Truly Free Resources for Commercial Use

One of the biggest difficulties that I have had as a freelance artist is finding resources that I can use to create my commercial compositions. I am not wealthy. I love digital art and photo-manipulation, but the mainstream programs are usually out of my means. Many would say, use a torrent. I respect the work that has gone into these products, so I do not agree with pirating. Others say, if you are truly serious about your art, then you would purchase the programs.

I do agree that someone serious with their craft needs to learn the proper tools and should, at some point, purchase them. The issue is, how do you get started? You need to create artwork to sell it; use the software to create it; create the artwork to make money; make money to buy software. Its a vicious cycle. In an attempt to assist artists everywhere, I am going to compile a list of resources. These are resources that do not require a purchase. They are not shareware. They are not non-commercial freeware. They are truly free resources for commercial use. Here is my disclaimer: In no way do I disapprove of any software that charges for its use. I am simply trying to assist other artists. If I have left out any programs, please comment to this post. Thanks!


2D and Illustration Software

Gimp - GNU Image Manipulation Program I have used this program for years. It is a program similar to Adobe Photoshop.

Inkscape Open source SVG graphics editor. I recently started using this program. It is an alternative to Adobe Illustrator.


3D Software

Blender Open source 3D content creation suite.


Photo-manipulation Software and Other Resources

Beneton Movie GIF Software

PF Color Tool I LOVE this tool. I use it all the time. Anytime that I find a color I absolutely must use for a design, I use it and then find out the HEX code or values. I input that into GIMP, and voila – instant reproduction of the color!


This is a beginning. As I find more tools or resources, I’ll post a blog about them. Thanks for visiting!