# Digital Artists, what art programs do you use?



## GoodBoyeBrandon (Dec 25, 2018)

Hello, digital artists of furaffinity. I was wondering which art program y'all who draw with tablets use?

I'm wanting to get back into digital art but can't find a good program that works well; I'm in the market for a new program for drawing digital art in. I've tried Krita, the Gimp, Firealpaca...and one other that I can't remember. Mischief, perhaps.

Out of curiosity what art programs does everyone use these days? Is drawing with a tablet still a thing? I don't even know anymore.


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## pandasayori (Dec 25, 2018)

Since I draw on my iPad I primarily use Procreate and Clip Studio Paint. When I had a standard drawing tablet I used a hacked version of Paint Tool Sai. If you’re looking for cheaper / free alternatives for art programs: MediBang, Firealpaca, and Krita are good options.


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## Renneon (Dec 26, 2018)

I use paint tool SAI, too (a hacked version) It's a great and intuitive drawing program that has really all you need for drawing.
I've heard a lot of positive feedback about FireAlpaca and Krita, despite never trying them myself.


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## goatwolff (Dec 26, 2018)

GoodBoyeBrandon said:


> Hello, digital artists of furaffinity. I was wondering which art program y'all who draw with tablets use?
> 
> I'm wanting to get back into digital art but can't find a good program that works well; I'm in the market for a new program for drawing digital art in. I've tried Krita, the Gimp, Firealpaca...and one other that I can't remember. Mischief, perhaps.
> 
> Out of curiosity what art programs does everyone use these days? Is drawing with a tablet still a thing? I don't even know anymore.


i use medibang paint pro 
its simple, free and fun to use
i dont use a tablet though, just a mouse
i believe that medibang is compatible with tablets


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## Fiorabeast (Dec 26, 2018)

My icon I did, as well as my other stuff I use Medibang Paint Pro a LOT due to the fact it is free and I can't afford a 'proper' digital program like SAI or Clip Paint Studio (the latter I really want through...). 
And yes, Medibang is compatible with Tablets, even my very ancient Graphire Wacom I have and still use at the moment.


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## redfox_81 (Dec 27, 2018)

Photoshop CC on my PC, Procreate on iPad.


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## quoting_mungo (Dec 27, 2018)

Similar fairly recent thread you might want to check out: forums.furaffinity.net: Software to draw?



Fiorabeast said:


> My icon I did, as well as my other stuff I use Medibang Paint Pro a LOT due to the fact it is free and I can't afford a 'proper' digital program like SAI or Clip Paint Studio (the latter I really want through...).
> And yes, Medibang is compatible with Tablets, even my very ancient Graphire Wacom I have and still use at the moment.


Clip Studio Paint at least has pretty regular sales and IIRC it sometimes goes as low as $15. Obviously I don't know your financial situation, but it might be worth keeping an eye out for one of the big discount sales if that kind of pricing is more affordable.

That said, your art is lovely, so clearly you can pull off some great things with what you currently use!


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## Aibiki (Dec 27, 2018)

Clip Studio Paint Pro (Formerly Manga Studio 5) and an Intuos Draw tablet. I got CSP when it was on sale for about $25.  

One day I will have a copy of SAI again. I miss it so. ;-;


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## Sinclare Lovelace (Dec 27, 2018)

I actually use Krita currently but before that I used Easy Paint Tool Sai for roughly 10 years. In comparison to Krita it's less intense,less dependant on layer settings and has a neat selection brush which allows you to essentially paint what you want selected and you can add or erase whenever you want. You can also use alt to adjust your lines for a nice clean line art,where as Krita I noticed does not have this feature and often needs an additional layer on top of the first sketch layer.


Krita I've only been using a month or two but in the new 4.0 patch the colorized mask tool makes selecting your base colors super easy.

So far my comparison is:
Sai= clean lines and easy selection but lacks settings and effects. You have to make those yourself. Friendly to those with shakey hands

Krita= more difficult selection,similar to Photoshop like programs, favors natural lines and isnt friendly to those with shakey hands, tons of effects and textures,gradients and options.

I use and prefer a drawing tablet personally but I don't think it's mandatory,just easier if you normally draw on paper.


