# art software other then photoshop



## feklhr (Nov 9, 2010)

Ok, I am looking for recommended art / comic software. I took the advice of a friend and learned to use Photoshop, I am pretty good with CS5, but now that I am more experienced, I am trying out different software and am looking for advice from more experienced artists. Please do not suggest corel painter 11. Thanks for any help.


----------



## Branch (Nov 9, 2010)

GIMP, openCanvas, Blender, Inkscape, Paint.Net - all free (the best kind there is)


----------



## Stargazer Bleu (Nov 9, 2010)

Paint Tool Sai is another good program


----------



## Commiecomrade (Nov 9, 2010)

I feel that OpenCanvas would be the best way to go; many artists use it (though I realize that's not a good qualifier) and it's very intuitive, easy, and functional.


----------



## rainingdarkness (Nov 9, 2010)

I don't have experience with many programs besides photoshop, but paint tool sai is what I use now and I love how smooth lining is with it. There's also the ability to rotate your drawing and flip it while you're working on it if you're like me and have issues drawing lines in certain directions. It doesn't have a lot of the features photoshop has though, so it may be worthwhile to do the main piece in sai and edit in photoshop, depending on what you're trying to do.


----------



## Willow (Nov 9, 2010)

I have nothing but good things about SAI. That is, if you want to pay a little bit of money for it.


----------



## Taralack (Nov 10, 2010)

Seriously, read other sections.
http://forums.furaffinity.net/threads/2217-Various-Art-Programs-and-where-to-download-them


----------



## rainingdarkness (Nov 10, 2010)

That post offers free downloadable programs, but they're looking for advice on programs in general, not just where to get something to draw on.


----------



## Taralack (Nov 10, 2010)

rainingdarkness said:


> That post offers free downloadable programs, but they're looking for advice on programs in general, not just where to get something to draw on.


 
The other replies haven't really provided that anyway. :V 

OP, it might help advice givers if you can tell us what your artistic ability is like. And you seem to dislike Painter, may I ask why that is?


----------



## Decker (Nov 10, 2010)

Basically just "This"ed every post about SAI. Get it get it get it get it.


----------



## Centradragon (Nov 10, 2010)

I'm not the biggest fan of Sai, but if you do a lot of lineart it should be pretty useful to you. <3

There's always ArtRage (similar to Painter but much cheaper) or Sketchbook Pro.


----------



## Arshes Nei (Nov 10, 2010)

rainingdarkness said:


> That post offers free downloadable programs, but they're looking for advice on programs in general, not just where to get something to draw on.


 
I'm sorry my thread is more productive than the "get Sai paint" responses here - at least it gives the person options to play with and it does say in brief what they do.


----------



## rainingdarkness (Nov 10, 2010)

You do realize that was in no way a stab at your thread. I can't control what everyone else says, but my response here was at least a little more informative than "Get sai.".


----------



## Arshes Nei (Nov 10, 2010)

rainingdarkness said:


> That post offers free downloadable programs, but they're looking for advice on programs in general, not just where to get something to draw on.


 


rainingdarkness said:


> You do realize that was in no way a stab at your thread. I can't control what everyone else says, but my response here was at least a little more informative than "Get sai.".


 
It wasn't? Reads like it to me - which is why I'm quoting it again. As I said they can read that thread to determine what other available options are out there besides commercial software and why. Just because it says free doesn't mean it was some random link splatter. It actually says what these programs are for the most part.


----------



## rainingdarkness (Nov 10, 2010)

If you're going to take offense where none was intended I have nothing more to say here.


----------



## Arshes Nei (Nov 10, 2010)

IF you're looking for comic oriented software there is also Manga studio which I believe Debut retails about 30-40 bucks. The higher end version has elliptical and more ruler tools. However, there is Sketchbook Pro 2010 and 2011 that also have these tools and are good for well, as the title has the word "Sketch" in it. Most artists tend to vary up their software. 

I found using Painter for certain ink effects (regardless of why not to suggest 11) is excellent way of doing this, especially their liquid inks category. Although an older tutorial (and much better than their Draw Furries book) http://apps.corel.com/painterix/training/tutorial_inking.html?trkid=tpc1006ft Jared shows what can be done ink wise in painter when it comes to making manga/comics.


----------



## savageorange (Nov 10, 2010)

We need like a wiki with a single page, just about this, so we can have all the material organized in one post. Seriously, people ask variations on this way too much.

