From Prototyping to Graphics: The Top Open-Source Tools for UX Design
This article is part of a series of articles exploring interesting tools and workflows from the perspective of a UX designer. It is subject to updates once in a while 🔎
The List
Open-source UX design tools are a great way for designers to create and prototype their ideas without breaking the bank on expensive proprietary software. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the top open-source tools available for UX designers in no particular order.
- Blender
Blender is a powerful 3D modeling and animation software that is also great for creating low-fidelity prototypes. The grease pencil functionality in Blender allows designers to sketch and draw directly on the 3D viewport, making it easy to visualize and iterate on design ideas. Blender also has a robust set of features for creating 3D models, texturing, and animating, making it a versatile tool for UX designers.
- Inkscape
Inkscape is a vector graphics editor that is great for creating high-quality graphics and visual elements for websites and applications. It has a variety of drawing tools and features for creating shapes, text, and gradients, as well as support for importing and exporting various file formats. Inkscape is also highly customizable, allowing designers to create their own extensions and scripts to extend its functionality.
- GIMP
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a raster graphics editor that is great for creating and editing images and graphics. It has a wide range of tools and features for retouching and enhancing photos, creating graphics, and manipulating images. GIMP also has support for layers, masks, and other advanced features, making it a powerful tool for UX designers.
- Krita
Krita is a free and open-source digital painting and illustration software that is widely used by artists and designers alike. Its powerful features, such as the ability to create custom brushes and work with multiple layers, make it a versatile tool for creating digital artwork. As a UX designer, Krita can be a valuable tool for creating and prototyping user interface designs. Its ability to create and customize brushes can allow you to quickly sketch out ideas and iterate on designs, and its support for layers allows you to easily make changes and try out different options without starting from scratch.
- Quant-UX
Quant-UX is a free, open-source tool for creating wireframes and prototypes quickly and easily. It has a variety of templates and components for creating common UI elements, as well as the ability to create custom templates and components. This makes it a great tool for UX designers who need to create and iterate on design ideas quickly. Quant UX is web-based and easy to use, making it a convenient option for designers who need to work on the go.
- Penpot
penpot is another open-source tool for creating wireframes and prototypes, with a focus on collaboration and team work. It has a variety of templates and components for creating common UI elements, as well as the ability to create custom templates and components. penpot also has collaboration features, including real-time co-editing and version control, making it a great tool for designers working in a team environment. Like Quant UX, penpot is web-based and easy to use, making it a convenient option for designers on the go.
- Akira/AkiraUX
Akira is a native Linux Design application built in Vala and GTK. Akira focuses on offering a modern and fast approach to UI and UX Design, mainly targeting web designers and graphic designers. The main goal is to offer a valid and professional solution for designers who want to use Linux as their main OS. It’s important to note that Akira is currently in early development and may not be ready for use in production.
Command line tools?
As a UX designer, it’s important to constantly look for ways to streamline your workflow and save time on repetitive tasks. One tool that can greatly assist with this is the command line interface (CLI) based applications.
CLI applications are programs that are run through a command prompt or terminal, rather than through a graphical user interface (GUI). While they may seem intimidating at first, they can actually be incredibly useful for UX designers.
For starters, CLI applications often allow you to perform tasks much faster than you could through a GUI. This is because you can easily script and automate processes, eliminating the need to manually click through menus and dialog boxes.
CLI applications can also be more efficient in terms of memory usage, as they don’t require the resources of a full graphical interface. This means that they can run smoothly even on lower-powered devices, making them a great option for designers on the go.
Another advantage of CLI applications is that they are often highly customizable. Many come with a variety of options and flags that allow you to tailor their functionality to your specific needs.
Overall, incorporating CLI based applications into your workflow as a UX designer can help you save time, streamline processes, and increase efficiency. While they may require a bit of a learning curve, the benefits are well worth it.
ImageMagick
ImageMagick is a command-line tool for converting and manipulating images. It has a wide range of features for resizing, cropping, and adjusting the color and contrast of images, as well as support for many different file formats. ImageMagick is particularly useful for designers who need to batch process large numbers of images quickly and efficiently.
FFmpeg
FFmpeg is a command-line tool for manipulating audio and video files. It has a wide range of features for converting, cutting, and merging audio and video files, as well as support for many different file formats. FFmpeg is great for designers who need to create and edit videos for their projects.
CarveKit
Carvekit is a command-line based application that utilizes neural networks to provide automated, high-quality background removal for images. It features batch processing, NVIDIA CUDA and CPU processing, and fast inference with low memory usage using FP16 inference. Carvekit is easy to use and integrate with your own code, and is 100% compatible with the remove.bg HTTP API. In addition, it is particularly effective at removing backgrounds from hair in images.
Concluding remarks
In conclusion, open-source tools are a great resource for UX designers looking to create and prototype their ideas without breaking the bank on expensive proprietary software. Blender, Inkscape, GIMP, ImageMagick, FFmpeg, Quant UX, and penpot are just a few of the many open-source tools available for UX designers to choose from. While proprietary tools like Adobe Creative Cloud, Sketch and figma may be the industry standard, there are many open-source options that can be just as effective for UX designers. Blender, Inkscape, GIMP, ImageMagick, and FFmpeg are just a few of the many open-source tools available for designers to choose from, and can be a cost-effective and budget-friendly alternative to proprietary options. At least, I believe that reflecting on your own workflow generally is a healty exercise and it doesnt get easier than grabbing some free tools like these and playing around.