5 Must-Have Google Chrome Extensions for Graphic Designers

7 minute read time

As a graphic designer, you likely spend a lot of time working in your web browser, using tools like Google Chrome to research inspiration, collaborate with clients, and access design resources online. Luckily, Chrome offers a range of plugins and extensions that can help you streamline your workflow and enhance your design capabilities. In this blog, we'll take a look at some of the best Chrome extensions for graphic designers.

1. ColorPick Eyedropper

Color is a crucial element of design, and choosing the right color palette can make or break a project. As a graphic designer, having a reliable and easy-to-use color picker tool is essential. Fortunately, there are several Chrome extensions available that can help you quickly and easily capture colors from any website or digital design. One such extension is ColorPick Eyedropper.

ColorPick Eyedropper is a simple yet powerful extension that adds a color picker tool to your Chrome browser. With just a click, you can select any color from a web page and save it to your palette for later use. This saves you the trouble of taking a screenshot of the said color, dropping it into Photoshop, and then using the color picker in Photoshop to get the hex code. With ColorPick Eyedropper, you can grab the color directly from the web page and use it in your design without any hassle.

In addition to its simple functionality, ColorPick Eyedropper also offers a range of features that make it an essential tool for any designer. For instance, the extension allows you to save colors to your palette and organize them into folders, making it easy to keep track of your go-to colors. You can also export your palette as a CSS file or a PNG image, which can be useful for sharing your color scheme with clients or colleagues.

Another useful feature of ColorPick Eyedropper is its ability to generate color schemes based on the colors you have saved in your palette. This feature can help you create a cohesive and visually appealing color palette for your project, without the need for extensive color theory knowledge.

ColorPick Eyedropper also offers a range of customization options, allowing you to adjust the size and opacity of the color picker, as well as the format of the color code (RGB, HEX, HSL, etc.). This makes the extension highly customizable, and you can adjust it to your own preferences.

2. WhatFont

As a graphic designer, you know the importance of choosing the right font for your design. However, identifying the font used on a website can be a daunting task, especially if you're not familiar with the various font types. Fortunately, there is a Google Chrome extension that can help you with this task - WhatFont.

WhatFont is a simple yet powerful Chrome extension that allows you to easily detect fonts used on any website and inspect them. With just a click of the WhatFont icon, you can view a list of all the fonts used on the page, along with their styles, weights, and sizes. This can be incredibly useful if you come across a font that you love and want to use in your own design.

But that's not all. WhatFont also allows you to learn more about the font type of a particular text section. Simply hover over the text, and WhatFont will display the font type, style, weight, size, and color of the text. This can be useful if you want to replicate a particular text style in your own design.

In addition to its font detection capabilities, WhatFont also offers several customization options. For instance, you can adjust the font size and color of the WhatFont display, making it easier to read. You can also customize the keyboard shortcut for activating WhatFont, which can be useful if you use several Chrome extensions.

3. Nimbus Screenshot & Screen Video Recorder

As a designer, one of the key aspects of your job is effectively communicating your ideas and designs to clients or team members. This often involves sharing screenshots or videos of your work, which can be a time-consuming and frustrating process if you don't have the right tools. That's where Nimbus Screenshot & Screen Video Recorder comes in.

Nimbus Screenshot & Screen Video Recorder is a powerful Google Chrome extension that allows you to quickly and easily capture screenshots and record videos of your work. With just a few clicks, you can capture the entire screen or a specific area, and then annotate the image or video with text, arrows, and other graphics to highlight specific details or ideas. This can be incredibly helpful when presenting your work to clients or team members, as it allows you to clearly communicate your vision and ideas.

What's more, Nimbus Screenshot & Screen Video Recorder also makes it easy to share your screenshots and videos directly from the extension. You can upload your images and videos to the Nimbus Note cloud service, or share them on social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. This can be especially useful if you're working remotely or need to share your work with clients or team members who are located in different parts of the world.

But that's not all. Nimbus Screenshot & Screen Video Recorder also offers several customization options, allowing you to fine-tune your screenshots and videos to your exact specifications. For instance, you can choose to capture a specific area of the screen, or select a specific window or tab. You can also adjust the quality and frame rate of your videos, and choose from a variety of annotation tools to add text, shapes, and other graphics to your images and videos.

4. TinEye Reverse Image Search

TinEye Reverse Image Search is a Google Chrome extension that offers designers a powerful tool to quickly and easily search for similar or identical images on the web. The extension uses sophisticated image recognition technology to identify the visual characteristics of an image, and then matches it to other images that share similar characteristics.

As a designer, you may encounter situations where you need to find the source of a stock image that you've used in your design. With TinEye Reverse Image Search, you can quickly and easily locate the original source of the image, allowing you to give proper credit to the creator or purchase the rights to use the image in your work.

Furthermore, TinEye Reverse Image Search can be a great source of inspiration for designers who are looking for ideas or concepts for their projects. By searching for similar images, you can discover new techniques or styles that you may not have considered before, allowing you to create truly unique and original designs.

Another useful feature of TinEye Reverse Image Search is its ability to verify the authenticity of an image. In today's digital age, it's easy for images to be manipulated or altered in misleading ways. With TinEye Reverse Image Search, you can quickly determine whether an image is original or has been altered in some way, helping you to avoid potential legal issues or reputational damage.

In addition, TinEye Reverse Image Search offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to search for images and view the results. You can upload an image from your computer or simply drag and drop an image onto the TinEye search bar. The extension also allows you to filter the search results based on various criteria, such as size, date, and relevance.

5. Advanced Image Search

Advanced Image Search is a Google Chrome extension that every image-conscious individual should consider adding to their browser. With the rise of the internet, the world has become more visually-oriented, and images have become an essential aspect of our daily lives. As a result, image search has become a fundamental tool for many individuals. However, the basic Google image search provides limited options when it comes to filtering images. This is where the Advanced Image Search extension comes in handy.

This extension provides an easy-to-use interface that grants you quick access to the advanced tools of Google image search, which includes the "usage rights" and "sizes" options. These options are not always available in a standard Google search, but with this extension, you can easily filter images based on their size or usage rights, among other things. For instance, you can limit your search to images that are labeled for commercial use, modification, or reuse, making it easier to find images that you can use without violating copyright laws.

I find the "usage rights" option particularly useful as it helps me locate images that I can use for commercial purposes without having to spend time navigating through the complex world of copyright laws. Furthermore, the "sizes" option is useful when you want to find images that are of a specific size, whether it's for a social media post or for use on a website.

The Advanced Image Search extension is easy to install, and it seamlessly integrates with your browser, making it accessible whenever you need it. The extension's basic interface make it an indispensable tool for anyone who frequently uses Google image search.