Design and graphics tools for Mac
Apple silicon made the Mac a serious graphics machine again. This list covers the free and open-source half of the design stack, plus the commercial apps most teams end up buying anyway.
Blender3D creation suiteInkscapeVector graphics editorFigmaCollaborative team softwareGIMPFree and open-source image editorShottrScreenshot measurement and annotation toolImageOptimTool to optimise images to a smaller sizeCleanShotScreen capturing toolXnViewMPPhoto viewer, image manager, image resiser and moreSketchDigital design and prototyping platformFontBaseFont managerGlyphsFont editor
Install the whole list
One command per app. Paste them as a block to set up a new Mac:
How this list was chosen
Each collection is curated by hand, then filtered against the live Homebrew catalogue so removed or deprecated apps drop out automatically. Ordering follows 30-day install counts, not paid placement. Data updated 2026-10-26.