The field of graphic design is booming. As design is showing up in more and more places, including the on the web, more people are entering the field and more new tools are being produced. Some of these tools are better than the others, far and away, and these can allow you to do higher quality work with greater ease, giving you an edge over the competition. With so many graphic design tools on the market, it can be hard to determine which are truly the best, but this list is designed to help. The following are the top 5 best tools for graphic designers, and hopefully this can help you find the ideal tools for you.

1.) Adobe Photoshop

You may be rolling your eyes and groaning now, as for many, Photoshop on this list is essential. The industry standard software, it is powerful and versatile, letting you do more than you can with any competitor (if you can even call them that). That being said, new designers and those trying to start getting into design may think that a free or low cost image rendering program may be enough, but if you are or want to be a professional, these simply will not cut it. You should consider scooping up the entire Adobe Creative Suite to be a real pro.

2.) WhatTheFont!

This website could prove to be indispensable, particularly for designers brought on to finish a project or to build off of existing design work. With this web-based application, you simply need to upload an image or input a URL, and WhatTheFont! should be able to tell you what font you submitted after analysis. Not every font will be in their database, but this helpful tool may just find a font that is close enough to create a smooth, seamless product for the client.

3.) Dropbox

There are many online backup services. A sharing-based service may work for you, such as Dropbox, but another cloud may be more your speed. It is always important to backup your work, but as a designer, you are also backing up your paycheck. An online service is better than a local back up; it offers you more protection in the event of a catastrophic, physical emergency like a fire. Also, if when you are already using Dropbox or another like service, it is easier to get your renderings and final design ideas to your clients. To protect your work, however, having a local backup as well is probably a good idea.

4.) Lorem Ipsum Generator

As a designer, you are aware that dummy text in Latin is the industry standard when presenting new templates and design ideas in a mock-up. This practice makes it easy for you and your client to image what it will look like with actual content. Some designers will seek out this faux-content from other sources and copy and paste it onto their own work, but that can take a long time. To do this quickly and with ease, you should use the Lorem Ipsum Generator, an add-on for Google Chrome.

5.) Blender 3D

3D everything is big right now, and many people are searching to see 3D graphics on everything from their websites to their business cards. Blender 3D can help you do that. An open source program, it is a good free way for you to start working with 3D. Easy to use, this software comes with many useful features that allow designers to create professional, and maybe even like-like, graphics rendered in 3D. This is definitely not the only tool out there for making 3D graphics, but at the price-point it is a fantastic tool for you to get started with .

 

This article is written by Kevin Moor, who also writes for spywaretoolshed.com, a website featuring interesting and informative reviews on spyware doctor