Top 10 Online Design software

Latest news about Online Design software

2023. Canva unveils Magic Studio, a suite of AI-powered design tools



Canva, the graphic design platform, has unveiled Magic Studio, a suite of AI-powered tools designed to simplify the creation of engaging and informative visuals. While the official launch was today, some of Canva's new features have been gradually introduced to a select group of users over the past few months. The Magic Edit trial, for example, gained attention earlier this year for its ability to modify individual elements in an image, transforming casual photos into professional headshots suitable for platforms like LinkedIn. Magic Studio represents a significant enhancement to Canva's AI offerings, introducing tools like Magic Switch, Magic Grab, Magic Expand, Magic Morph, Magic Alt Text, and Magic Animate. These tools utilize Canva's proprietary AI technology as well as contributions from partners like Google and OpenAI.


2023. Adobe launches Photoshop’s web version with Firefly-powered AI tools



Adobe has unveiled the official web version of Photoshop for users with paid plans, following nearly two years of beta testing. The web version now includes Firefly-powered AI tools like generative fill and generative expand. These tools, accessible through the toolbar, are designed around specific workflows such as image reproduction or object selection. Notably, Photoshop on the web displays the full names of the tools instead of tooltips, making it more user-friendly, particularly for beginners. Additionally, Adobe has streamlined collaboration by enabling users to share file links with others, even without a subscription, fostering easy and efficient teamwork.

2023. Startup Tezza takes on VSCO with easy-to-use photo and video editing tools



Tezza, the app for enhancing photos and videos, has set its sights on becoming the preferred tool for influencers. It offers an extensive array of resources, including hundreds of editorial templates, more than 40 handpicked presets, overlays, Instagram feed management utilities, and much more. Tezza operates in a manner quite similar to VSCO. Users simply upload their pictures or videos and then choose from a range of filters, granting their content a polished and professional appearance, all without the need to invest in the influencer-designed presets that are currently in vogue. In addition, Tezza has recently introduced "Tezza Studio," a video-editing feature that empowers content creators to easily edit comprehensive videos featuring vintage-inspired film effects, music, and a variety of presets and fonts. VSCO, on the other hand, unveiled its first video editing tool back in 2017.


2023. Adobe brings Firefly’s generative AI to Photoshop



Photoshop is receiving an infusion of generative AI through the integration of several Firefly-based features. These new additions empower users to expand images beyond their boundaries by incorporating Firefly-generated backgrounds. Additionally, generative AI can now be utilized to seamlessly insert objects into images, while a new generative fill feature enables more precise removal of objects compared to the previous content-aware fill option. Initially, these features will be exclusive to the beta version of Photoshop. Moreover, Adobe is extending some of these capabilities to Firefly beta users on the web. It's worth noting that Firefly users have already generated over 100 million images using the service.


2023. Microsoft launches its AI-powered Designer



Microsoft has launched its AI-driven design tool, Designer, in public preview mode, which comes with an expanded range of features. Similar to Canva, Designer is a web-based application that generates designs for various purposes such as presentations, posters, invitations, digital postcards, graphics, etc., which can be shared on social media or other channels. The tool uses user-generated content and DALL-E 2, an OpenAI text-to-image AI, to generate design ideas. Users can further personalize and customize their designs using drop-downs and text boxes. Designer can now even generate written captions and hashtags relevant to social media posts and provide multiple suggestions for users to choose from. Additionally, it can create animated visuals with AI-powered backgrounds and text transitions. The preview period is free and the app is accessible through the Designer website or the sidebar in Microsoft's Edge browser. Following the general release, Designer will be included in Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions with some features available for non-subscribers.


2023. Adobe Express launches an enterprise tier with generative AI tools



Adobe has introduced the enterprise version of its creative software, Adobe Express, which will be connected with the digital asset management platform, Adobe Experience Manager (AEM). Along with this, the enterprise package will provide access to Adobe Firefly, the company's recently introduced AI-powered creative tools. These tools allow businesses of any size to create brand content and social media posts without needing expertise in design. Adobe is essentially offering its own Canva-like software to all enterprise levels. Originally called Creative Cloud Express, Adobe launched the tool in 2021 to replace Adobe Spark and subsequently renamed it to Adobe Express.


