2D Graphic Design Software

The learning curve can be challenging for new users because there are many tools and settings to understand. Some tasks that seem simple at first can take time to learn properly. I have also noticed that larger files with many effects or artboards can slow things down on less powerful systems. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Adobe Illustrator solves the problem of creating professional graphics that can be used across different platforms and sizes without losing quality. Instead of creating separate versions for different uses, I can work from a single design and adapt it for websites, social media, presentations, or print materials. This saves time, keeps branding consistent, and makes revisions much easier. The ability to edit shapes, colors, and typography with precision also helps me produce cleaner and more professional-looking designs with less effort. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The pricing structure and licensing model can be quite rigid and expensive for smaller teams or growing businesses. It sometimes feels like you are forced into higher tiers just to get access to a few specific advanced features. Additionally, managing licenses for 'view-only' users versus active editors can occasionally become confusing for administrators Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Problems solved: It solves the challenge of team misalignment, scattered ideas, and communication gaps, especially in a remote or hybrid work environment. Before Lucid, brainstorming sessions were disorganized, and documenting them was a chore.

How it benefits me: It provides our team with a centralized "single source of truth." We can now transition seamlessly from messy, creative brainstorming in Lucidspark to structured, professional workflows in Lucidchart. This saves us hours of manual documentation, keeps everyone aligned, and speeds up our decision-making process Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Pricing, I don't like that some features are paid subscriptions or that there is a cap on how many free boards you are allowed to have. I also think its use of AI for creating isn't very strong, it is good for admin tasks but not for creation of new tables etc Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It makes my workflow much faster, and I enjoy that I can bring Miro with me anywhere, on my phone, laptop, or iPad. It's accessible on all platforms and solves the issue of doing physical story boards that can get bulky because of pens, paper, notesbooks sticky notes but with Miro the interfae has everything Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The only thing is that it doesn't have multi-window support yet; I hope they'll be able to implement it someday. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The banding issue was something I struggled with a lot in programs like Clip Studio Paint or Krita. In Rebelle, the strokes don't multiply when I lift the pen and draw again in the same area; instead, they build up naturally, just like in real life, which is a huge benefit for me. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recraft excels at vector generation, brand consistency, and text rendering, but its operational instability, credit model, and support infrastructure create genuine professional risk. If you rely on it for deadline-driven client work, it’s wise to keep backup tools on hand and document any service failures as they occur. The platform’s technical capabilities are impressive when everything is functioning properly, yet the gap between benchmark performance and day-to-day reliability still feels significant. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recraft’s brand consistency and multilingual capabilities directly support how I position myself as a culturally fluent content creator. Being able to produce polished, consistent visuals quickly helps me prototype podcast concepts, pitch subscription channel ideas, and maintain academic-level visual standards without hiring a designer. That keeps my bootstrapped ventures lean while still looking established. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It’s hard for me to think of any real downsides to Procreate. The one thing I do wish it had is some kind of vector mode. I realize that isn’t really what Procreate is intended for, but it could still be useful in certain situations. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Procreate makes it easy to create digital artwork. It’s a useful tool for quickly getting ideas out and keeping momentum as I work. With Procreate, my creative workflow feels faster, smoother, and more streamlined overall. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Nothing major. Early on, there were some limitations with schema filtering and support for larger tables, but the team has been super responsive and shipped fixes quickly. One thing still on our wishlist is better versioning support, though the current setup already works well for most of our needs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It helps us quickly generate and share clear ER diagrams with the team, which is especially useful during onboarding and planning changes. Before ChartDB, we’d waste time explaining schemas manually or digging through SQL. Now we just share a link to the diagram, way faster and easier for everyone to understand what’s going on. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

File compatibility can sometimes require a few extra adjustments when enhancing projects with clients or collaborators who use Adobe software. I would like clearer guidance on export settings and color management. Sometimes the exported file doesn't perfectly match what I see in the application in terms of colors and quality. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Affinity Designer lets me handle vector, raster, and layout design tasks efficiently in one app, maintaining smooth workflows without subscription fees. It offers professional tools and runs smoothly on average laptops, making it cost-effective and reliable for complex designs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Well, I think the fluency in some aspects of using the tools could be improved a little, but I understand, since it's a tool that they are iterating, it will improve over time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

SVGator makes animation easy for me without having to rely on other professionals or tools, saving me time by not needing many tutorials. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Honestly, there’s very little I dislike. As with most creative software, there can be a bit of a learning curve when you’re first exploring all the features, but the newer updates and the improved interface have made everything feel much smoother and easier to navigate overall. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

SketchWow solves the challenge of creating engaging, professional-looking visuals quickly, without requiring advanced graphic design skills or expensive software. It lets me produce presentations, diagrams, charts, and other visual content much faster, which saves me time and helps my work look more polished and professional overall. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What could be improved is, like, the different brush sizes and, like, the usability, you know, because, like, I have to select from the brush sizes, and, like, that could have been more intuitive. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I use Sketchbook because it integrates well with my tablet and mobile devices, allowing for more creativity compared to other software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It feels a bit limited once work gets bigger. For small diagrams it’s perfect, but for larger planning or brainstorming sessions, the canvas feels restrictive.

It’s more of a diagram tool than a full collaboration space. When discussions go beyond flows into planning, tracking, or workshops, we had to use other tools.

Template options are also fewer compared to some other platforms, so sometimes we had to build layouts from scratch.

