By Jim McCauley
published
Kick-start your design process with these free templates.
Using free graphic design templates isn't ever going to be the first choice for working designers; you're always going to want to create your own designs from scratch. Sometimes, though, the pressure of deadlines can become a bit much, and you need a template to at least take care of the heavy lifting and get everything in place before you apply your own magic in Photoshop CC.
Even if you're not planning to use them, having a library of templates to browse through can be a good way to focus your thinking if you're having trouble getting to grips with a commission. There are lots of places where you can find free graphic design templates; here's our pick of the best.
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01. Template.net
Template.net has a vast library of over 100,000 ready-made designs, documents and templates for just about every imaginable situation, which you can access for a $9 per month subscription.
It does, however, provide a much smaller selection of free templates with a wide range of applications; you'll need to sign up for a free account to download them, and a quick scan through what's on offer should tell you whether it's worth the effort.
02. StockLayouts
Another company supplying premium graphic design templates for all occasions, StockLayouts' templates can be bought as one-offs and there are also subscription options available. And to give you a taste of its work, it has a small collection of free templates – 38 to be precise – to download.
Whether you're after a brochure, a restaurant menu, a business card or something else entirely, you're likely to find something available to download and customise.
03. PSDgraphics
The collection of free templates at PSDGraphics isn't the place to go to if you need something in a hurry; it's all organised rather haphazardly, and you'll probably have to scroll through lots of pages before finding something that suits a specific need.
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However it's great for browsing through and looking for stuff that you might find useful at a later date; there are all manner of weird and wonderful templates on show, all of them free for personal use. If you want to use anything commercially there's a thoroughly reasonable $4 charge per item.
04. PNGtree
Don't be put off by the name; there's more to PNGtree than PNG files. While it does indeed have a whole stack of PNGs to download, it also boasts a healthy collection of graphic design templates in PSD format, ready to download and customise.
There are thousands of flyer and poster templates available, not to mention templates for brochures, certificates and invitations; with so much on offer you'd do well to use its search function to narrow things down a bit before you start scrolling through what's on offer.
05. FreePSDfiles
The library of free graphic design templates at FreePSDfiles isn't vast, but it creates most of its own resources – as well as linking out to other resources that it likes – and the quality's generally pretty great.
Among its free templates you'll find brochures, resumés and business cards that are all free for both personal and commercial use, and they're provided as layered PSD files that you can easily customise. And as well as the templates, you'll also find a good selection of ready made mock-ups, graphics, icons and more.
06. BestBusinessCard.net
There are plenty of places online to download free business card templates; you stand a pretty good chance of finding something to suit your needs at BestBusinessCard.net, though.
It has a fine-looking selection of templates in all manner of styles, from straight-edged minimal designs through to stunning floral and watercolour creations; make sure you read the instructions before you download, because it password-protects its files.
07. Pixeden
Pixeden's selection of free graphic design templates is a small but perfectly formed collection of print-focused designs. There are 22 on offer, covering resumés, flyers, business cards and more, and they're all formatted in print-ready CMYK at 300 DPI. They're royalty free for use in personal and commercial projects.
08. Canva
Finally, Canva's a little different as it's an online design tool rather than a library, but its basic version is free to use – premium pricing starts at $9.95 per month – and gives you access to a library of over 8,000 templates that you can customise and build into your own designs.
Whatever job you have lined up, you're bound to find a template to fit the bill, and Canva's tools make it easy to transform it into something that fits your creative vision.
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Jim McCauley
Jim McCauley is a writer, performer and cat-wrangler who started writing professionally way back in 1995 on PC Format magazine, and has been covering technology-related subjects ever since, whether it's hardware, software or videogames. A chance call in 2005 led to Jim taking charge of Computer Arts' website and developing an interest in the world of graphic design, and eventually led to a move over to the freshly-launched Creative Bloq in 2012. Jim now works as a freelance writer for sites including Creative Bloq, T3 and PetsRadar, specialising in design, technology, wellness and cats, while doing the occasional pantomime and street performance in Bath and designing posters for a local drama group on the side.
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