Top Graphic Design Software For Mac

2 Adobe Illustrator. Graphic mean illustrator:) love it. Making up your own designs in illustrator is so much fun - oldphatone I love it this software easy to use. Best of the best Graphic app for both Mac and windows; Love it!

Given the long list of alternatives out there, it's cumbersome to research which graphic design software—out of dozens—might best meet your needs.

To start, think about the kind of work you want to do. Generally, there are three types of graphic design software: desktop publishing, photo editing, and drawing. Desktop publishing software puts the focus on page layout, arranging text and graphics to create documents for print & digital use. Photo editing software usually offers a deep set of features for importing and modifying image files. Finally, drawing software gives the user a number of tools for creating art and illustrations with precision.

Beyond that, it helps to have a list of requirements you have to have, as well as features you'd like. For example, do you need free graphic design software for Mac? Does it have to be online? Are you looking for something simple to use or more advanced?

Once you have a good list to work with, you can evaluate the twelve popular alternatives listed below and narrow it down to the best graphic design software for you.

If you're searching for the best laptop for graphic design, you're in the right place. Here, we walk through the best graphic design laptops available right now, at a range of different prices, so you can find the right machine for your budget and skill level. Taking into account features and price, our pick for the best laptop for graphic design right now is the stunning Microsoft Surface Book 2, which aside from being an excellent laptop, also doubles up as a ridiculously good tablet. Plus, there are some good deals around on the lower specced versions. There's a notable addition at number two on our list: the Lenovo ThinkPad P1. This powerhouse costs as much as Apple’s excellent 2018 MacBook Pro, but offers a 100% AdobeRGB display, which delivers an amazing picture for all kinds of graphic design work. There's also the Huawei Matebook X Pro (number six), which is a stunning laptop for graphic design that rivals the mighty MacBook Pro; as well as its smaller and more affordable sibling, the excellent MateBook 13.

Prefer working on a desktop PC or Mac? Then take a look at our pick of the. Laptops for graphic design: What to look for So how do you pick the best laptop for your graphic design work? Clearly you'll be guided by what you can afford, which is why we have the best options for all budgets here. But there are a few other things to consider too.

One is power versus portability: you need something that’s thin and light enough to throw in your backpack, but also powerful enough to run your suite of creative tools. You also need to decide whether macOS or Windows is right for you. The former used to be the staple of creative professionals, but it really doesn’t matter what platform you use these days. Whatever your preferences, each of the machines here will give you all the power and performance you need to hit the ground running with your latest, greatest project. Read on for our pick of the best laptops for graphic design. Surface Pen not included Microsoft's Surface Book 2 is an incredible 2-in-1 laptop – even in its lowest spec option. If you're a designer who draws as well, this is the best laptop for graphic design you can get. It’s fast and immensely powerful, thanks to Intel’s quad-core Coffee Lake Core i7-8650 processor and 16GB of RAM.

And it boasts an impressive battery life, plus a stunning, crisp display with superb colour accuracy. It’s also incredibly versatile: use it as a graphics, video or photo-editing workstation; on the go; or as a sketch book. Just detach the screen and use it as a tablet with the Surface Pen (which doesn't come included, our one gripe) or buy the innovative Surface Dial ($50/£60) and have an intuitive way of controlling your creative tools. Even better, flip the screen around, reattach it and you can use it to draw at a more natural angle. Too expensive?

If you can cope with less screen real estate, the 13-inch Surface Book 2 is significantly cheaper, with a similar core specification and only slightly less impressive overall performance. For even cheaper, Microsoft's original 13-inch Surface Book remains a ridiculously accomplished laptop, with a smaller price tag. But if you've got the cash, the Surface Book 2 is an utterly fantastic laptop for graphic designers. Expensive The Lenovo ThinkPad P1 is one of the most powerful Windows laptops around, and aimed squarely at high-level content creators. It gives you the option of an Intel Xeon processor and a professional-grade Nvidia Quadro P2000 graphics, up to 64GB of memory and has all the ports you could need (two USB 3, two USB-C Thunderbolt 3, an HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort and SD card reader). This machine sports a slick design, with a slim chassis and a 4K display with 100% AdobeRGB coverage.

