Group test: what's the best graphic design software?

5. WireframeSketcher

• Reviewed on: 15 September 11
• RRP: $75
• Rating:

At the end of the day, WireframeSketcher still feels a bit like drawing on a napkin, but with more oomph. It certainly makes for better-looking meeting handouts. I wish some of the widgets were easier to customize, but I can definitely see myself using it to communicate interface ideas in the future.

4. Poser 9

• Reviewed on: 22 November 11
• RRP: £159 inc VAT
• Rating:

Whether you want to make animated movies or video game avatars or need digital crash-test dummies or animated crime scene reenactments, you can't beat Poser 9 for out-of-the-box ease of use. Even with no prior 3D modeling experience, it's relatively simple to adapt, pose, and animate any of the many included templates. Creating a fully digitized version of whoever it is in your imagination may take some dedication and time, however. So, what would you little maniacs like to do first?

3. Serif DrawPlus X5

• Reviewed on: 16 August 11
• RRP: £81.69 inc VAT
• Rating:

Serif DrawPlus X5 has quite a few features in common with the latest versions of CorelDraw and Adobe Creative Suite, though are here presented in one fast and reasonably priced application. It certainly won’t match everything these suites can do, but should provide the occasional user with everything they need to produce good quality graphic content that fits most requirements.

2. Adobe Illustrator CS5

• Reviewed on: 10 May 10
• RRP: £624 inc. VAT
• Rating:

Despite long-hoped-for enhancements that have not been delivered, the new features and updates that are included in Adobe Illustrator CS5 are so compelling we're unable to say anything short of this: Illustrator CS5 is a great buy. Even if you have no need of all the new features - and we can't see anyone not benefiting from at least one of them - the zippier performance alone will pay back the cost of the upgrade in time that you don't have to wait for Illustrator to complete tasks.

1. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6

• Reviewed on: 22 March 12
• RRP: £479 inc. VAT
• Rating:

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 is an incremental upgrade for an already-excellent graphics suite. With the possible exception of the Smart Carver, Corel avoided gimmicky features and focused on areas that can really boost productivity, such as the new style engine, native X64 executables, and improvements in typography and document layout.