Comic Artists, What Art Program Do You Use, And Why?

[Siromany]

It's always interesting to me seeing people explain their processes on their programs and limitations.

For me, I've been using MS Paint for a little over a decade now. The biggest reason I still use it for my art and comics is that I've never really been able to afford a tablet, and the tablet I got to borrow, I didn't really enjoy using. Because of that, I've stuck with a mouse. A lot of art programs now are geared towards tablet users as that's the mainstream way to do art, and that's absolutely fine. The reason I don't use newer programs or most other programs is because a lot of it doesn't have specific tools or methods that I still use. Using right click to immediately undo on the mouse, or the curve tool. I've tried it on a few different programs, but it's never felt right to me like it does on Paint. I've usually also circumvented layers by using multiple windows.

Most of my friends who watch me stream get boggled a lot watching me do my processes.

Here's kind of a breakdown:

I first draw my roughs traditionally

And then I will line them on Paint. I initially line them with the thinnest line on the curve tool so that when I isolate the lines with an editing program, I can then draw secondary lines to imitate pen pressure. I'll be using multiple windows to have different layers of the art. I'll fill in what I want to overlap, this picture here is in process. I would have a second window of the characters themselves filled in with a color, and then repaste them back on the image so they don't have the background lines on them anymore.

Once all the lines are properly cleaned up, depending on what section the chapter is in, I'll either make the lines colored, or make them black. In this section the lines are black, so it's a lot quicker. I'll then fill in everything, send it to my editor to resize the image so it's not so massive anymore and can be the right size for uploading, and add text.

And that's how I do my comic! It's the same with my art, but I don't resize the art pieces. What's your art program and process for your comic?

[ble]

I mostly use photoshop for sketches, panel, text, and painting.

I have been using manga studio only for the lineart, as it has vector effect.

As someone who studied graphic design, photoshop is just the program I use the most, so it's my default for most things.

[Siromany]

I understand. My sister went to college for graphic design and has been using photoshop for years. She's mostly stopped though as she's finding different programs to use.

[rajillustration]

I am SHOOK that MS Paint looks like this now.

Like holy cow do you know how bad MS Paint was when I was a kid? Man. Good job, windows.

For me, I use Photoshop because I like to have layers, and I abuse them a lot. Those layers tend to act differently in Clip Studio paint (and I'm so aggressive that it tends to............crash Clip Studio. Photoshop is a little more bulky so it works better)

But my process is super similar to yours. (It's long form so I zoomed waaay out to grab this part of an episode. Hopefully you didn't need to see details to get the gist.)

I start with a sketch. (I also make a color study on that little sketch with a big ol soft brush, but I deleted that layer so pretend I did that here) I make those panels in a different file to save space, then I make that art one layer, copy and paste it back into a strip (since doing all of them at once chugs my computer. this saves on layers) Then add the bg and effects to pull it into one pleasing strip so the panels all flow.

[ninjashira]

I use a combination of Photoshop and Clip Studio. I mostly use Clip Studio for backgrounds so I can utilize the perspective rulers, then bring it back into Photoshop for everything else. I mostly just use Photoshop at this point because I've been using it for twenty years and the interface is really familiar to me, so I can get things done quickly.

[Siromany]

@rajillustration I feel this absolutely. Also yeah I remember back in the early 2000's how much different paint was till now. At least there's a much better looking color palette in the default colors now instead of... that blue...

@ninjashira yeah, like, I've found that while using a program familiar to me, I'll still use some sort of other program just for a specific part of the art process. Also I've heard that Clip Studio is a good program. A lot of my friends recommend to me.

[MzBun]

I used to use Photoshop, but I have been using Clip Studio Paint for years now after it wasn't manga studio anymore haha
I like the customizing my brushes and I personally prefer CSP's to PS when it comes to brush strokes.
I also like how I can insert 3d assets and even a 3d grid in when needed for different angles.

For line art process, I prefer using the vector layer in CSP, that way if I need to resize anything, I can re-adjust my line thickness based on how I want it. In CSP. I personally find it faster for my work.

[Rhonder]

I'm another "I use photoshop mostly because I've been using it for a decade and it's comfy at this point" person. Started out taking a set of graphic design classes in highschool that used it. Then in college I was part of an extracurricular student club that made pin designs on a bi-weekly base and we used photoshop for that as well. Then when I got accepted to the architecture department at school photoshop was what most students used to create the photorenderings of our projects. Finally after graduation I started getting back into comics and learning more about the illustration tools it has @u@

[Siromany]

I've gotten the chance to use photoshop back in highschool in an animation class and honestly it's not my preferred method of art just because it's not super mouse friendly, also I couldn't really afford to have it at home either.

