# Various Art Programs and where to download them



## Arshes Nei (Aug 4, 2006)

This is not a warez thread. I thought that if the admins however chose to do so, make this a sticky topic for this thread, and I can add or users can just add on what programs you can use legally for free. Please keep the off topicness to a minimum so that people can find the info easy. I will update this first post to links for users to use these programs.

Gimp: Gimp is actually developed for Linux, but it is a free alternative to those who can't afford photoshop. It also has some aids for animating gifs. It does versions for other Operating Systems.

http://www.gimp.org/


Open Canvas: The first open canvas floats about on the net even though Portalgraphics no longer supports this version. This version allows networking.

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/mowlam/junk/programs/oC11b72.exe

Or just use google "oc11b72.exe"

Microsoft Expression:

It's apparently asking for people to test it, try it out:

http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/default.mspx

Art Rage:

http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html

Vector Programs.

Xara: There are various products on their site at

http://www.xara.com/

Their vector program was one of the best programs I've used (I used to use Freehand and Illustrator), though the version you're downloading is a 15 day trial.

http://www.xara.com/downloads/

Ok, that starts off what programs I can remember off the top of my head.

Here I'll add in savageorange's table/list of programs. in a quote:


savageorange said:


> In which I compile a table (Version 5 -- Includes some software which hasn't been previously mentioned in this thread):
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Ultraviolet (Aug 4, 2006)

What about something like project dogwaffle? and have you ever heard of or used it before. 

Just curious there have been people mentioning it in the last few months 

http://www.squirreldome.com/cyberop.htm


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## Talynn (Aug 5, 2006)

http://www.humanbalance.net/gale/us/

GraphicsGale, its a pixel animator that allows you to make multiple layers and make sprites, full version costs 20$ but I personally wouldn't want to waste that much JUST to save and load .gif files, i'd rather get a file converter lol.


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## Werewolfhero (Aug 6, 2006)

For those with a website that supports php and mysql theres oekakipoteto. A fully self hosted version of oekakibbs and shipainter

http://www.ninechime.com/products/


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## Gren (Aug 9, 2006)

http://www.inkscape.org/

Inkscape is a vector graphics program. It's free (open source) and available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.


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## Icarus (Oct 17, 2006)

One quick question...
I'm trying something out, and when i use Art rage...
I can only save to a file type that is not used in the FA Main site...Help?
It saves in .ptg format...


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## blackdragoon (Oct 17, 2006)

i use artrage as well. what you need to do is export the image to whatever filetype you wanna use as opposed to the default (.ptg) filetype it uses.

anyone know where i can get some good compression software? and i don't mean irfanview or xnview or gimp. perhaps some fractal software as well?


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## Icarus (Oct 18, 2006)

Should the letters in Open Canvas be all like squiggles and circles
=S
edit
sry
nvm...
I just saw change language to english in the help menu
heh...


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## lolcox (Apr 1, 2007)

For those of you running Windows XP, with .NET 2.0 installed on your systems, there's a free tool called Paint.NET, which builds upon the fundamentals of the original MSPaint software, and goes up and beyond those lines.

You may find it at GetPaint.net.

There's also another program that, although it's a bit dated (and thusly may not work on Vista), is also a neat little app to work with. It's called Pixia, and comes in several languages. It's freeware, so if you see it for sale anywhere, DO NOT BUY IT.


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## Snapai (Apr 3, 2007)

Don't forget the 3D apps!
http://www.blender.org/ - Blender, a free 3D animation software. The latest version includes the ability to sculpt-model, in addition to the normal polymodeling. There's also Verse blender, which lets Blender behave somewhat like a 3D version of openCanvas (and communicate with any other 3D app that has Verse support or a Verse plugin), but I think you have to compile that from source right now.


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## Tachyon (Apr 21, 2007)

It might be worth clarifying what Arshes said about the GIMP. It was originally developed on Linux, but for users of other persuasions, it's also available for Windows (http://www.wingimp.org) and OSX (http://gimp-app.sourceforge.net). Just in case anyone was unaware of this.


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## Riasiru (Jun 27, 2007)

I use Pixia, just thought I'd post it.
http://park18.wakwak.com/~pixia/

Pretty nice once ya understand it, and it comes in lots of languages, so... Enjoy!


