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Every web designer needs to have the best web design tools available to create the best websites possible. And while it’s true that full versions of web design software that you have to pay for are indeed loaded with features that will make creating websites so much more convenient, it doesn’t mean that the free ones available to you wouldn’t be just as awesome.
As a matter of fact, the world is chock-full of free web design tools that you probably didn’t know existed. We have listed 10 of them here. All of them can be immensely useful, and you don’t have to fork out a single penny for any of them.
1. Google Web Designer
Let’s start with a tool from a company that has given the world so much in terms of free tools. If you have a great eye for web design but doesn’t have the chops to whip up interminable lines of code, then Google Web Designer is the professional-grade HTML5 authoring tool just for you.
With Google Web Designer, you won’t have to do any coding to build HTML5 creative websites. It is especially good at making creating animations easier for you.
2. Logo Lab
Logo creation is an essential part of building a website. Any logo you create needs to be tested for balance, scalability, and other key factors, and Logo Lab is a great place to do just that. Run any logo you design by it, and you will know if it works or not. If certain aspects of it have to be improved, Logo Lab will let you know.
3. Pixlr
There is no doubt that Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard for graphic design. It also happens to cost a pretty penny and requires a certain amount of expertise and talent to produce the most amazing results.
But for low to moderate-level photo editing, you don’t have to use Photoshop. You can always opt for Pixlr, a Cloud-based tool that you can use to edit and save images. Aside from being totally free, it also has an interface that looks incredibly like that of Photoshop.
4. Type Genius
Sometimes, finding the perfect combination of fonts for the website you’re working on can prove to be difficult. Let Type Genius help you visualize everything. This free tool allows you to see how certain font combinations will look on your website by showing you how other sites look using the same mix of fonts.
5. Maze
Maze is an analytics tool that allows you to analyze the performance of your prototype design. With this free tool—which doesn’t require coding on your part, by the way—you should be able to see how actual users interact with it.
6. Awesome Screenshot
Editing, annotating, and sharing captured images is quite quick and easy with Awesome Screenshot. You can take a screenshot of anything, make notes on it, and even draw on that screenshot if you need to. It’s also very easy to share its unique URL with anyone.
7. Canva
If you think that using MS Paint is easy, wait till you get a load of Canva. Total graphic design newbies won’t have a hard time using Canva to create custom-sized or shaped images. It boasts of an incredibly simple search and drag function, as well as built-in templates and optimized sizes. It’s not totally free though, as it’s a freemium online graphics tool. As with other similar tools, you have to pay a premium for more advanced features.
8. Checkli
Managing and organizing your web design projects becomes so much easier with Checkli. Free and exceptionally light, Checkli can help you create checklists of all tasks for any given project. These checklists can then be shared with others on your team as well as your clients. If you prefer working on those checklists on your phone or tablet, then you’re in luck, because Checkli happens to be responsive as well.
9. ColorZilla
ColorZilla is a free tool that takes care of your web design concerns that have something to do with color. With Colorzilla, analyzing DOM element colors becomes easier. The same goes for getting the HEX code for a specific pixel on a particular page you’re working on.
10. Draw.io
More often than not, clients would want to sign off on any ideas for the website before a web designer can start real work on it. Draw.io is one tool that makes it easier for you to show to clients what you have in mind before doing any heavy lifting. With this free Cloud-based tool, you can create sitemap flowcharts and wireframes that you can easily share to your client. Dragging and dropping items is easy, and you can print whatever you do on it.
While Photoshop and other high-end software are still the primary options for web design heavy-hitters, the above tools can prove useful enough especially for beginners or those who don’t have the budget for Photoshop et al.
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