Top Free and Paid Tools for Non-Designers to Create Stunning Graphics (Beginner-Friendly)
Discover the best free and paid graphic design tools I use—my top recommendations for non-designers to create stunning graphics effortlessly. Perfect for beginners, small business owners, and content creators!
Creating professional-looking graphics doesn’t require a design degree or expensive tools. With the right graphic design tools for beginners, non-designers can craft beautiful visuals for their brand, social media, or business. Whether you're a small business owner or content creator, this guide will help you discover the best tools to create stunning graphics that stand out.
1. Canva (Free & Paid)
Why Use It: Canva is one of the most popular graphic design tools for beginners, offering drag-and-drop functionality and thousands of templates for social media posts, presentations, and more.
How to Use It:
- Start with free templates and customize colors, fonts, and layouts to match your brand. Templates are best for those who have never done this task before to prevent beginner mistakes most people do.
- Upgrade to Canva Pro for premium features like background remover, exclusive design assets, and brand kits.
Pro Tip: Pair Canva with Coolors to import cohesive color palettes into your designs.
2. Coolors (Free & Paid)
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Why Use It: A powerful tool for generating infinite color palettes that fit your brand style. I love this tool because it saves me a lot of time choosing my colors scheme, especially for non-designers.
How to Use It:
- Generate palettes with the click of a button or upload an image to extract colors.
- Export palettes and use them in Canva, Photoshop, Adobe Express or Illustrator.
Pro Tip: Use the Coolors Chrome extension to grab colors directly from websites.
3. Adobe Express (Free & Paid)
Why Use It: Simplified graphic design for beginners with high-quality templates and animations. This online tool is optimized for image and video editing and also you can repurpose the size of your design to best fit in several social media platforms. And the best part, it has social media integrations and scheduling, so you can post immediately or schedule for later. This is a life saver for me.
How to Use It:
- Design flyers, social media posts, and even videos.
- Use the premium version to access custom branding and additional templates.
Pro Tip: Combine Adobe Express with Freepik for unique illustrations and icons.
4. Freepik (Free & Paid)
Why Use It: Offers downloadable illustrations, vectors, and photos to enhance your designs. It has accurate AI tools and ready-to-use mockups. For example, if you have a book cover you can create a mockup in just a few clicks! I love this feature!
How to Use It:
- Search for relevant assets and download free or premium elements.
- Import them into Canva or Adobe Express to improve your designs.
Pro Tip: Always credit Freepik when using free assets to comply with licensing.
5. Photoshop (Paid, Free Trial Available)
Why Use It: Ideal for advanced editing and creating high-quality visuals. As a professional graphic designer I use it on a daily basis, so for me is one of the most powerful tools on the market. There is also an App for smartphone called PS Express, for quick adjustments. I found it recently and found it super dope.
How to Use It:
- Use layers, masks, and tools for professional edits.
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Pair Photoshop with Coolors to apply consistent branding colors.
Pro Tip: Save time by starting with a Freepik vector file and customizing it in Photoshop. After doing that, go to Canva to assemble you creations.
How to Combine These Tools
To create professional graphics, follow this workflow:
- Start with Coolors: Generate a cohesive color palette for your project.
- Use Freepik: Find illustrations, icons, or vectors to enhance your design.
- Refine in Photoshop: If needed, make advanced edits for a polished finish.
- Import to Canva/Adobe Express: Build your design on easy-to-use platforms.
FAQ
Q: Which tool is best for beginners?
A: Canva is the easiest to start with due to its intuitive drag-and-drop interface and pre-designed templates.
Q: Are these tools mobile-friendly?
A: Yes! Canva, Adobe Express, Coolors, Photoshop and Freepik all have mobile apps for on-the-go designing. What are you waiting for?
Q: Do I need to buy the paid versions?
A: It depends on your needs. Start with free versions and upgrade as your projects grow. Photoshop is the only one that only gives you a 7 day trial. The others offer while the others provide free versions with limited features—still great for beginners!
Creating stunning graphics is all about experimenting and finding tools that suit your style. Whether you’re creating social media posts, branding materials, or promotional content, these tools will help you bring your vision to life. Want to dive deeper into design?
Check out our eBook “Design for Non-Designers” for beginner-friendly tips and free templates!
What next topic would you like me to write about? Let me know in the comments.