Gravit Designer

Gravit Designer: A Comprehensive Review

Gravit Designer is a compelling vector design application that has gained traction due to its accessibility and robust feature set. As a free, cross-platform tool available both as a native application and in the browser, it positions itself as a strong alternative to some of the more established, proprietary design software.

Upon launching Gravit Designer, users are greeted with a clean and modern interface. The layout is intuitive, with toolbars and panels logically organized, which helps in quickly understanding the application's workflow. Even users new to vector design software are likely to find the core tools and functionalities easy to locate and utilize. The customization options for the interface are somewhat limited, but the default layout is functional and aesthetically pleasing.

The toolset offered by Gravit Designer is comprehensive for most vector design tasks. The basic shape tools are versatile and easy to manipulate. The Pen tool, a cornerstone of vector drawing, functions smoothly and allows for precise path creation and editing. Boolean operations (unite, subtract, intersect, exclude) perform as expected, enabling the creation of complex shapes from simpler ones. The knife and slice tools add further versatility for editing paths and preparing assets for export.

Typography is well-addressed within Gravit Designer. The application supports a wide range of fonts, including Google Fonts, which can be easily browsed and implemented. Features like text on a path and detailed character and paragraph styling options provide designers with ample control over their text elements. The ability to convert text to paths is also available, which is crucial for ensuring text appears correctly regardless of whether the viewer has the specific font installed.

One of the strengths of Gravit Designer is its approach to non-destructive editing. The Appearance panel allows users to apply multiple fills, strokes, effects, and filters to objects without permanently modifying their underlying structure. This flexibility is invaluable for experimentation and making revisions. Effects like shadows, blurs, and color adjustments can be easily added, modified, or removed.

The included asset library is a notable feature, providing a wealth of free icons, shapes, and illustrations that can be readily incorporated into designs. This can significantly speed up the design process, especially for projects requiring common elements. The quality and variety of the assets are generally good.

Gravit Designer's cloud integration, powered by its proprietary cloud service, allows users to save and access their projects from any device with an internet connection. This facilitates a seamless workflow across different platforms and provides a convenient backup solution. The offline functionality complements this by ensuring that work can continue even without connectivity, with changes syncing once online access is restored.

Exporting designs in Gravit Designer is straightforward, with support for popular formats such as SVG, PDF, JPG, and PNG. The export settings are customizable, allowing users to control resolution, quality, and other parameters. The ability to export individual slices or assets is also beneficial for web design and development workflows.

While Gravit Designer is a powerful tool, there are some areas where it could see improvement. Performance can occasionally be an issue with extremely large or complex files, though for most typical projects, it performs well. The level of advanced features present in industry-leading professional software might not be fully replicated, but for a free tool, the capabilities are impressive.

Overall, Gravit Designer provides a compelling package for anyone needing a versatile and accessible vector design tool. Its cross-platform nature, strong feature set, and the fact that it is free make it an excellent choice for students, freelancers, and professionals alike who are looking for a capable design solution without the cost of subscription-based software. It is well-suited for a wide range of tasks, from creating simple icons and logos to more complex illustrations and user interface designs.