These vector tech illustrations were created specifically for 1stWebDesigner readers and cannot be found anywhere else, so you can use them knowing that you will be among a select number of designers who have access to them. We always enjoy giving something back to all of our loyal followers and readers, so we created these free vector tech illustrations just for you!

Smartwatch

First in our collection of free vector tech illustrations is a pair of hands using a messaging app on a smartwatch. You’ll notice the recurring theme throughout, with the background reflecting what is on the screen in the foreground.

Cell Phone

Next is a familiar scene – “liking” something on an app on a mobile phone. Has anyone ever not done this?

Tablet

Who hasn’t used a tablet to submit a thumbs up? Here’s a colorful representation of this oft-used action.

Laptop

In this illustration, the user is checking statistics of some type on a laptop. You could use this to represent almost any type of stat-checking setting.

Desktop Computer

Our fifth and final illustration depicts a pie chart being viewed on a desktop computer.

Ready To Download & Use These 5 Free Vector Tech Illustrations?

Go for it! We hope you have fun with and enjoy utilizing these illustrations in your projects. Keep following 1stWebDesigner so you don’t miss out on future freebies, along with everything else we have to offer.

Download Illustrations

If you have skills in Adobe Illustrator, you can change the colors, remove elements, or add to the image any way you’d like. Or, if not, you can just use them as is. A high-resolution PNG and SVG of each file is included in the download. You can also grab your own copy of Adobe Illustrator here, if you don’t already own it.

Woman In Airport On Cellphone

First up in our collection of free vector illustrations is a woman sitting in an airport talking on her cellphone. This could be used in a multitude of ways. For instance, you could easily change the airport setting by removing the airplane and suitcase.

Cat and Character With Plant On The Stairs

Next up is a side-smiling character with a cat wandering down the stairs. Again, you could do any number of things to modify this illustration, such as moving the person the top of the stairs so that it looks like the cat is running away from them.

Windowsill Woman With A Tablet In Winter

Our final offering is a woman sitting on a window seat with a tablet while snowflakes fall outside. Take this serene setting and adjust it to fit your needs in books, flyers, web sites – however you see fit!

Download Your Free Vector Illustrations Now!

We hope you have fun with and enjoy utilizing these illustrations in your projects. Keep following 1stWebDesigner so you don’t miss out on future freebies, along with everything else we have to offer.

DOWNLOAD ILLUSTRATIONS

If I were to say Adobe Illustrator is the standard application to create vector graphics then I wouldn’t be wrong. It is as handy for logo designers as it is for graphic designers and illustrators. In fact, Adobe Illustrator is most often used to create logos.

Photoshop can do the trick but for creating a logo, Illustrator offers you the most flexible environment possible. We know many of our readers are logo designers so today we have compiled this collection of Illustrator text effects tutorials. Whether you are a beginner or pro, you will surely love them.

24,500+ Illustrator Addons, Photoshop Actions, Print Templates and Fonts are now available for just $29 per month with Envato Elements

By joining Envato Elements you gain access to plenty of Photoshop and Illustrator Addons, as well as many other useful design elements. All of this is available for a single monthly subscription to Envato Elements. Join today, and gain access to a massive and growing library of 24,500+ creative assets with unlimited downloads.

1. Create a Slick Golden Text Effect with Adobe Illustrator

In the following Illustrator tutorial, you will learn how to create a slick golden text effect. Although it’s a pretty short tutorial, the sixteen steps cover many techniques and effects that can be used for other projects. The Pen Tool steps may be a bit challenging, but with patience and some basic knowledge, you will succeed.

2. How to Build Letter Art From Bricks In Illustrator

In this tutorial, we’ll use 3D-rendering, blends, and an art brush for creating the final brick art. The skills you will learn here can easily be transferred to creating various brick letters. Enhance your vector skills as a digital brick artist in today’s Illustrator tutorial. So let’s get started!

3. How to Create a Neon 3D Text Effect in Illustrator

In this cool tutorial we will learn how to create a neon text effect using Gradient Mesh, 3D Modeling, art brushes and a transparency palette. Let’s begin!

4. How to Create a Sparkly Text Effect in Illustrator

In the following quick tip, you will learn how to create a sparkly text effect in fifteen simple steps. It’s another tutorial focused on the Appearance panel. Basically, almost the entire text effect is made using only one compound path. A compound path with a simple fill, eight strokes and some basic Illustrator effects.