[BrambleberrySquirrel]

I use Procreate because it runs on my iPad, has great tools and is a one time purchase instead of subscription based. The UI is really simple and intuitive which is really the number 1 thing I’d say it has going for it. The learning curve is extremely minimal. I’ve looked at CSP and Photoshop because of how much other artists rave about them but it seems like there is a lot to learn just to get started with those programs. I also use Affinity Designer, but just as an image slicer tool. It can do vector art but I really haven’t even begun to experiment with that part of it. It shares a lot of the same benefits as Procreate though.

[ButterflyEmpress]

I use Clip Studio. Although I know I'm probably not using it to it's full capabilities, it's my favorite so far. The stabilizer and vector settings make it so much easier to do line art. Plus it has a cloud system so I can jump back and forth from my laptop and tablet. Unfortunately the mobile version is paid subscription only while the desktop version is one time.

I do wish I wasn't so reliant on it since Photoshop is the industry standard.

[Eiranyx]

I actually use three programs
First I use Paint tool sai to do my sketches, lineart and coloring
Then I transfer it to medibang -- to apply the tones, speech bubbles and applying text
And finally, I use photoshop to combine all of the canvasses for a single episode then slice it according to the required image size for tapas.

I am comfortable using the three for drawing but It depends on what type of digital art I'm making like for example, if it is semi realism I use photoshop, for a manga(the one that will be printed and publish for a physical book) it's medibang since it has the standard canvas sizes ready for it and the screen tones and lastly if it is a webcomic/webtoon I mostly use paint tool sai because I feel more comfortable with the brushes there and it's cleaner doing line art. Another thing is I can easily customize the shortcut key for the tools -- which is really helpful because it makes me work faster (like without having to navigate the tools using the mouse then returning it to the canvas again.)

[jgreene2433]

I'm using ibispaintx on my phone to illustrate my comics and I just love it.

[IndigoShirtProd]

I use Firealpaca for my comic. When I first got a drawing tablet, I didn't really have the money to pay for an expensive drawing program nor did I know how many there were. At the time I had a friend who used Firealpaca, a youtuber I looked up to who used it, I was using its sister program medibang on an ipad I owned. Plus it's completely free which is always good thing. Firealpaca specifically has a brush that I love and use all the time, so I'm privy to still use for my comic. I do have medibang still and clip studio, but I only use them for special occasions.

[CurryXSake]

I use Krita because it's free and has the tools I need/want to make stuff. It's also a good testing ground to determine if I'm willing to invest more into digital art. My process is making the thumbnails traditionally alongside a script. I then transfer the thumbnail to Krita and refine it to a sketch. I then add the word bubble and text first so that I can adjust the sketch accordingly. After that, refine that sketch to line art. I make some layers and masks to control the colors. I add some shadows and extra details, export it to a png file, and then make resized copies for Webtoon and Tapas. That's my current process.

[allenT]

I use an older Photohop version. I clean up my scanned pages using functions like 'Dodge' tool, 'Burn' tool, 'Replace Color' with ease. I like the layering and text functions. Also my screentones are generated here.(I can set them to a certain degree to minimize moire effect)

I use Krita For flatting or drawing lines cos it draws smoother & does the job well. It also can open my Photoshop files. (however things like texts & layer effects becomes 'rasterized' when file opens on Krita, so I do them on later stage.）

[Kiweevil]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

[Shanny8]

I use Clip Studio mostly to pencil & ink my comic, then Photoshop for most of the coloring...I toggle back & forth between the two for certain FX, and to lay down a texture noise in some of my backgrounds.

I use Illustrator to letter my comic. CSP has lettering capabilities, but Illustrator is still the best as far as I'm concerned. I bought Affinity Designer earlier this year which is supposed to be their version of Illustrator, but I think Illustrator is still better(from what I've heard from one letterer who tested it...I also haven't tested out Designer yet, but will soon).

I started out learning Photoshop & used it mainly for coloring while doing my pencils & inks traditionally...then a peer of mine created some art for me using CSP(then Manga Studio) and I was curious to try it out. Like @ButterflyEmpress stated- the stabilizers and brush engine make it easy to work with...for most of this year, I'd been working on standalone pieces and trying to get used to coloring pieces in CSP.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

Paint.NET, because it's free

...I mean, that and I like it as a program. ^^ It's like MSPaint but stronger: a simple UI, with lots of powerful tools if you know where to look.

Look at that...so clean...it may not have everything, but it has everything you need and it's just * chef's kiss *

[VibrantFox]

Medibang paint for pretty much everything. I've been using it for the past...4 years so it's basically the software I'm most accustomed to and it's got a simple layout with basically all the tools I need for colors, effect, text and everything else. Plus cloud save has been a lifesaver when i forgot to save or my stuff crashes which is nice.

The only other stuff I use is photoshop (sparingly) and Fire Alpaca if i wanna make a gif or something (just simple stuff tho)