Software
This page describes (and links to) software that can be useful for designing world, countries, and/or languages. Software marked 
is free, open source software.
For questions and discussion, see the Forum.
Additions to this page are welcome.
drawing & cartography
Graphic editing programs come in two basic kinds: bitmap/raster editing and vector editing. Pictures in the former are patterns of colored square dots (pixels), and enlarging them will enlarge these dots resulting in quality loss. Pictures in the latter are line drawings. Both kinds can be useful for maps (and other graphics), but they offer different options. Relief shading, for example, is generally (near) impossible in a vector editor. For line drawings such as road maps or other thematic maps, vector editors tend to be better, however, and for maps that need to be available at different sizes without quality loss, vector editors are the only option. Because bitmap editors are often easier, the vast majority of geofictive maps are made with those.
bitmap/pixel/raster drawing
The two most extensive bitmap/raster editors are Photoshop and GIMP. Both are very flexible, and both have a very steep learning curve. The main difference between the two is that Photoshop is commercial and expensive, while GIMP is open source and free.
Because of the steep learning curve of Photoshop and GIMP, many opt for simpler programs (with less options) such as Microsoft Paint, which is included in Windows, or:
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line/vector drawing
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font design
Software to design true type fonts (ttf):
Note that while you can use your own fonts on your computer, you cannot normally use them on Geopoeia. To be able to use your scripts on Geopoeia, see User-created scripts and writing systems.
keyboard editing
Computer keyboards can be manipulated in two ways: (1) by assigning hot keys, special key combinations that open programs, or result in non-standardly available letters or symbols; and (2) a complete reassignment of letters or symbols to keys. AutoHotkey is a free, open source program that can be used to do the first (and in principle also the second); for example, to assign the letter ŋ to the key combination alt-N. With KBD Edit you can do the latter. An example of the use of this program in a conlang context is the keyboard layout used for the Khusqaian language.