# what makes sai better than photoshop?



## dracokid (Aug 4, 2014)

i've seen lots of great artwork created using paint tool sai, but i've tried it a few times and i just prefer photoshop a million times better. i dunno, maybe i'm just used to photoshop more, but whenever i try to draw something in sai, it just looks crappy to me and if i draw the same thing in photoshop it looks a million times better. 

..i'm not explaining this very well.

what i'm trying to say is i just can't figure out how to use sai and i think photoshop is better, but lots of people disagree. if you use sai, what do you think makes it better than photoshop? and maybe you could give me a few tips because clearly i have no idea how to use it XD


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## MoonKit (Aug 4, 2014)

It's a preference. I find I use SAI because it stabilizes my pen stokes better than Photoshop and makes my lines clearer. I can also CTRL+Z more than once. I find it friendly to use. That doesn't mean it has it's limitations. I usually make the main art in SAI, and then move it to Photoshop for some color adjustment and if I need to add effects (which SAI has a hard time doing). It also depends on what art you are creating. I see more artist who paint use Photoshop, while more artist who do cell-shading use SAI. All in all, I think it comes down to personal preference.


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## Ayattar (Aug 4, 2014)

Photoshop is better in absolutely every way but requires better computer to run smoothly. It's the main difference.

Also, in photoshop it's ctrl+alt+z instead of ctrl+z  by default and you can use it up to 20 times. And pen strokes can be adjusted individually.


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## Taralack (Aug 4, 2014)

SAI has a better brush system, that in my opinion makes it superior to Photoshop for lineart and painting.

If you elaborate more on what you're trying to do in SAI, maybe we can help you.


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## Zenia (Aug 5, 2014)

I will just reiterate about the brush. Hells yes! The brush is awesome. My lines look so much better than when I used to work in Photoshop. I was strictly a Photoshop user since 1998, but I gave SAI a shot and slowly migrated over to using it completely as I got used to it. I still use my old copy of Photoshop it add text and the rare custom stamp or dodge tool.

When I try to do lines in Photoshop now, they look so fuzzy around the edges and I don't like it.


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## Solyka (Aug 7, 2014)

I just like that it's simple and pretty straight to the point. It loads very quickly too.


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## Wolfool (Aug 9, 2014)

It probably depends a whole lot on simply what you're used to... I work in SAI but my partner got my Photoshop so I tried giving it a go and just... Gah! The thought of learning a whole new programme when I actually really enjoy using SAI just kills me! I find SAI has a far more friendly layout without all the tabs that you seem to have to use to edit brushes in PS but who knows... perhaps there's ways of changing that so it's more similar to SAI or maybe if I could just summon the energy to stick with it for a week or so perhaps I'd get used to the weird roundabout tools PS seems to have! Personal preference is going to be the main thing I reckon.


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## Zoomerboomerz (Aug 11, 2014)

SAI is a very good tool for achieving a ~painterly~ effect in your illustrations. It's simple and steady, allowing a very hands on basic approach to creating a piece.

Photoshop is a wonderful tool also, but I find it best used as something to clean up possible issues, and do more sketchy or less organic effects. It's easy to make a mountain range, structures, trees, etc with sets of brushes in Photoshop with many alternating layers of effects. You can impress people quite easily with a few minutes or hours of work!

I would however contemplate how much of the work Photoshop does for you. Is it modifying your artwork in a way that you intend? Does it simply look pleasing after a few slider changes and clicks - and you leave it be?

How much work are the tools doing for you? Can you create the same thing with a basic round brush and your own knowledge of colors?

Some possible answers and questions to think about.


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## Human (Aug 14, 2014)

Photoshop is horrible for inking, like for a comic book. The stroke taper just isn't as smooth. Seems Sai is better for that. Plus Sai is more compact so it doesn't gobble up as much system juice just to run.

Isn't Sai free? That always helps...


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## Schwimmwagen (Aug 14, 2014)

95% sure that Photoshop comes out of the box being set up/optimised for image manipulation, rather than digital painting.

There's books upon books about painting specifically in photoshop. Initially, there's a few hoops to jump over to get it "right". Stuff like SAI and delicious Manga Studio are well-suited to the task straightaway. They're specifically created for artwork. Photoshop is something of a swiss army knife rather than a singular, dedicated tool.

Also, most artists like a simpler, more streamlined interface/set of tools/options.


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## Sar (Aug 16, 2014)

SAI gives you a brush colours and some layers and sends you on your way. The stabiliser tool makes it effective for limeart, it blends colors with paints better and its really light on resources.  Only current criticism is it has no text tool, but the next update it should.


