What kind of program do you use?

[kingdomgal47]

Looking for a new and more professional looking program to make my comics with. So, what do you use and how do you like it?

[hannahrileybremner]

i use sketchbook express it come free with my wacom tablet but you can buy more features if you need.

[ghostnxs]

For making comics I suggest using Clip Studio Paint. It probably has the most tools for specifically making comics. I have the EX version. http://www.clipstudio.net/en and its currently on sale. If you want a free program I say use krita. David Reevoy has lots of tips and brushes for krita. http://davidrevoy.com/

[VeloursRose]

I use Photoshop CC and Clip Studio together to make my comic pages. Both are really great programs. I generally use photoshop for sketching and coloring while I use Clip for my inks. I would also suggest getting clip studio while it's on sale. It has quite a few interesting features I haven't tried out yet myself like screentones and adding visual effects.

[vousrein]

I just use PaintTool Sai and occasionally Photoshop or Fire Alpaca for a few other tools, but Sai is my primary program and I like it a lot! Once I got my brush settings where I wanted them I fell in love with it.

[kingdomgal47]

I have sai right now, but have no idea on how to create actuall clean pages with even panels. any tutorial you know that might help?

[lastpizzaslice1]

i actually use Paint tool sai but sai does not have any text tool. I dont know if any of the drawing programs do. Anyways i use Gimp 2 to put text on my comics.

[AnnaLandin]

I work mainly in Manga Studio 5/Clip Studio Paint (same thing, different name). I detour through Sai for sketching - simply because I used it for so long before I got MS5 that I'm more used to its sketching-tools - but I use MS5 for pretty much all other drawing.

I personally use Manga Studio 4 for panelling and dialogue, because I prefer the way the panelling and dialogue-tools are set up in MS4, but you can do all of that in MS5/Clip Studio if you want. Customising tools, clipping masks, various layer modes - MS5 can really do pretty much anything you ask of it, short of being actual magic.

As for professional endorsement - Peter Bergting, who is currently working as lead artist on Mike Mignola's Baltimore, draws all of his comics in Manga Studio 5, as far as I know.

[Pandastrophic]

Kinda depends on what style of comics are you going with,
My comic is more on the webtoon side and is colored and I use SAI for everything, it seems to work well with me.
but SAI has it's own limitations so that gets rather annoying at times,
-no text tool, the text in the comic is my hand writting
-it's hard to make even panels since there is no tool that creates shapes, so I do my best to make one perfect rectangle panel to use and re-size throughout the pages
I'm very used to using SAI so I manage to work around these things.

My suggestion is to sketch out a sample page and experiment on it using different programs, then compare and see which one you'd like using more.

[UltHamBro]

I personally use Photoshop for the panel layout and text, and Sai for virtually everything else.

[Spinester]

You picked the perfect time to ask this question. I use Manga Studio (clip studio) 5 and the company that makes it is offering it for a ridiculous price of 15 bucks at the moment. Jump on this, it's pro-level software for comic-making. Here's a link to the deal.

http://t.co/W7nBf1WMs7

[Silerna]

I always use 2H mechanical pencil to sketch out everything. After scanning I use Paint tool Sai for all the lining and detail. Eventually I add the text and extra effects with adobe photoshop CS5

[punkarsenic]

i use paint tool sai. it has a very old-school design, but the tools themselves are brilliant! you have loads of possibilities for brush settings, and you can create really artistic effects. ive been approached by people wanting to use what i use many times, which is a good sign.

for an example of one style with which this program can work you can check out my art here

[Redthic]

Manga Studio 4 Expert and Photoshop CS5 are what I use. I used to use just Photoshop but the inking just seemed stale. So I draw in pencil, ink in Manga Studio, color + shade in Photoshop. A lot of the fine tuning is done by my girlfriend in Photoshop as well.

Honestly it depends on what you want out of a program. Manga studio is an amazing drawing program and it is easy to make lines look fluid and interesting. Photoshop is a work horse for all your fine tuning and fancy bells and whistles. For me it is making static bars and adjusting colors and aspects I want to change.

What I need to learn is tones in Manga Studio. Does anyone have a tutorial out for that?

[konori]

I use Manga Studio EX 4 for my comics, and Photoshop CS5 for resizing the pages. If I want to do anything in colour, I use Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint instead.

I'm also curious about tones in Manga Studio. The selection there seems quite lacking (unless I've been looking for them in the wrong places).

[AnnaLandin]

What I need to learn is tones in Manga Studio. Does anyone have a tutorial out for that?

I'm also curious about tones in Manga Studio. The selection there seems quite lacking (unless I've been looking for them in the wrong places).

There are a bunch of tutorial videos on Youtube, and posted on Smith Micro's website, I believe, which do a decent job of explaining the basics of how the program works. There's at least one video covering tones, so that might be a good place to start.

[justjezz]

I use Photoshop when I make comics. When I'm away from my computer, I make comic drafts on Autodesk Sketchbook on my phone. I also dabbled in Sai and FireAlpaca, but I'm more used to Photoshop's interface. But! I found something really interesting.

I stumbled upon a free program called MediBang Paint. It's software made by the same developers as FireAlpaca, and the features are similar. However, there are 2 main differences that I find intriguing.
1. Cloud Storage. You can collaborate with other people by sharing a project together.
2. Multiple Platforms. It comes in Windows, Mac, and Android. You can have MediBang on your computer and a mobile device. Add the cloud storage thing, and you can do your comics anytime, anywhere.

I only got this program a few hours ago, so I don't know much about it and I'm still experimenting. But omg, I'm geeking out like the ultimate geek over this. xD

[Redthic]

Thanks a bunch! I'll check them out!

[SethJH]

I primarily use Photoshop cs5.5. I also like to use Zbrush and blender (a free, open source 3D modeling package) to make 3D mock-ups and "digital maquettes" (test sculptures for lighting and figure studies). If you're knowledgeable in 3D enough, having your own personal hand-made 3D reference for characters with complex shapes in perspective really cuts down on drawing mistakes and boosts production time.

[Amirai]

Clip studio paint. There's also design doll, which is the best posing software I've found. http://terawell.net/terawell/?lang=en