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## wolfling (Aug 3, 2007)

i think photoshop or whats the other one called...i think its painter, its really nice too, i use photoshop all the time


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## lolcox (Aug 3, 2007)

Riasiru said:
			
		

> I use Pixia, just thought I'd post it.
> http://park18.wakwak.com/~pixia/
> 
> Pretty nice once ya understand it, and it comes in lots of languages, so... Enjoy!



/me points up... 
I gave Pixia some love earlier this year.  I also warned people of the folks who are trying to *sell* Pixia. Though, oh, happiness, it's been updated. <3

Wolfling:
*YOU FAIL IT.*
Try reading the first one hundred words of this thread.
A condensed version exists following this colon:
<Free, NON-PIRATED Programs>

This thread is intended to show people that there are alternatives to paying hundreds of dollars for an art program, and they don't have to move to the Caribbean to do so.


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## kurreltheraven (Dec 9, 2007)

+1 for GraphicsGale - i bought it and it's awesome for doing pixel art.



			
				Talynn said:
			
		

> http://www.humanbalance.net/gale/us/
> 
> GraphicsGale, its a pixel animator that allows you to make multiple layers and make sprites, full version costs 20$ but I personally wouldn't want to waste that much JUST to save and load .gif files, i'd rather get a file converter lol.


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## Infinity (Dec 9, 2007)

http://inkscape.org/

Inkscape is a free vector program that lets you do a bunch of things. I primarily use it to vector line art and smooth it out. Its .SVG files can be imported to GIMP, not sure about the more recent versions of Photoshop though.


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## sateva9822 (Dec 12, 2007)

Thanks   

Edit:






Yay OC!


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## IanKeith (Dec 31, 2007)

Ultraviolet said:
			
		

> What about something like project dogwaffle? and have you ever heard of or used it before.
> 
> Just curious there have been people mentioning it in the last few months
> 
> http://www.squirreldome.com/cyberop.htm



URL broken, main domain leads to someone ranting about god helping them with a sexual addiction or some such.


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## Marji4x (Mar 23, 2008)

http://www.giantscreamingrobotmonkeys.com/monkeyjam/

A free pencil tester program for anyone trying to do traditional animation.  Very nice and pretty easy to understand and jump right into


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## Chinook Steeves (May 23, 2008)

I'm actually going to be building a Linux system geared for art and multimedia production. Some of the programs I plan on stuffing it with so far are...
GIMP - Photoshop alternative
Inkscape - vector graphics editor
Blender 2.46 - 3D suite (the new updates are whats sweet )
Rosebud - full featured audio synthesizer

Okay minds a blank, gotta go work on my system.
By the way, once I have it working right would anyone here like a copy? It'll probably be a live system because I intend to boot off my USB flash drive with it.


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## Megan (Jul 14, 2008)

And anime studio or whatever the name is...where can i get that?


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## Megan (Jul 14, 2008)

sorry...manga studio 3.0


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## JackRLupus (Jul 15, 2008)

It's original name was "MoHo" and i think the old version is still available, on their site, give it a google.


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## Arshes Nei (Jul 28, 2008)

Alchemy: http://al.chemy.org/

http://al.chemy.org/workshops/


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## Horrorshow (Jul 28, 2008)

Arshes Nei said:


> Alchemy: http://al.chemy.org/
> 
> http://al.chemy.org/workshops/



Alchemy, awesome stuff.

I really wanna find the oscillator that Andrew Jones was using to demonstrate the mic shapes. D:


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## RTDragon (Dec 1, 2008)

There's also the portable version of GIMP.

http://portableapps.com/


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## Arshes Nei (Dec 24, 2008)

Reposting/fixing Dogwaffle: http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/free/


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## Arshes Nei (Feb 3, 2009)

Twisted Brush.

Like Other apps, this has a free and a pro version:

http://www.pixarra.com/download.html

Sai Paint Tool:

http://sai.detstwo.com/sai/

$50 for US purchase. Win Only


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## Arshes Nei (Feb 3, 2009)

True Space 3D app (it says trial but it's pretty much free): http://www.caligari.com/download/trials.asp?Cate=DTrials

Google Sketch-Up 3D App: http://sketchup.google.com/


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## Arshes Nei (Feb 3, 2009)

Artweaver Looks like someone loved Painter's GUI but it's free: http://www.artweaver.de/index.php?en_version


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## Arshes Nei (Feb 26, 2009)

If you like Sai and OC there are a few more freeware Japanese painting applications:

http://uzausa.deviantart.com/art/Tutorial-How-to-neko-paint-111883423 <--- go into the Artist's comments for link to an EnGrigh version.