5. How to create candy cane typography

In this tutorial, we will create a superb candy cane type design using Illustrator and Photoshop. Apply this effect to your own text and create cool and unique Christmas cards!

6. Meltdown Illustrator Text Effect

Create a super cool meltdown text effect for a typeface in this premium Illustrator tutorial. Have fun with your imagination and artistic skills. Learn how to create glows and a liquid drip effect for text in this tutorial. You will learn the techniques which I used to create beautiful text effects.

7. Create a cool water text effect

In this tutorial, the artist will walk you through the process that he has used in one of the design projects I finished recently. You will learn how to use the mesh tool to create water droplets, use the symbol sprayer tool using the symbol of water droplets and dispersing them.

8. Tron Legacy Tutorial

In this tutorial you will learn how to create a beautiful effect like the Tron Legacy Style. For this tutorial the artist used Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and Cinema 4D.

9. Create a Jar Illustration and Splashy, Purple Text Effect

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to create a jar illustration and splashy, purple text effect. We’ll craft this with numerous, layered shapes and with various opacities. We’ll work with paths and the Pathfinder tools to enhance our text, give it dimension, and style. Let’s get started!

10. How to Create a Delicious Chocolate Text Effect in Illustrator

For all the chocolate lovers out there, here is how to create a delicious chocolate bar text effect in Illustrator. You will use the Blend Tool, effects like Roughen and Chrome, different blending modes and also the 3D Extrude & Bevel effect to create perfect chocolate squares. Enjoy!

11. Create Colorful, Layered Paper Type

In this Illustrator tutorial the artist will show you how to brighten your mood by creating vivid illustrations with layered paper text and ribbons. We’ll create a custom type and use Illustrator effects extensively to enhance our work.

12. Create a Variety of 3D Lettering Effects for Poster Design

In this tutorial the artist showcases three different approaches for creating simple 3D lettering effects in the context of poster design. Onward and upward we go!

13. Create a Furry Calligram

In this tutorial, artist will walk you through creating your own calligram inspired by a dog named Poppy. You’ll learn how to manipulate a typeface through to rendering fur, adding doggy features, and various details.

14. Create a Mummy Text Effect

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create this treatment with some gradients and, of course, heavy use of the Appearance panel. There aren’t a lot of steps, but the tutorial is slightly more advanced.

15. Golden Text with Diamonds

In this Illustrator tutorial, we will learn how to create a golden text style with diamonds using the appearance palette and scatter brushes. You will learn lots of new techniques on applying the transform effect, offset path and seamless pattern on the appearance palette.

16. How to Make a Flesh Ripping Zombie Type Treatment Text Effect

In this tutorial you will learn how to make a Flesh Ripping Zombie Type Treatment.

17. Creating an Environmentally Friendly Illustrator Text

In the following Illustrator text effects tutorial, the artist will teach you how to create a green type treatment. It works great for logos and other design elements.

18. Create a simple blood text effect

In the following steps the artist will show you how to create a simple blood text effect. You’ll start with a simple text then you will use the Roughen and the Warp effects. Finally, you will need multiple gradients and some simple brushes.

19. How to Create a Zodiac Themed Graphic Style

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a complex graphic style, using only the Appearance palette and commands from the Effect menu. We will be creating a style based on the signs of the zodiac. All the style elements are created from a single character. Is it hard to believe? Let’s get started!

20. How to Create Smoky Brushes and Type In Illustrator CS4

In this tutorial, the artist explains how to create realistic smoke text effects, make it into a brush and use it for the type. Let’s light up our vector cigarettes and get smokin’!

21. Old School Type Line Gradients

A detailed and cool Illustrator tutorial on how to create old school style type.

22. How to Make a Wooden Text Effect

In the following tutorial, you can learn how to create “wooden text.” Using the 3D Extrude and Bevel Tool combined with some clever gradients and layer effects you can make this great effect that’s perfect for text and symbols alike.

23. Creating stunning, detailed typography text effect with Illustrator

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create stunning, detailed typography with Illustrator.

