Paint Tool SAI Download

[J.Z.Castillo]

Hey! Can anyone tell me where to get SAI (legally preferably). Also, does anyone know if I can obtain a permanent license for Photoshop instead of the monthly/yearly license? I got CS2 when good guy Adobe released it for free but I wanna make the jump to CS6 so I could work on stuff at home when I am not in school or at work. Also, Clip Studio Paint, I haven't heard much about it, can you give me a couple bullet points on why it's better for making web comics? Thank you!!

[nessiefynn]

Here's the official site for paint tool sai, you can buy it there!
I haven't played much with Clip Studio Paint, but it has easy functions for screentones, speech bubbles, and panels, so it's specialized for comics in ways SAi and Photoshop isn't.

[Kura]

Clip studio paint is made specifically for making comics, so you get a lot of tools that make making comics easier in that program than others.

-panelling tools
-word bubble tools
-screen tone tools
In addition to most tools that you can find in photoshop or sai. The only thing I miss from photoshop is the ability to edit the shape and perspective of words I intend to use as sound effects.

As for the first two, not sure about Sai because I have not had to use it in ages. While I have no idea where you can get photoshop without subscription, (honestly that's why I ended up switching from phtoshop to CSP in the first place. I did not have a credit card for subscription services, but I had paypal. Adobe did not accept paypal at the time, not sure if that has changed) And if you can find somewhere where you can get it for a permanent licence... well those used to be in in thousand range of $$$ when photoshop sold before the sub service. So that may not be a reasonable option depending on your budget.

[AnnaLandin]

Also, Clip Studio Paint, I haven't heard much about it, can you give me a couple bullet points on why it's better for making web comics? Thank you!!

I use both Manga Studio 4EX and Manga Studio 5 (which is what Clip Studio used to be called before they changed their names), and it has a number of advantages as a software, since it's specially built for making comics!

• Built-in tools specifically for making panels and creating speech bubbles! With a few clicks, you can create panels in pretty much any shape you want, and there's even a tool to help you make speech balloon tails.
• Handy perspective rulers for when you need to draw environments!
• Screentones, if you're the type who wants to make manga-style comics!
• Excellent colouring tools, with easily customizeable brushes.
• The EX-version (I'm unsure of it's still called that now that they've switched to CSP, but anyway, the bigger, more expensive version) comes with a Story-function, which allows you to make multi-page documents, so you can make a file that contains all the pages of one chapter, for example.
• While CSP doesn't let you draw in CMYK, it does come with a handy preview-tool so that you can see what your pages would look like in CMYK rather than RGB.
• A lot cheaper than Photoshop, with a permanent licence, and it frequently goes on sale, so you can nab it for cheap if you want.

ETA: I will add that Manga Studio/Clip Studio has, in my experience, been more stable programs. I think I've had MS5 crash only twice in all the time I've been using it.

[J.Z.Castillo]

@nessiefynn thank's for the link!!

@AnnaLandin Oh werd? I need an app to make speech bubbles and what not, I kinda get lazy when I have to do text because it is such a hassle trying to make them in Photoshop. Can you download fonts into it?

[mariusthered]

As far as photoshop goes I use photoshop 7 , no it hasn't got all the new fancy tricks and tools but it's on a disk with a code number so i can take it on and off my computer as much as i need too . I think this whole buying a product and then having to pay a extra fee to use it is a crime! so i make do with what i have.

[AnnaLandin]

Can you download fonts into it?

Yep! Just download a font, put it in your regular font-folder (in Windows 7, it's found in Windows>Fonts), and CSP will be able to use it, as will any of your regular word processing softwares.

[UzukiCheverie]

Am also going to vouch for Clip Studio Paint. With SAI, you get awesome drawing tools, with Photoshop, you get text and layouting tools, but with CSP you get all of these wrapped up into one nice, affordable package (especially if you buy it on sale, which it routinely is) that is an extension of the tools in SAI and Photoshop, offering more than just text and great pen tools - including panel cutters, rulers, speech bubble manipulators, reference materials, etc. the list goes on (and even after owning it for a couple months, I'm still discovering new things about it that just add to the experience). Don't bother trying to get SAI or Photoshop when you could just get one program that does everything and even more

[TheYuriCanon]

I've been using PS for a decade and Sai for 5 years now, but I just began using Clip Studio EX and already loving all the features. There is even a way to import 3d models created in Google sketch up, I've been creating new backgrounds with google for a while now so this is nice. It converts these models into toner for you too. So nice.

Also there are a lot of nice tutorials on their site, unlike Sai which is a crash course....

The only thing I miss from photoshop is the ability to edit the shape and perspective of words I intend to use as sound effects.

Actually there is a way to do this. If you merge the text layer with a normal layer it converts it and then you can just Transform it like any other art. Just won't be able to easily edit the text if there is a typo or anything.

[Kura]

Actually there is a way to do this. If you merge the text layer with a normal layer it converts it and then you can just Transform it like any other art. Just won't be able to easily edit the text if there is a typo or anything.

Yeah that's is what I do now, but it's still not near as versatile as the options Photoshop gave me

[J.Z.Castillo]

@aronthemason yup! That's why I use CS2 since it was free, along with all the other CS2 gen Adobe programs, and legal as well, but I want to upgrade since ya know, I need new toys lol

@AnnaLandin @UzukiCheverie THAT'S AWESOME! Okay I'll give CSP a try and if I love it completely and truthfully I'll stick with it. I mainly wanted to get SAI because I've seen people draw with it and the tools are soooo much helpful than the ones in Sketchbook Pro, which is what I currently use.

@TheYuriCanon you can create 3D models in Google sketch, whaaatt, I didn't even know of this! That would be so helpful!

[TheYuriCanon]

Just so you know Google sketchup is only free for a month and then locks the ability to export files, but you can still save them and create 2d images of your models to import so I just green screen the models. I hope to get a full version to use with cps