications can even do stuff that can't be achieved using Photoshop, or are much more simple to use.
Keep your wallet in your pocket, since all these programs will cost you nothing.
GIMP
The most popular of all free photo editing software, GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program, and is highly-supported and frequently updated. Comparative to Photoshop, users can perform basic tasks such as photo retouching, color correction, and image size, or more complicated tasks like image composition and creation. GIMP has a scripting interface for advance users, as well as plugins, extensions, and filters.
Seashore
If you want GIMP, but don't have X11, then Seashore is the appropriate software for you. Based on GIMP, it has nearly all the settings and functions of the more advanced program without the higher requirements.
Inkspace
An excellent alternative to Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw, Inkscape is a free vector graphics program supporting standard SVG format, as well as XML and CSS standards. This program can do everything you'll need in a vector graphics program - tracing, path operations, direct XML editing, etc. Import and export formats include all the common image types, including JPEG, PNG, and TIFF.
Front End Digital Media Workshop
Don't waste time manually resizing individual photos for your various projects. Front End Digital Media is a batch conversion app for images (as well as video and audio), and allows you to mass resize, resample, split, join, and up/down sample JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, PSD, and PICT image files.
Image Tricks
The biggest appeal for the Image Tricks app is the ability to apply dozens of different filters to over 20 different image formats. The finished photos can then be exported as either TIFF, JPEG, or PNG.
Comipro Plus
If you create cartoons of any type, Comipro Plus is an excellent app. Designed in Japanese but usable to English speakers, this program helps create modern-looking comics, including editing and adding word bubbles.
Google SketchUp
DetailsRating: 4.6/5Price: Free Trail AvailableGeometry Expressions is the leading geometry software in terms of the preferences of the users. What is the best drawing software for mac.
Different from a normal vector graphics program, Google's SketchUp allows you to not only create a design, but view it in 3D. It is easier to use than more complicated 3D software, such as AutoCAD, and is free.
Colorate
Colorate is used to change and manipulate the colors in a photo. The Library generates a color swatch based on the photo, then allow you to add a new color pallete, either blending the current one, creating a custom one, or randomizing a completely new pallete.
Goldberg
Best Mac Graphics Software
This program is best used for those times when you're viewing your photos, and notice that a color is slightly off, or a side needs cropped a bit more. Instead of firing up a full photo editing application, you can simply make minor adjustments, including color correction, blurs, noise, and embossing.
NIH Image
If you need to animate one of your photos or designs, this program is for you. It's compatible with a wide array of programs, and in addition to animating images, it can also perform minor tweaks to contrast, sharpening, smoothing, filters, and more. It also analyzes particles, angles, and paths.
Scratch
This program is so simple, it can be used also immediately with no prior instruction. It is used for creating small games, interactive art, and animated stories, and is primarily marketed to children. Despite it's juvenile market, it is an excellent tool for putting together quick interactive banners and images without the learning curve.
DAZ Studio
If you're in need of realistic 3D models, DAZ Studio is an easy-to-learn 3D program for creating 3D objects, including people, animals, and objects (buildings, cars, etc). DAZ Studio is easier to use than other 3D animation tools, and is perfect for creating surrealistic and 3D art.
Bryce
Built to run with the aforementioned DAZ Studio software, Bryce is used to create real-looking landscapes using photos of real landscapes. Take a picture of your yard, a forest, some mountains, or other landscapes, import it into Bryce, and then add all the elements needed to turn it into a new world.
ArchiCAD
If you need a 3D design tool with more power and features than Google SketchUp, ArchiCAD is the right program to you. Similar to AutoCAD in both function and name, this program allows users to design their sketches and ideas into a realistic 3D render.
JAlbum
Every graphic designer requires an efficient way to keep all their photos and images organized. JAlbum is the ultimate photo organizer, as it not only allows you to organize your photos and folders using simple drag-and-drop functionality, but it also creates thumbnails and HTML pages of your photos for easy online publishing. The HTML pages to publish can be made to either export a gallery or a slide show. In addition, there's support for IPTC and EXIF data, lossless editing, image filters, style sheets, and an integrated FTP client.
Bonus: Pixelmator
I've added Pixelmator myself to this list, as Emma didn't include this app to her top 15 list. I really love to use Pixelmator myself and I don't think it should be missing from this amazing list.
Pixelmator, the beautifully designed, easy-to-use, fast and powerful image editor for Mac OS X has everything you need to create, edit and enhance your images.
Bonus: Blender
Just like Pixelmator, I've added Blender myself to this list, as Emma didn't include this app to her top 15 list. Blender is a great open source app for 3d content.
Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License.
Are there more Mac Apps that you, as a graphic designer, love to use that is missing from the list above? Please share!
This guest article was provided to you by Emma Best from Laptopical.
Tags: guest articlemacappsgraphic designtoolsfree
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