24. Let’s Make a Playful Yet Robust 3D Letter Design

This tutorial is perfect for the confident beginner who wants to take her skills to the next level. We’ll explore how to create 3D text and use depth-of-field to enhance a design.

25. How to Create a Trendy Retro Type Treatment

In this Illustrator tutorial, the artist will show you how to create a trendy retro type treatment with a free font, gradients, blends, and some scatter brushes. It’s a relatively easy tutorial containing techniques that can be quickly applied to many other type treatments and various graphic elements.

26. Bling Bling Text Effect

In this tutorial, the artist will be teaching you how to create this eye-catching bling bling effect in Illustrator. You will learn how to create the texture and apply it to any text. So let’s get started.

27. Create a glossy, smooth text effect

In this tutorial, the artist will show you how to create a glossy, smooth text effect using multiple fills and strokes with different blending modes and varied opacity percentage. For some discrete details, the Star Tool, the Pathfinder options and some other basic effects will come in handy.

28. Create a Stitched Type Effect

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a stitched type effect. You will create simple geometric patterns, a pattern brush and use the appearance panel to create the final look. Let’s get started!

29. Create a Grimy Text Treatment with a Pen Tablet

In this tutorial, the artist will show you how to create a grimy text treatment utilizing Illustrator’s Blob brush, Live Paint, and a pen tablet. You can easily apply these techniques to other illustrations, type treatments and logos.

30. Create An Editable Metal Type Treatment

You can easily create this effect without the Appearance panel, but creating this effect like in this tutorial, you can easily adjust anything with the text without changing the effect. It is also a good idea to create a graphic style for easy implementation to other text and objects within Illustrator.

31. Create a Dream Design with 3D Typography

In this tutorial, we’re going to create a cool 3D Typography based design. All the elements will revolve around the centerpiece and theme: dreaming. The word will dictate the entire layout and control the space by allowing everything else to emerge from within. The trees will grow out of the letters; the mountains will show themselves behind the word and overshadow the glowing moon.

32. Grungy 3D Text

This tutorial will teach you how to use the 3D tools in Illustrator along with some simple but clever shadow techniques to create some awesome looking grungy 3D text.

33. How to Create a Hand Drawn Style Text Effect in Illustrator

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to use different brushes and effects to create a hand drawn text effect. Perfect for illustrative designs, you will create a cute and fun lettering effect.

34. Create a Bending 3D Text Effect

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to create a 3D Text Effect in Adobe Illustrator. In addition to using the 3D tools, you’ll layer letter shapes to create color shifts with gradients and highlights. You’ll also work in subtle patterns controlled with opacity Masks.

35. Create a Green Viscous Text Effect

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to expand an existing font, use Illustrator’s 3D tools to add dimension, and then add a green viscous text effect. If you want to add a fun, vector text effect to your portfolio, then get started now.

36. Create a Vibrant 3D Pixel Type Treatment

In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a fun 3D pixel font type treatment. Using a free font, gradients, and Illustrator 3D filter, you will easily create a type treatment that you can apply to many other fonts.

37. Illustrator Tackle Twill

This tutorial will show you how to simulate a tackle twill look with Illustrator’s Appearance palette. When we’re done you will be able to apply this style to any text or shape within Illustrator.

38. How To Create Detailed Gothic Linework Typography

Follow this step by step walkthrough of the design process for my recent gothic typography design. We’ll be customizing a blackletter font with various black and white elements and creating a range of tones with detailed line work to create a cool gothic style design that would be right at home as a logo for a heavy metal band or dark apparel brand.

39. Retro 3D Arcade Text Effect

In this typography tutorial, we’ll make clever use of Illustrators built-in 3D capabilities, gradients and opacity masks to design a retro 3D Type Effect.

40. Create a simple folded paper text effect

In this Illustrator text tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a simple folded paper text effect. Also, to improve the look of the final result, you will learn how to create some ink blobs and stains from some simple ellipses and brushes.

41. Create a Silky Ribbon Text Effect

In the following tutorial, you will use the Pen and Gradient tools to create a swirling ribbon text effect. Even though we’re applying the ribbon to text, you can use this effect to make shapes and scrolls. Let’s get started!

42. How to Create a Smokin’ Western Type Text Effect

In this easy tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a western type treatment primarily using Illustrator’s Effects. Using the effects from this tutorial, you can easily apply them to other types of treatment and logos. Let’s get started!

