Being a freelancer isn’t always easy. For some people, it doesn’t matter if they have two or ten clients: it is always hard to organise projects, manage time effectively and be productive. This article will introduce you to incredible freelance tools that will help you improve your organisation and the way you work.

Online storage

There are a lot of online storage tools out there, which allow their users a chance to access their files from any device, collaborate with their colleagues and never worry about sending themselves emails with attachments again.

The market has responded to this high demand, with storage capabilities increasing and a lot of new services popping up in the last few years. The best part is that many online storage tools can be used for free. Here’s an overview of your best options:

1) Dropbox

Easily one of the best online storage tools out there, Dropbox has been one of the most popular in the past few years as well. Initially, you only get 2 GB of free storage space, but you can easily increase that by getting referrals from friends, or by contributing to the Dropbox community forum.

There are other ways to increase it for free as well. You also get a public folder which you can share with your friends or colleagues for collaboration. One of Dropbox’s best features is that it keeps past versions of synced files so that you can easily restore any version from the past 30 days.

2) Google Drive

Moving on to another favourite – Google Drive. You start with a lot more free space than on Dropbox, 15 GB, but there’s a slight catch. The storage space is shared with your Gmail account, meaning that extensive usage will reduce your Google Drive capacity. However, you don’t have to bother with referring friends or similar, you get your 15 GB upfront.

The best feature of Google Drive is that it gives you the ability to create excel spreadsheets, text documents and even PDF files. Google Drive doubles up and kind of serves like an Open Office substitute in the cloud.

3) ADrive

The next free online storage tool is not that well known, but has a very obvious advantage when compared to the previous two. It offers the lowest-priced cloud storage plans in the industry! It comes with a 60-day free trial, with the monthly price starting at $2.50.

Unfortunately, it is not very user friendly and for users with little to no computer skills that might be a bit off-putting. However, if you’re just looking for a place in the cloud where you can upload your big backup files, ADrive could be the place to go.

Design tools

If you want to become or are on your way to becoming a graphic designer, you’ll have to familiarise yourself with the tools of the trade. Let’s look at some of the tools you absolutely have to know about as a graphic designer:

4) Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe’s Creative Cloud is a collection of 20+ applications and is one of the most powerful tools available at the moment. You can start off with a 7-day trial and then pay the monthly price which starts at US$52.99.

Popular design applications like Photoshop and Illustrator are included in this suite and are programs that many designers swear by.

5) GIMP

GIMP is an open source image editing program that almost rivals Adobe Photoshop. It has a pretty small learning curve and is completely free of charge.

However, it does contain limited third-party plugins compared to Adobe Photoshop and does not perform well if you need to edit big images with lots of layers.

6) Canva

Canva is a popular design platform that requires almost no skill or experience to use. The best part about it is that it is free to use and can be used to create a variety of engaging graphic designs. You can also upgrade your account to Canva Pro for access to even more features and premium solutions.

Keep in mind though that Canva does not have local file storage and is not a vector based program, meaning that you cannot create an image or design that will be scalable to any size.

7) Pixlr

Pixlr is a cloud-based photo editing and design tool that provides designers with everything they need to edit images. It is an efficient alternative to Adobe Photoshop and is completely free.

It is also easy to use and provides users with an intuitive interface that can be accessed on both your computer and your mobile device.