There are new online design tools and helpful technology coming out all the time. It can be difficult to navigate — not only creating the designs and creative content for your church — but also finding the tools that can make your process quicker. And as you're well aware, Sunday seems to come around quicker every week.
In my experience, the right design tool can save me time and face by helping me execute quickly and make creations look professional. You'll love having a favorite tool in your bag of tricks, and I've listed my favorite ones here.
10 Helpful Online Design Tools That Every Church Should Consider
#1 Remove.bg
Sometimes the design you have in mind calls for you to remove backgrounds from your photos (also called “silhouetting”). Once upon a time, this process was consuming and tedious, but with Remove.bg it couldn’t be simpler. You can try this online design tool for free, or if your project requires bulk edits or a higher resolution image, there are pay-as-you-go or subscription options.
Remember the days of tediously removing backgrounds from images? Stop that madness and, instead, use one of our favorite design tools to make it happen easily: Remove.bg. Click To Tweet#2 Flaticon
Looking for the perfect icon for your project? Flaticon hosts a robust collection of ready-to-use icons that you can download in multiple file formats. Need to change the color or size before downloading? Use Flaticon’s built-in editor. Simple and easy.
#3 AdobeXD
Adobe continues to lead the way with tools that support every designer's needs. With AdobeXD designers can wireframe, animate, prototype, collaborate their ideas to bring them to life. It’s a great option for those working with teams allowing for quick and easy feedback and iterations. Move your designs to other adobe apps for a powerful integrated experience.
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#4 Canva Templates
Canva is a great online design tool for those looking to access and share designs in a budget-friendly and easy manner. But even with the ease of use, one can get lost in the myriad of options. That’s where Canva templates come in. Select a template closest to the design you desire, then simply customize with your logos, branding, colors, and fonts! This has been such a great option for many. Even as a professional graphic designer, I appreciate this online design tool and have even created ready-to-use templates.
#5 WhatTheFont
We’ve all been there. What is that font? With WhatTheFont.com, simply upload an image containing the font you are looking to identify and the site will search the collection of over 133,000 font styles and find the best matches for your font.
Did you see a font you liked? Or need to find the font a colleague used? Stop starting and comparing and use one of our favorite online design tools: WhatTheFont. Click To Tweet#6 Adobe Capture
Adobe Capture is a powerful app for your phone that allows you to create vector art on the fly, based on photos and images. Or as they say “Click. Capture. Create.”
Like the texture in a tree you’re walking past? Snap a photo and create a cool vector-based texture. Create brushes, colors, textures, patterns, and shapes. Save them to Adobe Creative Cloud to access them in your favorite Adobe app.
#7 SmartMockups
You’ve created your design, but now you want to see how those new visitor shirts will actually look on a body. Or you want to cast a vision and having the final look will be critical. Head over to SmartMockups and create professional mockups. There is a huge collection of product mockups contained in several categories to choose from. Upgrade to a pro account to remove watermarks from certain options.
#8 Affinity
Adobe has been the reigning champion of online design tools for decades. But for those looking for a less expensive, yet powerful option, Affinity provides three apps: Designer, Photo, and Publisher. There is a one-time purchase fee (as opposed to Adobe’s monthly subscription model) that can meet even a modest church's media budget.
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#9 Procreate
While not a design tool, Procreate is perhaps the best iPad option for creating illustrations and art. Some of the app’s best features are multiple layers (like Photoshop), the ability to import or create brushes, export at high resolutions (even send you layers to Adobe Photoshop to edit further), and allowing you to create animations. At the one-time price point of $9.99, purchasing this is a no-brainer!
#10 Astropad
Wacom tablets have been the go-to drawing tablets for years. For anyone who has attempted to use them, you know there is a learning curve. For instance, you aren't able to look at the tablet while drawing, but at your monitor instead (unless we’re talking the Wacom Cintiq models).
Enter Astropad. This app allows you to use your iPad as a drawing tablet and when paired with your laptop/desktop, acts as an extension of your monitor (or use mirroring). The benefit? You can use your iPad as a drawing tablet for any app on your computer, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and more. If you’re not into drawing, use Astropad for annotation or whiteboarding. Astropad comes in Standard and Studio options, and offers a free 30-day trial.
Try A New Online Design Tool Today
Adding even one of these online design tools to your arsenal might just make all the difference in how your time is spent. Whatever tools you choose, be sure to implement them in a way to serve you and your team's process, ensuring those big ideas come to life!
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