What software do you use for drawing and coloring your comics?

[rushellangel]

Hi everyone! In the past I have ever only used photoshop. Until I made the uninformed decision last year to purchase a chromebook. Since then I have gone back and forth between Gimp and Sumo. Although I have fallen in love with my chromebook for other uses, I have finally come to the point where I am purchasing a Surface Pro 4 (I'm sure we could have discussion about that, too! haha) and I was wondering what some of you other creators might suggest?

I realize there are many good programs out there, both free and paid, but some of the ones I hear a lot but have not experienced include Paint Tool Sai, Clip Art Studio, and Fire Alpaca. Which is your favorite to use?

This will also be my first drawing tablet (yes, I know there are cheaper options for a first timer, but my product choice is not what I'm trying to discuss here xP), so which do you think might be better for the beginning/learning user?

Thanks!!

[Zetsubonii]

My favorite's Paint Tool SAI as it's the program that I find the easiest to use. I personally use it for Jim's Days, but the down side to it is that it doesn't include text. I remedy this with Power Point ^^" Also, apparently, it's easier to blend colors with? Anyways, other things to consider is Paint.NET and Fire Alpaca. Paint.NET is more like Photoshop with simpler and slightly dumbed down features. Compared to Paint Tool SAI, it's just a matter of preference then, but Paint.NET allows you to save transparent images if you're into that. Lastly, Fire Alpaca is apparently a step down from Paint Tool SAI, however still works. I haven't personally used it, however, my gilrfriend used it for a year when her SAI acted up and she says it's not a bad substitute.

[JKNNKL]

waiiit so paintool sai doesnt allow u to save transp?? i was thinking of switching frm ps :/

[rushellangel]

Thank you for you input! Paint tool Sai is one of heard a lot of good things about, but I'm glad you told me about the no text! That is something I did not know, and am glad to in advance. It's not necessarily a deal breaker, as you've proven there are ways around it!

[Zetsubonii]

Unfortunately, not with the basic software. I hear there's a patch or a newer version that allows you to do so, but I haven't found it :/ What I do is, I do the art on SAI first then save it as a .psd file or a .tga file and open it either on Photoshop (.psd) or Paint.NET (.tga) where I just save it to PNG there, works just fine I use this to make sprites for my Danganronpa fanfic tbh ^^"

[Zetsubonii]

I hope it works for you Do note that there are some minor issues, but they can be easily remedied ^^

[indagold]

Photoshop is probably the best you can use, i've been using it more than 15 years. I use other programs for line art but photoshop is my bread and butter.

[Mharz]

So far I've been using just 3 softwares because they have each features there that works on my preference.

Sketch/Inks - Medibang Paint Pro (their stabilizers are tighter for me hence I can control my lines better in this software.)

Colors - Clip Studio Paint (I can blend colors better here and they have a more expansive brush settings compared to photoshop)

Tones and Text - Photoshop (mainly because I've been using photoshop for years so I can do them faster here. The problem is, their brushes doesn't have stablizers which is a struggle when you're doing precision inking. Tho their filters and effects are the best out there.)

[ryoko]

I use Clip Studio Paint for finishing my pages ( I draw with ink in a traditional manner, then scan in). I find the program fairly intuitive, even though it was a bit of a learning curve, it's fairly straight forward to use and made specifically for creating comics. I use Photoshop to resize my files as it does the best job shrinking the pic down without loss of quality.

[rushellangel]

Thanks indagold . Photoshop is what I learned with back in school, so it's most comfortable for me, too.

avimHarZ Thanks for the multiple suggestions. Medibang Paint isn't one I'm really familiar with, and might have to check out after playing with the stabilizers more.

ryoko thank you for the Clip Studio recommendation. Your style sounds more like what I've been doing in the past, so that might work well going forward

In general, thank you for all the suggestions and opinions so far!!

[SpavVy]

I have a lot of art programs but I use Clip Studio Pro for 99% of my work and it's my favorite program.

[VikiKuli]

I use GIMP generally

[joshuashima]

Clip Studio Paint for basically everything...but I used to work with krita which was pretty good I guess. I prefer Clip Studio Paint though

[LoboSong_Hitaka5Ever]

I use Paint Tool SAI and since I bought the original version, I am able to use 2.0, which has very similar tools that Photoshop has, which includes all the different layer modes and text. But I've heard it is hard to work on Macs (its originally for Windows) so I would recommend FireAlpaca, which is basically the same as SAI, but has all the photoshop stuff BUT is 100% free, unlike SAI 2.0 is (unless you get a pirated copy) I, personally, am not a fan of GIMP bc I feel its too mediocre and doesn't work so well like Photoshop and such does, but I've heard from many people that once you get used to the program, they can do pretty good things with it. It half has to do with the program mechanics itself and half is yourself being an artist that makes the programs work well for you

So yeah, those are my recommendations Hope they help!

[hushicho]

I use Clip Studio Paint exclusively. In previous versions of Manga Studio (which is what Clip Studio was previously marketed as until recently) I used Gimp for some processing and batch stuff. The functions are much more robust in the latest version of Clip Studio Paint, so I literally need nothing else.

At the very least, I'd recommend checking out the basic version when they put it on sale, which they do pretty regularly! You can sign up to their newsletter, and they'll let you know when that happens.

[AnnaLandin]

I use Manga Studio 4 EX for panel layouts and dialogue, and Manga Studio 5 (i.e: Clip Studio Paint) for everything else!

I could use Clip Studio Paint for the entire process, but I only have the basic version, which lacks the multi-page function of the EX-version, and also I prefer the panelling/dialogue-tools for MS4. I just feel more comfortable with them and how they work, so it's quicker and easier for me to use both softwares, even if I have to export files and open them in CSP for inking and colouring.

[demthorshie]

My drawing and coloring processes are pretty simple. I use Clip Studio for drawing and Photoshop for coloring. I started out drawing and coloring in Photoshop exclusively but found that I could draw lines more cleanly in Clip Studio. I'm not yet comfortable coloring in Clip Studio yet.

[popsiclestick]

For SARGENTUM, I use pencil and paper to sketch out my pages, as I much prefer the control I have in traditional art. I then scan it into Photoshop, where I paint it in - I use Kyle's Dry Brush Pack, (especially the Nupastel and Conte Alias brushes) it really adds some nice organic texture to my work to get rid of the overly smooth digital look.

[punkarsenic]

im gonna jump straight to tablets: HUION make very good tablets for a far lower price. they have all the layers of pressure and that youd expect from a decent cintiq, but i think i got mine for £50. at least look into HUION, id say.

i use paint tool SAI, mainly because its all ive ever used. i have about 4 years experience with it, so im really hesitant to change, and currently have no motivation to. SAI's great, especially if you can get the version with text and gif features (i cant)

[KaitoKuraiko]

I recommend Clip Studio Paints it's basically made to make Comics/Mangas so I think it's very good for it ^^