Creating Art/ Comics with Clip Studio Paint?

[GrimRose]

Hey, so I've considered getting Clip Studio Paint for a while now. I currently use Paint tool sai and I'm looking for alternative/similar programs at the moment.

Anyone who has had experience with either programs... What are your pros/ cons...

[amortelito]

Hi clip studio made my comic possible, I'm not exaggerating, It has so many tools to help you specifically with comics. I noticed a huge difference with other design programs though I haven't compared it with Paint Tool. CSP is very intuitive and even if I didn't get how to use some tools at first, now that I have more practice they have saved me so much time. Like the dialogue bubble and selection tools. It also helps you to save your page in different formats and resolutions without changing the original file.
I recommend it!

[nostalgicroxas]

My friend uses SAI and Medibang to do her comic. She used to use Clip Studio Paint interchangeably with SAI and PS, and now Medibang has replaced that. It has a lot of handy uses for text and chat bubbles.

[GrimRose]

Thanks
I definitely think any new program would take some time to get used to, especially if it has more advanced features.
The tools made specifically for comics is what got me possibly interested in the program in the first place since paint tool lacks those sort of features

I am actually considering downloading trial version, just to test out the brushes and tools, though i don't know how much i will be able to truly test during the trial period.

[nostalgicroxas]

Side question, but have you gotten the update to SAI that has text and more features built in? I personally don't use it (it has a new UI that I dislike), but it looks a lot like PS.
I personally use Paint.NET's freeware.

[Shanny8]

I use Clip Studio to do most of the drawing, inking, & other stuff on my comic. Def recommend it..!

From time to time, CSP will have [half off] sales on their program; not sure when because they have slowed down the frequency of these sales over the past few yrs.They usually have one sometime between now and April, then one between July and September, and then one in November.

[beta1042]

I like CSP
here are my fav parts:
-Vector layers for line art save me SOOOO MUCH TIME
-Bucket fill with close gap options save me SOOOOO much time
-thousands of Assets again save me so much time - Need a bg with mob people, there's assets for that, want a quick city- assets for for that, need some 3d models to help with poses- assets. special lighting effects? SOOO MANY BRUSHES in assets
-speech balloons are pretty easy to use and manipulate which makes that easy
-all the rulers and perspective tools
-they have some good tool for comics and storyboarding (some of these may be fof EX only tho)

My one Con:
-manipulating text is a pain in the butt

[Jenny-Toons]

CSP saved my life.

-Bucket Fill is life -- it makes flatting so much easier
- ALL OF THE ASSETS. So many of them available, and FREE, might I add
- It also come equipped with its own assets already in the system, including, but not limited to, ACTION LINES!! OoO
-The blur tool, bruh. Oh my god, it's so much better than the one I used in PS.
-Autosave. No longer do I internally scream in terror as my computer freezes on me while I work in SAI. In CSP, it autosaves just like that.

The text tool can be a pain to use, but I just take my pages over to MS Paint for that XD
Though, in my case, I just use the Illustration option when it asks what new page I want. You can use the manga/comic option if you'r trying to be more tradition, but if you're going for webcomics with that longer format, using the Illustration option is much better.

[Shanny8]

Even though CSP does have lettering capabilities, I've been lettering my comics in Illustrator for YEARS. I dont plan on switching anytime soon...

[GrimRose]

No, i don't have the updated ver. It's several years old the version i am using rn, so it is definitely outdated.

[Cavechan]

For comic making, CSP is probably superior in every way except the text tool. The text tool is frankly unusable, so I suggest using a different program for doing text in. Personally, I use Photoshop for the text and saving at different sizes/formats.

I also noticed CSP lacks a warp tool. It does have a free transform and the warp tool that's a grid (I'm flaking on the name at the moment), but it doesn't have arc, arch, etc.

[spadesart]

i used to use sai (for almost 120 pages) and clip studio blows it out of the ballpark. the program is crisper (sai was always weirdly blurry for me), runs better, and has way more functionality. and a working straight line tool. adding new brushes is also a million times easier.

and i think its like half the price of sai when its on sale? the 3d functionality makes that price worth it on its own.