43. Stylish text effect tutorial

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to create a beautiful text effect with a subtle vintage look that’s going to be applied to a specific typeface, just to help you get an idea, we will try to generate an old school text that can be implemented on modern web designs.

44. How to Create a Colorful, 3D Text Effect

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to create a colorful three-dimensional text effect. We’ll use several Illustrator effects, built-in patterns, a modern font, and more to bring this effect to fruition. Let’s get started!

45. How to Create a Glossy, Colorful Text Effect

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to create a glossy, colorful text design in Illustrator CS5. We’ll use an interesting font choice, opacity masks, shape building techniques, and more to create this text effect.

46. Create a Glassy Text Effect Filled with a Green, Acidic Substance

In the following Illustrator tutorial, you will learn how to create a glassy text effect filled with a green, acidic substance. You’ll use shape creation tools, opacity masks, and filters. This project could work well to add a mad scientist feel to your next creative design project.

47. Create a Marker Text Effect

This tutorial involves intermediate vector shape building skills in Illustrator to create the markers, along with some layering and script usage to create the text effects. Let’s get started.

48. How to Create a Fun 3D Plastic Text Effect

In this 3D text illustrator tutorial, you will learn how to create colorful 3D plastic letters using the 3D Extrude & Bevel effect and also an all-purpose plastic look that you can save in the Graphic Styles and use it in other projects.

49. Create a Chalkboard Type Text Effect

This is one of my most favorite Illustrator type tutorials. You’ll learn how to create a chalkboard type text effect with some gradients, a bristle brush, and some freebies from Vector Mill! The tutorial is relatively simple and can be applied to many other Illustrator projects.

50. Create a Reusable Retro Type Text Effect

In this tutorial, the artist will show you how to create a simple retro type treatment. Even though it’s simple, it uses some powerful Illustrator features. If you have read my tutorials before, you know this means the Appearance panel! Along with the Appearance panel, we will be using some texture effects, Warp effects, and some simple layering.

51. Make An Awesome Logo with this Adobe Illustrator Tutorial

52. Use Illustrator to Create a Fun, 3D, Character Logo Design

53. Creating a Crazy Cool Textual Logo Design in Illustrator

54. Creating Zee Text Effect Logo in Illustrator

55. Make Textual Logo Design myNiteLife Step by Step Tutorial

56. Creating the Mini Car Logo in Illustrator

57. Make Quick Logos with Live Trace in Adobe Illustrator

58. Olympic Logo Illustrator Tutorial – Munich 1972

59. Cool Wood Worker Logo Illustration

Unfortunately this tutorial is no longer available.

60. The Making of the TweetBacks Logo

61. Raw Text Logo Design in Illustrator CS4

62. Obama 3D Logo Illustrator Tutorial

63. Create 3D BMW Logo in Illustrator

64. How to Make Cool Logo Icon In Illustrator Tutorial

65. Illustrator Tutorial: Make a Text Flow

66. Create Origami Type Text Effect in Illustrator

67. Abduzeedo 2010 Logo Design Tutorial In Illustrator

68. Create a Cool Logo from Scratch Using Adobe Illustrator

69. Create 3D Renault Logo in Adobe Illustrator

70. How to Make a Cartoon Style Text Logo in Adobe Illustrator CS3

71. Honey Farm Logo Text Effect in Illustrator

72. Create the Audi Logo in Illustrator

73. How to Create Seamless Watermark Patterns with Illustrator

74. Web 2.0 Logo Reflection Effect Tutorial with Illustrator

75. Geometric Flower Effect Logo in Illustrator

76. How to Design a 3D Text Logotype from Scratch

77. Particle Logo Design Tutorial

78. Create 3D Volkswagen logo

79. How to modify a font to create a logo in Illustrator

80. Complete Logo Design Process Illustrator Tutorial

81. Logo Design Process and Walkthrough for Vivid Ways

If you are learning by yourself, it can be a hard ride. This is why we have prepared this list of great AI tutorials, which you should read through, especially if you are just starting out with Adobe Illustrator. Enjoy the article and hopefully, learn a lot of new techniques and tricks.