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## RailRide (Dec 28, 2018)

I have a number of drawing tools I keep at my disposal:

*Krita:* Been using it since before it got animation functions (somewhere in its 3.x era). Oddly enough, that's the reason I chose to become acquainted with it, but have yet to even open up the animation docker. It's my go-to by default since I was so fascinated with the novelty of its abilities as a free/opensource  application. One does have to keep hitting up its homepage fairly often as updates and bugfixes appear without warning (since the program doesn't phone home)

*Clip Studio Paint EX:* This is the expensive version. I waited for a sale and paid about 40% of the normal price. A year later I bought a second license as I was transitioning to a newer computer and the license allows you to install it on two machines (I already had it on two and was adding a third/fourth). While I haven't been using it as much as I should being that I actually paid for it, I find that I slip back into its workflow fairly easily after having worked with Krita, since at the time I got CSP, Krita (in it's 3.x iteration) couldn't handle text very well amd CSP was designed around creating comics, so decent text handling was already baked in. I have some fairly involved projects started in CSP so I'll be getting re-acquainted with it fairly soon after I finish off the current batch of pics started in Krita.

*Micrografx Picture Publisher:* This used to be my major go-to image editor, adopted in the late '90's since it was the first image editor (bought purely by chance off a bargain bin at a computer show) I found other than Photoshop that actually shows you the shape and size of your brush as a pointer before you lay down color with it. I still fire it up for stuff that requires breaking up and assembling images from parts of other images, as well as capturing [Alt-PrtSc] screenshots.  It's _really_ old (Micrografx was bought out by Corel), to the extent that it lacks a canvas-rotate feature, doesn't handle PNG transparency well enough to save them with transparency, and it doesn't retain EXIF data in JPGs. But it can do two things Krita cannot--run a TWAIN scanner, and print. (I haven't dinked around with CSP enough to know if it can do these things)

*Mypaint:* I've only done one pic with this, but it's a lightweight open-source painting tool that has layers, canvas rotation, and the advantage of having no pre-defined canvas size--you just start drawing, and the finished image is whatever size it occupies when you save it. It does lack most advanced features, but since it saves in Open Raster (.ORA) format, you've got a fairly good chance of being able to open its images in other applications (like Krita) for further work. According to its homepage, it can accept add-on brush packs adapted to its internal requirements, and some have already been developed.

*SmoothDraw*: Like MyPaint, I've only done one finished image with it. This was before I discovered Krita, which pretty much superseded this and MyPaint. It's still being developed, although I believe it's a one-man operation originating in Japan. It'll work on older OS'es back to WinXP according to its homepage, and while the program itself is a fairly small download, it does require Microsoft's .NET, which is a couple dozen megabytes (but you only need to do this once if it isn't already installed). Like MyPaint, it has layers and canvas rotation, but few advanced features.

Lastly, *Inkscape:* People hate its user interface, but I managed to get used to it for doing vector inking before I got accustomed to raster inking on Krita and CSP. I keep it around for the unique things you can do with vector images (like resizing them without losing image quality). It has some issues with exporting bitmaps when used just for inking (they are always antialiased and you can't turn this off), you can't rotate its canvas (although given the way you create images with it one could argue that it's not as big a handicap as it might seem). At least Krita can import its SVG files now (although its vector tools aren't developed enough to make it an Inkscape replacement).

---PCJ


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## FuzzleTheMintyDog (Dec 28, 2018)

*I used Photoshop for like 12 years. This year I moved over to Clip Studio Paint. Photoshop appears to be focusing on photographers, I mean that's what its predominantly for. But I got tired of the brush engine and while CSP's brushes aren't necessarily as easy to tweak, create and lag on larger sizes, it performs totally different to photoshop and I've been able to get a lot better, more natural results with CSP when it comes to fur and hair, shading and lighting. Plus it was only $40 compared to Phtoshops never ending monthly installments. *


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## Vitaly (Dec 28, 2018)

Procreate for sketching, Photoshop for drawing


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## PurpleZombieTigress (Dec 29, 2018)

I use PaintTool Sai most of the time...but occasionally I'll add a few enhancements in photoshop elements. Photoshop was my go-to program before a friend introduced me to Sai.


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## Foxex (Dec 30, 2018)

Mainly ZBrush, but I shoot my work around several programs, 3D coat, Substance Painter, Marmoset Tolbag, Maya, Keyshot.

and i do my work mostly with an old medium Intuos Pro, saving monies right now for an upgrade, hoping to get a cintque 24 inch in the coming months


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## PercyD (Dec 30, 2018)

I use Krita because it has a lot of features to make up for my old outdated tablet.

It has a stabilizer engine. It also has a brush engine that includes some stand ins for pressure sensitivity. 
I used to have it on my linux machine. When I bought my new laptop, I went ahead and bought the stable microsoft build for like 5 bucks. It's worth it, because it will automatically be updated and I don't have to deal with it.


