Having to change drawing softwares

marygold 2016-07-17 16:29:04 UTC #1

First of all thanks so much to the awesome people who helped me figure out all the stuff about sizing your pages. I have no means of using photoshop, but I found a close to it iPad friendly software called Medibang. And since my beloved IbisPaint does not allow me to do a large enough page size, I had to abandon it, well maybe not for general drawing but for comics.

I don't know... Do you guys ever feel slightly guilty for abandoning a software for another, especially when it's been so good to you? Sure Medibang has some new features, but it's not as user friendly looking and it's sometimes slow. I've used Ibis Paint for four years and I've learned all the little tricks to the layers brushes and everything (I even paid for the full version!) Medibang will do me good in comic making but it doesn't feel right. My favorite brush isn't there either and changing color is so inconvenient. On ibis paint I could save a video of my drawing process for possible tutorials but on Medibang I can't .-.

-sigh- I don't even know the point of this thread. I guess I just need some people to tell me to grow the hell up or say "it's okay" and tell me to move on.

Thanks for reading all the way down here!

WakaXO 2016-07-17 17:13:32 UTC #2

I know your pain, switching programs after using one forever, and then having to learn how to deal with the new program is the worst. Its why I dragged my feet and used Paint Tool Sai for so long. I just recently switched to Clip Studio Paint and good god at first I had NO idea what I was doing. But now I am very happy I toughed it out, because Clip Studio is way more practical for making comics! It might help if you look up 'how to videos' on YouTube, that's what helped me get a handle on using my new program.

But I sadly can't give any advice on Medibang, while I do have that program as well, I have never actually used it yet... ^^; But I think if you touch it out too you'll be happy with the results.

marygold 2016-07-17 17:54:44 UTC #3

@WakaXO Yeah, I'm slowly getting used to how slow it reacts to my quick tapping 🙃 Glad to know I'm not the only one

salsathegeek 2016-07-17 21:09:33 UTC #4

Well, I can't say that I've really ever felt bad about abandoning the program. I have several drawing apps installed on my computer and which one I use tends to come down to what I want to do and what I feel like putting up with. I tend to use Sketchbook Pro as my go to. I have an infinite canvas app called Mischief that I use sometimes when I just want to doodle without worrying about canvas size. I used to use MyPaint a lot, but I started having issues with it and the recent versions are very unstable on Windows and there's not really a Mac version. Krita is pretty good as well, though I would not recommend it for a mac user. Photoshop and Gimp are both similar, though it's easier to do some things in one than it is the other. I have Clip Studio Paint, but I rarely use it. I think that's more me than anything else though.

Honestly, it really depends on what you like to use. I do have a tablet, but I don't use it for drawing. It's just not as nice or easy to use as my cintiq or intuos 5. I have a had time using it because I tend to be fast and sketch with my pencil work.

sorrelma 2016-07-17 21:54:49 UTC #5

switching between programs is a difficult change but sometimes it really is for the best. if your art program doesn't allow you to raise the canvas size to even HD, it isn't powerful enough. as far as free programs go, you should still be able to use basic functions that will translate into other programs

clip paint studio pro allows me 50000 pixels in either dimension
paint tool sai goes to 10000
photoshop cs6 gives a warning past 30000 pixels that older software/other programs may not be able to read the dimensions properly

the issue with small canvases is that they don't read well on devices with high resolution, which is quickly becoming standard, and they really can't be printed effectively. you want art that will still look beautiful on a brand new device

ToonDoctor 2016-07-18 00:16:32 UTC #6

Before you get too used with this new drawing app, please make sure that it will scale with you in the future. For example, will you be able to create print-ready files? Is there anything that will not suit you in a few years?

That's why going with professional programs like Photoshop can be best. Photoshop will be around and used by many in 10 years. What about your new app? An iPad-based app, in my opinion is just not sufficient for long term productivity.

marygold 2016-07-18 00:45:28 UTC #7

@ToonDoctor It can also be for the computer, the iPad version seems to be exactly the computer version but condensed into a tablet screen (making it a little crowded unfortunately!)

It let's me adjust the pixels and dpi. Is that good enough?

