Creativity software

There is now a wide range of software available to improve your creativity and structure your thoughts - much of it is available to download for free. So why not give it a try? To find out a bit more about the use of software, read on. Otherwise jump straight in to:

• Free Imagination Engineering software
• Downloadable creativity training modules (PDF)
• Idea generation software
• Idea structuring software
• All software by product name

Yes, software  

If it seems strange that something as mechanical as software can improve creativity, don't worry. It's not the software that's creative, it's you. All the software does is is stimulate the bits that other stimulants can't reach.

Broadly creativity software falls into two camps - products designed to spark off ideas, and products to collect and structure your thoughts, though inevitably there is some overlap. The chances are you have a very basic tool that can be used as an idea structuring tool. If use Word or another hi-spec word processor you will probably find that it has an outliner. You can use this as a simple idea structuring tool.

Go into the outliner. At the top level write a title that defines your main aim. Then, as thoughts and ideas come, slot them into an outline. Put your basic brainstormed ideas in as body text points, one per paragraph (in Word you do this by clicking the button on the toolbar with a double right-facing arrow). Then structure the ideas by putting in higher level headings and dragging the brainstormed ideas under the appropriate headings.

But there's much more to do with software...

Imagination Engineering

For the best free idea generation software, download our Imagination Engineering package. Paralleling the simple but powerful Imagination Engineering framework in our book of the same name, it contains a collection of effective techniques to help stimulate creative thought and generate new ideas. It's free to download - if you like it and continue using it, we just as that you buy a copy of one of our books. Click here to read more. More >>

Or if you'd like a structured course in creativity, check out our PDF-based training course - the first module is free. More >>

Idea generation   

Where do ideas come from? Human beings. But idea generation software is a great way to give your brain a nudge and start you in whole new directions of thinking. In this section we compare the different products we have reviewed that don't just allow you to list your ideas, but help you get them in the first place. More >>

Idea structuring   

Some of the best idea sessions could cover the walls of a big room with thoughts - but it's not enough to brainstorm. Idea structuring software makes it possible to manipulate, group and structure those ideas so that they can be used or remembered more effectively. This is probably the most advanced type of creativity software on the market - we compare the best products. More >>

Software reviews

If you want to check out a specific product, rather than read our comparisons, use this quick guide to access a particular review. More >>

Idea gym  

Part of the creativity section, this page of puzzles includes some free software-based puzzles to download for your PC. More >>