Inkscape: The Best Open Source Logo Design Software

• March 19, 2018
• Nick Saporito
• 19 comments

When it comes to open source graphic design, we have many different options to choose from. There’s GIMP, Krita, Vectr, Karbon, and many more. But from my own personal experience as a logo designer, Inkscape is the undisputed best open source logo design software.

By the way, I’m sure there’s many other notable options when it comes to open source logo design software, so if I missed anything — or if you have any suggestions I may not have heard of yet — don’t hesitate the let me know in the comments!

Why Inkscape is the Best Open Source Logo Design Software

Inkscape is an open source vector graphics application similar to Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw. From what I’ve seen, there’s simply no other vector graphics program as complete and comprehensive as Inkscape. As I’ve written about in the past, Inkscape is capable of virtually anything Illustrator is (with the exception of outputting files in CMYK color format.)

Vector vs Raster

To understand why Inkscape is best suited for logo design we first need to understand the difference between vector and raster graphics.

Raster Graphics

Applications like Krita and GIMP are based on raster graphics, or individual colored boxes known as pixels. This sort of software is best suited for editing photos, drawing, sketching, or even designing flyers and brochures.

Logo design with raster graphics applications is not recommended though because a logo needs to be versatile. It needs to be scaled up large enough to be printed on an enormous billboard, or stripped down to monotone so it can be embroidered onto a shirt or remain legible on a fax printout.

A versatile logo design example

Although this is all technically possible with raster graphics software, it’s not the most practical and efficient format for logo design. Vector graphics applications are better suited for such.

Vector Graphics

Unlike raster graphics, which are comprised of pixels, vector graphics are comprised of mathematical formulas that dictate the properties of a graphic on an X and Y axis. This makes for a far more dynamic format because it allows you to scale a graphic up infinitely without any quality loss. This is where Inkscape shines, and it’s what makes it the best open source logo design software.

Inkscape makes it very easy to design logos that will remain completely editable so you can shrink them down, scale them up, strip them down to black and white, and so on. Not to mention, Inkscape is simply easy to use and beginner-friendly.

Can Inkscape Be Used for Professional Logo Design?

It absolutely can. In fact, it’s my software of choice. I like it better than Illustrator because it’s a lightweight application that doesn’t hog system resources, and the interface is more intuitive and makes for a more efficient workflow in my opinion.

I’ve used Inkscape to design thousands of logos for thousands of clients throughout my 7-year career as a freelance designer. Anyone who tells you that Inkscape can’t be used professionally is simply misinformed. The logo examples referenced in this post were all designed with Inkscape, as is everything you’ll see on my portfolio.

Open Source Logo Design Software Tutorials

Here’s a few logo design tutorials for Inkscape that I’ve created. These videos are complete with voice narration and step-by-step instructions so that even a first-time user can follow along and start designing their own customized logos.

1. Create simple letter logos…

2. Badge style logo design tutorial…

3. Another badge style logo…

If you have any questions or run into any problems with the tutorials, feel free to leave a comment below. And be sure to subscribe to my Youtube channel and/or follow my Facebook page for weekly Inkscape and GIMP tutorials. Enjoy!

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