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Nov 2020

I only have iPad and I didn't own PC, so what I use is Medibang and ibis paint X since they're FReE ;v;

Medibang get annoying sometimes because it likes to FC on me and I sometimes lose my progress when I accidentally clicked "leave without saving" than "save and leave" above it. QvQ

I also once made a 10 page comic completely on my Android phone. It is a nightmare for my hands and eyes.

I have bought procreate but I don't like the app so I leave it in the dust. It was a waste of money. I really really want to use csp but they're subscription based on iPad, so I've been hesitating for a long time.

Clip Studio Paint Pro for literally everything I do. I'm most familiar with the brushes and tools from there since I first started with it 3 years ago. It's a steep learning curve if you're a beginner at digital art but once you get the feel for it, you'll be using CSP like a champ! I also feel like it's easier to work on comics there since the entire program is geared towards manga creation (although I draw in webtoons style). I have CSP (EX) on my laptop, which is what I used a year ago and then once I bought my new iPad last year, I've once again installed CSP (Pro this time) on my iPad. A few cons I have for CSP on iPad:

  • Size and layers limit (because the iPad can't handle the amount of data)

  • The subscription. On desktop, it's a one-time payment but on iPad, it's $4.99 (Ex) and $7.99 (Pro) a month. That's about $59.88 or $95.88 annually, whereas it's $49.99/$219 for one time payment on desktop. You can also get a huge discount during summer sales or black friday for the one time payment too! As much as it's more cost-effective to go back to desktop, I prefer the portability and direct screen time drawing on my iPad. Perhaps when I finally have funds for a Wacom Cintiq, I'll go back to desktop since it's not like my CSP license will disappear from my desktop anyways.

  • The Gold + Clip tokens system - I don't mind the gold system where you pay users in gold to purchase their assets but I really dislike the fact that they added the Clippy token system recently. Some users lock their assets behind Clippy points so there's literally no way to access it unless you pay 200 gold per month and get the monthly 1000-1500 clippy tokens a month (no way to renew it manually btw! You need to wait for next month, post your own assets, have someone gift them to you or do the continuous login bonus to earn them and trust me, you can burn through the tokens FAST) At least with the gold system, you can still renew it by purchasing the $10 option

Pros on CSP:

  • Stabilization feature

  • Ability to download custom brushes from others

  • Custom brushes in general! Oh my I absolutely love these and it cuts down my time to create effects by a LOT

  • Endless supply of assets to use in your webtoons! Lots of Korean artists use these in theirs!

  • The built in 3D modellers to help you with difficult/dynamic poses

  • The 3D model to lineart conversion in Pro version is just- It's godsend trust me!

  • ummm idk as much as i detailed the cons, i'm still pretty biased towards CSP either way haha!

I just posted about CSP below your comment XD but I can vouch for CSP on the iPad! I'd say if you have disposable income, go for the $4.99/month subscription on CSP! It's well worth it imo since it's main usage is for manga creation. If not, then keep with Medibang and ibis Paint!

I use CSP for everything. It's pretty a pretty useful tool with helpful assets for backgrounds. Even more, once you've learned a lot more about the inner workings of the software, it's pretty fast to work in. I've been able to start my files with my folders already labeled, and copy/pasting whole folders and layers has been better for me. I've got a little gif of my process:

I been using Medibang Paint Pro. I use it because I prefer it over the other art programs; that and it gives you the tools to do a good amount of things and useful resources.

I'm currently using Procreate + Photoshop + Clip Studio Paint for most of my pages.

I do the sketching in Procreate, then open the file in Photoshop to create the actual panel layout, then back into Procreate for inking, coloring and shading. Textures and special effects are added in Photoshop (and, occasionally, Painter), while the lettering is done in Clip Studio Paint. Export is done in either PS or CSP, depends on what I have at hand when I'm ready to export XD

I love Procreate because it's the one that feels the closest to drawing traditionally: I can turn the canvas with one hand and keep drawing with the other, controls are fast and super easy to learn, the default brushes are pretty amazing BUT in case I feel they're not enough, I can still import my favorite PS brushes into it, files can be exported in .psd format, the built-in speedpainting video option is a super fun addition... honestly, if they had better lettering options and less clunky features for technical drawing, I'd use it for 100% of my work, lol.

