Billboard Design Software for PC: 7 Best to Use
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Key notes
- When designing billboards, make them more attractive by using the best billboard design software.
- For banners and billboards, is best to use vector-based programs, like Adobe Illustrator and Vectr.
- If you're looking for free tools, Inskape is a great choice, but free trials are available for all the apps.
- With plenty of features, if you're not sure what software to choose, check our top list below.
Banners and billboards are an efficient form of advertisement, so they have to look good in order to attract clients. That being said, you can’t just use any regular software tool to design them.
The tools need to be powerful enough to handle a wide range of features, but at the same time, they also need to produce banners and billboards that look good when they are both small enough to fit on a flyer.
The Internet is full of products that offer such capabilities, but we will be looking over some that we consider to be the best among them.
We’ve taken into consideration the toolset that they bring to the table when it comes to designing banners and billboards, their price, how easily you can get used to using the program, and other such criteria.
What is the best banner and billboard design software?
Adobe Illustrator – Unforgettable designs
Topping out our list is a software tool that can be considered the default graphics design tool that you should always be thinking of.
Since banners and billboards are sometimes meant to be enormous in size, you will want to use a tool that is vector-based, such as Adobe Illustrator, and not pixel-based, such as Adobe Photoshop.
In simple terms, vector-based files will never lose quality regardless of how much you stretch them. Since banners cover the entire facade of buildings, making sure that they aren’t pixelated is no easy task.
Of course, this isn’t the only reason you should go for Adobe Illustrator. It is perfectly capable of handling other types of projects as well, from small-scale logo designs to beautiful digital art.
Thus, if you’re going to buy a license for a product, you might as well go for a product you can use for more than just one task.
Here are some of Adobe Illustrator’s main features:
- Vector-based design tool
- Full compatibility with other Adobe products
- Full layer support
- Large library of brushes
- Their website is full of great guides
Adobe Illustrator
Create awesome banners and billboards with the industry-leading software for graphic design.CorelDRAW – Professional graphics
The second entry on our list is yet another product that is vector-based and thus well-suited for the job of designing banners and billboards.
However, one big difference between CorelDRAW and the previous entry is the skill level required to master it.
CorelDRAW’s UI can be described as far more user-friendly, although the overall capabilities are somewhat more limited.
However, if you’re working on a personal project and are not all that versed in the ways of digital design, then CorelDRAW is definitely the tool for you.
More so, if you’re just into digital art, doodling, or even the occasional 2D CAD, then you can use CorelDRAW for that as well.
Here are some of CorelDRAW’s main features:
- Intuitive interface
- Easy to learn and master
- Versatile in terms of what it can be used for
- Strikes a balance between manual and automatic controls
- Shaping docker gives maximum usage
CorelDRAW
Use one of the best software well suited for designing banners and billboards.Canva – Explosion of designs
This free online platform called Canva is known and used by millions for good reasons. Complete design and billboard templates and edits.
It’s possible to easily craft multiple billboard designs using existent templates for a variety of designs like banners, social media posts, or marketing products.
At the same time, it has plenty of features that help you create any digital media. For instance, you can compose photo collages, YouTube videos, or print media.
Another worth mentioning feature is the vector design tool that comes in handy to design inspiring artworks.
Here are Canvas main features:
- Sharing and printing options
- Collaboration tools for feedback sessions
- Unlimited Marketing templates
- Document creation tools
Canva
Deliver the most persuading billboard designs with this creative solution.Xara Photo & Graphic Designer – Inspiring projects
This professional image editing and drawing tool has tons of creative templates, and design elements, with a simple UI.
First of all, you have the easiest vector image graphic tools for creating any project according to your vision.
There are simple-to-use editing tools regardless of your project. Then, it can transform your imagination into real products like a billboard.
More so, the tool also comes with blending shapes for detailed projects. So, you can use the drag-and-drop technique to tweak your marketing output quickly.
Not only that, it allows you to create highlights and other effects and compose every kind of project from e-books to print media.
Here are the Xara Photo & Graphic Designer main features:
- High-quality photo editing
- Advanced photos manipulation
- Customizable template ideas
- Smart scaling tools
- Creative text editing
Affinity Designer – Compatible with all apps
Affinity Designer was first created as a dedicated graphics design tool for Mac users but has slowly transitioned to Windows as well.
As far as the interface is concerned, Affinity Designer offers a modern, intuitive UI that allows users to transition almost seamlessly between it and Illustrator.
Those that are new to graphics design will have no problem finding all the basic tools that they will need, yet veteran Illustrator users will know their way to the more advanced settings and tools easily.
In fact, those that are used to Illustrator and Photoshop will pretty much realize that the learning curve for Affinity Designer is almost non-existent.
However, Affinity pales in comparison to Illustrator when it comes to sheer features, tools, and shortcuts. Then again, this is indeed reflected in the lower price tag.
Here are some of Affinity Designer’s main features:
- Intuitive interface for beginners
- familiar interface for Photoshop and Illustrator users
- Both Vector-based and raster-based design
- Low price tag
- Great for Mac users
Inkscape – Object manipulation tools
The next entry on our list is a product that will probably deceive you at first glance when you find out that it is completely free and open-source.
However, nothing in the quality department has been sacrificed when creating this product. It is perfectly capable of handling vector-based products such as designing large banners and billboards.
Of course, there’s no way you can compare the sheer amount of resources that it has at its disposal compared to the premium products on our list.
However, if you’re working on projects that are more simplistic, or if you are perfectly capable of creating certain design elements by hand or with the few tools that you have, then you might as well go for Inkscape.
It is updated constantly, and you can even contribute with donations in order to make the program a whole lot better.
Here are some of Inkscape’s main features:
- Completely free
- Open-source and constantly updated
- Packed with features considering the non-existent price tag
- Vector-based
- Versatile in terms of what it can create (banners, billboards, digital art, logos, etc)
Vectr – Pro vector graphics
Closing our list is yet another free vector-based graphics design tool. It’s a simple yet powerful web and desktop cross-platform tool to bring your designs into reality.
What makes it stand out compared to all other entries on our list is that it can be used online, so there’s no need to occupy your disk space with it.
Simply go through your browser, visit Vectr’s website, log into your account, and start editing. Of course, those that lack a strong Internet connection can still opt for the traditional desktop client.
More so, you can send your design to other users instantly, and you can even make it so that they can watch you edit live.
Here are some of Vectr’s main features:
- Completely free
- Can be used as both an online web-based client and as a desktop client
- Very lightweight
- High-quality vector-based design
- Makes sharing your work extremely easy
⇒ Download Vectr
Designing banners and billboards is no easy task. Even if you know precisely what you want them to look like, using the right tool for the job is crucial if you want to make it work.
Always remember when choosing design tools for projects such as these ones to always go for vector-based design tools and not raster-based, since the image quality will go down as the image size goes up.
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