FREE Resources >
Software & Tools for Digital Production
Create videos, animations, apps, websites, graphics, vlogs, podcasts, and more. If you use templates, remember to customize them as much as possible; otherwise, they can get easily recognized from public overuse. Also, before you use any of the resources below, check with your professor to see what’s acceptable for use on a project.
Social Media Content Creation
FREE Social Graphics & Video Storytelling
Canva (does all,
but best for graphics)
Adobe Spark (does all,
but best for video)
FREE Video / Animation / Effects
Vyond (top pro animator)
Powtoon (pro but limited)
Animaker (great for social media)
Canva (Go pro for animation
or free for animatedgifs)
FlipaClip
(Google Playstore or Apple Store)
Juliet’s Review of Animator Software
FREE Photo Editing Software
Adobe Photoshop Camera
Raw Therapee
(high functionality, open source)
FREE Infographics Templates
Canva.com
Piktochart
Visme
FREE Stop-Motion Animation
Stop Motion Studio
FREE Color Scheme
Creation & Matching
Adobe Color
FREE Social Media Resources
Sprout: Social Media Image Sizes (always up-to-date)
Hashtag Generator
Google Key Word Planner Tool
FREE Social Media Training
Social Media Training (Hubspot)
Google Analytics Academy
Hootsuite Academy
Adobe & FREE Alternatives
Adobe Tutorials
Link to Adobe Tutorials
Adobe Photoshop
(Photo Editing)
www.gimp.org
Paint.net (Windows)
Pinta (Mac)
Adobe Lightroom
(Photo Editing)
Raw Therapee
Darktable
Adobe Illustrator
(Vector Illustration)
InkScape
SVG-Edit
Adobe Premiere
(Video Editing)
Shotcut
OpenShot.org (Beginners)
Blender.org (Beginners)
iMovie (Mac Only; Beginners)
Lightworks (Advanced)
Adobe Premiere (free 30-day download)
Adobe InDesign
(Page Layout)
Scribus
Adobe Audition or Avid ProTools
(Audio Editing)
GarageBand (Apple)
Audacity (PC only, open source)
Adobe Tutorials
Link to Adobe Tutorials
Website & App Design
FREE App Design Software
Adobe XD
FREE Beginner Website Builders
Wix
Squarespace
Weebly
FREE Professional Website Builders
Word Press
(Most widely used)
See my “WordPress vs. Wix” PPT
Best Visual Builders to Use with WordPress
FREE Elementor Builder
(Free but basic)
Divi Themes and Builder
(most widely used by pros)
Divi Tutorial (thorough): FerdyKorp
(get percentage off Divi there)
Educational Web Building
Adobe Dreamweaver
Great for learning code and web, but not widely used professionally; too difficult for beginners and too simple and cumbersome for developers.
Advanced Platforms for Developers
www.drupal.org
www.joomla.org
Domains & Hosting (Paid)
Godaddy (24/7 Phone Support)
Dreamhost (Cheap, Limited Support)
See my “Domains & Hosting” PPT