Comparison of vector graphics editors

A number of vector graphics editors for various platforms exist. Potential users of these editors will make a decision based on factors such as the availability for the user's platform, the feature set, usability 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.

Some editors in detail

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of vector graphics editors. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. This article is neither all-inclusive nor necessarily up-to-date.

General information

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

Software Company First released Latest version List price (USD) License
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite Corel 1989 X7 (17) $499, $199 upgrade (includes Photopaint) Proprietary
ConceptDraw PRO CS Odessa 1999 10.0 (August 2014) $199 Proprietary
Dia The Gnome Project 0.97.3 (5 September 2014) Free GPL
Serif DrawPlus Serif Europe 2013 X6 $99.99 Proprietary
Embroidermodder Embroidermodder Team 2004 1.70 Free GPL, zLib
Microsoft Expression Design Microsoft 2007 4.0 (7.0.20516.9) (June 2010) Free Proprietary
Fatpaint Mersica Inc. 2010 1.83 Free, $29 premium subscription Proprietary
Macromedia FreeHand Adobe Systems 1988 MX (11) $399, $99 upgrade Proprietary
Adobe Illustrator Adobe Systems 1987 CC $599, $199 upgrade Proprietary
Inkscape Inkscape Team 2003 0.91 (29 January 2015) Free GPL
OmniGraffle The Omni Group c. 2000 5.3.1 (August 2011) for OS X, 1.6 for iOS (September 2011) Standard: $99, Pro: $199, iPad $50 USD Proprietary
OpenOffice.org Draw/ LibreOffice Draw The Apache Foundation Incubator/ The Document Foundation 2000/2014 3.2.1 (June 2010)/4.3.2 (September 2014) Free LGPL, Apache license for later versions
PhotoLine Computerinsel GmbH 1995 17.10 59 €, 29 € upgrade Proprietary
sK1 sK1 Team 2009 0.9.0 (May 2009) Free GPL, LGPL
Sketch Bohemian Coding ? 3.2.2 $99[7] Proprietary
SketchUp Trimble (previously owned by Google; originally by Last Software) May 21, 2013 13.0.3689 (May 2013) SketchUp Make 2013: Free for non-commercial use only, Pro: $495USD Proprietary
Sodipodi Sodipodi 2000 0.34 (February 2004) Free GPL
SVG-edit The SVG-edit community 2009 2.6 (January 2013) Free MIT
Swift 3D Electric Rain 2000 6.0 (June 2009) $249 Proprietary
Synfig Synfig Team 2005 0.64.3 (December 2014) Free GPL
Microsoft Visio Microsoft 1992 12.0 $560, $350 upgrade (Pro), $260, $130 upgrade (Standard) Proprietary
Vector Artist Marjupi Software 2012 0.1.0.0 $5 Proprietary
Xara Photo & Graphic Designer Xara 1995 10 (July 2014) $89.99 Proprietary
Xara Xtreme LX Xara 2006 0.7 Free GPL (except graphic engine)
ZCubes ZCubes 2006 2007 December Free ZCubes Terms of Use
Software Company First released Latest version List price (USD) License

Operating system support

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

Software Windows Mac OS X Unix[8] iOS Android Windows RT
Aviary Yes Yes Yes No Yes No
Dia Yes Yes Yes No No No
Adobe Illustrator Yes Yes Dropped (v 5.5) No No No
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite Yes Dropped (v. 11) Dropped (v. 9) No No No
Serif DrawPlus Yes No No No No No
ConceptDraw PRO Yes Yes No No No No
Microsoft Expression Design Yes No No No No No
Fatpaint Yes Yes Yes No No No
Macromedia Freehand Yes Yes No No No No
Inkscape Yes Yes Yes No No No
OmniGraffle No Yes No Yes (iPad) No No
OpenOffice.org Draw/LibreOffice Draw Yes Yes Yes No No No
PhotoLine Yes Yes No No No No
sK1 No Yes (user must compile) Yes No No No
Sketchup Yes Yes No No No No
Sketch No Yes No No No No
Sodipodi Yes No Yes No No No
SVG-edit Yes Yes Yes No No No
Swift 3D Yes Yes No No No No
Synfig Yes Yes Yes No No No
Microsoft Visio Yes No No No No No
Vector Artist Yes No No No Yes Yes
Xara Photo & Graphic Designer Yes No No No No No
Xara Xtreme LX No No[9] Yes No No No
ZCubes Yes Partial[10] Partial[10] No No No

