Drawing tools are usually available as downloadable software programs or online drawing tools. The best drawing tools on the market today can run on various platforms including Windows Mac OS, Linux, and Android. Your choice will depend on the device you are using, the features you are looking for, and what you want to achieve. This app offers various features, including sketch planes, symmetry, surfaces, extrude and revolve, and array. It is available for PC and Mac, and it is free to use if you are a student, enthusiast, hobbyist, or startup owner. It is important for you to pick the best 3D drawing software if you want to create stunning 3D design arts.
- Best Free Drawing Apps For Mac #1 – FireAlpaca. The first one on our list also happens to be one of the most simple drawing apps for Mac out there. Up next is a drawing software that most comic artists will appreciate a lot. Krita is a very powerful. #3 – MediBang Paint.
- Unlike SmartDraw OmniGraffle is a desktop diagramming software for Mac which can be used for all kinds of diagramming on Mac including flowcharts. For those that prefer a native desktop flowchart app for Mac over web based apps, OmniGraffle is definitely one of the best diagramming apps for Mac out there.
Pixelmator Pro is a Mac OS app that combines many features and functions of other apps all into one tidy app. Pixelmator features many of the best features for drawing and the standard photo editing functions of other editors. It also features a 'layouting' mode for publishing and graphic design work.
At my college, I teach a course named “Computers in Landscape Design” where I train landscape design students in AutoCad and Adobe Suite Programs, among others. These programs are tremendous for landscape designers who wish to use industry-standard software like regular landscape architects; however, they can be very expensive.
![Drawing app for mac Drawing app for mac](/uploads/1/3/4/1/134110910/942287143.png)
Students often do have access to free trials of the software, but for anyone interested in continually using them for the purposes of their professional business, eventually they will need to pay for the programs. To provide some perspective, currently the subscription for AutoCad software is around $200 per month. Unfortunately, this is just too expensive for many new business owners.
Students often ask me if there are any free landscape design apps that work well for professionals. Over the past several years, I tested many free landscape design apps on various projects. In this article, I will review the pros and cons of the market’s five main free landscape design applications.
First, I won’t keep you guessing – my recommendation for the best free app is iScapes. The iScapes app is by far the best free landscape design app among its peers, having quality graphics, a solid user-interface, and a good plant library. In the table below, I provided a breakdown of some of my ratings for each of the five design apps. In case the image is too small, click here to download the pdf version. I will provide some helpful insights of each app in the sections that follow, along with some common issues that may influence your decision before downloading. But before you head off and just download the iScapes or PROLandscape app, I want to give you a little piece of wisdom I’ve accrued over my years of design. There is no substitute for a poor knowledge of landscape plants or design. If you are new to gardening or landscape design, before you purchase any app, I would highly suggest picking up a copy of The Essential Garden Design Workbook along with some essential drafting supplies and learn the old-fashioned way. Not only will it be fun, but you will be a better designer by doing this.
Okay, that’s my word of warning – now onto the reviews
Finally – before I diveinto each application – I must state that noneof these free programs compare to the professional industry standards ofAutoCad, Vectorworks, PROLandscape, or Dynascape. Although these programs dohave some good features – they just simply cannot match the quality of theprofessional software. But for those designers that are looking for a cheapoption that can get the job done, some are worth checking out.
iScapes (Rating: 16/20 )
The iScapes software offers a free and paid premium subscription service. The paid service offers a larger plant library, along with additional image downloads, and project archives; however, the free version is very useful for a beginner landscaper or do-it-yourselfer. The biggest disadvantage of the app is that it is currently only available for iPhone or iPads. For Android users, they will need to find a substitute. To try iScapes, click here.
Pros: The biggest advantage of this app is the graphic quality of the three dimensional landscape elements. The drag and drop interface, along with the visual characteristics of the app make it very useful to professionals doing quick designs for clients on-site.
Cons: As with most of the apps you will see on the list, the major disadvantage is that if you want additional quality add-ons, you will need to pay. A more extensive plant library, along with additional project storage is available with payment.
Home Outside (Rating: 10/20)
I originally had high hopes for the Home Outside app, as the average app review was 3.8/5.0 with many positive comments. After having used the app in many different types of projects, I was disappointed in the lack of three-dimensional perspectives and the limited plant library. To test out the software, click here.
Pros: For plan graphics, the renderings are quite nice and the app allows for the importing of google maps of your customer’s property.
Cons: The biggest downside to the app is the lack of any real plant library. The plants are categorized by “tree” or “shrubs” with no indication or availability to specify the planting in the free version. The paid version does offer some extra features.
Home Design 3D (Rating: 5/20)
Home Design 3D was an intriguing app that had very distinctive reviews when I originally had downloaded it. People seemed to either love it, or hate it. Unfortunately, I was one of the latter. The app is very useful for interior planning and design, but falls short for any realistic landscape design applications. To try the app, click here.
Pros: The only thing the app has working for it is the 3D aspect. The three-dimensional rendering capabilities are better than I would have expected for a free app.
Cons: The user-interface is very poor and the app itself is not intuitive. This combination makes for a very difficult experience for a designer, especially when there are other options available. I would hope that future updates provide pop-ups or a tutorial at the beginning to help designers navigate the platform prior to starting a design.
PROLandscape Home (Rating: 5/20)
I will start off with a disclaimer. In one of my classes, I train designers on the PROLandscape Professional Softwares (Planner, ImageEditor, and Proposal). These are good (but expensive) programs that are very useful for design. I believe it is a great marketing strategy by the developer Drafix to provide this free app to showcase some of the basic features of their paid programs.
