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Gone are the days when we rely on just pencils and paper to represent or create our ideas. Thanks to technology, professional artists and illustrators can use various drawing software to bring their imagination to life and produce amazing works. Drawing software are crucial for anyone looking to create good digital art. These software can help you get the exact dimensions of a project and speed up project completion time.
These drawing programs come in various packages, ranging from 3D modeling to drawing and painting apps, simulated hand sketching, or graphic illustration. Some drawing programs are free, while others are available for a fee. On a related note, some creators offer both the free and paid version of their software. Although most premium drawing software offers more features and options, there is a variety of good and reliable free drawing software out there.
Many free drawing apps offer good features, special effects, drawing and painting tools, and other options. Plus, most of this software works perfectly with your mouse, stylus, or touchscreen, giving you more control over your tools without costing you anything.
There are tons of drawing software out there, finding one that is both reliable and free can be difficult. Not every free drawing software you find online can offer the services you may require. Some of this software may lack pattern recognition, color consistency, 3D viewing, and other needed tools. The best free drawing software allows you to create, develop, and edit images and designs. Plus, your drawing software should offer you a wide range of features and tools that allows you to create stunning artwork effortlessly. We have made your search easier by providing you with the best free drawing software to install.
Best Free Drawing Software:
We have gone further to review each drawing software that made our list. Here are the three best free drawing software for creating stunning artwork:
Clip Studio Paint – Overall Best Free Drawing Software, Editor’s Pick
Drawtify – Most Used For Graphics Designing Tools
Artweaver – Most Recommended Beginner-Friendly Drawing Software
#1. Clip Studio Paint – Overall Best Free Drawing Software, Editor’s Pick
Clip Studio Paint is one of the best drawing software for creating stunning artwork and painting. This drawing software has been around since 2012, packed with many features for creating animations, illustration designs, character art, comics, and manga.
With this software, you can enjoy expressing your idea using a brush that feels more organic than other graphics software. Clip Studio Paint is a versatile drawing software that offers a variety of unique and useful features.
Along with providing all the benefits of a digital environment, this software offers the most natural experience possible. Also, this software is easy to learn and features a variety of customizable brushes. The ability to effortlessly create smooth lines with this software makes it a perfect fit for illustrators specializing in linework.
Plus, you can create 3D images using the items, backgrounds, and characters this software provides. Another unique feature of this software is that each update comes with more drawing and animation capabilities.
On top of that, Clip Studio Paint allows you to separate your storyboard panels and thumbnails and even save them as templates. Also, this drawing software supports multiple file formats and allows you to open multiple project pages in a single file. Overall, Clip Studio Paint is considered a worthy competitor to Adobe Photoshop.
This digital art software offers vector graphics and raster tool selection, uniting the creative power of Adobe products in one space. Further, its wide range of features, vector output, and simple interface make drawing enjoyable and efficient.
Clip Studio Paint offers free and paid versions of this software. Two paid versions of this software are available for a one-time purchase: Clip Studio Paint Ex ($219) and Clip Studio Paint Pro ($49.99).
Highlights
Platform Compatibility: One of the benefits of choosing this digital drawing software is that it allows you to work on various platforms. Clip Studio Paint is compatible with macOS, Windows, Galaxy, Chromebook, Android, iPhone, and iPad. You can get creative on your computer, Android or iPad tablet, and smartphone. You can transform your smartphone into a creative device by connecting it to your main computer or tablet over Wi-Fi in companion mode. This connection will give you instant access to all your favorite drawing tools and features at your fingertips.
Companion Mode: Companion mode is a feature on Clip Studio Paint that allows you to create different artwork on your smartphone. All you need to do is install the software on your computer or tablet and connect it to your smartphone. Plus, this feature works even without an active Clip Studio Paint plan. The Quick Access palette is one of the first features you will find when you activate companion mode. Quick Access palette offers a variety of buttons you can tap and perform various actions on your connected tablet or computer. For example, tapping the pencil button on your iPhone will select the pencil tool on your tablet or computer. Other features in companion mode include switching mode, color wheel, gesture pad, color mixing, and webtoon preview.