2023. PixCap draws $2.8M to power web-based 3D design



Singapore-based PixCap has recently raised $2.8 million in a seed funding round. The expenses associated with implementing 3D technology are excessively high for most startups. PixCap aims to make the transition to 3D more affordable, similar to how Canva enhanced accessibility to 2D designs. Rather than spending a significant amount of money on hiring a designer for a single campaign, marketers can swiftly create a 3D social media graphic on PixCap using its collection of templates. With just a few clicks, even individuals with no prior 3D expertise can modify the lighting and after-effects of objects, rotate them, and adjust the colors to align with their brand's palette.


2023. Kittl raises €10.8M to take on Canva



Berlin-based startup Kittl has recently secured €10.8 million in Series A funding for its design platform, which claims to empower individuals to effortlessly transform their ideas into professional graphic products. Kittl aims to eliminate the challenges associated with a steep learning curve by providing users with a fast and user-friendly design experience. The platform's features are specifically designed to simplify and streamline complex design processes, making them accessible to users with just a few clicks. Unlike its competitors, who either offer basic tools with limited creative freedom or require extensive training and practice to achieve proficiency, Kittl bridges the gap by providing an intuitive and efficient design solution. Moreover, recognizing the potential impact of AI on the industry, Kittl intends to enhance its existing AI and machine learning capabilities, capitalizing on these technologies to further advance its platform.


2022. Penpot inks $8M for its open source Figma alternative



Spanish startup Penpot has secured $8 million in funding. Penpot offers a novel approach to design collaboration, utilizing an open-source platform that enables simultaneous involvement of designers and developers. The platform operates independently of specific operating systems and is web-based, utilizing open web standards like SVG. Penpot has experienced significant growth, particularly following the Adobe-Figma acquisition news. Even prior to this development, Penpot had already gained recognition in the industry. Within a year of its launch, the startup garnered tens of thousands of downloads and received 15,000 stars on GitHub. Among its active users, Penpot boasts an impressive roster of 10,000 companies, including Google, Microsoft, Red Hat, Tencent, ByteDance, and Mozilla.


2022. Adobe snaps up Figma for $20B



Adobe has recently announced its acquisition of Figma for a staggering $20 billion. Figma has gained popularity among individuals and teams due to its streamlined and modern cloud-based environment for design and prototyping. With approximately 4 million users to date, Figma has established itself as a prominent player in the industry. On the other hand, Adobe has been actively expanding its presence in the digital creation space through both internal developments and acquisitions. This expansion has taken Adobe beyond design and into marketing and other interconnected areas in the creation process. Design has always been at the core of Adobe's DNA, evident in their iconic products such as Photoshop, fonts, illustration, video, and 3D tools. The strategic vision behind the acquisition is to seamlessly integrate these Adobe products with Figma, positioning Figma as the native platform that unifies all of them. Adobe already had a similar offering in the form of AdobeXD, but the acquisition of Figma further strengthens its position in the design ecosystem.


2022. Canva moves beyond graphic design to launch a visual worksuite



Canva is expanding its range of offerings beyond its popular graphic design tool. The Australian company has introduced several new products to enhance its portfolio: Canva Docs, Canva Websites, Canva Whiteboards, and Data Visualization. In addition, Canva plans to expand its print services and extend its background removal technology to videos. Canva Presentations, launched in 2021, will also receive an upgrade with a remote control feature, enabling presenters to use other devices, such as a phone, as a virtual clicker.