Basic features

Software Maximum page size Maximum zoom Color management for print Scripting support
Aviary ? 400% No No
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 45.72 × 45.72 m 45000% (estimated) Yes Yes
ConceptDraw PRO Screen resolution Page width No Yes[11]
Serif DrawPlus ? 5000% Yes ?
Embroidermodder ? ? No Yes
Fatpaint 8000 × 8000 px Depend on the page size. No No
Macromedia Freehand 5.6388 × 5.6388 m 25600% Yes Yes
Adobe Illustrator 5.7785 × 5.7785 m 6400% Yes Yes
Inkscape 1000 × 1000 km 25600% No Yes
LibreOffice Draw 119 × 119 cm 3000% Yes Yes
OmniGraffle 2,147,483,648 × 2,147,483,648 km 800% Yes Yes[12]
OpenOffice.org Draw 119 × 119 cm 3000% No Yes
PhotoLine 1,400,000,000 × 1,400,000,000 px 6400% Yes Yes
sK1 50 × 50 m 3000% Yes Yes
SketchUp 250,000 × 250,000 m 250000% No Yes
SVG-edit ? 10000% No Yes
Microsoft Visio 2002 2147483647 sq. in. 3098% No Yes
Microsoft Visio 2003 2147483647 sq. in. 3098% No Yes
Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 2.75 × 2.75 m 25601% Yes No
ZCubes Screen Resolution 45000% (estimated) Yes Yes

File format support

Import

Software AI CDR ODG PS/EPS PDF SVG SWF DXF WMF/EMF XAML
Aviary No No No No No Yes No No No ?
CorelDRAW Yes Yes No Yes Yes Partial[13] No Yes Yes No
Dia No No No No No Yes No Yes Yes No
ConceptDraw PRO No No No No No No No No Yes No
Serif DrawPlus Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes ?
Embroidermodder No No No No No Partial No Partial No ?
Microsoft Expression Design 4 Partial No No No No No No No Yes No
Fatpaint No No No No No No No No No No
Macromedia Freehand[14] Yes Partial[14] No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No
Adobe Illustrator Yes Partial[15] No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes ?
Inkscape Yes Partial[16] No Yes[17] Yes Yes No Yes[18] Yes[19] Partial
Karbon14[20] No No Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes ?
LibreOffice Draw No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes ?
OmniGraffle No No No No Yes No[21] No No No ?
OpenOffice.org Draw No No Yes Yes Partial[22] Partial[22] No Yes Yes ?
PhotoLine No No No No[23] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
sK1 Yes[24] Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes ?
SketchUp No No No No Yes No No Yes[25] No ?
Sodipodi No No No No No Yes No No No ?
SVG-edit No No No No No Yes No No No No
Swift 3D Yes No No Yes No No No No No ?
Synfig No No No No No Partial[26] No No No ?
Vector Artist No No No No No Yes No No No No
Microsoft Visio 2002 Yes Partial[27] No Yes No No No Yes Yes ?
Microsoft Visio 2003 No No[28] No No No Yes No Yes Yes ?
Xara Photo & Graphic Designer Yes[29] No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes ?
Xara Xtreme for Linux[30] Partial No No Yes Yes Partial No No No ?
Software AI CDR ODG PS/EPS PDF SVG SWF DXF WMF/EMF XAML

