Like any form of illustration, the possibilities are endless with graphic design. Whether you want to dabble as a hobby, create gorgeous graphics for your Instagram stories, or begin your path to a potential career, you have to start somewhere. As a beginner, learning the ins and outs of complicated software might seem daunting.

However, it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of programs out there that make graphic design a breeze, even for total newbies. Read on to learn about the best graphic design software for beginners and how you can harness them to create stunning graphics and illustrations.

Graphic Design Software for Beginners

One of the most popular programs for budding graphic designers is Canva. The site offers thousands of free templates that can help you get started with designing for virtually any need. Whether you’re designing a poster, a logo, a Facebook ad, or pretty much anything you can think of, Canva is the go-to tool for beginners.

Some of Canva’s templates and elements do hide behind a paywall, however. Be careful if you aren’t looking to shell out money for a design software!

A good alternative is Adobe Creative Cloud Express (formerly Adobe Spark). It offers many of the same features as the paid software, Adobe Illustrator, but is easy to navigate and not overwhelming for beginners. If you’re hoping to create a design more from scratch rather than from a template, Adobe Creative Cloud Express might be for you.

Both Canva and Creative Cloud Express offer ready-to-use elements, so don’t worry if you’re not an amazing artist or illustrator (yet)! You’ll still be able to create stunning designs with the platforms’ premade elements.

Implementing Your Designs

Graphic design has an incredibly wide range of implementations. Especially useful in social media, digital, and print marketing, these programs will make it easy to quickly design graphics for virtually any marketing need.

Not into marketing? No problem! You can also print your graphics to be used on postcards, posters, art prints, and so much more.

If you’re in a club, on a team, or part of another organization, you may have envied other groups’ matching apparel. No need for jealousy, because you can design your own as well!

Just bring your design to a custom made shirt company and they’ll do the rest. You’ll be repping your organization in no time.

Other Resources

Once you’ve gotten a feel for graphic design, you might want to invest in some software with more extensive capabilities. After mastering the basics of graphic design software for beginners, it might be time to move on. Although tools like Canva are useful and can be fun, software like Adobe Illustrator offers a much wider range of tools for the more experienced designer.

Moving Forward

If you’re looking to take your graphic design hobby or career to the next level, there are many online tutorials you can follow. Simply reading about graphic design techniques can really bolster your skills.

Check out some more graphic design tips to keep learning.