Google Slides
Experience the simplicity of creating dynamic presentations with Google Slides. A cloud-based platform designed for real-time collaboration, it conveniently integrates with Google Workspace tools and offers advanced security measures.
Google Slides Top Features
- Real-time collaboration: Share and co-edit presentations seamlessly.
- Integration: Conveniently works with Google Sheets, Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Meet.
- Smart Intelligence: Smart Compose and Autocorrect features aid smooth creation.
- Offline availability: Edit, access, create presentations without internet connectivity.
- Data encryption: Ensures high security with data encryption in transit and at rest.
- Versatile Accessibility: Provides access across different platforms and devices.
| File Formats Supported | .pptx, .pdf, .txt, .jpg, .png, and .svg |
| Multidevice Operation | Smooth operation across various devices/platforms |
| Version Tracking | Automatic maintenance of version history |
Google Slides Limitations
- Lacks advanced features compared to Microsoft PowerPoint.
- Collaboration benefits are not consistently recognized by all users.
- Some users report lower design preference than Microsoft PowerPoint.
Google Slides Use Cases
Use Case 1: Business Magnates
If you’re a business magnate, Google Slides enables you to develop, present, and share presentations in real-time, ensuring comprehensive collaboration within your team. It will streamline your interactions while discussing business strategies.
Use Case 2: Educators
As an educator, Google Slides’ integrative and collaborative features allow you to create interactive lessons. The platform facilitates smooth lesson delivery across various environments, both offline and online.
Use Case 3: Students
With its intuitive design and real-time collaboration features, Google Slides offers the perfect platform for group projects and presentations. Contribute, edit, and complete your work from different locations on varying devices.
Canva
Introducing Canva, an online powerhouse in the graphic design space, launched in 2013 with an impressive user base over 100 million.
Canva Top Features
- Drag-and-drop design interface
- Creative photo editing
- Vast options of custom fonts, frames, and icons
- Extensive pre-built templates available
- Customizable charts and diagrams
- AI-powered copywriting assistant, Magic Write.
| Product | Brief Description |
|---|---|
| Canva Free | Comprehensive design tool with no cost |
| Canva Pro | Advanced features for premium design experience |
| Canva Enterprise | Optimized for business and commercial use |
Canva Downsides
- Data breach incident in May 2019 impacted approximately 139 million users
- As a cloud-based platform, dependent on internet connectivity
- Advanced features limited to paid versions
Canva Pricing
Canva offers a range of pricing options to suit various needs. Notably, the Canva Pro is priced at $12.99 USD per month for the first user, then $6.99 per month for each additional user. For enterprise use, Canva is priced at $30 USD per month.
Canva Use Cases
Use case 1
Canva serves as a quick and easy tool for creating engaging marketing content.
Use case 2
It provides educational institutions access to intuitive design experiences with Canva for Education.
Use case 3
Non-profits can leverage Canva’s tools to generate compelling graphics for promotions and announcements.
Figma
Figma, established by Dylan Field and Evan Wallace in 2012, is an interactive, browser-based interface design application. Offering real-time collaboration in design concepts and a collection of free, creative tools, Figma accentuates user interface and experience design. This versatile platform also accommodates offline projects through its desktop applications and provides a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices.
Figma Top Features
- Real-time collaboration promoting project consistency
- Compatability with multiple operating systems
- Integration with third-party tools like Slack
- On-demand and automatic versioning systems
- Access to Team Libraries for universal UI components
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Figma Community | Enables sharing design work with others |
| FigJam | Offers digital whiteboarding capability |
| Prototype creation | Eliminates need for third-party review tools |
Figma Limitations
- Potential forceful integration with Adobe Creative Cloud
- Possible unfavorable business model implementation due to the proposed Adobe acquisition
- Competition-reducing effect in the design community
Figma Pricing
Figma offers varying features under four distinct pricing plans- Free, Professional, Organization, and Enterprise.