Unlimited Downloads: 500,000+ Fonts, Web Templates, Themes & Design Assets

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1. How to Create a Gearbox Settings Icon Using Simple Shapes

2. How to Create an Abstract Vector Design in Illustrator

A great looking abstract design can be created from the simplest form. You can take a look at the creation of geometric shapes and objects to form a dynamic composition in Illustrator.

3. How to Create a Smokin’ Western Type Treatment in Illustrator

This tutorial will show you how to create a Western-style primary treatment with Illustrator.

4. Create a Bright Retro Grunge Vector Illustration

Follow these steps to create a range of body shapes and graphics that are combined into one large collage.

5.Illustrator Tutorial: Surprise Gift

There are times when you need to make a gift box and effects for special occasions. This tutorial gives you an idea of how this can be achieved with brushes and some other techniques.

6. Super Cool Abstract Vectors in Illustrator and Photoshop

7. Create a cool water effect

In this tutorial you will learn how to use the mesh tool to create water drops, the Symbol Sprayer tool-use icon with the help of water droplets and dispersion.

8. 3D lighted text effect

9. Swirl Mania in Illustrator & Photoshop

10. Design with Flair from Start to Finish in Illustrator CS4

11. Use Adobe Illustrator to Create a Clean Website Layout

12. Illustrate Image into Vector

13. Creating trees in Illustrator

14. Figure Shading

15. Learn Illustrator CS3 in 30 Days

This 30-day course is free!

16. Illustrator Beginner’s Series

17. Adobe Illustrator Guides and Tutorials

The collection of tutorials and guides that include various hints and tips on all types of tools.

18. Beginner Adobe Illustrator Tutorials

19. Illustrator CS4 Blob Brush

20. Illustrator CS4 Gradients

21. Working with Illustrator Art Brushes

Brushes are an important tool in Illustrator, and come in different styles. This tutorial covers the kinds of brushes, with great examples of how it can be used.

22. Illustrator Opacity Mask Basics

23. The Power and Ease of Patterns in Illustrator

24. Wacom Settings in Illustrator

25. Quickly Change Fills and Strokes

26. A Comprehensive Guide to the Pathfinder Panel

27. Tips for Working with the Gradient Mesh Tool In Illustrator

28.Illustrator’s Blend Tool: A Comprehensive Guide

29. Illustrator’s Type Tool: A Comprehensive Introduction

30. A Comprehensive Guide: Illustrator’s Paintbrush Tool and Brush Panel

Heres an overview of four types of brushes in Illustrator covered with a detailed explanation of how to use each.

31. The Basics of Clipping Paths and Opacity Masks

32. Adobe Illustrator Shortcuts

These shortcuts aren’t only keyboard alternatives to popular menu items, they will also create new opportunities that otherwise aren’t available.

33. Beginner Illustrator Tutorial – Create a Vector RSS Icon

If learning by doing is more your thing, why not try the tutorial icon RSS?

34. Blueprint-Style Text in Adobe Illustrator

And while these programs do have a lot of features, they also leave room for more. That’s why I’m covering the best plugins for all Adobe CC designers who create anything from mobile apps to website mockups. No matter what your experience level is, you’re bound to find something here that’s useful.

Unlimited Downloads: 500,000+ Photoshop Add-ons, Photoshop Brushes & Design Assets

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Craft

Starting off the list is InVision Craft which is by far the biggest plugin around. It’s available for Photoshop and Sketch, both of which offer the same features.

Craft is more like a library of plugins with many different features mixed in together. You can design prototypes, automate dummy content, and automatically sync design resources to the cloud. All from the Craft plugin panel.

This plugin is free and will remain free forever. I thoroughly recommend trying this out and see how it improves your digital workflow.

Fontea

Typography is a huge part of web design and with Google Web Fonts you can go much further than the default system fonts. That’s exactly why Fontea was built: to help web designers craft beautiful typography without relying on pre-installed font families.

With Fontea you can select from hundreds of Google fonts for free. These can all be embedded into your websites, so they’re perfect for any project. And you can quickly flip between different styles without downloading anything.

HTML Block

The free HTML Block plugin lets you write code and convert that directly into elements in Photoshop. This is like the reverse of a code exporting plugin since you can now import code directly to Photoshop files.

