Thoughts on SAI?

[TristanJensen]

Ok, so I've been drawing all my comics using random adobe trials(mainly adobe flash*, but I used to use illustrator... which is an awful experience I'd never wish on anyone else...). But I've saved enough money to make the switch to Paint Tool SAI.
I guess I'm just curious about what your guys' opinion on it is since its the most common program I've seen here.... besides maybe Photoshop, which I'm sure I'll still need later on...

*Its good for cartoony stuff, but beyond that (for things such as realism) its pretty much useless..

[ghostnxs]

Sai is amazing but its lightweight and doesn't offer much besides drawing. That's what I use + Photoshop CS6( I don't like Photoshop CC). Sai is mainly for drawing it even has a color mixer that I find enjoyable because I don't need a separate file to mix colors. Doesn't have a built in text editor. The custom brushes are a good thing to play with. Sai has a free trial so I suggest getting that before spending any money.

[UzukiCheverie]

SAI is amazing. If you want a painting program that paints better than Adobe products and is cheaper than Adobe products and is more beginner friendly than Adobe products (am I repeating myself here? lol), then SAI is right up your alley. It's easy to learn, you can make your own brushes, it has great pressure sensitivity options and stabilizer tools, its blending tools are a lot more exact and cleaner than Photoshop (which is why I say it "paints better"; Photoshop just shits all over your work when you try to use those damn Smudge tools :I) lots of customization for palettes and swatches, and very basic, easy to use tools to adjust hues and saturation levels, without it being complicated like in Photoshop (although it doesn't have as much as Photoshop when it comes to adjustable color levels and stuff). It also comes with the ability to make linework layers, which is built on vector lines, so if you like using vector tools, it has that too (not as much as Illustrator, but enough to get the job done). And of course, you can save PSD files in there so if you want to cross your files with Photoshop, you can. And fully customizable keyboard shortcuts.

It doesn't have text tools or shape creators though. So I'd suggest getting Photoshop if you don't have it already or something that can let you make text and shapes and stuff that SAI can't do. SAI is purely for drawing and painting, and it does it very, very well. Definitely consider getting it (especially if you've been saving up your money for it anyway; don't be afraid to give the free trial a go either, so you can get some hands-on experience with it before you spend money on it).

On its own, SAI is user-friendly and purely meant for drawing and painting. So if you have Photoshop, I'd highly suggest pairing it up with SAI for a perfect comic-making package ^__^

[DynamoToon]

You have to pay for Sai?

[Silerna]

No, it's completely free.

I like SAI alot, easy and understandable and just enough painting tools you need!

[DynamoToon]

Oh phew, I got scared for a second there. Thanks man

[Silerna]

No problem!
You might find it if you google it though

[shinepaw]

No it's not o_o You have to pay for it, only the 31 days trial is free or if you have a cracked version... I bought mine as well. The official site: https://www.systemax.jp/en/sai/
"After the 31 days trial period expired and if you'd like to continue using PaintTool SAI, you need to purchase a "Software License"."

And Sai is great, I agree with UzukiCheverie , I use it for my comic as well, but yeah, you need to use either Photoshop or Clip Studio to have nice speech bubbles and text. But it's great for painting, the lines are waaay nicer than in PS!

[Silerna]

I got mine for free no 31-day trial on it since I'm using it for years now o.o

[shinepaw]

Then your version must be a cracked one.

[Silerna]

Could be. I didn't got it from torrent sites or any download sites whatsoever.

[UzukiCheverie]

The only way you could have a free version of SAI without paying for it is by getting a cracked version. Doesn't matter if you didn't get it from a place like piratebay, if the website you got it from isn't the official SAI website and didn't cost money, it was cracked. Cracks are how you get around those "give us your license keys!" forms and the only way you can license and register your product without paying for the license key itself, and the cracks are provided by other people, who sometimes provide keygens to actually validate the license forms without a license key you paid for (this is getting into illegal territory lol)

So yes, you have to pay for SAI. It's not an expensive program though, definitely not the hundreds of dollars you'd be shelling out for Photoshop. Clip Studio Paint goes on sale a lot too (I think it's actually on sale right now for $15.00, which is how much I paid for it as well the last time it went on sale). CSP also comes with toning tools :3

[punkarsenic]

paint tool sai is honestly awesome. the amount of brush possibilities are huge, and for art its better than photoshop (which was originally intended for photo manipulation)

drawbacks:

1. the vector tool aint up to much, no boxes feature etc, dont do line art on it
2. honestly, youre better off using a different program when it comes to lettering, although it is possible to use sai. you cant insert text, you have to screenshot/paste
3. no gifs afaik
4. less layer options (eg overlay or screen*) than, say, photoshop or paint.net

besides that, honestly id recommend it, its great, it gives a brilliant image, try the free version first and see what you think.

*sai has both of those, it doesnt have say colorbum or burn, but it has overlay, shade, luminosity, screen, binary colour, lumi&shade

[Silerna]

I got it from a friend, but as long it works, you don't hear me :).

[Zanreo]

I use SAI myself and love it, it's pretty great for drawing and has tons of brush options

However, its one big flaw is no text tool, which made it pretty annoying for making comics (which is why I'll probably be making comics in Manga Studio from now on - before that, I added the text in GIMP and pasted it over)

[yartzanaserenade]

SAI is really good an comfortable, but it does have many limitations. If you think you may need photoshop in the future just get that instead. At first was a struggle, and i missed SAI a bunch but now that I am learning it I'm not switching back. It won't cost you more than a mc donalds lunch once a month. It's totally wor4h it

[AnnaLandin]

Sai is great as a lightweight, easy-to-use drawing program. It lacks a few essential tools that Photoshop has (text-tools, for example), but it is otherwise really good - it's definitely easy to learn how to use. I used it a lot, and I still love sketching in it, even though I've otherwise switched over to Manga Studio/Clip Studio Paint.

If you're looking for a more serious tool to make comics specifically, I heartily recommend Manga Studio/Clip Studio Paint - it is amazing. And I think the sale Uzuki mentioned is still on. It is WELL worth the money, and will be able to do pretty much everything Photoshop can do. The only thing it lacks is a native CMYK-format, but unless you plan to print your comics, that won't be much of an issue.

[ghostnxs]

When Sai 2 releases whenever that will be it will have a text tool and perspective guides and much more. Here is the official site http://systemax.jp/en/sai/ Also, the only problem I have with clip studio paint is it isn't very good on low spec computers it requires twice as much ram to run and can't be run on more than one pc

[SpavVy]

Sai is great, I prefer doing line art and coloring in that program over Manga studio or GIMP

[jessiepolfliet]

I love Sai. It draws great and has smooth brush strokes. But t has some flaws like a small amount of blending modes, and no possibility of putting text in your drawings. But luckily it correspondents with programs like Photoshop.