Best Free All-In-One Design Tools

An application for all-in-one design tools makes your life easier as it handles most features needed such as screen capture, color picker, image editor, magnifier, screen ruler, whiteboard and other useful utilities in just one handy program.

With one of these free applications, you do not need to install and run too many programs for each of the design tools and utilities as they are mostly covered under one roof.

These programs are usually designed to meet the needs of most average users who prefer to run a single application to cover as many basic functions as possible in one package. If you need more advanced features in a specific design tool, you might want to check out other software products recommended in the articles at Related Products and Links.

With its ease of use and the largest selection of tools available, PicPick definitely tops this category.

It has possibly the most flexible screen capture tool (capturing different areas such as full-screen, active window, freehand capture) in the freeware arena. It also includes an image editing tool that handles basic editing needs from color correction (brightness/contrast, hue saturation) to effects (blurring/sharpening). In addition to these two tools, the software also includes a color picker, screen ruler, magnifier, protractor, crosshair and a whiteboard.

Despite the large selection of tools though, I did find some minor flaws. I thought the image editing interface could have been more flexible. The toolbar is locked up top and could not be moved to the right or left side of the screen. Being able to move the toolbar comes in handy when you're editing images and want to quickly switch to another tool - I found it counter-intuitive to continually have to go to the top of the screen to switch to another tool or effect.

The ruler concerns me as well because of its limited size (though it it is movable). When viewed in larger monitors, the screen ruler does not extend to the full width of the screen. When you're measuring wider objects, the limited size is a hassle as you have to keep moving your ruler around.

Overall though, PicPick still covers the largest selection of tools for the needs of average users. Though it may not have the best tool for each specific task (as in the case with the screen ruler), it does a good enough job that it still is my top pick for this category.

As the name suggests, FastStone Capture includes a screen capture tool but it also includes a color picker, image editor and screen magnifier.

There isn't much of a difference between FastStone Capture's features and that of PicPick. It has similar screen capture features (full screen, active window, window, freehand), color picker features (windowed preview and RGB and hex number information), image editor capabilities (color correction to effects), it even mimics PicPick's interface (located in the tray icon). These tools do a decent enough job for the tasks required but the tools are better implemented (though design and functionality) in PicPick.

I do prefer though the interface of FastStone's image editor (movable and allows for hotkeys within the editor). Despite this, it does not add any new features that are already found in PicPick (brightness/contrast, hue saturation, sharpen/blur, crop and resize).

My main concern with this program is the magnifier tool. Compared to PicPick and VMN Toolbox, the magnification tool does not include a windowed magnifer. Instead, the whole screen is magnified when you press your mouse button. In order to keep the magnification active though, you have to keep pressing down the mouse button. I would prefer it if the program allowed you to choose between full screen magnification or (like in others) a windowed magnification.

Overall, the program does have a decent selection of tools but since it does not add anything new to the All-in-One arena (that PicPick already covers), it ranks a distant second in the category. 

VMN Toolbox, like other all-in-one design programs, offer standard tools such as screen capture, color picker, magnifier and a screen ruler. It also offers non-design tools such as sticky notes and a radio.

The tools offered didn't really perform as well as I expected. The screen capture had no preset settings - unlike those found in other programs - and so you had to manually set the size or region you were capturing. As well, the color picker was not as user-friendly as other programs - it wasn't a simple point and click to find the color information, you had to keep your mouse button pressed to keep the color picker active. Most importantly though, as a design program, it lacks one major thing that both PicPick and FastStone Capture had: an image editing tool.

I did however love the screen ruler that was included. You have the option of a vertical and horizontal ruler. In addition, the ruler is movable and extends to the full length and width of the screen. It also has a guideline (as seen from the left picture) that follows your mouse pointer.

Overall, though it looked like the program had a decent selection of tools, it lacked the standard features (preset settings in screen capture, point and click color picker, no image editing tool) found in other programs. The bright stop is of course the screen ruler but it's not enough to unseat PicPick or even FastStone Capture.

• Best Free Screen Capture Utility
• Best Free Color Picker
• Best Free Digital Image Editor
• Best Free Paint Program
• Best Free Web-Based Image Editor
• Best Free Sticky Notes Utility

design tools, web design, all-in-one, screen capture, color picker, pixel ruler, virtual ruler, screen magnifier, crosshair, protractor, screen whiteboard, image editor, sticky notes, free, freeware