Developers will specifically like this plugin since it’s often easier to create buttons, menus, and columns with CSS first. If you prefer coding over Photoshop’s shape tools and layer effects, then installing this plugin will save hours of frustration.

PS Pen Panel

Photoshop was not meant to be a vector editing tool. However it does have these tools and it’s one of the best ways to design vector elements for the web.

The biggest annoyance is jumping between different pen tools and opening the preferences menu to switch the “Snap Vector Tools” setting on/off. The PS Pen Panel solves this problem entirely.

It’s a free plugin that adds a new panel into the GUI. This panel is made for vector designers that constantly craft icons in Photoshop rather than Illustrator. It may take some time to adjust to, but it will speed up your workflow.

Note: this plugin is 100% free but it still goes through the site’s checkout process. It’s just the way their plugin system is designed, but this pen panel is free to download so don’t let the website confused you!

AI2Canvas

There’s a lot you can do with the HTML5 canvas element and web SVGs. But that extra step of exporting SVGs and coding them into canvas elements can be a time sink.

With the AI2Canvas plugin you can automate the Illustrator export feature with ease. This lets you create vector graphics and export them into HTML5 canvas code automatically. You can even add rotation features to create animated effects, all from Illustrator!

To learn more, check out this demo video.

Copio

If you want to copy a layer in Photoshop you can always duplicate with the click of a button. But you’ve never been able to copy a layer from one file and paste it into a different file.

With Copio that can all change. This simple free plugin adds full copy/paste support for any layers you want to move into other PS files.

Normally you’d have to drag & drop the layers, and this can be tedious trying to match your cursor over the specific Photoshop file tab. With this plugin, you just select the layer and copy/paste using Copio’s keyboard shortcuts. Designing in Photoshop just got a whole lot easier.

Cut&Slice Me

Retina devices increased the time spent designing a mobile app. But they also brought these requirements into responsive web design where even websites need @2x and @3x images to look crisp on every screen.

Using the Cut&Slice Me plugin you can automate the export process with properly sized and properly named images. You just select which devices you need to support, and this plugin takes care of the rest.

Composer

Adobe Photoshop is a great program for mockups because of its layer comps feature. These comps let you restyle interfaces with different colors, user states, and features while keeping them all in one document.

Composer takes layer comps to the next level. This plugin lets you update similar elements across all layer comps so that you don’t need to go through them individually.

So let’s say you have a logo in the top-left corner of four different layer comps. You want to move it to the center. Traditionally you’d need to drag it across the screen for each layer comp four times.

With Composer you select all layer comps, move the logo, and you’re right as rain.

Long Shadow Generator

Modern design trends coupled with material design have really pushed for the long shadow effect. It’s so popular that Photoshop users have a Long Shadow Generator plugin that recreates this in one click.

You select the shadow length, opacity, and direction along with the color type. Then just click “Generate, ” and your long shadow is applied to any element you like.

CSS3Ps

I couldn’t wrap up this article without mentioning one code exporting tool. CSS3Ps is probably the best free option out there with full support for modern CSS3 properties.

First you design elements in Photoshop, then select those layers and click the CSS3Ps button.

It’ll automatically output pure CSS3 code along with classes to recreate those elements on your page. This works on everything from text layers to buttons, and it even supports multiple layers simultaneously.

Check out this demo video to catch a glimpse of how this plugin works.

These are just a few of my favorite plugins for web designers, but there are always new ones released so be on the lookout for more Adobe CC plugins on the horizon.

There are many ways to improve productivity, and there are many ways of speeding up the design process, but nothing quite beats keyboard shortcuts. Although, trying to remember them though all, is not easy.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help. In this short article, we’ve collected all of the keyboard shortcut cheatsheets for Photoshop, Illustrator, GIMP and Sketch.app. Just print them out, bookmark them, or save them to your mobile device. Here they are:

This is where free software takes the spotlight. While it aims to provide functions similar to those of its more expensive counterparts, it shouldn’t be regarded as a complete replacement. Though users constantly bicker about which is better, the answer couldn’t be more obvious: it all depends on what you use it for.

One thing that should be kept in mind is that these tools are generally developed by communities, so naturally, it shouldn’t be expected of them to evolve in the same way as Adobe (for example). That doesn’t mean that it’s better or worse; it just means different.

