Comparison of vector graphics editors

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A number of vector graphics editors exist for various platforms. Potential users of these editors will make a comparison of vector graphics editors based on factors such as the availability for the user's platform, the software license, the feature set, the merits of the user interface (UI) and the focus of the program. Some programs are more suitable for artistic work while others are better for technical drawings. Another important factor is the application's support of various vector and bitmap image formats for import and export.

The tables in this article compare general and technical information for a number of vector graphics editors. See the article on each editor for further information. This article is neither all-inclusive nor necessarily up-to-date.

Some editors in detail

General information

This table gives basic general information about the different vector graphics editors:

Software Company First Released Latest Version Date Cost (USD) License
Adobe Illustrator Adobe Systems 1987 CC 2024 (28.4.1) 2024-04-1 $19.99 / month (1 year contract) or $29.99 / month Proprietary
Affinity Designer Serif Europe 2014 1.9.3 2021-04-13 $49.99 Windows and $19.99 for iPad Proprietary
Apache OpenOffice Draw Apache Software Foundation 2000 4.1.10 2021-05-04 No cost Apache-2.0
Boxy SVG Jarosław Foksa 2013 3.42.4 2020-08 $9.99 in app stores or $9,99 monthly subscription Proprietary
Collabora Online Draw

All: Online, Mobile and Desktop apps

Collabora Productivity 2016 24.04[16] Edit this on Wikidata 2024-05-23 No cost when using the Collabora Online Development Edition (CODE).
For enterprise support 17 Euro per user, per year, up to 99 users, then discounts apply.
MPL-2.0
ConceptDraw PRO new: ConceptDraw Diagram CS Odessa 1999 14 2020-10 $199 Proprietary
CorelDRAW Corel 1989 2021 (23) 2021-03-09 $499 or $249 annual subscription (includes Photopaint) Proprietary
Dia The GNOME Project 1998 0.97.3 2014-09-05 No cost GPL-2.0-or-later
DrawPlus Serif Europe 1994 X8 2015-03-23 $119.99 Proprietary
Edraw Max EdrawSoft 2004 9.4 2020-03 No cost, $99 premium subscription Proprietary
Embroidermodder Embroidermodder Team 2004 1.70 2012 No cost v2: Zlib
v1: GPL-2.0
EazyDraw Dekorra Optics 2003 9.5.2 (2020-01), 1.1.0 iOS 2020-01 $95 (trial version available at no cost; other prices) Proprietary
Figma Figma 2016 2020-05-19 2020-05-19 No cost, $12, and $45 monthly subscription tiers Proprietary (freemium)
Google Drawings Google 2010-04-12 No cost Proprietary
Karbon KDE Calligra Suite (CS) 2012 3.2.0 CS 3.2.2 2020-04-19 No cost LGPL-2.0-or-later
Inkscape Inkscape Team 2003 1.3.2[17] Edit this on Wikidata 2023-11-25 (2023-11-25) No cost GPL-3.0-or-later
LibreOffice Draw The Document Foundation 2011 7.1.4.2 2021-06-10 No cost MPL-2.0
Macromedia FreeHand Adobe Systems 1988 MX (11) 2003 $399, $99 upgrade Proprietary
Microsoft Visio Microsoft 1992 16.0 2019 $560, $350 upgrade (Pro), $260, $130 upgrade (Standard) Proprietary
OmniGraffle The Omni Group 2000 7.18.1 (2020-12-13) for OS X, 3.15.3 for iOS (2020-12-13) 2020-12-13 Standard: $99, Pro: $199, iPad $49 (Pro:$99) USD Proprietary
Penpot Kaleidos 2021 1.18.4 2023-06-01 No cost MPL-2.0
Pencil2D Pascal Naidon, Patrick Corrieri 2005 0.6.6 2021-02-17 No cost GPL-2.0-only
PhotoLine Computerinsel GmbH 1995 22.51 2021-01 €59, €29 upgrade Proprietary
SaviDraw Silicon Beach Software 2019 1.1 2019-06 $19.99 [18] Proprietary
sK1 sK1 Project Team 2009 2.0RC4 2019-05-27 No cost GPL-3.0-or-later
Sketch Bohemian Coding 2010 70.6 2021-02-23 $99[19] Proprietary
SVG-edit The SVG-edit community 2009 5.1.0 2019-11-16 No cost MIT
Synfig Synfig Team 2005 1.4.1 2021-05-09 No cost GPL-2.0-or-later
VectorStyler Numeric Path 2021 1.0.029 RC3 2021 See https://www.vectorstyler.com/ Proprietary
WinFIG winfig Team 2003 2021.1 2021-01-31 $35 Proprietary
Xara Designer Pro+ Xara 1995 2020 2018-10 $299.00 Proprietary
Xfig Xfig Team 1985 3.2.8a 2021-03-27 No cost xfig

