15 Top Open Source Design Tools
Open source design tools are a path breaker and a sure way to learn new things without being worried about the cost involved in buying the tools and resources. These Open source design tools are not just free but most of them also have support forums so you can ask for help from designer community when you are in doubt.
Check out these useful Open source design tools and resources that should surely make a way to your system and working process.
If you like this article, you might be interested in some of our other articles on 350 Photoshop Tutorials, After Effects Tutorials, Project Management Tools, and Most Helpful WebDesigner Tools.
Blender
Blender is a Free and open-source 3D computer graphics software product used for creating animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications or video games. Blender’s features include 3D modeling, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging and skinning, fluid and smoke simulation, particle simulation, animating, rendering, video editing and compositing.
Inkscape
An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format
FontForge
An outline font editor that lets you create your own postscript, truetype, opentype, cid-keyed, multi-master, cff, svg and bitmap (bdf, FON, NFNT) fonts, or edit existing ones. Also lets you convert one format to another. FontForge has support for many macintosh font formats.
3DSlicer
3D Slicer (Slicer) is a free, open source software package for image and scientific visualization.
GIMP
GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages.
Pencil
Pencil is an animation/drawing software for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. It lets you create traditional hand-drawn animation (cartoon) using both bitmap and vector graphics. Pencil is free and open source.
OpenSCAD
OpenSCAD is a software for creating solid 3D CAD objects. It is free software and available for Linux/UNIX, MS Windows and Mac OS X.
Soya 3D
Soya 3D is an object oriented “high level” 3D engine for Python. Somehow, Soya is to 3D what Python is to programming: an ‘avant garde’ 3D engine, a kind of ‘UFO’ in the 3D world
Amaya
Amaya is a Web editor, i.e. a tool used to create and update documents directly on the Web. Browsing features are seamlessly integrated with the editing and remote access features in a uniform environment. This follows the original vision of the Web as a space for collaboration and not just a one-way publishing medium.
Draw
DRAW – from a quick sketch to a complex plan, DRAW gives you the tools to communicate with graphics and diagrams. With a maximum page size of 300cm by 300cm, DRAW is powerful tool for technical or general posters, etc.
Kivio
Kivio is an easy to use diagramming and flowcharting application with tight integration to the other KOffice applications. It enables you to create network diagrams, organisation charts, flowcharts and more.
OpenBEXI
OpenBEXI is a WYSIWYG HTML editor using the magic of HTML5. It allows you to create, manage and publish web pages for Internet. All HTML texts, pictures, charts, and DOJO widgets edited on your browser look like the HTML page you are going to publish
Greenshot
Greenshot is a light-weight screenshot software tool
Xournal
Xournal is an application for notetaking, sketching, keeping a journal using a stylus. It is free software (GNU GPL) and runs on Linux (recent distributions) and other GTK+/Gnome platforms. It is similar to Microsoft Windows Journal or to other alternatives such as Jarnal, Gournal, and NoteLab.
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Cool tools. Well i like this article and i am more interested to read about your photoshop tutorials. Since i am new to it i am very eager to know the uses of the tools inside photoshop. Thanks.
How could you forget Google Sketch Up???
I was new to Amaya, I new about this today.
Thanks
Awesome to see Inkscape up at the top of the list – my designer put me onto using this and have been happy with Inkscape’s results. Only thing I dislike is sometimes it will bog down Firefox’s performance speed but believe this depends on the site I’m reviewing :-)
Awesome Collection! Even though I never try to use any of these, I will surely check them out!
Great collection, I’d like to get round to giving each of these a go.
Hello, very nice to share this, anyway, can all of these softwares work in 64 bit computer? please anyone reply, help me. Thank you.
Great share! I’ll check this design tools one by one later. Heheheh! Thank you so much.
I have never designed anything yet but these tool are good to start designing. I want to have these tool to learn designing. Thanks for the tools.
Great post and very handy for web designers, so far I have only got into GIMP but I’d love to give the others a go.
I have never used any of these designs tools but i will surely wanna try one of these design tools.
Blender is a nice open source design tool which i personally use and its easy to use and very user friendly.