Materials and Tutorials: If you do not know how to draw or paint, this software has got you covered. Hundreds of materials and tutorials on Clip Art Studio teach you how to create stunning artwork. Head to the material and tutorial section to learn how to create animations, comics, concept art, and character art. Further, there are many tutorials on using the different features, adjusting your tools, and customizing your brushes. Moreover, this painting studio updates its material collections monthly to provide you with an unlimited supply of tools.
Powerful and Customizable Brushes: One of the main reasons this digital drawing software is popular among digital artists is that it features powerful and customizable brushes. This digital art software features a powerful brush engine that allows you to create every stroke the way you want. Also, Clip Art Studio integrates with your device to accurately reflect every subtlety of your pen, even up to the 8192 levels of pen pressure measured by Wacom tablets. Also, every brush in this painting studio is fully customizable, giving you complete control of your tools.
Community Support: Clip Studio Paint also features a worldwide community where you can connect with different digital artists worldwide. Here, you can make new friends, exchange ideas with other artists and learn from each other.
Pros
Easy-to-use interface
Easy to draw repeatable patterns
Customizable interface
Wide range of toolset
New materials every month
Large community and user-base
Excellent customer support
Cons
Features too many unnecessary options
The software may freeze midway
=> Click here to visit the official website of Clip Studio Paint
#2. Drawtify– Most Used For Graphics Designing Tools
Another free digital art software to create beautiful graphics and images is Drawtify. Drawtify makes artwork easy by combining rich resources and powerful functions in one place. Besides, this drawing software allows you to design beautiful images like Adobe Illustrator and Corel Painter.
Drawtify offers a variety of features, including text to path converter, built-in charts, QR Code plugins, and a one-click filter function. Further, this digital painting software allows you to edit imported and built-in photos and adjust their transparency and mask images.
Plus, there are thousands of animations and other templates you can work on. Also, this free painting software is equipped with various typographic tools that let you creatively change the look and feel of texts. This feature also allows you to create animations for digital publications easily.
Drawtify has over 20 design functions you can use to create beautiful images. The design functions of this software include logo maker, flyer maker, banner maker, and animated logo maker. Another benefit of choosing this software is that it works on all desktop platforms and smartphones.
Drawtify is also compatible with macOS and Windows operating systems. You can use this software for free for as long as you like. Most of the features and functions you need are included in the free version.
However, the paid version provides more function for high-quality output and complex graphics work. You can either pay monthly ($14), yearly ($99.99), or subscribe for a lifetime purchase of just $79.
Highlights
Rich Designing Resources: One feature that makes this drawing software stand out is its rich design resources. Drawtify offers a wide range of vector designing resources, making graphic designing more convenient and efficient. Designing resources on this software include 200+ color schemes, 1,000+ graphic elements, 100K+ HD backgrounds, 3,000+ high-quality design templates, 1M+ HD pictures, and 20K+ shapes and icons. Plus, the design templates are editable and suitable for new designers who want to design images. Drawtify also offers a variety of graphic design plugins, including maps, charts, QR codes, barcodes, tree diagrams, and a calendar generator.
Flexible Copyright: Another benefit of choosing Drawtify is that you do not have to worry about copyright issues. Images you will find on this drawing software have flexible copyright, meaning you can use them for commercial purposes.
Excellent Layout Function: Drawtify offers a superb layout function that allows you to create neat and professional graphics, including shapes, photos, and icons. For example, you can use scaling, reference line, alignment, layer, and drag and drop to edit shapes, icons, and photos.
Professional Import and Export Option: This digital painting software lets you quickly import pictures in PDF, JPG, SVG, and PNG formats. Plus, you can download all your animations and designs in GIF, SVG, APNG, and VIDEO (WebM and MP4) formats.