Pixelation manages to do this fairly well via a forum thread, by periodically updating the first post with the various details people post. It's still inferior to a wiki (eg. currently Panda has been absent for quite a while, so the summary post doesn't get updated, even though a lot of stuff has been posted since the last update. However, here, it's easy to copy an entire post, so that could be done if needed.)

I've made such a post here


----------



## feklhr (Nov 12, 2010)

Toraneko said:


> The other replies haven't really provided that anyway. :V
> 
> OP, it might help advice givers if you can tell us what your artistic ability is like. And you seem to dislike Painter, may I ask why that is?


 
I have tried painter 11 on both my mac and pc and the best I can say about it is that even with updates it is buggy to the point where it is unusable. I make selections and they randomly disappear. I try brushes and they make painter randomly crash on both my mac and pc. Plus about a hundred other little things that would take too long to list.

As far as my skill level. Well, I am past being new. Have been using photoshop cs4 then cs5 for about 8 months now. Basically I am at the point where I need to see if there is other software where I can try and expand my skill by trying out different things, maybe things photoshop don't have. Or maybe things it just does differently.


----------



## Arshes Nei (Nov 12, 2010)

Post up some art. Don't know what this skill level is until its seen.

Painter 11 depends on whether or not it's patched and you did a factory restore. I know you said you did the updates, but often times a factory reset will help with it a lot. Painter 6's engine is faster in my opinion but I like some of the newer brushes in 11. Selections can be a pain in it, but I don't need to use them that much.


----------



## feklhr (Nov 12, 2010)

Arshes Nei said:


> Post up some art. Don't know what this skill level is until its seen.
> 
> Painter 11 depends on whether or not it's patched and you did a factory restore. I know you said you did the updates, but often times a factory reset will help with it a lot. Painter 6's engine is faster in my opinion but I like some of the newer brushes in 11. Selections can be a pain in it, but I don't need to use them that much.



 I tried everything to make 11 work well. Here is a link to one of my pictures, be warned of adult content before clicking it

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4520864/

I still got a lot of skill to build but that is why I am trying out different software. I am thinking of sticking to ps just to draw it and seeing if painter 11 will hold up just for coloring them


----------



## Arshes Nei (Nov 12, 2010)

See the reason Painter is crashing is you're trying to use selections too much, which is just a tool. It's like using stencil/rulers/ellipses guides. In itself its not bad. However, reason I don't get much crashing (and yes I'm aware of the bugs) is because I keep it simple.

You're not at a level where I can advise using too many selections and painting with them. Basically I'm saying you need to learn your foundations, you really haven't learned PS and its capabilities and even after so many months the problem isn't the software you so much as you need to get back into foundational drawing.

It feels like you're using the selection to draw the shapes instead of drawing the shapes yourself and getting better at it. I can paint with a mouse, I can paint with a tablet, and while some programs like Painter lends itself greatly to tablet painting. I can achieve what I need to in any programs. There's just tools that make it easier.

The only difference is that I have some foundations and I still am learning.

I need to find the original thread that sparked this but here you can see http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2714309

I didn't give the answers right away, and most people got them wrong.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2900484 Done in MS paint.

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2714296

So my advice to you is to learn how to use a hard round brush and with pressure sensitivity first. Open Canvas is free and perfect to get the basics down.


----------



## Taralack (Nov 13, 2010)

I think you should work on your basic drawings before worrying about dealing with technical stuff in programs. You should head over to the Tutorials and Critiques forum and check out some of the stickies, and have a look at this thread too: http://hippie.nu/~unicorn/tut/xhtml/ 
If you're feeling brave, maybe post some work there for people to critique. 

Do you work with a tablet?


----------



## RockTheFur (Nov 13, 2010)

Gimp, Opencanvas and maybe Sumo. It has a large amount of features, but it's strange to get used to. I prefer to use Macromedia Flash Professional 8 for animation and rarely art, although I use CS5 for most of my art (unless it's a rough sketch, in which I need editing tools that are somewhat easy to control; then I use flash pro 8).


----------



## Acisej (Nov 15, 2010)

Easy Paint Tool SAI is godly. <3

Derp, didn't realize the thread skipped me down to the last response. :U'
I apologize for my over-used suggestion.


----------



## Mollfie (Nov 16, 2010)

I use SAI and Paint Shop Pro 8 most of the time. I have PS but I don't use it much.


----------

