The Best Adobe Illustrator Draw Alternatives for Digital Artists
Adobe Illustrator Draw was a popular mobile application that allowed artists to create elaborate vector illustrations with intuitive touch controls, offering features like scalable strokes, layers, and direct integration with desktop Adobe products. However, with its discontinuation, many artists are now seeking reliable and robust Adobe Illustrator Draw alternatives to continue their digital art workflow. This guide explores the top alternatives that offer similar, and often enhanced, functionalities for both professional and hobbyist creators.
Top Adobe Illustrator Draw Alternatives
Whether you're looking for free, open-source options, desktop powerhouses, or mobile-first solutions, there's a perfect alternative out there to meet your vector drawing needs. Let's dive into the best options available.
Inkscape
Inkscape is a professional vector graphics editor that stands out as a fantastic free and open-source Adobe Illustrator Draw alternative. Available for Linux, Windows, and macOS, it offers extensive features including support for layers, SVG editing, vector drawing, and the ability to vectorize raster images. Its cross-platform compatibility and robust toolset make it a powerful choice for artists transitioning from Adobe Illustrator Draw.
Adobe Photoshop
While primarily known for raster graphics, Adobe Photoshop is a standard in professional image editing and compositing, and can serve as a versatile Adobe Illustrator Draw alternative for certain tasks. Available commercially for Mac, Windows, and iPad, it offers advanced brush settings, layer support, and sophisticated image editing capabilities, particularly useful if your workflow involves both vector and raster elements that need to be combined or refined.
Vectornator
Vectornator is a powerful vector graphics design software that runs on Mac, iPhone, and iPad, making it an excellent free Adobe Illustrator Draw alternative for Apple users. It allows for the creation of sophisticated graphics, layouts, and illustrations with features like artboards, auto-trace, real-time rendering, vector painting, and comprehensive layer support. Its intuitive interface makes it ideal for mobile digital art creation.
Adobe Illustrator
For those deeply embedded in the Adobe ecosystem or seeking the industry standard, Adobe Illustrator is the natural evolution and a premium Adobe Illustrator Draw alternative. Available commercially for Mac and Windows, it offers sophisticated tools for drawing, typography, advanced color controls, and creative effects, including vector drawing, layer manipulation, and the ability to vectorize raster images. It provides a seamless transition for artists familiar with Adobe products.
Sketch
Sketch is a popular design toolkit built specifically for macOS that focuses on UI design, making it a strong Adobe Illustrator Draw alternative for designers. While not purely a drawing application, its vector drawing capabilities, live preview, cloud sync, and symbol features make it excellent for creating vector-based UI elements and illustrations, especially when integrated with tools like InVision.
Pixlr
Pixlr is a versatile freemium web-based photo editing application, also available on Android and iPhone. While more focused on raster image editing, its browser-based access, support for layers, and various photo effects can make it a quick and accessible Adobe Illustrator Draw alternative for lighter creative tasks or when you need to combine vector work with photo manipulation online.
Photoscape
PhotoScape is a freemium photo editing software for Mac and Windows that helps fix and enhance photos. While not a vector drawing tool, its features like image editing, color correction, batch processing, and various effects could offer a different kind of creative experience as a casual Adobe Illustrator Draw alternative, particularly for users focused on image manipulation rather than pure vector creation.
MediBang Paint
MediBang Paint is a lightweight freemium software for illustration and making comic books on Windows, Mac, Android, and iPhone. With multi-choice brushes, blending options, unlimited layers, and pen pressure sensitivity, it's a strong and free Adobe Illustrator Draw alternative, especially for artists interested in comic creation and digital painting, offering a robust set of tools for a free application.
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite is a comprehensive commercial package for vector illustration, page layout, photo-editing, and tracing, available for Mac, Windows, and Web. As a full-fledged creative suite, it is a powerful Adobe Illustrator Draw alternative for professional and occasional designers, offering pixel accuracy, customizable interfaces, and extensive desktop publishing capabilities.
PaintTool SAI
PaintTool SAI is a lightweight commercial painting software for Windows, known for its high-quality anti-aliased paintings and stable operation. While primarily focused on raster painting, its advanced brush settings, layer support, pen pressure sensitivity, and vector-like strokes make it a viable Adobe Illustrator Draw alternative for artists who prioritize a smooth and responsive drawing experience, especially for sketching and line art.
The discontinuation of Adobe Illustrator Draw opens up a world of possibilities for digital artists to explore new tools. From powerful open-source options like Inkscape to comprehensive commercial suites like CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, and mobile-friendly apps like Vectornator and MediBang Paint, there's an excellent Adobe Illustrator Draw alternative waiting to become your next creative companion. Evaluate your specific needs, preferred platforms, and budget to find the best fit for your artistic journey.