There's also 4thpaint http://www.4paint.net/ (Japanese only)

Both of these run on Windows only. Mirror mode is nice because you can easily flip your image and catch mistakes.


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## Lazydabear (Jul 5, 2009)

I use a Program called Paint.net which is cheap knock off of Adobe Photoshop which is also free.


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## conicer (Aug 18, 2009)

I found an interesting opensource painting program named MyPaint from the Durian painting tutorial.  It's for Windows and Linux.


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## savageorange (Feb 23, 2010)

conicer said:


> I found an interesting opensource painting program named MyPaint from the Durian painting tutorial.  It's for Windows and Linux.


I <3 this. It makes it so easy to reel off sketches one after the other, with the quickload/save brushkeys and the brush grouping, and the rapid layer management. The color harmonies display built in to the color sampler, and the rapid access color history are pretty awesome too 
Been using it for all sketching for nearly a year now.

EDIT: the way you can preview your last stroke done with the currently selected brush ('live update last stroke') is also great.


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## Keaton (Mar 1, 2010)

Very very usefull the information ^^ . I'll try with these programs.
I use Adobe photoshop and Ilustrator in my drawings ^^


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## Timor Sceleris (Mar 2, 2010)

All of these are great programs, I particularly favor Alchemy. I usually stick to SketchBook Pro and Painter XI.


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## savageorange (Jun 12, 2010)

I noticed kurrel mentioned pixel art.. for making pixel art, check out the 'tools' sublist at http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=3467.0
I personally favor http://code.google.com/p/grafx2/ for its quick drawing, advanced features and unobstrusive interface (Be aware it notably does not support animation yet)


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## Riv (Jul 16, 2010)

I will also vouch for blender and GIMP, they are particularly great. For the record, blender does more than just 3d, it's also a fairly good video sequence editor and video compositor, and supports basic sound editing. 

Inkscape, on the other hand, though better than nothing, is not nearly nice to use as Illustrator, at least in my opinion.


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## Arshes Nei (Jul 29, 2010)

Ugly GUI but some of the brushes are rather neat http://www.pixarra.com/download.html


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## MelodyDragon (Oct 13, 2010)

I just want basic character making software.
Like things I can draw and just edit until it works for me.
*IDEAS?*


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## Arshes Nei (Oct 13, 2010)

MelodyDragon said:


> I just want basic character making software.
> Like things I can draw and just edit until it works for me.
> *IDEAS?*


 
Pencil, Paper, Brain, and trial and error.


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## MelodyDragon (Oct 14, 2010)

Arshes Nei said:


> Pencil, Paper, Brain, and trial and error.


 
Yeah. That would be the easyer way.
Trust me if my scanner worked it would be done!
My scanner is broken so I need options that aren't hard to do.
Most of the programs listed so far I can't really understand how to use.
I have Gimp and MS Paint on my computer
I use Gimp for making banners ideas.
MS paint for everything else.


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## Aegis (Oct 14, 2010)

Please tell me you just didn't say MS Paint.
Please, for the love of all furries...


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## Arshes Nei (Oct 14, 2010)

MelodyDragon said:


> Yeah. That would be the easyer way.
> Trust me if my scanner worked it would be done!
> My scanner is broken so I need options that aren't hard to do.
> Most of the programs listed so far I can't really understand how to use.
> ...


 
Of course it's easier. Do it.

Last time I recall a scanner didn't prevent me from drawing, just posting online. But I needed to draw more than worry about posting.

PS. stop with the font abuse, we can read you fine.


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## MelodyDragon (Oct 14, 2010)

Aegis said:


> Please tell me you just didn't say MS Paint.
> Please, for the love of all furries...


 
Yes I said MS Paint.
Don't worry, I don't have any furrys done on that thing.
I just do like little stuff on Ms Paint.
Example: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4633053

As for Gimp.
That is mainly banners.

@*Arshes Nei* : I doesn't stop me from drawing, it just spots me from uploading my work.