Motion Graphics Editor: If you are looking for a program to help you grow your social media page or better describe your products, Drawtify offers the right feature for that. This painting software features an intuitive motion editor that allows you to create dynamic and detailed motion graphics. Also, this feature will enable you to use over 20 movement instructions, including fade, zoom, blink, rotate, and enter. Further, this feature can add motion effects to your icons, photos, titles, lines, shapes, and text.
Powerful Photo Editor: Drawtify also features a powerful photo editor. You can edit photos from your photo library or import them from Drawtify’s vast collection. Drawtify’s photo editor features a flip tool and transparency tool that helps you present your ideas more effectively. Plus, this photo editor features a photo blending mode that allows you to add montage effects to your images with one click. Other photo editing features include shape library, vector editing functions, node filters, and image filters.
Pros
Easily accessible
No installation required
Provides online storage
Advanced typography tools
Intuitive and easy to use
Free tools and design functions
Allows multi-page editing
Unlimited layers
Provides tools for 3D editing
Cons
The interface may be confusing for beginners
Most templates and elements are outdated
=> Click here to visit the official website of Drawtify
#3. Artweaver- Most Recommended Beginner-Friendly Drawing Software
If you are good with Adobe Photoshop, you will quickly get along with this drawing software. Artweaver is one of the oldest and best free drawing software for Windows. This free software has been around since 2009 and offers an interface similar to that of Adobe Photoshop.
Artweaver runs on a powerful core that supports layer groups and 8 and 16 bits. Also, this software is easy to use and install and is well-suitable for beginner and professional digital artists.
When it comes to creating and editing images, Artweaver features a variety of creative built-in tools and editors that enable you to create stunning images. This software offers a wide range of brushes, including charcoal, pencil, chalk, sponge, acrylic fibers, and oil. Plus, you can work with pre-existing brushes or customize them to suit your needs.
Moreover, Artweaver allows you to work with layers, draw textures, and import and export graphics in different formats. Artweaver supports file formats like JPEG, TIFF, PNG, TGA, GIF, PCX, and AWD (Artweaver). Further, Artweaver features a wide range of filters, including wind effects, oil effects, waves, granulation, and blur.
Another benefit of choosing this software is that you have total control over your tools and can customize every part of them. Simply tap on the control palette to fine-tune your tools however you like. Examples of tools you will find on Artweaver free include painting, text, smudge, pen, shape, and transformation tools.
This free drawing software also features an assortment of editing tools and pencils that allow you to create your designs effortlessly. Also, this drawing tool provides support for transparency, layers, layer groups, and blend methods. Artweaver supports pen tablets, including pen erasers, pressure, and Tool-ID.
Although the free version of Artweaver is great, the paid version comes with extended functions. The premium version of this software costs $38. Overall, Artweaver is a powerful software for creating designs. This free drawing software features a simple interface and a wide variety of drawing tools.
Artweaver is also an excellent choice for kids who love to draw as it features an easy drawing app and configurable brushes. If you do not know what to create, there is a help section on Artweaver with tons of materials on how to use the software to create stunning images.
Highlights
Intuitive User Interface: Artweaver offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface that makes designing easy and fun. Plus, the tools and brushes on this software are neatly organized, and you can rearrange the interface for better workflow. Further, Artweaver allows you to move and rotate your canvas within the application window. Besides, you can resize, organize, and customize your palettes, presets, and brushes. Another benefit of using this software is that it supports keyboard shortcuts, which are also customizable. Plus, you can select different color themes for the user interface.
Record Events: Artweaver allows you to record your painting process, a feature lacking in most free drawing software. You can record the whole painting process, save it, and replay it later. This feature allows you to show other professional artists your painting style. Plus, it will enable you to keep an eye on your progress from an empty canvas to finished artwork. Plus, you can protect your events with a password when saving them.
