# Best Digital Painting Software??



## Gregtheslayer (May 22, 2016)

Whats the best Digital Painting Software? I mostly use Paintool.Sai Or Autodesk Sketchbook but most of them lacks the things i want like Paint transition Or Smooth Linings and Easy coloring


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## darien (May 22, 2016)

There really is no 'best' software suite for digital painting. A great deal of it is personal preference. For the longest time I used Jasc Paint Shop Pro, but eventally moved on. Most of these suites have trial or evaluation versions, I encourage you to try several until you find one you are happy with. Corel Painter, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, gimp, paint tool sai, art rage, autodesk sketchbook, inkscape, and many more are out there waiting for you to get your hands on.


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## redhusky (May 22, 2016)

I mostly do linework and solid coloring and I find that Manga Studio fits the bill especially for the vector tools it provides.


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## Shotalicious (May 22, 2016)

I highly suggest Clip Studio! Its a very great program! <3


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## Samandriel Morningstar (May 22, 2016)

I highly suggest Gimp or Firealpaca.
FireAlpaca has a pen stabilization option so if you have a shaky hand or whatever it helps and GIMP has TONS of different brushes to download.


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## Saokymo (May 22, 2016)

I mostly use Photoshop and Illustrator because those are what I have and what I'm most used to using. GIMP is solid if you don't want to buy/crack Adobe stuff. One of these days I'll check out FireAlpaca to see how it works, too. (I'm on a mac, so my options are a bit more limited.)

As @darien said, there's no one best program out of any of them. They all have their own quirks and tricks, so just find the one you're most comfortable with and go from there.


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## psychonautic (May 22, 2016)

I like Photoshop best for painting. I could never replicate the texture/blending in other programs. Plus you can find hundreds of brushes for every use online.


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## 86tsunayoshi (May 23, 2016)

Serif Draw plus may not be the 'best' however, in terms of vectors it is very unique and possibly worth looking into. Manga/clip studio is good in terms of Raster Software.


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## Julia Lee (Feb 27, 2017)

I use Corel Painter for digital drawing and it is working amazing. For beginners especially, because it is very simple to learn and use. If it is out of your price range, you can get here: www.painterartist.com: Corel Coupon Codes, Discounts and Promos good discounts on the software and get it for a much lower price


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## KitKatChunKiss (Feb 28, 2017)

Like said before, there are no "Best software for painting". I personally use Krita right now (been using photoshop for years). Krita has a lot of great tools such as Sai's stabilizer and a brush system similar to Photoshop's. And Krita is free and open sourced ^^


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## RoaringFlameCat (Mar 5, 2017)

If you're more a traditional person, like I am, I actually use a program called Mischief. It's a vector program. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 here's an example of what I mean. The vector remains smooth no matter the zoom in, while the raster (like Gimp, Sai, and others) will pixelate and "blur" if you zoom in past the true size of the image. Below is an example of something that I created in Mischief.

The free version I got away with for a long time, the downside is that it doesn't have the use of layers, but all the tools that you would be using are there. (It wasn't a huge deal for me not to have the layers as I approached layer-less-ness as like a real life sketch.)

I'd give it a try if you're having trouble getting into the swing of raster programs, and I will say that Mischef is a rather simple program, but if all you're looking for is something just easy to learn, use, and draw in, I highly recommend it.

Mischief | Sketching & Drawing & Painting Software | madewithmischief


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## agmoyer (Mar 5, 2017)

I've been using OpenCanvas 6 and plan to buy it this month. Their trial on their site last around 190 days with no restrictions from what I can tell. Supports 32 and 64 bit OS (which is nice for me...). I'd say find trials of the software you're interested in and give them a try. For me this one is great not just because I've loved how much easier it was for me to draw again but also I can buy it on Steam so it is convenient for me. I'm sure there is more to what I am using but for what I need at the point in time it has been awesome. What I love most is the "stabilizing level" option because my hands are not very steady when it comes to long lines be it straight or curved.



Spoiler: Drawing I Made With OpenCanvas 6


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## nerdbat (Mar 5, 2017)

RoaringFlameCat said:


> If you're more a traditional person, like I am, I actually use a program called Mischief. It's a vector program.



I don't think Mischief (or any vector-based software in general) is that suitable for painting. Inking - yeah, but painting in vector is a pain in the ass.


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## Square-Wave_Kittycat (Mar 7, 2017)

I personally like to use adobe illustrator and adobe sketch. I use an iPad a lot of the time.


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## fptnghean (Mar 7, 2017)

I usally use Paint tool Sai. So, I use it with Adobe Photoshop CS6.
If you have a lot of money, you should buy table to draw...


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## fptnghean (Mar 7, 2017)

My paint ( Paint tool sai)


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## UnwieldyRoomba (Mar 7, 2017)

I use mainly Photoshop, Illustrator, and some Paint Tool Sai. Photoshop does what it says on the tin, it is best for editing, and in my opinion, if used to it, lining. Photoshop has a very specific brush... Not lag, but a feel... That you can't really recreate with Sai. It's also leagues better for going back with color correction, using and editing layers, and effects and filters and such. Sai I only really use for blending/painting digitally, and usually with the colors I've already put down in Photoshop. Later versions than I have of Photoshop also have similar blending tools, though with different methods of editing brushes than Sai, and take a bit more learning to figure out. But there are also so many free brushes that you can find online that are really good. 
Illustrator I only really use for vectors, such as doing logos and really really clean work with minimal painting quality, or when I don't want something to look natural. Illustrator also has a bit of a learning curve, but there are lots of good tutorials for every program online. 
But of course, price is also a factor. I bought Photoshop CS6 when they still sold the programs on CD and didn't have all the renting/subscription nonsense (though again you can always find cracked versions online...) And the Adobe programs definitely are pricey, while Sai is only about $30 I believe? 
So it really depends on what your budget is, how experienced you are, and what you plan to do. If one is just starting out in digital art, free programs like FireAlpaca, GIMP, and my personal favorite, as it is basically a free open source Photoshop, Krita, are much better while you figure out your style and what you want to do.


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## Deleted member 82554 (Mar 15, 2017)

I find MS Paint to be pretty robust.


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## ReeseDobie (Mar 16, 2017)

Gregtheslayer said:


> Whats the best Digital Painting Software? I mostly use Paintool.Sai Or Autodesk Sketchbook but most of them lacks the things i want like Paint transition Or Smooth Linings and Easy coloring



I've used Photoshop, SAI, FireAlpaca.. A couple others that I can't remember off hand.. But Sketchbook has been my favorite so far.


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