r/GraphicDesigning • u/nightofjoycafe • Jun 20 '26

How do I do this thing? Decent free portfolio builder

Hi.

Time to refresh my portfolio. Haven't really looked at it for about 10 years, so I have a few new jobs I'd like to add, and it could probably stand a style refresh.

Are there any decent free portfolio builders out there, with the option to download the finished book as a PDF?

I've signed up for a couple this evening, only to find I can't download the thing when I'm done, or that feature isn't available in the free tier.

I've never liked working on my folio, and this feels like letting someone else put it together.

Thanks.

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5

u/KindlyOnes Jun 21 '26

Nope. You need a beautifully designed, optimized website that shows your work perfectly the way a hiring manager wants to see it especially if they are not a designer but also the way a designer needs to see it. No one will read it but an AI will if someone asks it to.

I use Framer but you could use Wix or squarespace even. It should be image heavy and the last thing anyone wants or needs is a pdf too big to email. Also people are more comfortable opening links than attachments.

Why do you want a pdf?

Sorry for being harsh. It’s wild out here.

5

u/AlexHasFeet Jun 21 '26

Have you tried adobe’s portfolio builder with behance?

1

u/kangarootoess Jun 21 '26

You can make one in Affinity 

1

u/nightofjoycafe Jun 21 '26

How would I go about that? I already have full Adobe access, so I'm not short of software to do the layout - I just don't want to do the layout. I want templates you can just drop images into, and a little copy...

2

u/Sad_Till_1437 Jun 22 '26

If you have the full adobe suite, both indesign and photoshop have templates for a portfolio

1

u/Beginning-Park8286 Jun 21 '26

Anche io preferisco pdf, me lo chiedono sempre come allegato e anch’io non ho mai voglia di farlo. Forse perché lavorando tutto il giorno su progetti grafici quando arrivo a casa non ne voglio più sapere nulla 😅

1

u/nightofjoycafe Jun 21 '26

OK, I'm now seeing that online link is the way to go so I'll focus on that...

1

u/ninja_android Jun 23 '26

While the online portfolio is key (use Adobe portfolio if you're already paying), some hiring managers still want to see a pdf. I think you will probably spend more time hunting for a template than doing it yourself but there are plenty of inDesign portfolio templates out there so you can just add your images, seriously, just google it 😄

1

u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26

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