Work with Other Artists: If you enjoy teamwork, you can work with other artists on this drawing software. Artweaver allows you to paint or draw with other artists on the same document. All you need to do is ensure you have an active internet connection. Besides creating strokes together, you can chat with them, create your team, and connect to other teams.
Realistic Brushes and Tools: Artweaver offers a wide variety of brushes, which are powerful and customizable. This drawing software allows you to configure your brushes and save them as a new category or variant. Brush types you will find on Artweaver include circular, hairy brush, pixel, and airbrush. Further, this drawing software features standard image editing tools like fill, crop, gradient, and selection tools.
Plugins: This drawing software provides a Plugins Pack, which extends the program’s overall capability. Artweaver offers a variety of internal plugins, including export, import, file format, and effect filters. Plus, you can extend the capability of this software with third-party plugins.
Pros
Intuitive interface
Moveable and rotatable canvas
Supports documents with 8-bit and 16-bit channels
Many creative brushes
Unlimited brush customization
Ultra-realistic effects
Support for many languages
Cons
Not available for Mac users
Lacking in text feature
=> Click here to visit the official website of Artweaver
How We Made This List
There are hundreds of free drawing software, but not all offer good features and services. We understand how frustrating that is, so we did some digging for you. When making our list, we compared dozens of free drawing software and ruled out a few that did not satisfy our criteria.
First, we created an account on different drawing software and then used their services. We used the software to create a handful of designs to see what features, tools, and filters were available. We also checked the user interface, software quality, tools, and features. With these factors, we could locate the best free drawing software for you to install.
What We Looked For
Brand Reputation: One of the best ways to get good and free software drawing tools is by determining the brand’s reputation. When making our list, we looked at how long the software has been available and how many user reviews and ratings it has gathered over the years. The drawing software on our list has been around for more than five years and has garnered many excellent reviews online. It shows that the software has a proven track record of providing customers with the services they need.
Variety of Toolsets: The software’s toolset is the next factor we considered. A good drawing software should offer a wide range of tools like a painter, eraser, paint brushes, drawing area, and lines and shapes. Moreover, a good drawing software should have a variety of colors available in the palette. We only included drawing software that offers a wide range of toolsets and features on our list.
3D Programs: Drawing programs that allow you to create 3D effects and animations are always preferred options. 3D effects make your design more prominent and add an extra dimension to your work. It is essential and invaluable to artists that specialize in creating 3D models and designs. We only included free drawing programs that can create 3D images.
Import and Export Option: When searching for the best free drawing software, we looked for programs that allow you to import and export files in different formats. This feature allows you to quickly locate, send, and save your files in the format required to complete your work. The free drawing programs on our list will enable you to import and export your files in different format options.
User Guide: How to Choose the Right Drawing Software
Drawing software enables you to create designs without needing a pencil and paper. Although you will find hundreds of free digital art software online, not all of them provide the required tools and services you need to create designs. As a result, we provided you with the top free drawing software to get in this article.
Besides the options on our list, you can use other good software to express your creativity. With the hundreds of free digital art software available, how can you tell the best program to use for designing? Here are essential factors to consider when searching for free drawing software:
One of the most important factors to consider when choosing a drawing software is the type of image the program creates. You can create two types of images in the digital world; raster and vector images. Raster images, such as photographs in the JPG or PNG formats, are created pixel by pixel.
These images usually become blurred when you zoom in or exceed the image’s pixel sizes. Simply put, raster images are just like your regular drawing paper. Your drawings are usually limited to your paper size. Similarly, you cannot expand or increase the pixels of raster images. However, they are easy to draw and create, depending on the software.
On the other hand, vector images help eliminate the need to worry about pixel size. Vector images include pictures in EPS or AI formats and are the global standard in the printing industry. Vector images are created using different paths, including lines and shapes.
Plus, these images are more like computer programs than photographs. Thus, go for drawing software that allows you to create raster and, most importantly, vector images. However, note that vector images are complex and require more practice. Some vector apps do their best to simplify the whole process, but it still takes a bit of getting used to. Although vector images have a longer learning curve, they are well worth learning.