Of course, since the projects all started from different platforms and under different licenses, they can have a very alien look and interfaces can and most definitely will vary between programs. Since it’s not uncommon for those who work with graphics to use several tools, having workplaces set up in a similar manner is one of the reasons why a proprietary suite is more attractive.

GIMP

Right off the bat, it should be mentioned that GIMP, short for GNU Image Manipulation Program, is small, fast and portable, but packs a wide array of powerful tools.

It is a raster graphics editor with functions similar to those of Photoshop, so it shares some of its versatility; it has also been endlessly compared to it. True, overall it does have fewer features than its counterpart, but that may or may not be a problem, depending on what you plan to use GIMP for.

Perhaps for those who switch to this tool, the most frustrating thing is the fact that it is still very familiar, but everything behaves slightly differently.

Note that the developers never intended it to take over the market, but to offer a free alternative for those who, for whatever reason, can’t or won’t make a huge investment. That is to say, the industry still relies on the coherence brought by PSD files, allowing designers to collaborate. Just imagine if everyone used a different program or file type.

In a nutshell, it’s great for those who don’t need very advanced features or who just don’t need all the features offered by proprietary software (3D tool for photographers?).

• PROS: lightweight, fast, has all of the basic tools and more
• CONS: lacks advanced features, no native CMYK or LAB support (not intended for print), limited compatibility with PSD files

Inkscape

Moving on to vector graphics, we find Inkscape. The first, and possibly the most intriguing aspect is the fact that it doesn’t use a special file type. Instead, it saves directly as SVG, with the option to export as EPS (among others), meaning that you don’t need to worry about compatibility issues. Moreover, SVG is a standard developed by the W3C, making it a prime choice for web.

Although very neatly organized, the interface can seem very messy and chaotic, but after poking around for a little while, everything should be fine. The overall learning curve isn’t very different from Illustrator, as most of it stems from vector graphics, not the program that handles them.

It does have a few quirks, like having to perform an extra step to achieve something when it could be done automatically. Perhaps the most irksome is the inability to change the name of gradients, leaving you with a random number instead. On the topic of gradients, unfortunately, Inkscape does not have gradient meshes, which Illustrator users might find crucial.

Still, it is a powerful tool that can create amazing results, provided you have the patience to work around some of its weak points.

• PROS: uses SVG natively, clones, lightweight
• CONS: interface could use a little more polishing, no gradient meshes, many filters aren’t so effective

MyPaint

Lastly, for the more artistically inclined, comes MyPaint which, as the name would suggest, is designed with digital painting in mind. It serves as a very light version of Corel Painter, great emphasis on “very lightweight”; the program takes up only 13 megabytes, 15 if you want all the translation files.

MyPaint does away with complex tools, busy interfaces and complicated features. This little gem has a limitless canvas, an incredibly minimalistic interface and greatly reduced number of tools. It doesn’t even have a selection or cropping tool, but it can manage layers and merge them.

Corel Painter uses different engines to render the different types of brushes, so that the effect is as close to real life as possible, but MyPaint only uses one. The engine is also used to detect things like pressure and speed when using a graphic tablet.

As mentioned, there is great emphasis on brushes and the ability to customize them for whatever you may need. Overall, it is a very simplistic tool and user-friendly. True, it’s not nearly as powerful as its “competitor”, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have any use.

• PROS: small, simplistic, user-friendly
• CONS: perhaps too simplistic, not as powerful as other similar software

In closing, I hope to have sparked your interest in free software, graphics or otherwise. It really is a fascinating movement that is growing continuously as more and more people join the projects and contribute.

Some web designers give special attention by providing users with some entertainment while the all the information they want to see are still waiting to be fully loaded like this tutorial on how to create SVG loading animations using Illustrator and Adobe Edge Animate CC.

There are a lot of loading animations out there. Sure, you can copy and paste these animations to your designs every now and then, right? Yeah, making use of templates are easier and more convenient. But there are times you need to do your own for learning’s sake.

This tutorial won’t require coding, so for those designers who don’t want to get their hands dirty with codes, here’s a great tool for you.

Why you should  choose SVG as a file format for all the images:

• They are resolution independent.
• Can be used together with CSS.
• They are lighter than JPEG.
• They can be easily edited.