Basically great for simple visuals, but not ideal for large cross-team collaboration. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It helps turn discussions into visuals quickly. When we talk about processes or system flows, people often understand differently. Drawing it out in Whimsical clears things up fast.

I use it during planning talks to map steps and decisions. It helps the team see the full picture instead of just hearing it.

It’s also helpful for sharing knowledge. A diagram is easier for someone new to understand than reading long notes.

So the main benefit is clarity and saving time on explanations. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I have a good experience with Creately because it does what I need it to do: create diagrams quickly, collaborate visually, and make complex ideas easier to explain. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Before development even starts, product is thinking about the user flow, backend is focused on events, frontend is considering screen states, and support wants to know what happens when something fails. We open Creately and map out the entire flow: what happens when the user starts the action, which service receives the request, what validations run, which errors can appear, and what message the user should see in each case. Halfway through the session, we often spot an intermediate state where the user could be left waiting without knowing whether the process failed or is still pending. Catching that early lets us adjust the design before writing any code, so we avoid building an incomplete experience. That’s where Creately becomes genuinely useful for me: it doesn’t just help us draw what we already know, it helps us uncover the parts of the workflow we haven’t fully thought through yet. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

As a free user, you cannot really modify the templates. Without a pro account, you cannot really do anything. The price. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I use Snappa to easily create images and collages. It simplifies making posts and ads for companies with its existing templates. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One thing I find limiting is that some of the most useful features are only available in the paid plan, which can restrict what I can do in smaller projects. Additionally, if I rely too much on the templates, designs can start to look similar. While the tools are very flexible, creating fully unique visuals sometimes requires extra effort beyond what the templates provide. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Kittl solves the challenge of creating polished, professional looking designs quickly without needing to spend hours learning complex design software. I initially used it for freelance projects, such as social media graphics and website visuals, and even though I only use it occasionally now, it remains a helpful tool when I need fast results. The ready made templates are modern and clean, and the flexible editing tools make experimenting with layouts, fonts, and effects simple. This allows me to explore creative directions efficiently and refine designs without starting from scratch each time. Kittl is especially useful when working under tight deadlines, as it reduces stress and speeds up the design process. Overall, it provides a balance of efficiency and creative control, enabling me to produce visually appealing graphics quickly and maintain a professional standard, whether for personal projects or client work. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The tool offers many options, so first time users may spend a few minutes finding the right settings. Though the tutorials and live chat make that ramp up quick. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Maptive addresses the problem of turning raw location data into actionable visual maps quickly.

It simplifies territory management, sales tracking, and service area visualization for my businesses. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

File Sharing Friction: While CorelDRAW can import and export .ai and .eps files, complex gradients, proprietary effects, and text formatting often break or shift during the conversion.

Collaborative Bottlenecks: If you are collaborating with agencies, external marketing teams, or clients who expect native Illustrator files, the back-and-forth conversion process can quickly become a headache. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The Scale Problem: Eliminating Math and Resizing Headaches

The Problem: Many standard vector illustration tools have a hard limit on canvas size. If you need to design something massive—like a large billboard, storefront signage, or architectural-scale graphics—you are forced to work in a 1:10 scale or do complex math to ensure your ratios remain correct when sent to production. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The main downside is the cost structure when working in teams. The licensing per user can add up quickly, especially when you need multiple collaborators accessing shared libraries and projects.

Additionally, the storage limits for shared workspaces can feel restrictive over time, particularly when managing multiple brand systems and large design files. It’s manageable, but something to consider as your team and project volume grow. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Sketch helps us solve the problem of inconsistency when building brand systems. Instead of creating isolated design pieces, we can structure everything into components and shared libraries, which ensures that typography, colors, and visual elements stay aligned across all assets.

It also reduces rework significantly. When something changes in the system, we can update it once and see it reflected everywhere, which saves time and keeps projects organized.

Overall, it allows us to move from designing individual pieces to building scalable visual systems, making our work more efficient, consistent, and easier to manage as projects grow. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

While Draw.io is very capable for diagramming, managing and navigating large and complex diagrams can be difficult. The collaboration features aren't as advanced compared to some dedicated real-time whiteboard team tools. An automatic layout and alignment option could be smarter for complex diagrams. The biggest challenge is maintaining large architectural process diagrams over time as they grow in size and complexity, which requires significant manual effort. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Draw.io solves the problem of communicating complex systems, workflows, and processes in a clear visual format. Without diagrams, explaining application architectures, integrations, business processes, or testing workflows can be difficult and lead to misunderstandings. Simplifies the visualization of system architectures and data flows. Makes technical concepts easier for both technical and non-technical stakeholders to understand. Improves collaboration between development, QA, product, and business teams. Helps document processes, workflows, and integrations in a structured manner. Supports onboarding by providing visual documentation of systems and dependencies. In my day-to-day work, I use Draw.io to create API flow diagrams, automation framework designs, test process flows, and system architecture diagrams. These visuals make discussions more productive and help ensure everyone has a shared understanding of how different components interact. The biggest benefit is clarity. Instead of relying on lengthy explanations or documentation, diagrams communicate information quickly and effectively, which improves collaboration, reduces confusion, and speeds up decision-making. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Flowmapp is missing some functionality that would benefit our team, but customer service has been very receptive to our feature requests. The team is invested in continuous improvement, so any bugs are likely to be resolved in short order. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Flowmapp helps to facilitate the handoff from website scoping and planning to high-fidelity design and component-based development. It improves our team and client communication, consolidates our tech stack, and allows our team to work in a more agile way. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.