Export

Software AI CDR ODG PS/EPS PDF SVG SWF LaTeX DXF WMF/EMF TT/T1 fonts XAML PNG JPG
Aviary No No No No No Yes No No No ? No ?
CorelDRAW Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
ConceptDraw PRO No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes
Dia No No No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Serif DrawPlus No No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No ?
Embroidermodder No No No No No Partial No No No No No ?
Microsoft Expression Design 4 No No No No Yes No No No No No No Yes[31]
Fatpaint No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes
Macromedia Freehand[14] Partial No No Yes Yes No Yes No No Partial No No
Adobe Illustrator Yes No No Yes Yes Partial[6][32] Yes No Yes Yes No Partial[33] Yes Yes
Inkscape Partial[22] Partial[34] Yes Yes Partial[35] Yes Partial[36] Yes Yes Partial[37] No Partial[38] Yes No
Karbon14[20] No No Yes No Yes Yes No No No Yes No No
OmniGraffle No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
OpenOffice.org Draw No No Yes Yes Yes Partial Yes No No Yes No No
PhotoLine No No No Partial[39] Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
sK1 Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Partial[40] No No
SketchUp No No No No No No No No Yes No No No
SVG-edit No No No No No Yes No No No No No No Yes No
Swift 3D Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No ? No ?
Microsoft Visio 2002 Yes No No Yes No No No No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Aviary No No No No No Yes No No No ? No ?
Vector Artist No No No No No Yes No No No No No No Yes No
Xara Photo & Graphic Designer Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes
Xara Xtreme for Linux[30] Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
Software AI CDR ODG PS/EPS PDF SVG SWF LaTeX DXF WMF/EMF TT/T1 fonts XAML PNG JPG

Notes

  1. ↑ Arah, Tom (January 2008). "Product Reviews: CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4". PC Pro. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  2. ↑ "CorelDRAW X7: support for Adobe Illustrator (AI) files, CorelDRAW X7 Help".
  3. ↑ "CorelDRAW X7 supported file formats, CorelDRAW X7 Help".
  4. ↑ "Adobe Store-North America: FreeHand MX". Adobe. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  5. ↑ toptenreviews.com
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Inkscape FAQ". http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/FAQ#I_exported_an_SVG_file_from_Adobe_Illustrator.2C_edited_it_in_Inkscape.2C_and_imported_back_to_AI.2C_but_there_my_changes_are_lost.21''.
  7. ↑ Bohemian Coding - Sketch 3
  8. ↑ "Unix" includes all Unix-like systems excluding Mac OS X.
  9. ↑ Currently being looked into
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Internet Explorer is required for full functionality
  11. ↑ ConceptDraw Basic Script only
  12. ↑ AppleScript only
  13. ↑ Not all features are supported. Some Inkscape-generated plain SVG files yield corrupted results.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "Adobe Freehand MX 11.0 - Minimum System Requirements". Retrieved 2010-12-01. CorelDraw 7, 8
  15. ↑ "Supported file formats in Illustrator CS4 and CS5". Retrieved 2010-12-01. CorelDraw 5,6,7,8,9,10
  16. ↑ Via an extension using UniConvertor. Text elements not converted
  17. ↑ Via an extension using Ghostscript.
  18. ↑ Inkscape 0.47 release notes
  19. ↑ Via an extension using UniConvertor.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Karbon14 Features". Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  21. ↑ It can export to SVG but cannot import from SVG
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Via an extension
  23. ↑ only EPS images
  24. ↑ AI postscript based up to 9 ver.
  25. ↑ Pro version only
  26. ↑ Only SVG 1.0 Specification is supported since Synfig 0.62.00
  27. ↑ "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)
  28. ↑ "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
  29. ↑ Imports only up to version 8.0 AI files, newer AI file versions needs to save as "AI (V8.0)" or PDF files
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 "What can Xara Xtreme for Linux do now?". Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  31. ↑ http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/Design_FAQ.aspx
  32. ↑ "Adobe Illustrator CS4 - Save in SVG format". Retrieved 2010-04-01.
  33. ↑ Via an external plug-in
  34. ↑ Via UniConvertor (UC) and only on UNIX/Linux, only paths with flat fill and stroke are supported as of UC 1.0. Available in version 0.46.
  35. ↑ Support for many features is limited
  36. ↑ Via the Swftools extension
  37. ↑ Gradients broken in all uniconvertor WMF/EMF
  38. ↑ Produces only Canvas based Shape drawings
  39. ↑ only as an EPS image
  40. ↑ gradient export broken in all uniconvertor WMF/EMF

See also

External links