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## FireFeathers (Aug 21, 2014)

Zoomerboomerz said:


> SAI is a very good tool for achieving a ~painterly~ effect in your illustrations. It's simple and steady, allowing a very hands on basic approach to creating a piece.
> 
> Photoshop is a wonderful tool also, but I find it best used as something to clean up possible issues, and do more sketchy or less organic effects. It's easy to make a mountain range, structures, trees, etc with sets of brushes in Photoshop with many alternating layers of effects. You can impress people quite easily with a few minutes or hours of work!
> 
> ...




OOh! OoooH! I can answer these. 

I've found the dead opposite, haha.  It's Sai that comes off as sketchy and digital, and photoshop that achieves a ~painterly~ effect.  You've got to paruse and find a sweet brush that fits best with you on PS, but when you do, it can be hard to even tell it from traditional: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/14321589/  This is just one brush and the mixer tool (which makes a fantastic oil analog)  If you hate PS and still want some sort of organic sense, then I'd go to Corel Painter first before SAI. SAI's good for lines and crisp-ness. 



> It's easy to make a mountain range, structures, trees, etc with sets of brushes in Photoshop with many alternating layers of effects



Don't ever do either of these things. That's like saying the Grass brush tool doesn't look like the biggest pile of BS on this side of the global hemisphere.  The default brushes suck. 



> I would however contemplate how much of the work Photoshop does for you. Is it modifying your artwork in a way that you intend? Does it simply look pleasing after a few slider changes and clicks - and you leave it be?



You don't do much digital painting, do you?  Also paint tool SAI does far more modification to your artwork than photoshop does. Mainly by anti-aliasing your lines so they turn out smoother.  I'd contemplate that.



> How much work are the tools doing for you? Can you create the same thing with a basic round brush and your own knowledge of colors?



nnnnnone?  Though I can effectively paint with all the colors of the wiiindddd.


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## Calemeyr (Aug 21, 2014)

Isn't Sai around $70, while the average PS is around $700? I may be mistaken about the PS price, I mean, I'm no artist.


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## Hewge (Aug 21, 2014)

_tl;dr: _Any program can achieve very similar results, and It's basically just about personal preference.


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## WolfNightV4X1 (Aug 24, 2014)

I got my PhotoShop on a CD that came with my bamboo tablet...

Which is a great feature, but I really want sai because it seems the general consensus is the lines are neater and way better, and that's something that frustrates me with PS. 

But Sai is so pricy! Urgh,


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## LokiOfSassgaard (Sep 14, 2014)

Schwimmwagen said:


> 95% sure that Photoshop comes out of the box being set up/optimised for image manipulation, rather than digital painting.
> 
> There's books upon books about painting specifically in photoshop. Initially, there's a few hoops to jump over to get it "right". Stuff like SAI and delicious Manga Studio are well-suited to the task straightaway. They're specifically created for artwork. Photoshop is something of a swiss army knife rather than a singular, dedicated tool.
> 
> Also, most artists like a simpler, more streamlined interface/set of tools/options.




This is 100% true.  Photoshop was never meant as a drawing tool, and only became one when Adobe realised that's what people use it for.  The result is a programme that takes up huge amounts of memory with compromises everywhere.  Even the hardest brushes are muddy around the edges, it's way to expensive for any hobby artist to afford, and if you want proper vector, you have to use a different programme.

SAI, on the other hand, was designed to make artwork, with the cartoonist and manga artist in mind.  It doesn't have millions of filters and rendering options because that's not what it's for.  You don't edit photos in SAI; you draw in SAI.  The update coming out soon will even introduce a build-in perspective grid, text, and a stabiliser for creating circles, the last two being tools SAI has seriously lacked for years.


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## Illuminaughty (Oct 3, 2014)

Neither is better than the other- all programs can be used to create amazing feats of artistry, it just depends on who's holding the stylus or the mouse or working the keypad.


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## Terror-Run (Oct 3, 2014)

SAI makes me want to murder people. so I'll keep using Photoshop. 
I used to hate lineart - but after I installed the lazy nezumi plug-in I prefer PS's lines to SAI a hundred times over, since the plug-in let me play a lot more with how much smoother the lines are going to be. I feel the line stabilizer in SAI reminds me too much of that horrid vectored stuff I made in my didigalt toddler days. 
Also the ability to warp and perspective selections in PS is pure awesome - mix that with the perspective/roundness settings for the brushes and you got an awesome tool for backgrounds (I need the brush to be at 20% to get somewhat decent water effects).

I wish there was a blur tool in PS that is as good as in SAI, but that is the only thing I think it's better at imho


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## Vex (Oct 4, 2014)

Hewge said:


> _tl;dr: _Any program can achieve very similar results, and It's basically just about personal preference.



^this

Period.


