For those designers and artists out there who may not exactly be swimming in money (that is to say, most of us), it seems like the only resource out there are the free ones. Mucking through those however, can make even the strongest will snap. Below, you will find a great collection of tools for design, life, and work to help make things that much easier (and let’s fact it, the price tag can’t be beat).
If you know of a free program that you can’t live without, post it up in the comments section and I’ll add it onto the list. Ideally, I’d like to have a larger selection of fabulous freebies.
Office & Productivity
- WordPress 3 Invoice: Handy invoicing in WordPress plug-in form.
- Side Job Track:Web-based job tracking, invoicing, reporting and project management software.
- Open Office: Open source office suite, comparable to Microsoft Office. While it may have less features, it’s not by too much. It has the word processor (of course), spreadsheets, and a vast array of different plugins and more (not even counting the other great things that this has).
- Toggl: Available as web based or downloadable time keeping.
Free Commercial Use Images:
A good image can make a website that much better, while not everyone may have the ability to pay for them. Below, 100% free (commercial use) stock images. There are a few websites out there that claim to have ‘free images’ and they are either far from free, or there may be some questionable legality on them.
- Morgue File: Morgue File has a ton of images on it’s website. On their home page: “for your inspiration, reference and use in your creative work, be it commercial or not”. The image library is vast, and you may be able to find some gems in there fairly easily.
- Open Clip Art Library: High quality (and open source) vectors, illustration, and other pieces all of it in the public domain.
- Stock.chng: More free stock photos.
Free Commercial Use Fonts:
- Larabie Fonts: Most of the fantastic fonts on this website have a free version. They are all commercial-usable as well. One feature that is seriously awesome? The ability to change the display/ preview text to anything from ‘The Quick Brown Fox” to the latest headlines.
As a note, be careful when making your selection as not all the font options are free across the board. If, upon check-out you see that there is a total aside from 0, scan the list. While I would definitely insist one buys something from Larabie, to support the fantastic website.
- daFont: While you do need to make absolutely sure that the font you are getting is free for commercial use, the notification is right above the download link. The website has a huge selection of all typefaces.
Information and Tutorials
There comes a time that anyone from beginner to masters of their trade may need some information. The resources below are all personal favorites and have saved me some time and given their fair share of inspiration as well.
- Typedia: If you happen to be a typography-o-phile** this website will ruin any chance you may have at free time for the foreseeable future. It has a ton of information about typefaces, their use, their invention, and a ton of other information.
- PSDTuts: This website has a brilliant set-up for their tutorials. If you want to be able to download the sample files, you do have to join. If, however you are looking for some new ideas or information- it’s free. Even if you do pay, it’s only $9 a month. So, just skip two lattes and you are set.
Copyright and Legal
If you are a freelancer, you need to protect yourself. If you are normal, more than likely you aren’t fluent in legalese. There are still some resources for when you can’t afford a translator (namely- a lawyer). While these are far from being end alls, they will help protect you in the short run (at least until you can afford that lawyer).
- Creative Commons:For licensing and all that ‘fun’ thing. It’s best to protect yourself early and avoiding any damages later. For more information on Copyright, here’s the US government’s information page: Copyright Office.
- Contracts: About.com guide for designers. This link has a bunch of resources for contract needs.
Miscellaneous
- Color & Code Cheat Sheets: In the interest of not repeating things, a handy list of cheat sheets (from this very website).
- Blender: Open source 3D software.
Art & Design
- GIMP: Gimp is one of the most popular (free) image editing tools out there. It’s comparable to Photoshop (minus the massive price tag) and you can grab it for your operating system of choice.
- Picasa: While Picasa will help you sort through the images on your computer, it also offers a great way to quickly (and painlessly) edit and fix your images as well. From simple color corrections, to removing blemishes and other unwanted parts of your images.
- Paint.net Paint.net was originally intended as a Paint replacement (you know, the little freebie that comes installed with Windows), and it has grown into a fairly robust and great tool.
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