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## savageorange (Oct 15, 2010)

For pixel art like you linked, I must recommend Grafx2, as it's intended specifically for pixel-art, unlike MSPaint.

As for the scanning issue: Do you have access to a digital camera or camera phone?


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## Arshes Nei (Oct 19, 2010)

MelodyDragon said:


> @*Arshes Nei* : I doesn't stop me from drawing, it just spots me from uploading my work.


 
Good, then don't ask silly questions about software creating stuff for you. No "instant art" button.


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## savageorange (Nov 10, 2010)

In which I compile a table (Version 6 -- add link to FLOSS-Graphics-Software wiki article.):



4thPaint (windows; Japanese) - "Mirror mode is nice because you can easily flip your image and catch mistakes"
Alchemy
ArtRage
ArtWeaver (Windows) - "Looks like someone loved Painter's GUI" 
Blender (Windows, Linux) - "free 3D animation software. The latest version includes the ability to sculpt-model, in addition to the normal polymodeling.There's also Verse blender, which lets Blender behave somewhat like a 3D  version of openCanvas (and communicate with any other app that has  Verse support or a Verse plugin)"; (For example, there is a Verse plugin for GIMP)
Gimp - (Linux, Windows, Windows Portable, OSX.) - "alternative to those who can't afford photoshop". Basic animation support.
GIMP-GAP (Linux Windows) - Advanced animation support, oriented towards video editing and shorts.
GMIC (Linux, Windows) --  high quality filter toolbox. Not exactly a drawing tool, but includes some filters like 'anisotropic smoothing' that are very handy for cleaning up art, as well as high quality color tuning. Has a command line version available which can be handy for batch processing scans.
 
Grafx2 (Linux, Windows, Caanos, Haiku, Amiga..) - Pixelling software ala Deluxe Paint. Supports a lot of advanced features like color cycling, qshading, layers, non-square pixels. Does not yet support animation.
Graphics Gale (Windows) - "pixel animator that allows you to make multiple layers and make sprites"
Google SketchUp 3d app (Windows)
Inkscape (Linux, Windows) - "I primarily use it to vector line art and smooth it out"; very capable vector graphics software.
KToon (Linux) - excellent for quick animation planning. Supports multiple 'scenes' and video output. Be careful of the quirky UI. (Does someone know how to get it to have non-default frame size?)
MonkeyJam (Windows) - "free pencil tester program for anyone trying to do traditional animation. pretty easy to understand and jump right into."
Muro (web) - HTML5-based experimental painting app. Can use Wacom pressure sensitivity on Windows or OSX, but not Linux.
MyPaint (Linux, Windows) - Awesome for quick sketching and roughs in general; excellent at getting out of the way and letting you just draw. Supports layers, canvas rotation+flipping, quick access color history, color harmonies diagramming inbuilt to the color selector, simple saving of scrap images, changing color/brush/etc during a drawing operation... For GIMP interoperation, recent versions of GIMP include an ORA plugin (MyPaint's native image format). The recent 0.9 release includes a lot of improvements to brush UI, among other things. When you are testing which brushes are appropriate, the 'live update last stroke' option is extremely handy.
MTPaint (Linux, Windows) Pixel-art/icon oriented. Capable animation facilities.
Open Canvas (Windows) - "Portalgraphics no longer supports this version. This version allows networking."; "change language to english in the help menu"
Paint.NET (Windows) - "builds upon the fundamentals of the original MSPaint software, and goes up and beyond those lines."
Pixia (Windows) - "although it's a bit dated (and thusly may not work on Vista), is also a neat little app to work with"
Project Dogwaffle (Windows)
Twisted Brush (Windows) - "has a free and a pro version"; "Ugly GUI but some of the brushes are rather neat"
Paint Tool SAI (Windows) - "$50 for US purchase"; everyone loves the inking facilities.
Synfig Studio Advanced animation. Ridiculously powerful, requires some thought to get to the point where things seem mainly straightforward (ie. Some technical ability is a distinct plus). Has similar inking facilities (using width-variable vector paths -- use the width tool.) to Paint Tool SAI. 0.62+ include SVG import, so it's possible to eg. use Inkscape to trace a scanned lineart and SynfigStudio to ink that trace.
TrueSpace 3d (windows) - "it says trial but it's pretty much free"
Various Xara vector software
Microsoft Expression (Windows) - "It's apparently asking for people to test it"
see also List_of_FLOSS_Graphics_Applications


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## Taralack (Nov 10, 2010)

Maybe add dA Muro? Not sure if it counts...