Figma Use Cases
Use case 1
With its real-time collaboration feature, Figma aids in team projects, ensuring consistency in design and preventing potential misinterpretations.
Use case 2
Figma’s compatibility with platforms like Slack promotes seamless communication within teams, making it favorable for collaborative work environments.
Use case 3
Through its integration with third-party tools, Figma is a great asset for businesses aiming to streamline their design process, as exemplified by Uber’s live design file displays.
Adobe Express
Rechristened from Adobe Spark in December 2021, Adobe Express is a versatile, cloud-based design tool that offers high-quality design options to its users. Providing a wide array of AI-recommended templates, it’s free to download and doesn’t require a credit card.
Adobe Express Top Features
- Offers one-click quick actions for tasks such as image conversion, video reversal, and image resizing or cropping.
- Provides AI technology for background removal from photos and recommending templates or fonts based on seasons.
- Compatible with mobile and web platforms and accessible via Adobe account.
- Supports various business sectors including Education, Professional Graphic Designing, Marketing, Property, Finance, Entertainment.
- Includes a project management tool for managing all designs and controlling permissions.
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Integrated scheduling | Enables social media marketers to set post timings |
| Adobe Express library | Offers cloud storage for user creations |
| Multi-language support | Supports various languages like English, German, Spanish, French, and more |
Adobe Express Limitations
- Despite the rich array of features, some users may find the interface initially complex due to the various tools and settings.
- While the basic plan is free, access to more templates and the extensive Adobe Stock photo collection requires a premium subscription.
Adobe Express Pricing
Adobe Express offers a free basic plan, while its premium plan priced at $9.99/month offers more features, effects, templates, and access to a royalty-free Adobe Stock photo collection.
Adobe Express Use Cases
Use case 1: Education
With various templates and editing tools available, educators can create engaging content for students, making lessons more interactive.
Use case 2: Marketing
Marketers can leverage Adobe Express for creating attention-grabbing ads, social media posts, banners, and more.
Use case 3: Professional Graphic Designing
Professional graphic designers can utilize the high-quality templates and advanced editing features in Adobe Express to create impactful content.
Microsoft Designer
Meet Microsoft Designer, an innovative AI-driven graphic design app. Developed to challenge the likes of Adobe Express and Canva, Microsoft Designer uses a blend of AI-generated and user-added images to create unique pieces of art from mere textual descriptions.
Microsoft Designer Top Features
- Designer Interface: Offering suggestive and relevant template options for all your design needs.
- Interconnectivity: Merges flawlessly with the existing Microsoft 365 software suite and plans future integrations with other Microsoft apps.
- DALL-E 2 Integration: Utilizes the power of OpenAI’s web-based app to generate unique images from text prompts.
- Design Ideas: Offers layout suggestions based on the user’s title or content topic inputs.
- Auto-caption Generation: Automatically crafts captions and hashtags for your social media posts.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Image Auto-generation | AI tool generates image options, supportive text and design suggestions based on user description. |
| Customizable Resizing | Conveniently resize your designs up to 20 different social media layout sizes. |
| Photo Editing Tools | Removes or replaces backgrounds, provides fill selections and more to enhance your photos. |
Microsoft Designer Limitations
- No collaboration support unlike its competitors.
- Lacks diverse project types such as slide decks and websites unlike its rival, Canva.
- It does not provide advanced-level features such as content scheduler and multipage layouts, unlike Adobe Express.
Microsoft Designer Pricing
Microsoft Designer comes free with a limited web app version. For a fuller experience, it is part of the paid Microsoft 365 Personal or Family plan starting at $69.99 a year.
Microsoft Designer Use Cases
Use Case 1: Social Media Posts
Microsoft Designer becomes an effective tool for social media enthusiasts, generating attractive graphics, captions and hashtags, while appropriately resizing the design to match the layout size.
Use Case 2: Content Generation
It becomes a nifty companion for content creators and digital marketers, enriching blogs, articles, or advertisements with AI-generated unique images based on textual descriptions.
