The new year brings a fresh start and opportunities to connect with loved ones. Sending New Year’s greetings is a heartwarming tradition to spread joy as we reflect on the past year and look ahead with hope. With the right design software, creating customized cards is easy, even for novices. The best programs have intuitive interfaces and various templates to meet any creative vision. Many also offer free versions with plenty of features to craft high-quality cards worth sending.
Top Rated New Year’s Card Creation Softwares
We researched the top-rated New Year’s card makers to compile this list of the 7 best free options in 2023.
1. Canva
With its simple drag-and-drop editor, Canva makes graphic design accessible for everyone. The platform offers a massive library of fonts, images, illustrations, and templates to use in professional-looking card creations. Canva has ready-made New Year’s card layouts featuring elegant borders, fireworks backdrops, and timely messages. Its tools allow full customization by modifying colors, adding photos, illustrations and stickers, even importing unique fonts.
Users can take designs further by layering elements and applying special effects like shadows or transparency. Another advantage is that Canva works across devices, letting users start designing on desktop then continue editing on mobile. Best of all, Canva has a forever-free version packed with features to craft dazzling New Year’s greetings.
Pros
- Intuitive drag-and-drop interface
- Huge library of templates, images, fonts, illustrations
- Customizable and layered designs
- Cross-platform editing
- Generous free plan
Cons
- Some special effects require paid plan
- Limited upload space on free version
2. PicMonkey
For photo-forward designs, PicMonkey provides user-friendly tools to transform snapshots into New Year’s masterpieces. Its touch-up features eliminate imperfections in photos added to cards. PicMonkey has a designated tab just for card making. It offers pre-set folds, sizes, and orientations to streamline setup. The template selection includes specific New Year’s motifs featuring stylish patterns, frames, and graphics.
Custom illustrations and textures elevate PicMonkey designs. The graphics have a trendy hand-drawn look perfect for special greetings. Users can further personalize with hundreds of fonts, photo effects, and text designs. While some features need a paid subscription, PicMonkey’s basic editor remains free and equipped for dazzling New Year’s cards.
Pros
- Specialized card templates
- Photo touch-up and effects
- Hand-drawn graphics
- Custom fonts and textures
- Intuitive design tools
- Generous free version
Cons
- Requires subscription for extra features
- Limited free design storage
3. BeFunky
For quick and stylish card making, BeFunky’s smart templates make design easy, even for beginners. It offers an entire category of expertly-crafted New Year’s themes featuring groovy color schemes and graphics. BeFunky gives flexibility to personalize templates while preserving their visual structure. Users can add multiple photos, customize messages in provided text boxes, and experiment with backgrounds, textures, and shapes.
The photo editor empowers further customization with filters, touch-up tools, and effects like vintage splatter. For typography, BeFunky offers an array of trendy fonts so users can set just the right tone for New Year’s greetings. While offering paid upgrades, BeFunky’s free version packs plenty for users to create dazzling holiday cards effortlessly.
Pros
- Professionally designed templates
- Customizable layouts
- Photo editor with effects
- Large font collection
- Intuitive interface
- Generous free plan
Cons
- Requires subscription for more storage space
- Limited editing with free version
4. FotoJet
Offering an all-in-one online design studio, FotoJet makes stunning New Year’s cards with no software downloads required. It offers beautifully crafted templates along with intuitive customization tools. FotoJet’s layouts feature tasteful color schemes, frames, patterns, and messages fitting for New Year’s greetings. Users can select themes then replace images, illustrations, and text while retaining the visual arrangement.
For creatives seeking full customization, FotoJet allows building cards from scratch with flexible canvases. Users can import photos, personalize messages, and incorporate stickers, shapes, or icons. The graphics have festive motifs like champagne bottles, fireworks, and confetti. As a free cloud-based editor, FotoJet grants enough functionality for users to design polished New Year’s cards all year long.
Pros
- Professionally designed templates
- Customizable layouts and stickers
- No software downloads needed
- User-friendly editing tools
- Free version with full functionality
Cons
- Requires subscription for multi-page documents
- Limited storage space on free plan
5. Desygner
Offering AI-powered design solutions, Desygner creates stunning New Year’s cards tailored to any recipient. Users can craft greetings for business contacts, close friends, family members, and romantic partners. Desygner’s card maker page features tasteful templates with elegant typography and on-theme graphics like champagne flutes and glittery backdrops. Users input information about the recipient and occasion to generate a customized design.