Now, I would not keep you waiting, here’s the tutorial!

Bonus:

Aside from loading animations, you can also create the following using Illustrator and Edge Animate:

• Interactive Graphics
• Header Animations
• Google-like Doodles

Conclusion

I hope you learned something today! There are more of these tutorials to come so keep your tabs open for 1stwebdesigner! Good luck!

Do you have questions about the process we just followed? Feel free to ask us at the comments section below.

Because of these kits, web designers now don’t have to worry about running out of ideas. You can draw inspiration from these these UI kits and perhaps improve them. And this tutorial will hopefully add to that inspiration.

This is what we will be designing:

Resources You Will Need:

• The Adobe Illustrator software
• Lato Font
• This icon pack
• Some time and patience. (Less than 30 minutes)

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Setting Up the Artboard

First, you need to open your Adobe Illustrator. Then, create a new document. For this tutorial, we will be using the file named Music Player UI (Or you can choose whatever you want to).

Make sure the profile you use is set for Web as you will be designing a web-based interface. You also need to indicate the number of artboards to use.

For this particular tutorial, I only used one artboard. Next, key in 1280 x 1280 for the size. Large scales in the designs so that it would still appear in high-quality even if you shrink it

Mini Player

1. Now, you have a blank square artboard. You can now proceed in creating the mini player.

2. To do that, select the Rounded Rectangle Tool, double click any area in the artboard and draw a 598px by 244px rounded rectangle. Use 8px as radius. Color it #EFEFEF.

3. Now, create the track slider which is located at the top of the player. To do that, draw a rectangle tool over the gray rounded rectangle. Color it #D35353.

4. Next, select the two shapes. You can either press CTRL + A or click on the shapes while pressing CTRL + Shift.

5. When you have selected the shapes, use the Shape Builder tool (Shift + M) to perfectly fit the pink rectangle inside the gray one.

6. You can do this by clicking on the segment of the shape that you want to delete. After clicking on it, you will notice that the part of the shape that you have clicked now became an independent shape. You can now delete it.

7. Repeat steps 4 to 6 to create a track indicator. Your work should look like this by now:

8. Next, put the title of the track currently playing. Also include the remaining time before the next track plays. Use Lato Regular font, 20pt, # 7C7C7C.

9. Then, move on to the volume indicator. Start by clicking on the rounded rectangle tool and create a 422px x 14px shape. Use the color # CCCCCC and add a 15px radius.

10. After that, create the volume indicators by drawing a rectangle over the previous rectangle. Color it #d84848. Select the path of the rounded rectangle and the rectangle above it and use the Shape Builder tool to cut the excess of the rectangle.

11. Now, draw a circle using the Ellipse tool (L) and color it # d74948. Add the volume icons located in the icon folder and place it in the ends of the volume slider.

Creating the Controls for the Player

12. First, you need to create a placeholder for the controls. You can do that by drawing a rectangle tool over the main background of the player and color it #d85656.

13. Cut the excess parts of the rectangle and make it look rounder using the Shape builder tool.

14. Next, add these elements.

The Big Player (with Playlists)

15. Start by copying all the paths from the mini player.

16. After doing that, extend the main background by around 460px (you can extend up to whatever size you want).

17. Next, extend the controls placeholder and let it go beyond the background of the miniplayer. Remove the excess using the Shape Builder too. Do this to make the placeholder look angular rather than its original rounded shape

18. Next, add the playlist title.

19. Using the rectangular grid tool, draw a grid of six horizontal divisions and zero vertical dividers.

20. Enlarge the grid and fit it into the player. Turn its opacity to around 20%. Remove the top horizontal line with by using the scissors tool (C).

21. To use the tool, simply click on the portion of the path you want to delete, double click and press delete or backspace.

22. Now that the grids are ready, place the elements and titles.

23. To cap off the kit, design a scroll bar. Using a rounded rectangle tool (#cccccc for the rounded rectangle and #262626 for the position indicator) and the Shape Builder tool, we would be able to create that easily.

24. Now that you have the UI ready, save it. You can save it as AI, PSD, JPG, PDF or even SVG.

UI kits can help you boost your sales, especially if you are a designer with no experience. That is why, you should continue to develop your craft and become more creative. For now these bonus UI kits should do it to get you started. Enjoy!