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## Somniferous (Oct 23, 2014)

Sai is better than photoshop in that:

brushes feel more 'natural'
you can vary the stability of your brushes to draw neat curves for inking
color blending is brilliant
all features can be run on low spec pc's

Photoshop is better than sai in that: 

it has more blending layers, more room for experimentation/ interesting effects
more diverse image manipulation options, with more powerful features like liquefy and a greater range of blur effects (which the sai engine can't handle) 
FRIGGIN AUTOSAVE!!! (post CS5)
easier to install custom brushes
you can work with larger canvases

Probably missed a few points, but I pretty much use a combination of SAI/ PS


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## Sid.Fishes (Oct 30, 2014)

My workflow tends to be draw/ink in Manga Studio 5 because ALL of the pen tools feel buckets nicer than Sai's, color and render in Sai because of it's excellent selection tools and blending, and then hop over to Photoshop CS6 for fine tuning, playing with effects, color/texture overlays, edits, specialized brushes, tweaks ect. They all have a specific role, and none of them can single-handedly do everything I need.

There is no better, only different. If you don't like one or the other, maybe you should look at some tutorials to see how to best utilize the program or... you know, just say screw what's popular and use what works for you :/


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## Charrio (Nov 1, 2014)

Personally I love SAI, i use Photoshop as well. 

SAI gives me a great pencil too to sketch with, the (CRAYON) which simulates pencils well. 
Also i really like how the Line tools work in SAI over Photoshop. 

I guess it's just a matter of preference.


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## Gnozpar (Nov 9, 2014)

I think it's meant to work this way for most artists:

Paintool SAI for actual drawing.
Photoshop for nice effects you can't otherwise get in Paintool SAI.

I don't really use Photoshop. But eeeeeeeeeh I may sometime in the future, seems really good to get Magic, Backgrounds and other stuff really easily


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## Volkodav (Nov 9, 2014)

SAI has better brushes, better lineart, doesn't require a fucking megacomputer to use, isn't cluttered, and everything is easy to find.


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## Maugryph (Nov 14, 2014)

Human said:


> Photoshop is horrible for inking, like for a comic book. The stroke taper just isn't as smooth. Seems Sai is better for that. Plus Sai is more compact so it doesn't gobble up as much system juice just to run.
> 
> Isn't Sai free? That always helps...


Sai isnt free.

As for doing lines in Photoshop, minimizing the the spacing in the brush tool options, and the lines will be smoother.

As for the main reason I have stuck with Photoshop is it's brush engine which is far more superior that SAI . The brush engine is complex so I can understand it could be a turnoff for some people. Also there zillions of user made brushes to use. Ironically I use the flat round brush for a majority if my work.

I also like Manga Studio 5, especially when creating line drawings


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## Shiroashi (Nov 15, 2014)

Better... for what?  I would say absolutely nothing makes SAI better than Photoshop. PS is a very advances and superior Software compared to SAI. Maybe most people just don't have the time, and money, to dive fully into it and get its full potential out, therefore are a little overwhelmed by it. It IS a very complicated software that needs more than a few hours to fully understand. Sai may be cheaper and more focused on creating drawings and in the right hands also can be put to so much awesomeness, but so can every art tool, if you are committed enough to use it. 
But as already been said, to each their own. I'll prefer Photoshop any time over SAI.


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## Ruggy (Nov 17, 2014)

Ayattar said:


> Photoshop is better in absolutely every way but requires better computer to run smoothly. It's the main difference.
> 
> Also, in photoshop it's ctrl+alt+z instead of ctrl+z  by default and you can use it up to 20 times. And pen strokes can be adjusted individually.



You can also change your keybindings under Edit -> Keyboard Shortcuts. Under the 'Edit' menu on that screen, set 'step backward' to Ctrl Z. It'll gripe at you that there's a conflict, but if you get it to accept it anyway, it'll get CTRL+Z to act like a more reasonable undo function.

You can also edit how many history states it stores (i.e. how many 'undo's you get) by going to Edit -> Preferences -> Performance and adjusting the "History States" number as high as you want it and/or as high as your computer can handle.



Terror-Run said:


> SAI makes me want to murder people. so I'll keep using Photoshop.
> I used to hate lineart - but after I installed the lazy nezumi plug-in I prefer PS's lines to SAI a hundred times over, since the plug-in let me play a lot more with how much smoother the lines are going to be.



I went and checked this plugin out because SAI does a lot of stuff that bugs me, and oooh man, that shit is legit. Might actually make Photoshop a reasonable one-stop shop for me, thanks for mentioning it.


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## Zeitzbach (Nov 20, 2014)

From what I heard, it's the simplicity and the sharper line.

I love the tools on Photoshop though since I use the thing for a lot more stuffs beside just painting and brushing. Being able to easily slap blurs and do text effects for GFX at the same time is really useful.

And about the cost... YO HO HO.


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## JSilverwing (Dec 4, 2014)

I just simply prefer SAI over Photoshop because it's a lot easier for me to work with.
Photoshop is very confusing to me and I lack patience these days unfortunately.

Maybe if I had someone willing to show me the basics, I would be more willing to give it a chance. But for now, I will stick to trusty Paint Tool Sai~


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