[cleo_san]

I'm not very good with complete digital art, but for a noob like me, I'd definitely go for the CSP! It's awesome, easy to use and basically idiot proof (which is a good thing for me XD)

A second valid point is: On sale you can get CSP for ~80 bucks, which is extremely cheap for such an awesome quality program.
Adobe Photoshop abo on the other hand is - if you want to stay on the legal side - ~30 bucks ber month, which I have been paying for the time of my study and will cancel ASAP, because I spent almost 1000 bucks on a program which is harder to handle for me than CSP and even now does not belong to me after all the money I spent on it. I hate abos. Just because Adobe is industry standard doesn't mean it's better than everything else.

Soooooo.... go grab CSP, watch some tutorials (I could recommend you a few good ones) and draw, draw, draw! =)

[Shanny8]

Adobe Photoshop abo on the other hand is - if you want to stay on the legal side - ~30 bucks ber month

Photoshop does have a "photography" deal in which you can get Photoshop AND Lightroom(one of their photo enhancing programs) for $10 bucks a month- this is the Photoshop plan that I have(I used PS for most of my coloring).

When CSP does go on sale, the Pro version is usually $25; their EX version runs for about $90.

[Karmillina]

CSP is my holy grail. I wouldn't be able to do my comics if it wasn't for it. It really streamlined my process and made everything easier. I wouldn't advise buying EX right off the bat tho (as someone who owns EX, there is not much from EX that you could use to improve your work)

[qwerty]

I've never used SAI but will attest that CSP is a really good program and totally worth the money. Compared to Photoshop, it's less confusing to use (IMO), runs faster (at least on my computer), and the native file sizes are somewhat smaller. Some drawbacks are the less-than-stellar text tool and the lack of a liquefy transform tool. Like most art programs, it is compatible with .PSD files as well.

I'll also add -

On sale you can get CSP for ~80 bucks

It's actually even cheaper (~$50 normal, ~$25 on sale) for the Pro version, which is already a great program in itself and may very well be sufficient. I also believe that if you already have Pro, you can upgrade to EX at a discount such that there is really no extra cost to starting with Pro first and upgrading later.

Just because Adobe is industry standard

Although Adobe is industry standard for most digital art-related things, this poll I made on the forum a while ago suggests that CSP may actually be more "standard" for webcomics specifically. It is made primarily for comics, after all.

And totally try the free trial! It should be for 30 days, plenty of time to get familiar with the program unlike Adobe's stingy 7-day trial XD.

[Shanny8]

Thinking about getting CSP on my iPad, but I have enough subscriptions I'm paying for...

[cleo_san]

Thanks for the info @Shanny8 =) Unfortunately I needed InDesign and Illustrator for my studies, too, otherwise I'd have considered this offer earlier
Though if you think about it, that's still $120/year... and if you work more than one year with it... well, I think the math is clear I still would recommend CSP over the adobe stuff, especially when you can get it on sale

@A_Toad: True, and Shanny said that too, but I'd definitely go for the EX version if I were to get me CSP (Okay, I did u_u" I got EX). Also, my prices might be slightly off from what you know, I gotta translate it all to €, so... pardon the confusion =)
And yes... I can easyily imagine that CSP is going to be the standard for webcomics (if it isn't already), the program is really, really good, though the text options could use a liiiiittle more finetuning. However, I love that really everything works together so nicely in CSP (so, @InfamousRose, if you have the chance for CSP, go get it, it's worth it! )

That's it from me for today, I'll be falling into my bed now - good night everyone! =)

[Cavechan]

Unfortunately I needed InDesign and Illustrator for my studies, too, otherwise I'd have considered this offer earlier Though if you think about it, that's still $120/year... and if you work more than one year with it... well, I think the math is clear

Isn't there a student discount? I don't know how it works nowadays, but when I was in college and using CS2, I was able to get it discounted. I'm pretty sure they still have discounts. $120 is still cheaper than the $500 it used to cost though...

And even if they don't advertise a discount, you can go to their customer support and ask for a discount and they'll give one.

Off topic, but I do also want to say that Photoshop is great for what it's good for (I've been using it for many years so I'm a bit biased lol). It's really not for making comics or even illustrations for that matter, but some people adapt it for those uses. Unfortunately, Adobe themselves really do suck and give me a headache every time they release an update. I wasn't even able to upgrade to the newest one because of the bugs with it and Adobe once again changing something that had been standard since PS was first released.

[cleo_san]

@Cavechan: There IS a student discount, but only valid for one year, after that you have to pay full price for adobe =/ at least here, I tried everything, but... well, one year discount is better than none XD