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Creatopy is now The Brief. Read the full note from our CEO, Tammy Nam.
Creatopy is now The Brief. Read the full note from our CEO, Tammy Nam.
Banner software has come a long way from basic image editors. Today's tools range from simple drag-and-drop makers to AI-powered platforms that resize, version and publish banners across dozens of ad networks automatically.
This guide covers what to look for in banner design software, reviews the top options for marketing teams and walks through the workflow for creating professional banners at scale.
Banner-making software is any digital tool that helps you design visual advertisements for websites, social media and display networks. Popular options range from user-friendly online tools like Canva and Adobe Express, which offer templates and drag-and-drop features, to professional design suites like Adobe Illustrator for vector graphics and enterprise platforms built for high-volume production.
The tool you pick depends on what you're making and how often you're making it. Someone creating a one-off YouTube header has different requirements than a marketing team producing hundreds of ad variations each month.
Here's what banner software typically creates:
Not all banner makers work the same way. Some are built for quick, simple designs. Others are built for teams producing banners at scale across multiple campaigns and channels. The features below separate basic tools from professional-grade platforms.
AI can generate banner designs from text prompts, suggest layouts and create copy variations automatically. You describe what you want, and the software produces multiple options to refine. For teams that produce high volumes of creatives, AI generation reduces the time spent on initial concepts, with AI-using teams reporting 44% higher productivity.
A single banner design often requires dozens of size variations: leaderboard (728x90), medium rectangle (300x250), skyscraper (160x600), mobile banner (320x50) and more. Professional tools resize one master design into all required formats automatically. Manual resizing, by contrast, can take hours for a single campaign, while WPP's data shows automated production delivers 50% to 70% time efficiency gains.
Centralized brand libraries store logos, fonts, color palettes and approved imagery in one place. Instead of hunting through folders or Slack threads for the "right" logo file, teams pull directly from a shared library. Every banner stays consistent without extra effort.
Pre-built templates speed up production while still allowing customization. Smart templates go further by locking certain brand elements, like logo placement or font choices, while allowing edits to headlines, images and CTAs. Non-designers can create on-brand banners without accidentally breaking brand guidelines.
Real-time co-editing, commenting, version history and approval routing keep everyone aligned. For regulated industries like pharma or finance, built-in approval workflows help maintain compliance without endless email chains or spreadsheet tracking.
Direct connections to Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn and programmatic platforms allow one-click publishing. Banners go straight from design to live campaign without manual exports, downloads and uploads.
| Feature | Free tools | Professional banner software |
|---|---|---|
| Basic templates | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI-powered generation | Limited | Advanced |
| Automated resizing | Manual | One-click |
| Brand asset management | Basic | Centralized library |
| Approval workflows | ✗ | Built-in |
| Ad platform integrations | Limited | Direct publishing |
Here's a look at banner design tools suited for professional marketing teams. Rather than listing every feature, we'll focus on what makes each unique and who benefits most.
The Brief is an AI marketing platform built by marketers that automates banner production as part of a connected campaign workflow. AI agents handle resizing, versioning and creative optimization, so teams spend less time on production and more time on strategy. The platform connects banner creation to the full campaign lifecycle, from discovery through optimization, making it a fit for enterprise teams managing high-volume, multi-channel campaigns.
Canva is an accessible, template-rich design tool known for its ease of use. It works well for smaller teams or individuals who want quick, visually appealing banners without a steep learning curve. However, Canva can become limiting for enterprise-scale production where automation and brand governance matter.
Adobe's streamlined banner maker includes generative AI features and integrates with the broader Adobe ecosystem. It's useful for one-off banner creation, though less suited for high-volume automated production across multiple campaigns.
Celtra is an enterprise creative automation platform focused on ad production at scale. It's strong in dynamic creative optimization but typically requires more technical setup and onboarding than lighter-weight alternatives.
Bannerflow specializes in display banner production and campaign management. It's known for HTML5 banner creation and ad serving capabilities, making it a solid choice for teams focused specifically on display advertising.
BannerBoo offers a straightforward banner design experience with a large template library. It's suitable for teams prioritizing simplicity over advanced automation features.
Regardless of which tool you choose, the workflow for creating professional banners follows a similar pattern. Here's how it typically works, step by step.
Start with platform requirements: dimensions, file size limits and accepted formats. A banner for Google Display has different specifications than one for LinkedIn. Knowing requirements upfront prevents rework later.
Templates offer speed and consistency. Starting from scratch makes sense for unique creative concepts. Smart templates can offer both: a structured starting point with room for customization.
Add logos, imagery, headlines and CTAs. Pulling from a centralized brand library, rather than hunting through folders, keeps everything consistent and saves time.
Automated resizing creates all required formats from a single master design in seconds. Manual resizing, on the other hand, can take hours for a single campaign with multiple placements.
Run through your approval process, export in the correct formats (JPG, PNG, GIF or HTML5) and publish directly to ad platforms where integrations exist.
Different roles gain different value from banner design tools. Here's how to think about who benefits most.
Performance marketers run constant experiments. The faster they can produce and test banner variations, the faster they learn what works. Speed and volume are critical for optimizing campaign performance.
Ops leaders benefit from workflow automation, brand governance and reduced bottlenecks. The goal is smooth production without constant designer intervention on routine tasks.
High SKU counts, frequent promotions and seasonal campaigns require banner production at scale. Dynamic creative capabilities, where banners automatically update based on product feeds, are especially valuable for retail.
Managing multiple client brands with strict separation, rapid turnaround and demonstrable efficiency gains requires robust collaboration and approval workflows. Agencies often juggle dozens of brands simultaneously.
Free tools like Canva's free tier work well for occasional, one-off banners with simple requirements. But the hidden costs add up quickly when you're producing banners at volume.
Consider what happens without professional tools:
Professional tools pay for themselves through time saved, with businesses seeing an average $5.44 return for every $1 spent on marketing automation. When your team spends hours on production tasks that software can automate, that's strategic time lost.
The right banner software isn't just about making banners. It's about reclaiming time for strategic, creative work.
AI-powered platforms automate the repetitive production tasks: resizing, versioning and format exports. Marketing teams can then focus on what humans do best, which is strategy, storytelling and creative ideation. Instead of drowning in production work, your team can spend time on the ideas that actually move campaigns forward.
PNG and JPG work for static banners, with PNG preferred for graphics with transparency. HTML5 is the standard for animated display ads on most advertising networks.
Common sizes include leaderboard (728x90), medium rectangle (300x250), skyscraper (160x600) and mobile banner (320x50). Requirements vary by ad platform, so always verify specifications before designing.
Professional banner software typically supports HTML5 animation, allowing you to create engaging animated ads without coding. Free tools often limit you to static images or basic GIF exports.
Pricing varies widely based on features, team size and production volume. Most professional platforms offer tiered pricing or custom enterprise plans based on usage.
Most modern banner software is designed for non-designers. Templates, drag-and-drop editors and AI assistance make professional-quality banners accessible to marketing teams without formal design training.
Let's put these insights into action. Build, scale, and automate campaigns with AI-powered workflows.
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Jenna Black
Dec 20, 2025 - 12 min read