Operating system support

This table lists the operating systems that different editors can run on without emulation:

Software Windows macOS Unix and Linux iOS Android
Adobe Illustrator Yes Yes Dropped (v 5.5) Yes (iPad) No
Affinity Designer Yes Yes No Yes (iPad) No
Apache OpenOffice Draw Yes Yes Yes No No
Boxy SVG Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Aviary Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Collabora Online Draw Yes Yes Yes Yes (6.4.7+) and iPadOS Yes (6.4.7+) and ChromeOS
ConceptDraw PRO Yes Yes No No No
CorelDRAW Yes Yes Dropped (v. 9) No No
Dia Yes Yes Yes No No
DrawPlus Yes No No No No
Edraw Max Yes Yes Yes No No
EazyDraw No Yes No Yes No
Figma Yes Yes Web only Companion app only Companion app only
Google Drawings Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Inkscape Yes Yes Yes No No
LibreOffice Draw Yes Yes Yes under development (available mostly in Collabora Online Draw 6.4.7+) under development (available mostly in Collabora Online Draw 6.4.7+)
Macromedia Freehand Yes Yes No No No
Microsoft Expression Design Yes No No No No
Microsoft Visio Yes No No No No
OmniGraffle No Yes No Yes (iPad) No
PhotoLine Yes Yes No No No
SaviDraw Yes No No No No
sK1 Yes Yes (user must compile) Yes No No
Sketch No Yes No No No
Sodipodi Yes No Yes No No
SVG-edit Yes Yes Yes No No
Synfig Yes Yes Yes No No
VectorStyler Yes Yes No No No
WinFIG Yes Yes Yes No No
Xara Designer Pro+ Yes No No No No
Xara Xtreme LX Yes Windows 10 with WSL No Yes No No
Xfig Yes Windows 10 with WSL Yes Compiler? Yes No No

Basic features

Software Maximum Page Size Maximum Zoom Color Management for Print Scripting Support
Adobe Illustrator 5.7785 × 5.7785 m 64000% Yes Yes
Affinity Designer No maximum size. 1000000%+ Yes No
Apache OpenOffice Draw 119 × 119 cm 3000% No Yes
Aviary ? 400% No No
Boxy SVG ? 6000% No No
Collabora Online 600 × 600 cm 3000% Yes Yes
ConceptDraw PRO Screen resolution Page width No Yes[a]
CorelDRAW 45.72 × 45.72 m 260000% (estimated) Yes Yes
DrawPlus 10,000 x 10,000 cm 5000% Yes Yes[b]
Edraw Max Screen resolution 400% No Yes
Embroidermodder ? ? No Yes
EazyDraw 250,000 × 250,000 m 250000% Yes No
Fatpaint 8000 × 8000 px Depend on the page size. No No
Google Drawings
Inkscape 1000 × 1000 km 25600% No (export svg to 3rd party) [20] Yes
LibreOffice Draw 600 × 600 cm 3000% Yes Yes
Macromedia Freehand 5.6388 × 5.6388 m 25600% Yes Yes
Microsoft Visio 2147483647 sq. in. 3098% No Yes
OmniGraffle 2,147,483,648 × 2,147,483,648 km 800% Yes Yes[b]
PhotoLine 1,400,000,000 × 1,400,000,000 px 6400% Yes Yes
sK1 3000 × 3000 m 300000% Yes Yes
SVG-edit ?  px 10000% No Yes
Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 2.75 × 2.75 m 25601% Yes No

