Like many people, I suffer from shiny new object syndrome. I love trying out new things. I am a sucker for new software, new memberships, new subscriptions. Well, it certainly makes life interesting!
But I do have my staple software and tools that I always return to for designing - Canva and Photoshop. Although, of late, I have been doing less in Photoshop and have been doing more in Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, and Paint Shop Pro. I have been trying alternatives to my go to staple of Photoshop so that perhaps one day I can save a bit of money by ending my Creative Cloud subscription. Don't get me wrong, I still think that Adobe provides the best suite of tools out there, but it is pricey - and for someone nearing retirement, ongoing cost is something I need to think about. So, I have been giving other tools a go - ones that I can buy outright. The drawback with buying outright is that there will be a new version that comes out, with more features, or bug fixes, and you have to think about the benefit of upgrading and investing once more. I have tried a range of software, not just the ones listed in this article! Yes, there is GIMP, and Photopea, but I won't go into these here.
Canva, is of course, a subscription model too, but it is a lot less pricey, and it has a bunch of features that they continue to add. You can still get a lot out of Canva for free. I love Canva for its ease of use, that I can use it on my tablet and phone, and you can crack out or edit a design pretty quickly. I have used Canva for more years now than I can remember (before it became popular!). Besides following Canva on their channels, I love watching Ronny and Diana on their YouTube channel Design with Canva.
Now I am familiar with most of the tools and features, I usually just keep an eye out for updates. But Ronnie and Di will still surprise me with a few tips and tricks that I haven't used before. They also encourage me to use features that I previously didn't see much application for. They don't just talk about Canva either, they have videos on AI tools, design news etc. Enough content to distract me from actual design work!
Aside from Canva, Photoshop, Affinity and PaintShop Pro, I tried out Kittl. I now have a subscription. Now you might wonder why use Kittl when I am already using Canva? Well, that would probably take a whole new blog post to discuss. But features that I love in Kittl - that you don't have in Canva - are the amazing text manipulating features, and textures. Canva does have a plugin that allows you to shape some text, but it isn't anywhere near as good as that on Kittl. Kittl offers great options for manipulating and editing text, such as curving, warping, outlining, and shadowing. You can also create text effects like neon, fire, or water. Canva has fewer text editing features and does not support text effects.
Kittl allows you to add textures to your designs, such as vintage, grunge, or paper effects. This can give your designs a more artistic and complex look. Yes, you can achieve the same look by using external software like Photoshop, but you need to source your textures first. In Kittl there's a bunch already there to choose from, and you can change the blending modes as well.
I feel that Kittl and Canva each have a different design aesthetic. The designs that you see in the templates on Kittl feel more unique and there is a more retro and vintage vibe.
But of course, there are many things that you can do in Canva that you can't do in Kittl. Canva has video creation and editing, it has a website option (yes you can create your own website with Canva!) and it integrates music and animation into designs. Canva has a lot more options for designing social media content. Canva has a mobile app. With Kittl you can view templates on any device, but the Kittl editor is limited to desktop only.
I also use Placeit for mockups - not my only mockup source though. And in Placeit they do have templates for social media, and you could even do Tshirt design in Placeit too I think, although I haven't tried that out. What I find slightly annoying about Placeit is that you get an email each time you download your mockup design. I can't think of any other site where I design that sends you an email each time you export or download! But honestly, if you have a subscription to Placeit you should check out their other design tools - you can design Art Prints, planner pages, stationery, book covers, tote bag designs, and many more. They also have options for Etsy listings and making your own size charts.
They too have a different design aesthetic. Here you will see some ethnic templates, boho, and retro 70's vibe. But like Canva and Kittl, you can import your own photos into designs to use, however the templates sometimes have limited options (layers for extra images limited, text options only using their fonts). And like Kittl, you can sell your end products. They have a blog, which is full of ideas and tips. One that I thought I worth checking out is their article on T-shirt designs for 2024. T-Shirt Design Ideas: Your 2024 Calendar - Placeit Blog. If you aren't in the US, you will need to source some additional calendar dates for your region for topical merchandise to create or buy.
Other online design tools include Adobe Express, Pixlr and Vista Create, each with varying levels of tools, templates and features. It really depends what project you are working on, and what end product you are trying to create.
I don't think I have found the ONE tool that I want to use exclusively. There are still choices to be made, depending on what I am designing. So, for me, there is no hard and fast decision on the best design tool to use. I will often flick between one to another, taking a design started one place, and going to another tool for another bit to change or add. Perhaps that is not the best workflow. But I feel that using the best features from each tool, whether that is speed, simplicity, or complexity and multiple options, can help get the end result I am happy with.
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