Use Case 3: Online Graphic Design
For anyone requiring quick online graphics, with about zero graphic design skills, Microsoft Designer offers a user-friendly interface for quick art generation from text descriptions.
Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator, a powerhouse in vector graphics and animation software, is recognized as an industry standard for graphic design, enabling the creation and customization of mobile graphics, product packagings, and unique fonts with varied weights and slants.
Illustrator Top Features
- Design capabilities: From free-form gradients to custom banners, Illustrator provides comprehensive tools for creating unique designs.
- Collaboration and version tracking: Effective teamwork is made easy with Illustrator’s collaborative capacities, allowing multiple users to work on files and track version changes.
- Adobe Creative Cloud integration: Seemless transition between Illustrator, Photoshop, and Fresco boosts the productivity and efficiency of the design process.
| Comprehensive type toolkit | Illustrator boasts an expansive font library of over 18,000+ fonts and supports color and variable fonts. |
| Advanced editing processes | Users can mirror images, modify spacing, combine shapes, edit clipping masks, and create special effects, among other editing services. |
| File compatibility | It is capable of working with a wide range of file formats, including SVG, PNG, OpenDocument, PDF, and PSD. |
Illustrator Disadvantages
- Complex for beginners: Illustrator is packed with advanced features, which poses a challenging learning curve for novices in the field. However, several tutorials can help ease this process.
- Heavy resource consumption: High-quality rendering and sophisticated design capabilities mean Illustrator tends to consume substantial system resources.
Illustrator Pricing
Illustrator’s pricing plant for individuals comes at $19.99/month, while for businesses it is $29.99/month. However, Adobe offers a 7-day free trial for new users. It’s important to note that there’s no free version after the trial period.
Illustrator Use Cases
Use case 1
Illustrator provides professional illustrators and graphic designers with sophisticated and robust vector graphics tools, enabling them to create unique and impactful designs.
Use case 2
Web designers can benefit from Illustrator’s seamless file integration, allowing for easy design transfers from Illustrator to web-compatible formats, boosting efficiency and workflow.
Use case 3
With comprehensive collaboration tools and version tracking, Illustrator is the perfect solution for team-based projects, guaranteeing effective communication and organization.
Procreate
A robust cloud-based solution for digital sketching and illustrating, Procreate has quickly gained traction as an innovative design software platform. Exclusively tailored to iOS devices, Procreate is noted for its user-friendliness, low entry barriers, and multitude of integrated feature sets.
Procreate Top Features
- Animation Assist: A tool for time-lapse recording, allowing designers to study and adjust their design process.
- Customizable Brushes and Effects: Allows syncing of unique style notes and unique creation.
- Chromatic Aberrations: Paint filter adjustment providing realistic and vivid shades.
- Quick Shape: A feature that enables simple and rapid shape drawing.
- Color Description Notifications: Enhances user inclusivity, boosting the user experience.
- Photoshop Brushes Support: Allows import of Photoshop brushes into Procreate for additional functionality.
| Language Support | Localized in 16 languages, with usage of iconography to facilitate usage in non-localized regions. |
| Company Location | Procreate is based in Hobart, Tasmania. |
| Recognition | Winner of the dual Apple Design Award in 2013 and 2022. |
Procreate Limitations
- Limited layering functionality based on canvas size and quality.
- Platform exclusive to iPhone and iPad.
- Necessity of Apple Pencil for optimal usage.
- Lack of a free trial or version; one-time license required.
Procreate Pricing
Procreate offers a one-time license for $9.99, with no free trial or version available.
Procreate Use Cases
Use case 1: Digital Illustration
With its arsenal of tools like customizable brushes and Quick Shape feature, Procreate becomes an ideal pick for digital illustrators.
Use case 2: Animation
Animation Assist and time-lapse recording features make Procreate a viable platform for animators.
Use case 3: Note-Taking
Thanks to its intuitive design and user-friendly interface, Procreate also serves as an efficient tool for note-taking.