2021. Adobe launches free online photo/video editor Creative Cloud Express



Adobe has introduced Creative Cloud Express, a new mobile and web app that combines the best features from Adobe's expansive Creative Cloud Suite and Acrobat PDF tools. This single application enables users to swiftly create various content, ranging from social media posts to promotional posters and videos. Creative Cloud Express serves as a replacement for Adobe Spark, offering a template-first approach and convenient access to stock images and other resources. The aim is to make Creative Cloud Express more accessible compared to individual Creative Cloud applications. The app will be available in both a free version and a paid subscription edition priced at $9.99 per month, featuring additional capabilities and an extensive library of complex templates. Access to this new application is included in Adobe's Creative Cloud All Apps and flagship single-app plans.


2021. Facet raises $13M for its AI-based photo editor



Content-aware image editing software Facet has recently secured $13 million in funding. The company has developed an AI-powered photo editing tool that can be accessed through APIs. With this tool, users can perform highly advanced batch photo editing, combining elements from Snapchat's photo filters, Adobe Lightroom's batch editing capabilities, Photoshop's flexibility, and the collaborative features of tools like Figma. Notably, Facet's tool introduces innovative functionalities that have yet to be seen in the field of photo editing.


2021. Vector design tool Vectornator raises $20M



Vectornator, a platform focused on vector design, has secured $20 million in funding. Vectornator empowers users to create intricate illustrations, layout mockups, and expressive lettering at their convenience, wherever they may be. With its Auto Trace technology, the laborious task of manually tracing images is condensed into a simple button press. The text-editing tool simplifies the handling of text within your documents. You can effortlessly manipulate masks, drag and drop images, generate guides and templates, and utilize custom fonts for your print projects. Vectornator encompasses all the necessary vector tools, advanced features, and functions in an intuitive user interface, ensuring optimal performance for all your graphic design endeavors. Whether it's branding, illustrations, interfaces, websites, typography, or any imaginative concept, Vectornator serves as the ultimate creative hub.


2021. Picsart raises $130M for its visual creator tools



Picsart has secured a significant funding round of $130 million. The company specializes in developing mobile and desktop image and video editing tools that cater to both consumers and professionals. You've likely encountered content created using Picsart's tools across various platforms. Unlike niche APIs or specialized software, Picsart's accessible solutions make it a startup that feels more relatable to a broader audience. The company offers a combination of free and paid services, with paid products providing users with access to a wider range of images and features such as watermark removal. Additionally, Picsart provides a team-oriented plan that includes options for multi-seat purchases.


2021. Simplified raises $2.2M to bring automated content creation to marketers



Simplified, a design software with a focus on marketing, has secured $2.2 million in seed funding as it aims to challenge Canva. Designed specifically for marketers, Simplified recognizes their significant role in generating a large volume of content across various channels. Leveraging machine learning, the platform automates much of the content creation process, including copywriting, imagery selection, formatting, and resizing, among other tasks. For instance, if a marketer intends to share an inspirational quote on social media, they can indicate the platform and search for relevant quotes, prompting the system to automatically generate suitable backgrounds. Users have the flexibility to customize elements such as typeface and image cropping before swiftly publishing their content.


2021. Figma introduces a whiteboard tool called FigJam



Figma, the online collaborative design service, has unveiled FigJam, a new whiteboarding tool aimed at fostering teamwork. FigJam goes beyond providing designers with a space to generate ideas collectively; it also enables nondesigners to actively participate in the brainstorming process. The tool offers a range of features, including sticky notes, emojis, drawing tools, shapes, pre-built lines and connectors, stamps, and cursor chats. Integration with Figma ensures smooth transitions as components or design objects created in FigJam can easily be transferred to Figma. Additionally, Figma is introducing voice chat functionality across all its products. This allows users collaborating on designs in Figma or engaging in brainstorming sessions in FigJam to communicate via audio without the need for separate Zoom or Google Meet calls—simply toggling on chat in Figma facilitates seamless audio communication.


2020. Skylum launches Luminar AI, its AI photo editor



Skylum, known for its popular photo-editing apps such as Aurora HDR and Luminar, is introducing a fresh addition to its lineup with Luminar AI. Priced at $79, this brand-new photo editor is now available. Luminar AI is a standalone application for Mac and Windows users and can also function as a plug-in for Lightroom and Photos for MacOS. While it encompasses many familiar photo-editing features found in applications like Lightroom, its main emphasis lies in its innovative AI-based tools. These tools are specifically designed for enhancing landscape images, including skies, and optimizing portrait photography. Skylum has developed Luminar AI from scratch, ensuring a unique and powerful editing experience for photographers.