The AI assistant incorporates suitable color schemes, icons, messages, and visual elements based on the recipient’s demographics and relationship to the user. Desygner also suggests complementary fonts so users can finalize typography. For those seeking more hands-on design, Desygner allows manual override of any template recommendations. Users have full control editing visuals, graphics, photos, and text boxes while still benefiting from AI input.
Desygner’s free plan grants unlimited access to its AI-enhanced card maker for New Year’s and any occasion.
Pros
- AI-generated design suggestions
- Automated customization for recipients
- Premade card templates
- Manual override of recommendations
- User-friendly editing tools
- Free version with full functionality
Cons
- Requires subscription for commercial use
- Limited selection of templates
6. CardMaker
Offering a desktop suite for printing projects, CardMaker by Adobe has options for personal New Year’s cards alongside birthday announcements, wedding invites, and more. The software downloads directly so users aren’t reliant on Internet connectivity to access its design tools. The interface features intuitive panels to insert photos, illustrations, customized text, and premade embellishments. CardMaker includes drag-and-drop templates categorized by occasion with complete New Year’s card layouts. Users can swap out photos, change colors, modify fonts, and add frames or backgrounds while retaining template composition.
For original creations, CardMaker offers a blank card interface. Users can select from various sizes and orientations when building fully custom cards. Festive stickers, borders, and graphics help capture New Year’s excitement. As shareware, CardMaker allows free use of its basic version featuring enough tools to create print-ready New Year’s cards for personal use.
Pros
- Specialized software for printing
- Drag-and-drop templates by occasion
- Customizable layouts and graphics
- Photo editing capacity
- Free basic version
Cons
- Requires software download
- Premium version not free
- Limited free features
7. PrintMaster
Providing versatile desktop publishing tools, PrintMaster helps craft New Year’s cards alongside brochures, flyers, invitations, and more professional documents. The software offers an entire category of holiday-themed templates, borders, stickers, and fonts to keep creations festive. Users can customize sizing plus incorporate photos into provided blueprint layouts.
For original designs, PrintMaster allows building fully custom New Year’s cards from scratch. Its editing tools include drag-and-drop image uploading, text boxes, shape overlays, and background customization. Typography and color selection offer seemingly endless personalization options. As a freeware download, PrintMaster isn’t cloud-based yet provides its full suite of intuitive design features at no cost. Users can easily craft professional-caliber New Year’s cards for personal use thanks to PrintMaster’s generosity.
Pros
- Made for print design
- Holiday templates and graphics
- Customizable existing layouts
- Build fully custom cards
- Free full-version download
Cons
- Requires software download
- Not cloud-based
- Geared toward print rather than digital designs
Conclusion
The best New Year’s greetings reflect thoughtfulness, effort, and heartfelt messages. With abundant design tools and beautiful templates, these 7 software options empower beautiful cards worth sharing as the calendar resets. Their intuitive interfaces, from AI support to drag-and-drop ease, make festive creations achievable for artistic novices and experts alike. While offering premium features, these programs also grant generous functionality in their forever-free versions. As we bid this year adieu, may your holidays overflow with meaningful connections. Spread cheer and digital tidings with elegantly designed virtual or printed New Year’s greetings courtesy of these magnificent creative engines.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some key features to look for in New Year’s card design software?
Some top features include templates and layouts designated for New Year’s with relevant graphics, frames, colors etc., tools to customize templates by modifying text, swapping photos or illustrations, adding your own graphics or stickers, easy-to-use design interfaces whether building custom cards from scratch or modifying existing templates, large libraries of festive fonts, shapes, textures and ample free storage space.
What types of New Year’s card designs work well?
Clean, elegant typography paired with celebratory graphics like fireworks, champagne, or glitter backdrops makes for timeless New Year’s cards. For photos, spotlight celebrations, gatherings with loved ones or scenic winter settings.
Can I create New Year’s video cards with these software options?
While primarily made for still image designs and printable formats, some options like Canva offer limited video card capacity in paid versions. However, the free tools focus on versatile templates and customization for printed or digital New Year’s image cards and graphics.
Which software choice works best for beginners?
Options like Canva, BeFunky and FotoJet offer the most intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces ideal for beginners. Canva’s massive template and creative asset libraries provide lots of design springboards while still allowing easy customization for unique finished products.
If I’m crafting many cards, which tool allows fastest bulk creation?
Software like Desygner and FotoJet use AI guidance to automate recommendations for customization based on recipients, relationships and demographics input by the user. This allows fast generation of tailored cards for all different recipients which can be manually tweaked as desired.
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