Adobe llustrator

Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Adobe Illustrator

Last Updated on October 13, 2023

Adobe is a large multinational computer software company with over 26,000 employees. Its flagship products include Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, XD, Acrobat DC, and the Portable Document Format (PDF). The products are wrapped up and marketed as the Creative Cloud, a subscription-only way of accessing more than 20 desktop and mobile apps and services for photography, design, video, web, UX, and more.

We are long-standing admirers of Adobe’s products. They develop many high quality proprietary programs. It’s true there are security and privacy concerns in relation to some of their products. And there’s considerable criticism attached to their pricing practices. But the real issue is Adobe Creative Cloud does not support Linux. And there’s no prospect of support forthcoming.

What if you are looking to move away from Adobe and embark on a new world of online freedom, where you are not tracked, monetised and attached to Adobe’s ecosystem. We only recommend free and open source alternatives. Our recommended software don’t necessarily replicate every feature of their Adobe counterparts but they offer sufficient functionality for many tasks.

Adobe IllustratorAdobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and design program.

The software lets you create everything from web and mobile graphics to logos, icons, book illustrations, product packaging, and billboards.

What are the best free and open source alternatives?


1. Inkscape

Inkscape is an excellent tool for illustrators, designers, artists, and web designers.

It offers a great range of drawing tools, a powerful text tool, bezier and spiro curves, all combined with a wide file format compatibility.

Inkscape sports capabilities similar to Abode Illustrator. Unlike Illustrator, Inkscape is free and open source software. Say goodbye to subscription software.

Linux at Home - Inkscape
Click image for full size

2.sK1

sK1 is an open source cross-platform vector graphics editor. The major feature of sK1 is a professional precise printing and prepress ready PDF output.

Sadly the lead developer of sK1 recently passed away from COVID-19.

sK1
Click image for full size

3. SVG-edit

SVG-edit is a fast, open source, web-based, JavaScript-driven SVG drawing editor that works in any modern browser.

SVG edit


4. LibreOffice Draw

LibreOffice is an open source software office suite developed by The Document Foundation that is compatible with other major office suites and available on a variety of platforms. It is a feature-packed and mature desktop productivity package.

One of the constituent application of the LibreOffice suite is LibreOffice Draw. This is a vector graphics editor and diagramming tool. It can also carry out operations on raster graphics (pixels) such as photographs. With Draw, users can create a wide variety of graphical images.

LibreOffice Draw
Click image for full size

All articles in this series:

Alternatives to Adobe's Products
Adobe Acrobat ReaderAcrobat Reader is a multi-platform PDF reader. It lets users view, print, sign and comment on PDF documents.
Adobe After EffectsAfter Effects is digital visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing software used in the post-production process of film making, video games and television production.
Adobe AnimateAnimate is a multimedia authoring and computer animation. Animate is used to design vector graphics and animation for television series, online animation, websites, web applications, rich web applications, game development, and more.
Adobe AuditionAudition is a digital audio workstation featuring both a multitrack, non-destructive mix/edit environment and a destructive-approach waveform editing view.
Bridge is a creative asset manager that lets you preview, organise, edit and publish multiple creative assets quickly and easily.
Character Animator is software that combines real-time live motion-capture with a multi-track recording system to control layered 2D puppets based on an illustration drawn in Photoshop or Illustrator.
Adobe DimensionDimension is 3D rendering and design software. It's designed to build brand visualizations, illustrations, product mockups and other creative work.
Adobe DreamweaverDreamweaver is a web development tool. It includes a code editor that supports syntax highlighting, code completion, real-time syntax checking, and code introspection for generating code hints to assist the user in writing code.
Fresco is a vector and raster drawing and painting app. It's primarily used for digital painting by artists, illustrators, animators, and sketchers.
Adobe IllustratorIllustrator is a vector graphics editor and design tool. The software lets you create everything from web and mobile graphics to logos, icons, book illustrations, product packaging, and billboards.
Adobe InCopyInCopy is a professional word processor that integrates with InDesign. The software enables editors to write, edit, and design documents.
Adobe InDesignIndesign is a desktop publishing and page layout designing application. The software is used to create posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers, presentations, books and ebooks
Adobe Photoshop LightroomLightroom is a creative image organization and image manipulation. Its main uses include importing/saving, viewing, organizing, tagging, editing, and sharing large numbers of digital images.
Lightroom Classic is a creative image organization and image manipulation software. This photo editing app is optimised for the desktop.
Media Encoder is an encoding engine for Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Audition, and Adobe Character Animator.
Adobe PhotoshopPhotoshop is a raster graphics editor with multiple layers, masks, alpha compositing. It edits and composes raster images in multiple layers and supports masks, alpha compositing and several color models.
Adobe Premiere ProPremiere Pro is a timeline-based video editing tool. It is geared towards professional video editing.
Scan provides a portable scanner that recognizes text automatically (OCR) and allows you to save to multiple files formats including PDF and JPEG.
Adobe XDXD is a prototyping tool for user experience and interaction designers. Adobe XD features are used for creating wireframes, prototypes, and screen designs for digital products.
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Alex Hales
Alex Hales
1 year ago

This was an excellent article, and I appreciate you sharing it with us. My company just received the entire Adobe product line, and I’m still trying to figure out which program is appropriate for what kind of project. This provided me with all the information I needed to make the right decision.