Another vital factor to consider when choosing a drawing software is the number of platforms or hardware it allows you to work with. You find a lot of art drawing software that works only on Windows. This compatibility issue can cause trouble when transferring your work from one device to another.
You can prevent this by going for drawing software that supports multi-platform compatibility. It simply means the program should work on your tablet, computer, and smartphone. For example, Clip Art Studio allows you to turn your computer and smartphone into creative devices.
This way, you will not experience any headaches when transferring your work from one device to another. The most popular platforms are Windows, macOS, Android, and Apple iOS. Another benefit of choosing a drawing software that supports multi-platform compatibility is that you get to enjoy other features.
For example, if you own an iPad, you can pair your Apple Pencil to your tablet and use it to design images. There are several other gadgets you can use to enhance your drawing experience. However, when pairing a stylus to your tablet, ensure that both devices are from the same manufacturer; for instance, Apple to Apple and Samsung to Samsung.
Further, make sure you check the pressure sensitivity of the stylus. Note that different stylus pens handle drawing tasks differently. However, the feedback and pressure sensitivity of the stylus allows you to enjoy a more natural pencil-like experience when drawing.
You will hardly find creative professionals who do not make or talk about 3D designs. 3D modeling is an important feature to have on your drawing software. If you plan on going professional with your designs, go for drawing programs that support 3D editing. The drawing programs we have provided in this article support 3D modeling. Plus, you will find many free drawing programs that support this feature.
Rich Toolset and Functions
Your designs will suffer if you pick a software that does not offer a wide variety of tools and functions. First, your drawing software should feature basic drawing tools like pencils, erasers, and brushes. In addition, ensure that the software features templates relevant to your field or needs.
For example, it is useless if you plan to design an animated logo, but the drawing software does not feature an animated logo maker. Further, a good drawing software should allow you to create shapes like rectangles, stars, flow charts, banners, signs, and landscape symbols.
Moreover, you should be able to edit easily, flip, rotate, and fill those shapes with colors. On a related note, ensure you can create clip arts and symbols with the software. Check if the drawing software has a library of clip arts and symbols you can use. Clip arts and symbols help improve your artwork’s presentation, originality, and effectiveness in expressing your ideas.
Colors, Effect, and Consistency
Colors and effects make your designs look more appealing. Hence, you should be able to use your drawing software to paint, fill any color, and add effects of your choice. Go for drawing programs that feature realistic effects, colors, and patterns.
Plus, the software should allow you to edit the color of lines, symbols, shapes, backgrounds, and others, allowing you to create designs the way you want. Another factor to consider when choosing drawing software is color consistency. Color consistency varies on canvas, paper, as well as digital art.
Sometimes, the brightness and color contrast of artwork created in certain apps can vary between PDF, JPG, and EPS file formats. Thus, search for drawing apps that offer consistent colors and calibration regardless of file type.
Another important factor to consider is the software’s pattern recognition. Pattern recognition allows you to recreate your art by recording and reproducing all your processes and strokes. That is why this feature is essential in engineering drawings.
File Import and Export Option
The type of files the drawing software allows you to import and export is also a crucial factor to consider. The best drawing software should allow you to import and export files in different formats. For example, if a client requires you to submit a project in PDF format, your software should be able to support that file format.
What if you do not know what to paint or how to use the software? Well, that is where the help and support page comes in handy. All the free drawing software on our list provides a wide range of tutorials and materials that show you how to create animations and other designs. Thus, your drawing software should have materials or offer online support to help you on time.
You may want to print your design on paper after completing a project. When selecting a free drawing software, check to see if the program supports different types of printers. Plus, the printer support should work for different sizes of paper.
If you are still confused about which drawing software to use, consider checking customer reviews. Genuine customer reviews should give you an idea of what to expect from the software. You will find most graphic designers complaining if the drawing software is terrible. This simple research can save you from many troubles and unnecessary mistakes.