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## savageorange (Nov 10, 2010)

Thanks Toraneko -- added!


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## RTDragon (Jan 22, 2011)

Yes but DA Muro is a little tricky to use. Plus if you want to extra brushes you have to shove in 300+ points for each set.

Though has anyone mentioned iscribble already?


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## Nicole1725 (Jul 29, 2011)

Has anyone linked to Sculptris yet? It's the only free 3D program that I know how to use. >_<

http://www.pixologic.com/sculptris/
The older version has better controls. http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=90617


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## I Am That Is (Apr 9, 2012)

For now I'm using a program called Sketchbook Express. It's on the Mac app store, and for windows, you can find it here:http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=6848332&siteID=123112

free or full, doesn't have much of a difference. It's just a basic drawing program, very easy on the eyes.


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## RTDragon (Jun 19, 2012)

I Am That Is said:


> For now I'm using a program called Sketchbook Express. It's on the Mac app store, and for windows, you can find it here:http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=6848332&siteID=123112
> 
> free or full, doesn't have much of a difference. It's just a basic drawing program, very easy on the eyes.



There's also the Copic Edition which is free. http://copic.jp/en/sketchbook-ce.html


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## RailRide (Jun 19, 2012)

Also SmoothDraw. Very small download, layers, brushes, image rotation, etc.

---PCJ


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## Arshes Nei (Aug 11, 2012)

Speedy Painter http://speedypainter.altervista.org/


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## Arshes Nei (Sep 5, 2012)

Fire Alpaca is free for both Windows and Mac Users

http://firealpaca.com/


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## savageorange (Sep 6, 2012)

If you're running Linux and know basically how to compile software, you might wanna try out
Knotter which is a rather interesting, though early in development, program for interactively designing Celtic knots. Supports SVG export.


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## zhuria (Dec 2, 2012)

I would like to add AzDrawing2 itÂ´s a great program for lines and itÂ´s free. Has a stabilizer option like Sai that ranges from 1 to 50 and has two levels, hard and soft. 
Here it can be downloaded,  http://www.mediafire.com/?hgtgodk53968zd8 , itÂ´s the version I have, unfortunately itÂ´s in spanish, though it has some custom brushes.


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## RailRide (Jul 14, 2013)

zhuria said:


> I would like to add AzDrawing2 itÂ´s a great program for lines and itÂ´s free. Has a stabilizer option like Sai that ranges from 1 to 50 and has two levels, hard and soft.
> Here it can be downloaded,  http://www.mediafire.com/?hgtgodk53968zd8 , itÂ´s the version I have, unfortunately itÂ´s in spanish, though it has some custom brushes.



Another link for AZdrawing2: http://www.forest.impress.co.jp/library/software/azdrawing/

The page is in Japanese, and the download link is the green box. The version I got from this link has English text that you can set as default from the Options menu. Note that it doesn't have its own installer, you'll have to unzip it into its own Program Files (x86) folder, create shortcuts and associate its native file format (under the file Properties dialog) with the .exe. Also Azdrawing only does inks. For colors, you'll have to switch to AZPaint. Why? I don't know, but the question is moot since development on this application halted in 2011.

On the other hand, SmoothDraw is still getting updates, recently to version 4 (but the first time I tried to load a SD3 file with it, SD4 crashed, so for the time being, I  have both versions installed side-by-side). 

I've actually drawn, inked and colored a simple image using MyPaint*, which has both Windows and Linux versions. I like the rotate/zoom/pan shortcuts you can use without having to take your pointer off the workspace to click a tool. You'll still have to switch to another application to add text, and like the two programs mentioned above, it's yet another proprietary file format to keep track of. At least the applications are small enough to distribute their installers with their files.

-All three of the above offer canvas rotation, MyPaint is the easiest one to use, SmoothDraw appears to be the least taxing on lesser machines. MyPaint will ignore any rotation when saving an image, I don't know yet if the others will.

-Of the three, only SmoothDraw permits the insertion of text.

-SmoothDraw and AzDrawing offer the ability to select (and presumably manipulate) rectangular parts of the drawing. Neither have lasso or magic-wand selection, though. MyPaint has no selection capability. Draw something in the wrong spot? Erase and do-over.