With Photoshop... it's more of a matter of being used to it than anything else, I'm afraid :sweat_smile: like others, I also used to use it all the time during University. I learned all the shortcuts and while most of what I do in PS can be easily done using other softwares, with PS I'm about four times faster, hence why I'm still using it. Plus, there ARE a few things I can only do in Photoshop that aren't as easy to do in other softwares (I'm mostly thinking of PS actions... some of them I actually paid for and I'd hate losing them D: ).

CSP is great for lettering if you, like me, don't want to spend a ton of money on Illustrator :smiley: could never get much into it for actual drawing because, again, I much prefer Photoshop or Procreate for that, but I find its stabilizer tool to be super useful for inking. Also... assets, omg. I've got yet to explore them properly, but from what I could see, they're pretty damn amazing.

Sketches in Sketchbook, it´s the fastest and easiest to use program for me.
It loads in one second and you can start drawing with a pencil right away.
I can be very unpatient when I want to start a drawing, this feels closest
to drawing on a piece of paper with a pencil. Open the sketchbook and go.
It´s also a free program and you can finish your whole page in sketchbook.

But I do use clipstudio nowadays because setting up the page, inking with vectors, coloring
is better in that program. Photoshop is great for that too but that´s an overpriced program
in my opinion which is great though

CSP paint drives me crazy all the time though.
You draw a circle, just want to grab and move it and then grab the background instead.
That´s different in Sketchbook, you only grab stuff that´s on the layer you are on and can
easily move things around. Also the spacebar in Sketchbook can be used to rotate the
canvas and to zoom in or out, also something that is not possible in CSP as easily

That might be because you're grabbing the object instead of the layer! You'd wanna use the red one to grab what's on the layer

CSP is very much like a manual car to me. You need to adjust the settings by yourself and most of the time, you have to figure it out yourself by looking it up. For example, you can set spacebar to rotate/zoom in/out on CSP but you'll need to fiddle around with the preferences and do some manual button to setting thing yourself. Whereas I think Sketchbook sets it up for you automatically for convenience sake.

I just tried to draw a simple circle and none of the option in that button (move layer, grid, tone pattern) did anything with the circle

I figured it out, thank you, but that´s very much against my workflow because I want to move it and then transform it right away and that is 3 steps more than in Sketchbook. Then the transform tool short cut suddenly doesn´t work and I first have to open a menu to transform it. But I´ll try to set the program up in a way I can use it better. Everything seems to be overcomplicated in CSP

Yea admittedly it is a little more work than usual! :sweat: I have both Procreate and CSP and as much as I love CSP, I agree that Procreate is a lot less complicated. The only higher difficulty program is probably Photoshop and everything else is just so much easier to navigate.

But, to each his own I guess! :smiley: I started with CSP so I'm a lot more comfortable with the tools. It's probably just a matter of which program you're more familiar with ^^

I began by drawing my panels by hand, which I scanned, cleaned on Photofiltre. Then I discovered Photoshop which I used for a while, and for over a year I have been using Clip Studio Paint. I decided on it, because I find the tool really complete, the little extra compared to Photoshop is that it is really made for artists, with direct access to textures, backgrounds, frames, 3D objects.

I feel like Clip Studio is reeeeaaaally close to being a total Photoshop replacement for illustration. There are a few little things I still prefer to do in Photoshop, but if Clip Studio could 1) handle CMYK, 2) have ruler measurements in inches, and 3) beef up their text tool, then I would probably exclusively use Clip for creating my comics.

I use medibang for everything. I know it technically has "comic maker" features like panel materials and bubbles but i like doing everything by hand. particularly because my style is lineless and more painterly-oriented.

I've also been using medibang for like 6 years and I'm bad at learning new programs

Heya! I use Clip Studio Paint for all my art stuff. I used to use Paint Tool Sai and MS Paint but CSP has stolen my heart! :heartbeat: The features rock!

Like you, I also start with sketches I then color over. I show my process in many of my speedpaints/speeddraws!

vvv This one is older but shows what I did in Paint Tool Sai!

There's also Affinity Designer. It's closer to Illustrator than a lot of other programs(even better than CSP in lettering) and it's only a one time payment of $50...sometimes they will have a sale; I got it back in April for $25.

I have EX on my laptop, but I figured I didnt need it as badly on my iPad. Besides I can always transfer art back & forth between my laptop and iPad with Dropbox.