With that being said, I found it difficult to provide an honest review of the free version because I kept remembering the full functionality of the paid programs. In any case, I did my best to realistically provide good feedback on the user-interface. Overall, there are many elements that can be improved. To test this out app, click here.
Pros: The free software has many similarities with the overlay perspectives of Home Outside, but with a greater plant library. The biggest drawback of the software is that most of the plant database is only offered for the paid version.
Cons: The app is not very intuitive and there is very little within the program to provide help or support. Also, there is a limited availability of plants, with poor customization, and relatively no ability to modify the existing library.
Sketchup Viewer (Rating: 5/20)
I had originally downloaded the Sketchup Viewer because I had received a recommendation about the app from another designer. I already have extensive knowledge in Sketchup, along with a variety of other 3D Software programs including three-dimensional CAD, Rhino, and Revitt, so I figured the Sketchup Viewer was worth a try. In general, it was a big disappointment as the viewer does not really offer anything valuable for a designer that does not have access to the base-program of Sketchup. To test out the viewer, click here.
Pros: If you have the ability to work on a regular computer to complete a great 3D model in Sketchup, the Viewer is useful -essentially just a tool to view the model and show it to your client on site. Other than that, the viewer does little else.
Cons: It is not a design software and offers no specific landscape capabilities. The app is obsolete without actually using Sketchup to generate the landscape model.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking for the best free landscape design apps that also offer some assistance in designing and showcasing designs to clients in a professional manner, then I would recommend iScapes. If you do not have an iPhone or iPad, use Home Outside.
None of the free apps have great functionality when compared to their paid counterparts. If you are starting out in the design profession, the free apps might be worth exploring but you will quickly find better value from some of the other paid alternatives.
If you haven’t already – check out my article on Gift Ideas for Landscape Designers – you can use the money you’ve saved on some nice things for a fellow gardener, or yourself.
For more articles on Landscape Design, please be sure to check out our Design resources and landscape Business articles.
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Graphic designers are constantly looking out for free new tools to convert their devices into an art studio. Many think that for a Mac user the choices are limited. But no, drawing on a Mac does not have to dig a deep hole in your pockets. In fact, here we are sharing with quite a few free drawing software for mac that offers similar, if not the same, features as the ones in Adobe Suite.
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These free drawing software for mac will allow you to create professional-grade sketches, vectors, and concept art. The cherry on the top is that the money you save on a free drawing app mac subscription can go towards other gear.
Here is a list best free drawing apps for Mac:
1. Autodesk Sketchbook:
Many professional artists feel that Autodesk Sketchbook is one of the best free drawing app for mac. The reason is that it is loaded with a number of enviable features, tools and an exceptional user interface (UI). All these and many other things put this app on the list of top 5. It is loaded with 140+ brushes, various blending models and an unlimited number of layers that we can easily group. Not only this, but the software also supports perspective stroke and guides, rulers, as well as predictive stroke. You will love the UI and once you start sketching the UI dissolves in the background and what is left behind is the full-screen canvas. But do not worry about how you will be able to get the other tools if the full screen turns canvas. As it’s super easy to get to the tools, switch brusher and others once again.
2. Krita:
Krita is a free drawing app for mac and also an open-source painting program that is made affordable by artists who want the art tools to be easily available for all. It is helpful for concept art, texture and matte painters, illustration and comics too. It is a professional drawing app, that is a great choice for the starters to master the art of digital sketching. Plus, the official website offers a bunch of free learning resources.
The tools and features available on it are the fully customizable UI, along with various brush engines, stabilizers, pop-up color pallets, and advanced resources management. It is more for comics and concept art designers rather than illustrators. The free drawing app for mac is available on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows.
3. Medibang Paint:
Medibang is a simple but powerful tool that works great for novices and veteran illustrators alike. The free software for mac is more geared towards comic book artists as it has a bunch of different tools to create intricate graphics. The app features more than 50 brushes and over 800 backgrounds and tones. MediBang Paint also offers 20 different fonts. along with cross-platform integration via the cloud. As per which you can start your sketch on a Mac and pick up where you left off on your iPad or iPhone.
4. Inkscape:
Inkscape the free software for Mac is replete with drawing software, that is tailored to meet the needs of designers, illustrators, and web designers. It can easily give a run for money to Adobe Illustrator. The UI layout is similar to one of the older iterations of Adobe Illustrator. Inkscape offers plenty of features to create professional vectors. You can not only design, edit nodes, use path conversion but the software also supports multi-line text and a bunch of file formats you might need. The color selector at the bottom of the page is a handy highlight of this app.
5. Firealpaca:
Firealpaca can easily be used on an older Mac, the free software runs on macOS X 10.7 and later. Though it does not offer much like the others in the list, it will lend you enough brushes, color and layer options, and settings to create some amazing vectors. It also has a 3D perspective tool that lets you snap different objects to the grid As it is designed to work like a charm on older hardware, you can work on your olde version till you buy a new Mac.
Best Free Mac Drawing Apps Offline
There are certainly many simple free drawing apps for Mac out there but the availability of tools, simplicity, flexibility, and interfaces on these are truly amazing. Autodesk offers some enviable ones that will lead you towards the path of fame and fortune. Though on the older version it might be a bit slow.
You should think which is the most important for you to be a pro and utilize it as soon as possible.
Best Free Mac Drawing Apps
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