9 Tools and Apps every designer should have in their tool bucket

It isn’t enough today to simply be a talented graphic or digital designer.

A skilled professional also needs the best tools to maximize the force of their talent. This is essential if you intend to make waves and outwork your competition!

We have gathered here of the best apps that should be a part of every good designer’s tool bucket. Use the following to dazzle your clients and create great graphics designing masterpieces:

A time-tracking app

Hear us out before you scoff at this first app on the list! If you don’t manage your time well, you won’t be churning out websites and graphics like the well-oiled machine that you are! FreshBooks is both handy and well-designed when it comes to time-tracking apps. Moreover, whether you are used to a mobile platform or preferMac, it works on both!

FreshBooks accounts for the time you spent working oneach project, as well as, the specific tasks you perform, and the clients you do them for. But it does much more than keep time; you can also add team members on this app. Additionally, an option to send an invoice to your clients directly is available along with the facility for them to pay you.

Procreate

Procreate is an illustration app, which has one big drawback, i.e., it was made solely for the iPad. But if you own one, you can get maximum use out of this brilliant tool. Due to itssimple step-by-step functional mode, even a newbie graphic designer can get toillustrating in no time.

Check out its wide range of brushes that you can choose from and the option to save your work either as .psd or .pdf. The latter makes Adobe integration much easier. The app will even record each step of your drawing process. It also lets you work on multiple layers, which makes for easy editing later!

Repix

Graphic designers can look to the Repix app for a lot of assistance when it comes to working withpictures and photographs. The app has anAndroid version, as well as, one for the iOS platforms. Simply download it on your smartphone and start working right there. You can get many things done with the tools that this app offers, such as a cropping tool, 28 brush types, and 16 filters!

X-Rite i1 Display PRO

With unlimited settings, every designer needs this top calibrator, even if it is a little pricey! With the X-Rite i1 Display PRO, you can use your custom profiles on multiple displays, whether on the same network or even computer! It is smart enough to analyze the ambient light and optimize your monitor settings to it. The calibrator will even adjust its display profiles when faced with screen glare. If you think this tool is still not worth it, you may want to look through this list of monitor calibrators to choose another.

Photoshop

Even with the web design landscape changing so quickly and so often, there is no denying that Photoshop reigns supreme!The features, tools, options, and settings that designers get from this program are more than enough for the creation of customized graphics and designs. Moreover, it is highly user-friendly, which is why it is loved by both the experienced and beginners.

Figma

Figma is available on Windows, Linux, and Mac. Thisinterface design tool is highly useful because it makes the collaboration of multiple designers in real-time possible. We’d suggest trying out the free version and only getting the paid one if you need it. In any case, think of Figma as Sketch, except that it allows you toperform cross-platform interaction. You can use it to create icons and designs for tablets, desktop, and mobile, share your creations. What’s more, you will get the hang of Figma in little to no time. The workflow is also very smooth.

Serif Drawplus

Serif Drawplusis a graphic design software that boosts your photo designing and editing powers! But more than that, it can also be used to create logos, posters, animations, etc. It has so many illustrative features to offer to its users that Toptenreviews rated it a top graphic design software!

Another good thing about Serif is its slow learning curve, which is why it is considered highly approachable by beginners. It makes it up to the experienced graphic designers with its full-featured nature – making it easy to work on intricacies. If you have been looking for software that allows you to work on more than 3D animations and images, then Serif would be perfect for you.Creating vector illustrations, customizable preference-based workspaces, sharing your creations, and availability of extensive support are just some other things of value Serif offers.

Dyno Mapper

The Dyno Mapper is a visual sitemap generator. You can use it to create sitemaps, customize them, edit to your heart’s content, and share them. But besides producing interactive sitemaps, Dyno alsodoes content inventory and audit, and keyword tracking!Worried that you will miss out on an important aspect of Website Design? Dyno comes equipped with the ability to integrate with Google Analytics! All the data that you’ll ever need will be easily available not just to you, but also for collaboration. Dyno Mapper takes only a few clicks to generate and display any sitemap!

Wacom Bamboo

Opting for Wacom Bamboo gives you a chance to execute unique things! You might need time to get used to the way it works, but you’ll learn to love it because it will dramatically shorten your editing time. You can work on any project and graphics of any size and shape without worrying that you won’t have the right tool on Wacom Bamboo to apply to it!

Web designing can be exciting but also challenging, which is why a designer needs to be armed with the right tools. With the options on this list, you can improve, be creative, and increase your design output all at the same time. Which one of these has caught your eye so far?