Inkscape is a powerful and free alternative to Adobe Illustrator, offering a robust set of tools for vector design. But how does it truly compare to Illustrator? Let’s find out.
What Is Inkscape?
Inkscapeis a free, open-source design software used for illustration and digital drawing, and it resembles Adobe Illustrator. You’ll even find similar tools, such as the pen and pencil, layers, and text tools—everything you’d expect in a robust digital drawing tool.
Inkscape has been around since 2003, with version 1.3.2 released in late 2023. With so many contributors and supporters, Inkscape is a fantastic free source for digital design. It’s available for multiple platforms, including Mac, Linux/GNU, and Windows.
Why I Like Inkscape
The biggest selling point—pun not intended—of Inkscape is that it’s free. Many designers and hobbyists are frustrated with the high price point of Adobe software, and due to its industry-standard nature, it can be hard to find comparable software with a low price point.
While Inkscape is cost-free, it doesn’t hold back on features—much of what you can achieve with Adobe Illustrator can easily be done with Inkscape. The interface is also similar to Illustrator’s. Although there’s a slight learning curve, and some naming and shortcut differences, not needing to learn a new interface layout is helpful if you’re used to Illustrator, and most of the tools are easy to find with little searching.
You can create vectors and save primarily in SVG and vector formats, as well as raster. Its bitmap tracing feature is simple yet effective and provides layered results that are easy to separate for vector editing.
The computer system requirements for Inkscape are minimal, meaning you don’t need the latest OS to run it. This, combined with being totally free, offers a low barrier for entry and learning graphic design compared to higher cost and more intensive software, like Adobe Illustrator.
What Does Inkscape Do Better Than Illustrator?
Community learning is a great aspect of using Inkscape because you’ll find many tutorials, advice, pointers, and hacks from other users. There’s no gatekeeping for this software and it’s open to all. You can even be part ofInkscape’s development.
Inkscape’s gradient tool is easier and more intuitive to use compared to Illustrator’s. Gradient stops, direction, gradient pattern, and colors are all visually placed in a tool over the artwork, so you’re able to see how and where the tool changes the gradient. In Illustrator, all this is done on a side window before applying the gradient tool to the art, making it more laborious and difficult to manage precisely.
Anchor points—or nodes, as they’re called in Inkscape—in paths are easier to edit in Inkscape. You can select an anchor point or node using different keyboard shortcuts or a number of clicks depending on how you want to edit them. This is faster than doing it in Illustrator, which requires selecting a separate tool on top of using shortcuts to edit them.
Inkscape’s main file format is SVG—whichmeans Scalable Vector Graphic—making Inkscape a great free candidate for creatingSVG files for Cricut designs. SVGs can also be used for laser cutting, engraving, or generally producing high-quality vector graphics for various uses, and they’re also commonly used in web design and forcreating editable images in Canva. Inkscape offers a host of other vector formats to save your projects in.
It has a CSS selector menu, so you can identify the CSS properties of your SVG graphics, such as HEX codes for stroke and fill, width, or opacity. This is beneficial to anyone creating graphics for web design, or those using CSS to code websites. This isn’t a feature at all in Illustrator.
Inkscape’s Limitations Compared to Illustrator
Inkscape doesn’t have a native shape builder tool like in Illustrator. Shape Builder helps you create graphics by overlaying simple shapes and combining or removing aspects to create a new unified shape. you may, however, do this—more slowly—using Inkscape’s Path tools.
Illustrator has an abundance of save and export options that retain quality for bothraster and vector formatfiles. Inkscape’s save options are all vector-based; however, its export options do include PNG and JPG along with other vector-based formats.
Being part of Adobe Creative Cloud means Illustrator users benefit from many AI tools integrated into Adobe products. With Illustrator’s AI, you canrecolor your vectors in seconds, use generative AI to create countless editable vector graphics in infinite styles, and read and recognize typefaces to recreate in your designs.
AI tools are yet to appear in Inkscape, but you can still do all those things manually without the use of AI. As a designer or hobbyist, learning the proper ways to achieve design elements will make you a more well-rounded designer.
There’s a lack of 3D tools in Inkscape that are available in Illustrator. However, if you’re already using open-source programs to avoid using Adobe, you’ll likely be willing touse Blenderas an open-source alternative for 3D design.
Inkscape is a standalone program, so although you can do a lot with it, it’s much harder to integrate your designs into other programs. In Adobe Illustrator, you can save your designs as assets to be opened in any other Adobe program for cross-platform use.
Should You Replace Illustrator With Inkscape?
For the average user, Inkscape will suffice. There are few limitations that make much difference between the free-to-use Inkscape and the expensive subscription of Adobe Illustrator.
Inkscape is a helpful tool that takes up little space in your hardware. It’s smooth to run, easy to learn and use, and you’re able to create great graphics with it. No one would be able to tell which program you used by looking at your final design.
However, if you’re working as a professional or want to get into a digital design profession, it is worth keeping your subscription, or getting a subscription, to Illustrator. If you’re a freelance designer who doesn’t need to share working files with clients or peers, Inkscape is still a great option.
There’s merit in using Inkscape over Adobe Illustrator. If you’re looking to get a cheaper alternative to Illustrator, and you aren’t required to use Adobe software exclusively, Inkscape is your perfect choice. Additionally, building the open-source community for this software can only benefit its users.