ToonDoctor 2016-07-18 01:02:16 UTC #8

Adjusting the DPI is not enough. You need to start with enough DPI from the start to make sure that you then downsample.

marygold 2016-07-18 02:18:17 UTC #9

Is 300 dpi from the get go good? I try to do print size then change a copy for tapastic...

(Sorry to bother you! Thanks for the tips .^.)

ToonDoctor 2016-07-18 02:23:01 UTC #10

300 DPI is good for print. However, try to work at a slightly higher resolution, especially if your comic is in black and white only because black and white line work needs a bit more resolution. Also remember that since you will perform many operations after the drawing the comic, that you should use just enough to avoid affecting your work.

For anything screen-related, like Tapastic, 72 DPI is enough.

P.S. you are not bothering me.

marygold 2016-07-18 02:26:17 UTC #11

@ToonDoctor I'll keep that in mind. Thanks again!

indagold 2016-07-18 02:46:00 UTC #12

I've been using photoshop since I was like 6 and still use it to this day. I mean it's industry standard and makes all those freeware look like trash. But I actually use fire alpaca for lines. All I care about that program is the lines, I couldn't care for the rest of it.

marygold 2016-07-18 02:58:15 UTC #13

@indagold I would use photoshop if I had a computer :') but my other problem is that unless I'm staring directly at my hand and what I'm drawing, I mess up. Meaning I can't do that fancy stare at the screen while your hand is doing the drawing motions on some sort of pad thing. Sigh. maybe one day I can train myself...

Heck 2016-07-18 04:47:23 UTC #14

I use Paint Tool Sai. It's probably really shitty compared to the programs I already have (Medibang, Clip Studio, PS), but I'm honestly too dumb to figure them out.

And I understand the pain of learning hand-eye coordination. I got a tablet when I was a kid, used it once, hated it, and then used a mouse up until like a year ago. I got a new tablet and repeatedly punched myself in the face after realizing that I could have gotten really good at it by now. I don't know how I could get really good at staring at a screen while moving a brick around and then totally suck at staring at the screen while moving a stick around but eventually everything will start to look okay c:

scullpanda 2016-07-18 12:49:56 UTC #15

I am an iPad user for my art and I use a program named Procreate its fantastic and was recommended by an artist I met a while back at a con

Also the new studio 53 pencil syncs with the program so it makes it easy to use

Mharz 2016-07-18 13:33:43 UTC #16

To answer your question, no not really. For me software is just tools like any art materials. As long as I can draw properly into them it doesn't matter what software it is. I use the softwares that will give me ease in productivity and desirable results.

I used to do everything in Photoshop then I decided to buy Clip Studio (because curiousity) and I've been doing digital paintings there ever since. No regret has happened. I also switched to the desktop version of Medibang in inking because I totally like their stablizer on brushes and perspective guides.

Zanreo 2016-07-21 15:52:20 UTC #17

I switched from SAI to Manga Studio 5/Clip Studio Paint over a year or so ago, and honestly I'm really happy for it, I feel my comic improved a LOT from that (plus being able to actually do everything in the same program - FINALLY a text tool - made it way less stressful) Only took a short while and a few tries (plus tweaking brushes to look like my favorite SAI ones) to get used to but now I don't wanna switch to anything else x3

I actually do almost all my art in MS5 now that I've gotten used to it... another thing I've noticed is Manga Studio almost never has the tablet losing pressure like what happened all the time in SAI. Seemed like 1/5 of times I opened the program I had to deal with resettting tablet settings several times, restarting program, unplugging and re-plugging tablet, a few times even restarting computer, over and over again... with MS5 it's happened maybr 3 or 4 times in over a year's time, ever since I got it. And often it works in MS5 despite not working in SAI so I wonder if it's more of a SAI issue... Still kinda wanna try some SAI art now and then but then I open the program and pen pressure doesn't work and I'm just "lol nevermind".
Speaking of tablet issues with certain program, I actually have a strange one in GIMP too. While I switched from GIMP to SAI years before I got a tablet and as such haven't done much with it after that (except adding text for the comic/anything else that needed text when I still used SAI), I found out once when trying it that the tablet would only work properly if the drawing window was resized down. Making the window over a certain size (and certainly fullscreen) would lag a LOT...