-All three have layers. Saving images using them them means using their native file formats, which are not compatible across applications. MyPaint offers the OpenRaster format, but I'm not aware of other apps that support it.

-None of these allow you to load more than one image at a time, so they're not useful for compiling multiple images together.

-All three allow exporting to standard raster formats (.bmp, .jpg, .png), 

There might be other features to compare, but I've yet to play with all three enough to list them all.

---PCJ
*(so much for my claim that I couldn't draw digitally)


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## Arshes Nei (Jul 14, 2013)

They are still working on it but it has some neat features, 15 day trial so far - http://www.madewithmischief.com/


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## Centradragon (Aug 24, 2014)

*A list of art programs (links, info, and reviews!)*

---------------------

I see a ton of threads where people ask about the differences between Photoshop/Sai Painter, or complain that they're on a budget and can't quite afford one of the more pricey applications. I figure it'd be nice to have a thread to refer to with info/prices about available programs, as well as a mini-review relating my experiences (because why not?)

Everyone on this forum is probably familiar with Photoshop and PaintTool Sai, but there are quite a few other software packages out there that you might not know of (or might not have tried yet)! This is pretty opinion-based on my end, so your mileage may vary. 

Links to trials and pricing are included whenever possible. As the thread ages the links may break... if you find that happens, just let me know and I'll update it!​

---------------------
---------------------


*Adobe **Photoshop*

_*Dollars to sacrifice*_: *$10/month* when you sign up for an annual plan (faculty/students can get it for either *$10/month* or *$99/year*). (source) Pet peeve: please stop saying this program is $600/1000/whatever â€” that literally has not been true for over a year.
_*Trial*_: *Yes* (Creative Cloud)
*Mac/PC: **Both.* Possible Linux support with Wine depending on the version.

My personal favorite, for a good reason. It has great compatibility with other programs (including the rest of the suite, like Illustrator or InDesign). There are tons of tools; the Mixer Brush Tool for real-media-esque painting, a powerful and easy-to-use Brush Palette you can use to make custom brushes, layer effects like Hue or Overlay, Swatches, the ability to use CMYK or LAB color profiles, the ability to work with huge files, the Content-Aware Fill... and that's just naming a few! One of the main drawbacks is how absolutely gigantic PS is â€” you need a lot of space/RAM/processor/graphics to use it right, so if you have an older computer it might not be for you.

A common complain from people is doing lineart in PS â€” some people get "wiggly" lines. There are a few workarounds you should try before giving up completely:



> [sub]
> â€” *A bigger tablet. *Probably the most expensive option, but an option nontheless. I usually sketch zoomed out, and I see some small wiggles using a Medium Intuos 5, rather than my older 9x12" Intuos 3. I think it has something to do with the size of the active area of the tablet, rather than pressure points (my big tablet has half the pressure points of the newer one). It could also be that a larger tablet forces you to make bigger, quicker strokes? No idea, haha. Just my two cents.
> â€” *Plugins.* One of the most useful features of Photoshop! One that people seem to use a lot is this: http://lazynezumi.com/ ($18 or $30, 30-day trial)
> â€” *Messing with the Brush Palette.* If you don't have it open, go to Window > Brush while PS is running (or, use F5). Sometimes messing with various elements like flow, opacity, thickness, etc can make a difference in how the final line looks.
> ...




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*ArtRage*

_*Dollars to sacrifice*_: *$50 *(or *$5/2* for the iPad/iPhone apps, respectively) (source)
_*Trial*_: *Yes*, with some limitations. (source)
*Mac/PC: **Both.*

I bought Art Rage 2 and 3 years ago, but they've added a ton of features since then (Gradient fills, Paint Symmetry, Clone Tool, etc). The interface is great, the paints/textures are a lot of fun, and the ability to "pin" references up is really useful if you don't have multiple screens. They also offer upgrades fairly often, and give a 50% discount if you own a prior version (occasionally the upgrade is free, if there were fixed problems or a few new features added in). The demo is (unfortunately) limited, although to my knowledge there is no timed trial... if you need 60 days to decide, take 60 days!