Notes

  1. ^ ConceptDraw Basic Script only
  2. ^ a b ActionScript only

File format support

Import

Software AI CDR ODG PS/EPS PDF SVG SWF DXF WMF/EMF XAML VSDX
Adobe Illustrator Native Partial[21] No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Affinity Designer Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No
Apache OpenOffice Draw No No Native Yes Partial[a] Partial[a] No Yes Yes
Aviary No No No No No Yes No No No
Boxy SVG Partial No No No Yes Native No No No No No
Collabora Online Draw Partial[22][23] Yes Native Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
ConceptDraw PRO No No No No No No No No Yes No
CorelDRAW Yes Native No Yes Yes Partial[b] No Yes Yes No
Dia No No No No No Yes No Yes Yes No
DrawPlus Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No
Embroidermodder No No No No No Partial No Partial No
EazyDraw No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No
Fatpaint No No No No No No No No No No
Google Drawings No No No No No No No No No No
Inkscape Yes Partial[c] No Yes[d] Yes Native No Yes[24] Yes[e] Partial Yes [25]
Karbon[26] No No Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes
LibreOffice Draw Partial[22][23] Yes Native Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Macromedia Freehand[27] Yes Partial[27] No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No
Microsoft Expression Design Partial No No Yes No No No No Yes No
Microsoft Visio 2002 Yes Partial[28] No Yes No No No Yes Yes
Microsoft Visio 2003 No No[29] No No No Yes No Yes Yes
Microsoft Visio 2013 No No[29] No No No Yes No Yes Yes Native
OmniGraffle No No No No Yes No[f] No No No Yes
PhotoLine Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
SaviDraw No No No No No Native No No No Yes
sK1 Yes[g] Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Sodipodi No No No No No Yes No No No
SVG-edit No No No No No Yes No No No No
Synfig No No No No No Partial[h] No No No
VectorStyler Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
Xara Designer Pro + Yes[i] No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Xara Xtreme LX[30] Partial No No Yes Yes Partial No No No

Notes

  1. ^ a b Via an extension
  2. ^ Not all features are supported. Some Inkscape-generated plain SVG files yield corrupted results
  3. ^ Via an extension using UniConvertor. Text elements not converted
  4. ^ Via an extension using Ghostscript
  5. ^ Via an extension using UniConvertor
  6. ^ It can export to SVG but cannot import from SVG
  7. ^ AI postscript-based up to 9 ver.
  8. ^ Only SVG 1.0 Specification is supported since Synfig 0.62.00
  9. ^ Imports only up to version 8.0 AI files, newer AI file versions needs to save as "AI (V8.0)" or PDF files

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "The Future of Adobe Fireworks". Adobe. 2013-05-06. Archived from the original on 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  2. ^ "Adobe Store-North America: FreeHand MX". Adobe. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Import and export file formats - Affinity Designer Help". affinity.help. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  4. ^ March 2019, Rebecca Spear 06 (25 March 2021). "Best Windows graphic design software". TopTenReviews.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "Inkscape FAQ". inkscape.org.
  6. ^ "Why I Use Affinity Designer Instead of Illustrator for Motion Design". School of Motion. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  7. ^ "Affinity Designer vs Adobe Illustrator CC 2018 Comparison | FinancesOnline". Financesonline.com. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  8. ^ "Affinity Designer vs. Adobe Illustrator: can Designer replace Illustrator? - 99designs". 99designs. 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  9. ^ Martin, Keith (November 27, 2014). "Serif Affinity Designer". Expert Reviews. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  10. ^ Arah, Tom (January 2008). "Product Reviews: CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4". PC Pro. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  11. ^ "CorelDRAW X7: support for Adobe Illustrator (AI) files, CorelDRAW X7 Help".
  12. ^ "CorelDRAW X7 supported file formats, CorelDRAW X7 Help".
  13. ^ "Digital Craft: Serif discontinues its Pageplus, Drawplus and Photoplus designing software to focus on its(Serif) new Affinity range of Professional graphic design software - ANINO". ANINO. 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
  14. ^ "Edraw vector graphics types". Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  15. ^ "LaTeX and Xfig". mcj.sourceforge.net. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  16. ^ "Collabora Online 24.04 Release Notes".
  17. ^ "Inkscape 1.3.2".
  18. ^ "Buy SaviDraw". Microsoft.
  19. ^ "The digital design toolkit". Sketch.
  20. ^ "Color management - Inkscape Wiki". wiki.inkscape.org.
  21. ^ "Supported file formats in Illustrator CS4 and CS5". Retrieved 2010-12-01. CorelDraw 5,6,7,8,9,10
  22. ^ a b "Media Support/Linux/Images". The Document Foundation. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  23. ^ a b "Media Support/Windows/Image Tests". The Document Foundation. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  24. ^ Inkscape 0.47 release notes
  25. ^ "Importing other File Formats — Inkscape Beginners' Guide 1.0 documentation".
  26. ^ "Karbon14 Features". Archived from the original on 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  27. ^ a b "Adobe Freehand MX 11.0 - Minimum System Requirements". Retrieved 2010-12-01. CorelDraw 7, 8
  28. ^ "Visio2000: File Formats That Can Be Imported into Visio". Retrieved 2010-12-01. You can import the following file formats into your Visio drawings: CorelDRAW! Drawing File versions 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 and 7.0 (.cdr), Corel Clipart (.cmx)
  29. ^ a b "What you won't find in Microsoft Office Visio 2003". Retrieved 2010-12-01. The following file formats and converters are no longer supported:CorelDRAW! 3,0-7.0, Corel Clipart Format, CMX
  30. ^ "What can Xara Xtreme for Linux do now?". Retrieved 2010-12-01.
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