Novices, hobbyists, and professionals welcome

We live in an era where if you have the time, you can focus on your creative pursuits. Within Microsoft Store on Windows, you will find a myriad of apps that help you create at your pace and grow with you as you improve. If you’re a power user, you’ll find advanced apps that can give you the edge you seek. The store offers a solid collection of apps within the space of visual arts.

As part of a series focused on apps that support visual conceptualization and execution, this story showcases our leading multimedia design apps. With an emphasis on 2D and 3D design, we’ve curated five feature-rich and fan-favorite apps we’re sure will catch your eye.  

Multimedia Design | 2D

Adobe Creative Cloud Express

Whether you’re creating a neighborhood newsletter, building out branding materials for your new company, or designing your wedding invitation, you won’t just feel like there’s a designer in the room—you’ll truly be the designer with Adobe Creative Cloud Express. Choose from thousands of templates, plus gain access to hundreds of thousands of royalty-free Adobe Stock photos, Adobe Fonts, icons, backgrounds, and more. You can even animate. The tool also allows you to collaborate with others or your team. Right at your disposal, experience all the creative power. This app is perfect for novices and those who work within the small business and midsize business arena.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite

If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at graphic design, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite has a comprehensive set of pro tools for novices and design afficionados alike. From vector illustrations to photo editing, the suite of graphic design applications has you covered. Need to build and layout your organization’s first edition magazine? You will have what you need to edit raw images down to the pixels. Access professionally designed templates, over 1,000 TrueType and OpenType fonts, and 7,000 digital images. Want to liven up your creations? Tap into over a thousand high-resolution photos. The beauty of this collection of tools is that you can scale up or down based on your skill level while creating amazing visual results. This app is perfect for designers within the small and medium-sized business space, agencies, and in-house creative teams across multiple industries.

Affinity Designer

This vector graphic design software was built from scratch to accommodate the needs of creative professionals. With speed, a smooth design workflow, and precision in mind, Affinity Designer touts real-time performance with pan and zoom at 60fps, plus live gradients, transforms, and adjustments. No document is too complex with the app’s ability to zoom to over 1,000,000% for absolute precision. Designers can seamlessly switch between raster or vector workspaces. Access unlimited artboards, sophisticated typography, and perfect color/output. This tool is perfect for professional designers seeking alternative tools and ongoing performance enhancements in an application.

Multimedia Design | 2D and 3D

Mental Canvas Draw

Drawing has never been more exciting. For those who love the feel of pencil to paper yet yearn for the 3D capabilities that the digital space provides, Mental Canvas Draw offers the absolute best of both worlds. Through spatial strokes, 3D navigation, and free-form animations, your imagination is limitless. From storyboarding to concept expression, this tool will help you tell the real story and all its possibilities. This app is perfect for artists who love to draw and have moderate to advanced 3D-design vision and skills.

Blender

Want to create ultra-realistic 3D computer graphics? Used to produce award-winning shorts and films, Blender is an “industrial-grade” modeling and VFX tool that’s open source (read: FREE), with hundreds of contributors. The project’s goal? Support the entire workflow of a 3D animation pipeline, while making 3D technology accessible to everyone. As an example, the app’s modeling and sculpting toolkit can help you design characters, then bring them to life by transforming your model into a posable character with built-in simulations (e.g., hairstyles that realistically blow in the wind). Advanced 3D-based designers and animators will find this app perfect for their needs.