2020. InVision refreshes its Design System Manager



InVision, the design service, is introducing an innovative Design System Manager that provides teams with enhanced flexibility and control over the creation and maintenance of their design system. The updated features include the capability to import reusable design elements in bulk and directly upload native Sketch libraries to the InVision DSM. This empowers design system owners to effortlessly create and manage their libraries in Sketch and seamlessly transition them to InVision. Additionally, the new DSM enables one-click updates for all libraries during a company's rebranding process, eliminating the need to individually delete and replace each design asset. Instead, the entire design system can be updated simultaneously.


2020. Design platform Figma raises $50 million



Figma, the design platform renowned for its collaborative and cloud-based approach, has recently concluded a successful Series D financing round, raising $50 million. After nearly six years of development in stealth mode, Figma was launched in 2015 with the vision of creating a collaborative design tool that functions similarly to Google Docs. Since its inception, Figma has continued to enhance its platform, focusing on expanding accessibility and usability for individual designers, small firms, and large enterprise companies. Additionally, the company introduced an educational platform called Community, empowering designers to share their work and enabling users to "remix" designs or explore them layer by layer.


2020. Ceros launches MarkUp, a design collaboration tool for live websites



When designers need to collaborate with other teams, they often rely on tools like InVision and Zeplin. However, Ceros has identified an interesting gap in the market beyond the prototyping stage. As designers work with live or staging websites, the collaboration process becomes fragmented, involving screenshots, emails, phone calls, and Google Docs. To address this issue, Ceros is introducing a new product called MarkUp. MarkUp allows users to highlight specific areas of interest on a website, leave comments and tasks, and track revisions as they are completed. This valuable tool will operate independently from the core Ceros Studio platform and is available for free to all users.


2019. Adobe Photoshop arrives on the iPad



At last, Adobe has unveiled Photoshop for the iPad. It is available for a monthly fee of $9.99 as a standalone app or can be accessed through an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. While this initial version of Photoshop for the iPad doesn't offer the same range of features as its desktop counterpart, it does support Apple Pencil for iPad Pro and newer iPad models. Additionally, it enables editing of PSD files and provides handy features like spot healing and clone stamp, making it convenient for refining edits on the go. For professionals seeking enhanced portability, combining the iPad workflow with Lightroom can be a decent solution, although it may not yet match the extensive capabilities of the desktop version. Furthermore, Creative Cloud allows you to seamlessly continue editing PSDs from where you left off across all devices.


2019. Graphic Design Software Canva launched enterprise product


Canva, the Australian design tool company, has announced a recent funding round that raised an additional $10 million, bringing its valuation to $3.2 billion. Alongside this, the company is introducing Canva for Enterprise. Up until now, Canva has provided users with a user-friendly toolkit for creating marketing and sales presentations, social media materials, and various other design products that are typically unrelated to product design. However, the challenge lies in maintaining brand consistency across the organization, especially outside the realm of product designers. While Canva remains free for individual users, the company has recognized the growing demand within professional organizations to ensure brand consistency and has responded with Canva Pro, a premium version of the product available for $12.95 per month.


2019. Graphic design platform Canva raised $70 million



Canva has secured an additional $70 million in funding to expand its graphic design platform. This funding round values the company at an impressive $2.5 billion and brings the total raised to $166 million. The announcement closely follows Canva's recent acquisitions of the free stock image providers Pexels and Pixabay, as well as the launch of a subscription service for its premium image marketplace called Photos Unlimited. However, the newly acquired capital will primarily be allocated towards the development of Canva Enterprise, a new product designed specifically for larger brands and businesses seeking enhanced brand control and collaboration capabilities. Currently, Canva boasts 15 million users across 190 countries.