The screen alone makes it a joy for creative work, but with all the performance it offers too, the ThinkPad P1 is a seriously good laptop for graphic designers. Lack of ports The MacBook Pro might have dipped in favour with recent versions, but we're happy to report that (after an initial blip) Apple is back on form with the new 15-inch MacBook Pro 2018 with Touch Bar. If you need sheer power – and have the cash – this is the best graphic design laptop you can get: the new Macbook Pro offers a substantial upgrade over previous versions, and now beats the Surface Book 2 on specs. Aimed at creative professionals, this is the most powerful MacBook device ever created, with more RAM, a choice of 8th-generation Intel Core processors (that Apple claims make it up to 70 per cent faster than the MacBook Pro 2017) and better discrete graphics cards. It also comes with blisteringly fast SSDs, a quieter keyboard, and it’s both thinner than the Dell XPS 15 (number three on this list) and lighter than the Surface Book 2.

On the downside, there are just four USB-C ports and one headphone jack port, so you’ll need an adapter if you want to plug in an Ethernet cable or legacy hardware. And while the screen is absolutely gorgeous, 4K would have been nice. Nevertheless, the Apple MacBook (2018) gives you the CPU and memory horsepower to make mincemeat of large files and complex tasks – and it absolutely looks the part too. Need to spend more for top spec The Dell XPS 15 is a truly stunning laptop – and now that the 2017 version has been replaced by the Dell XPS 15 (2018), you can grab it for less than the other laptops above, making it reasonably affordable, too. For less than $1,000/£1,000 you get the virtually borderless InfinityEdge display at Full HD resolution, a Core i5 CPU, 8GB RAM and a 1TB HD and 32GB SSD. It's genuinely excellent value for money. Spec it up a little (or a lot, actually) and you can get a 4K display with multi-touch, turning it – with the help of the Dell stylus – into a portable sketchbook.

15.6-inches of UHD definition (3,840 x 2,160) equals a lot of pixels, making for some incredibly sharp images. Depending on the complexity of the projects you'll be working on, you can pump the Intel HD Graphics 630 GPU up to an impressive Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050. We can't imagine what you could possibly be designing that the latter wouldn't be able to handle. If you don’t need a 15-incher, look to the XPS 13, which is perhaps the perfect blend of power and portability.

Huawei MateBook 13. Limited to 8GB memory If you aren’t willing or able to fork out the high sums demanded by the most high-end laptops, but you don’t want to compromise on performance, the Huawei MateBook 13 is made for you. Huawei has sensibly built a mid-range MacBook clone that delivers the goods when it comes to processing, so is perfect for students and anyone on a budget. That means ultra-responsive Photoshop performance that can be used for any demanding graphics task you throw at it.

With a bright 1440p screen, portable design and Nvidia graphics, it’s not much of a compromise in other areas either. Huawei MateBook X Pro. Webcam not great Huawei may not be the first name that springs to mind when you're looking for the best laptops for graphic design, but with the Huawei MateBook X Pro, the Chinese company has proved it has what it takes to go toe-to-toe with the biggest names in the laptop market. This is a gorgeously designed laptop with a stunning screen (albeit with a rather odd aspect ratio), and it comes packed with cutting edge components that allows it to perform brilliantly, and a battery life that runs rings around many of its rivals. It has a design and performance that rivals the mighty MacBook Pro, while being considerably cheaper.

This makes it a brilliant alternative for people who find Apple's products to be too expensive. Also, it runs Windows 10, so you can install all the digital art apps you're used to using.