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## Asher Grey (Dec 30, 2018)

Most of my stuff is on ipad, so I use ArtStudio. Pros of this are just the rudimentary program doesn't slow down my 8(9?) year old ipad, plus the interface is easy to use. On pc I stick to Firealpaca, that's mostly for animating though. It's somewhat pricey but since you can use a mirroring program to convert an ipad to a pc attached tablet, it means I can use that for any program on there. I'm satisfied with both


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## littercritter (Jan 1, 2019)

I heavily use my iPad now and on it I use MedibangPaint. Whenever I use my Wacom with my laptop I use Vilebile's version of Sai since I'm a broke college student. I personally really liked Vilebile's Sai since it came with all of their custom brushes and I never got any viruses or had any issues with the program itself. Like I said though I mainly use my iPad with Medibang now since it has internal storage as well as online storage in case anything were to happen to your device.


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## chuckfiala (Jan 1, 2019)

I'm currently using Illustrator and Photoshop, but thing of changing that when I buy a new Mac. I don't want to pay monthly fees.


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## rjbartrop (Jan 8, 2019)

I use Photoshop CC and Clip Studio.  Clip Studio is what I use for line drawing, and I'd definitely recommend it for the artist on a tight budget.


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## ManicTherapsid (Jan 10, 2019)

I've been playing around with GIMP a bit, not bad for being free.


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## KitKatChunKiss (Jan 11, 2019)

I mostly only use Kirta for 2D artworks. I tried PaintStorm and it was good too, but lacking a lot of important features that Krita has (and Krita is free but not PaintStorm).

For 3D stuff I go with Blender and ZBrush, sometimes Maya.


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## Pogo (Jan 11, 2019)

usin' Adobe sketch. Cropping and Touching it up in the default photo editor app.

=w=


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## hyenash (Jan 13, 2019)

i use piskel for the majority of my art, specifically because i have a love for pixel animation and that's what it was designed for
i don't have a tablet, so i use a mouse


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## Hail-Purity (Jan 13, 2019)

I used Clip Studio Paint pro and a cheap wacom tablet that isnt amazing but gets the job done.
im currently saving up for a microsoft surface


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## 1ndigoCat (Jan 18, 2019)

Firealpaca, drawing with mouse


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## Fruitythebeetle (Jan 18, 2019)

I used to use medibang and firealpaca in the olden days with a old version of the intuos tablet. once I yearned for an upgrade, I got  a new model of the wacom intuos pro after getting a licence of clip studio paint.


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## Glairdron (Jan 18, 2019)

I use Clip Studio Paint as well, and I think it's AMAZING for the price point! And since they run 50% off sales pretty frequently, it can be an absolute steal.

For a tablet I have this Huion WH1409, which is a bit too big and I'd recommend getting something a little smaller... But it's better to have a tablet that's too big than too small (I used to have a really tiny wacom tablet and I much prefer the Huion).


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## Jax Cottontail (Jan 24, 2019)

Photoshop CC


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## Keefur (Jan 24, 2019)

I do mostly photo restoration in my work (lots of funeral programs).  I use Photoshop 6.  I don't like the idea of paying for the program monthly.  I have a Bamboo, but really need something that I can see the image on.  Believe it or not, I do most of my work with a mouse.  Rarely do I even use the tablet.


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## Sablesword (Jan 24, 2019)

Coreldraw, specifically the old Coreldraw X3 version. I'm much more comfortable with vector than with bitmap (or with physical pigment on a physical surface). I spend a lot of time fiddling with nodes in Bezier curves, and with welding and trimming shapes. I could say that I don't really draw; instead I make 2-dimensional sculptures that look like drawings. 

I also have a really old Wacom graphire3 tablet, but I don't use it very much; mostly I use a mouse.


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## acidulication (Jan 24, 2019)

i use clip studio paint ! ive used paint tool sai for most of my digital art life and changing to CSP was so good, it's really nice to use in my opinion ! i used like . a wacom pen and touch i think. one of the tiny, no option ones sfoeosofeh


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## Deathless (Jan 24, 2019)

I use Autodesk Sketchbook Pro on mobile devices. I use a Samsung Galaxy tab A but I think the app is available on IOS


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## MK_Wizard (Jan 25, 2019)

For me, it's GIMP all the way. Yes, it's freeware, it's simple and basic, but it's all I need and I'm happy with it.


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## Fruitythebeetle (Jan 25, 2019)

MK_Wizard said:


> For me, it's GIMP all the way. Yes, it's freeware, it's simple and basic, but it's all I need and I'm happy with it.


gimp was me homie back in the day. i still kinda use it for graphic design but i feel like its seen better days.


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## Fallowfox (Jan 26, 2019)

I'm literally using GIMP at this very moment. ;D


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