2019. InVision adds new integrations with Jira


InVision has recently revealed enhanced integrations with Jira, enabling users to seamlessly embed InVision prototypes directly within a Jira ticket. Additionally, the company has introduced the Jira app for InVision Studio, granting Studio designers the ability to view interactive Jira tickets in real time. In the past, InVision had established more limited integrations with Atlassian tools such as Jira, Confluence, and Trello. This partnership is logical since Atlassian offers a complementary product to InVision, catering specifically to engineers rather than designers.


2019. InVision acquired design file versioning startup Trunk



Online design software provider InVision has completed the acquisition of Trunk, an Australia-based company exclusively dedicated to file versioning for designers. While GitHub has revolutionized version control for developers, allowing them to track changes, experiment with separate branches, and collaborate seamlessly by merging branches, designers have not been granted the same level of convenience. Typically, designers find themselves spending a significant amount of time searching through lengthy email chains in pursuit of the latest attachment version. The Trunk team will now concentrate their efforts on Studio, InVision's design tool, which was introduced approximately a year ago. With the launch of Studio, InVision showcased its ambition to transcend being a mere collaboration tool and aspire to become the design world's equivalent of Salesforce.


2019. Online design tool Figma gets new enterprise collaboration features



Figma, the web-based design and prototyping tool aiming to provide an alternative to similar tools like Adobe, is introducing a range of new features today to enhance collaboration across teams within large organizations. Known as Figma Organization, this feature set represents the company's first enterprise-grade service, incorporating controls and security tools that are essential for large companies. One notable addition for designers is the introduction of organization-wide design systems. While Figma already offered tools for creating design systems, this enterprise version simplifies the process of sharing libraries and fonts among teams. This ensures consistent application of styles across a company's products and services.


2018. Prototyping tool InVision is valued at $1.9 billion



InVision, the design startup aspiring to become the Salesforce of the design industry, has officially reached unicorn status by successfully closing a $115 million Series F funding round. This latest investment brings the company's total funding to $350 million and values InVision at $1.9 billion. InVision initially emerged in 2011 as a straightforward prototyping tool, allowing designers to create interactive experiences without requiring direct involvement from the engineering team. These prototypes could then be shared with various teams, including engineering, product, marketing, and executives, for collaboration and approval. Over the years, InVision has expanded its scope to cover the entire design process, offering a comprehensive collaboration suite called InVision Cloud, enabling the involvement of every team member in the design process. Additionally, they introduced Studio, a design platform aimed at competing with industry giants like Adobe and Sketch. InVision also developed the InVision Design System Manager, a centralized solution for design teams to manage their assets and implement best practices effectively from a single location.


2018. InVision deepens integrations with Atlassian



InVision has enhanced its integration with Atlassian products including Confluence, Trello, and Jira, enabling users to conveniently view and share InVision prototypes directly from within these applications. This integration acknowledges the collaborative nature of design and development teams that frequently utilize both InVision and Atlassian products. With this expanded integration, designers now have the ability to share their InVision Studio designs and prototypes seamlessly within Jira, Trello, and Confluence. InVision Studio, introduced in the previous year, presents designers with a compelling alternative to Sketch and Adobe.


2018. Balsamiq Mockups improves navigation, offline access



The prototyping tool Balsamiq Mockups has introduced a range of new features that enhance navigation, editing, and exporting capabilities with Moqups. Notably, there are two significant changes to Pages: Pinned Pages and Page Thumbnails. Pinned pages enable users to prioritize their most frequently accessed pages by pinning them to the top of the Pages Panel. Furthermore, the export function now has its dedicated button and introduces a valuable new option: the ability to export an offline version of the Viewer. With the Export to HTML feature, users can download a fully interactive prototype that can be viewed without an internet connection, making it suitable for environments with more restricted access, such as behind-the-firewall intranet servers. Additionally, Balsamiq Mockups incorporates several other improvements, including smarter forms, color replacement on pages, enhanced SVG support, image cropping, and a blur filter. These updates collectively enhance the user experience and expand the tool's capabilities.