FAQs About Drawing Software
What is a drawing software?
A drawing software is any tool or computer program that allows you to draw and create designs in a digital setting. Simply put, a drawing software enables you to create designs without using your usual pencils and paper.
Drawing programs are designed with various tools like paintbrushes, digital pens, and markers that you can use to create images. With a drawing software, you can create charts, vectors, illustrations, images, graphs, and diagrams from scratch.
Plus, you can use tools like color palettes, contrast, brightness, shapes, and effects to make your project more appealing. In addition, this software allows you to import images you need to work with and export your project when you are done.
What are the types of drawing software?
Knowing the different types of drawing software is vital for helping you make the right choice. You can use three types of drawing software to create designs: bitmap drawing, vector drawing, and CAD software.
Further, note that each software is designed to perform different functions like manipulating images, creating graphics from scratch, and drawing sketches. Bitmap drawing software is suitable for tasks like photo manipulation and general drawing. You can use this software to draw by changing the color of bits on the map. However, note that changing the size of your image on this software will affect its quality.
Vector drawing software represents lines and shapes as mathematical formulas on a page in place of fixed points. Plus, this software allows you to create smoother curves in your images and change your image size without losing quality.
On the other hand, CAD software is perfect for creating technical drawings, blueprints, construction plans, floor plans, and even special effects in TV shows. This software is usually used for creating vehicle designs and designing objects and buildings for computer modeling.
What are the benefits of using drawing software?
Using drawing software to create designs has many advantages. One of the main benefits of using drawing software is that it helps to enhance the quality of your design. Drawing programs are designed with tools that can help professional artists design images with high accuracy and quality.
Since the scope for error is lower, this software allows you to create better designs and complete your projects on time. Besides, using a drawing software will enable you to save your work and share it easily with clients or businesses. Plus, you can save your projects for future use and modify them whenever you choose.
On top of that, drawing software makes it easy and less time-consuming to make changes and corrections to your designs. Correcting errors on drawing software is easier and quicker when compared to traditional drawing.
With a drawing program, you can save time, increase accuracy, access different design templates, work from anywhere and anytime, and even connect with other artists.
How do you use free drawing software?
Regardless of tools and features, most drawing software has a similar setup. So, you should be able to get the hang of it in no time. If you are not used to creating designs, first choose a drawing software that has a similar setup to the likes of Adobe Creative Cloud. The next step is to install the software on your computer or tablet.
Next, click the File option, select New File, and set your preferred image size. There are plenty of options to choose from, and you can measure your image size in pixels or inches. Now pick the tool you need for your work and start drawing.
If you are not used to the different drawing tools, you can spend some time exploring other options. The wide selection of tools can be confusing, so it is better to try them before starting your project. Also, you can watch YouTube videos and learn the names of the different tools and how to use them. Once you know the right tool, you can start your project.
Conclusion: Which Drawing Software Should You Use?
You would agree with the fact that drawing software enhances image quality. We had no choice but to rely on traditional drawing decades ago. Thanks to technology, we now have so many great drawing apps we can use to create fascinating images.
Whether you are planning on creating a design for a business or improving your skills, drawing software can help you save time and improve the quality of your work. As you may know, drawing is not just about making lines and filling them with color. It also involves using several tools to create the perfect image.
Drawing programs are built with a wide range of tools and features like pencil, brushes, contrast, and color filters, which you can use to create designs. This article lists the best free drawing software to install on your computer or tablet.
Before making our list, we tried different free drawing software and ruled out those that did not meet our criteria. The free drawing software on our list includes Clip Studio Paint, Drawtify, and Artweaver. With these options, you can create vector graphics, 3D images, logos, flyers, and other designs. Additionally, these programs allow you to save, import, and export your work using different file formats. However, if you want to explore other options, there are other software you can use to create designs.
We have also provided you with a guide in this article that will help you find the right drawing software for designing. Now, it is up to you to make a choice and start your project.
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