Sadly, it's not available in many countries, so if you struggle to get hold of it, look into getting the Dell XPS 15. Read: Our sister site TechRadar’s 07. Hefty price tag Created specifically with creatives in mind, the HP ZBook X2 packs a serious amount of power, and with it a pretty hefty price tag. But if money is no issue and you're contemplating abandoning a desktop or laptop as a primary creative tool, the HP ZBook X2 deserves a look. It boasts some seriously impressive designer-focused specs, including a stunning 10-bit, 100% Adobe RGB, 4K multi-touch UHD dreamcolour display and extra ports to keep you well connected. It also comes pre-installed with Adobe's Creative Cloud desktop application for easy access, and sports a fully detachable Bluetooth keyboard so you can switch from laptop to tablet whenever inspiration strikes. That's all backed up with the power of an Intel Core i7 processor, 32GB RAM – double that of its Microsoft rival – and NVIDIA Quadro graphics.

However, power requires more juice, so battery life on the ZBook2 is shorter than some of the other laptops featured in this list. It's also heavier than some of its competition, which isn't ideal when you're on the go. That said, while the X2 doesn't come cheap, it's still a serious option for designers looking to liberate themselves from a desktop without compromising on apps and performance. Apple MacBook Air (2018). No quad-core processor option After a much-needed refresh, the MacBook Air (2018) has had a few choice updates that make it a real winner for graphic design work.

Although it’s not quite the powerhouse the MacBook Pro is (or some high-end Windows laptops), it now has a bright Retina display, which is a great upgrade over the dated screen in the old Air and better for working with graphic design software. The processor is much faster and will cope with Photoshop, Illustrator, and so on with ease. But Apple has sensibly ensured the Air is as portable as ever, with a seriously lightweight design that makes it a great choice for graphics work on the go. HP ZBook Studio G4 DreamColor. Expensive If you’re looking for all-out power, check out the rip-roaring HP ZBook Studio G4 – the latest in HP’s line of mobile workstations.

The top-end model isn’t cheap, but it packs incredible specs including a 15.6-inch 4K DreamColor display that can easily be colour calibrated, a blazing-fast Core Intel Xeon CPU, 32GB RAM, a 512GB SSD and NVIDIA Quadro M1200 dedicated graphics with 4GB VRAM. If you like to connect up your favourite peripherals and monitors, then there’s also a healthy range of ports – it features a Gigabit Ethernet port, HDMI port, a legacy VGA connector, SD card reader, one USB 3.0 port, and two USB Type-C (Thunderbolt 3) ports. Oh, and let's not forget the Bang & Olufsen speakers in case you want to crank up the tunes while you work.

At just over 2kg (4.6lbs), it won’t break your back carrying it around, and it’s pretty thin at 18mm. If you're anxious about security, then you'll be glad of the built-in fingerprint reader and the optional (and extremely fast) HP Z Turbo NVMe PCIe SED (self-encrypting drive) SSDs. Microsoft Surface Laptop 2.

Too few ports for its size The Surface Laptop 2 is Microsoft's follow up to its popular original laptop, and once again the company has created a very good laptop for graphic design students. Microsoft has boosted the hardware of the Surface Laptop 2, making it an even better proposition for people looking for the best laptop for graphic design for their needs. As with its predecessor, even the lowest-end model is powerful enough to run Photoshop and Illustrator on a daily basis, and the fact you can use the optional Surface Pen to draw directly on screen makes it even more appealing.

Quite naturally, it may start slowing down, especially if it is an external HDD (and to make things worse, it’s got no additional power supply). Can you imagine the amount of hard work you have given to the disk?

It no longer comes with Windows 10 S Mode as default either, instead you get the full Windows 10 experience, which means you can install Creative Cloud apps and other programs easily. Read: Our sister site TechRadar’s.

JRiver Media Center 24.0 is a professional application to import and organize media files as well provides multiple view types. JRiver Media Center 24.0 for Mac Review A professional application to import and organize the media files, JRiver Media Center 24.0 comes with a variety of powerful tools and options to preview the files as well as perform numerous other such operations. It provides a very easy to use interface that helps the novices to perform all the operations. Jriver media center for mac and cheese.