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*Corel Painter*

_*Dollars to sacrifice*_: *$429 *(or *$99 *for all the poor students/faculty out there) (source)
_*Trial*_: *Yes*, with some limitations. (source)
*Mac/PC: **Both.*

My struggle with this program is real â€” I own IX, X, and XI legit, and somehow each "upgrade" was worse than the last. I was so angry with Corel getting $300 from me for Painter XI I swore off them for good. That being said, improvements have been made: they have a 30-day money back guarantee (something I would have loved when I found out how climate-changingly bad Painter XI was), and apparently XII and beyond were actually quite responsive and useful. I highly recommend a trial before purchase... I find the older versions kind of painful and unintuitive to use, as well as crash-tastic. Your milage may definitely vary â€” many professionals use this software exclusively.


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*openCanvas*

_*Dollars to sacrifice*_: *$59* (source)
_*Trial*_: *Yes*, with full function for 120 days. Event files can be replayed indefinitely. (source)
*Mac/PC: **Windows only. *Japan ain't got no love for Macs, although they do have seperate 32/64-bit versions for PC. (source)

I used 1.1 and 4.5 allll the time back in the day. One of the best features it has is "Event Function", which records you drawing and saves a separate "video" file for it. You can even stop a finished event file mid-way and continue painting from that point on â€” it's pretty fantastic! I'm tempted to try this out again when I'm in a Windows-binge mood, and I'll give a more detailed spiel once I've had time to play around with it again.


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*More coming soon!*



> Things I've used (or WILL try out at one point) and want to add on when it's not super-late:
> 
> Gimp
> PaintShop Pro (formerly Jasc, now Corel)
> ...


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## Taralack (Aug 24, 2014)

Centra, there is already a thread about this in the T&C forum, but it does belong here more than there, so I went ahead and merged the two threads and stickied it here. Thanks for contributing.


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## Centradragon (Aug 24, 2014)

Taralack said:


> Centra, there is already a thread about this in the T&C forum, but it does belong here more than there, so I went ahead and merged the two threads and stickied it here. Thanks for contributing.




You're totally right! If you want I can delete my post, as it doesn't add much to what she posted... I didn't realize Arshes already written one on the T&C forum. :0


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## ThePragmatic (Oct 5, 2014)

I use Fire Alpaca http://firealpaca.com/en


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## CaptainCool (Oct 5, 2014)

If you are actually thinking about using tools like Photoshop more seriously the new CC deal that they have is really good. $9,99 or 12,29â‚¬, what is that? That's one less pizza per month!^^

What annoys me a little though is that you can't just cancel your subscription when ever you want... I don't know how it is in the states, but here you have to pay 50% of the rest for that year if you want to cancel it after your first month... So let's say you cancel it during your second month, they would charge you with roughly 70 bucks.
It's still an awesome deal though, especially for photographers like me because you get both Photoshop _and_ Lightroom.


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## KrysleQuinsen (Jan 19, 2015)

I'm using Chasys Draw IES. It's free, by the way.

After using for quite some time now, and is really great alternative for Photoshop and Gimp, and it have strong layers and performance system too. (never crash yet)
But then again I never paint with it, only few image adjustment and editing.


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## xxow (Mar 29, 2015)

Krita - krita.org
Linux/Windows/Mac
Open Source
Free

I've really fallen in love with krita, to the point that I've neglected other drawings in different formats for months now! It's still getting new releases, but I have never had any real bugs. It's multiplatform and opensource. I think the one confusing part is that it has a few releases (it was part of a suite originally, then there was a steam release, and some others??) but the one I've been using via krita.org is fully functional and appears largely independent. The Mac version is "experimental" right now, and may or may not work on a Mac machine.
It's got loads of brushes in various media feels, layer support (naturally), mirroring, rulers and perspective grids, a buttload of various layer blending modes, and plenty of adjustment filters. It's one major lack is that it does not do text, but it's a painting/drawing program rather than a general image manip program or a design/layout/vector program.


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## S.D.O.S. (Apr 1, 2015)

Nicole1725 said:


> Has anyone linked to Sculptris yet? It's the only free 3D program that I know how to use. >_<
> 
> http://www.pixologic.com/sculptris/
> The older version has better controls. http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=90617



Sculptris is a tremendous solid free software. I use Zbrush it's the big daddy of them all but you gotta pay for that one, not the most expensive one out there tho.

You have a gallery of sculpts done in sculptris? I always like to check fellow sculptors. : )


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