What tool do you use to create your webcomic?

[lambspell]

Ooo the tablet looks great and the reviwers seem to love. It looks pretty easy to qork with too. Definitely a plua. Thanks for the link and the additional advice. I'll be sure to remember the screenshots.

[lambspell]

I'm loving the size. I'm surprised at the price considering how big it is. Thats another plus in my books lol.

[Shanny8]

@lambspell I would suggest waiting til late November to get Clip Studio/Manga Studio. They will have a sale on it around that time (about $20-25 US dollars). However if you really need it now, it runs for about $50 bucks.

As far as tablets go, there are other tablets such as Huion or Monoprice if you dont have enough money to afford a Wacom. You can also check & see if someone is selling a used Wacom tablet- especially since a lot of their old stuff still works well.

[lambspell]

Haha noted. But yeah I'm not crazy on the idea of forking over some big bucks so readily just yet. Thus far I've just been looking around to see whats both affordable and highly functional for what I plan to do & seeing what everyone else's preferences are. I was checking out the wacom intuos pro earlier but I will definitely read up more on the graphire that was mentioned. I want to equally weigh all my options. How was your experience with photoshop? Right now, I have my eyes on the Manga Studio software because it seems easy to use and looks like its readily conducive to digital art. But photoshop is always another option for me.

[hushicho]

No problem! I hope it works well for you. I can also say that, based on my experience, Monoprice is not just an "if you can't afford a Wacom" situation; it works every bit as well as any Wacom I've ever used. (Though it is worth noting that I also recommend the older Graphire if you're dead set on a Wacom, and had great experiences with mine; you can probably get a used one fairly cheap nowadays!) Similarly, I find Clip Studio Paint far superior to Photoshop in terms of what comic creators tend to need, plus the overall cost is much, much lower and you get far more for your money. I feel like the pen lines and most of the media brushes, even the default ones, are just better than Photoshop's offerings.

I can weigh in on the question of traditional art and digital finish too, since I worked that way for many years before going purely digital.

Clip Studio Paint/Manga Studio 5 is a fantastic and robust program that works well both with digital and traditional. I tend to recommend working pure digital with it, but there's no reason you can't import the scans from your scanner and do digital finishing. If there's anything else you need to do that you can't easily figure out with Clip Studio Paint, I'm entirely sure you can grab a free program like Gimp to fill in the small gaps. At this point, however, I'm pretty sure Clip Studio Paint can do anything you'd need for that purpose.

It's honestly not hard to get the hand-eye coordination with looking at a screen and drawing on a tablet. It just takes some practice. As I noted in another topic, you already have the skills for art, so all you're doing is adapting them to a new medium that is similar enough to the traditional approach you already know. Honestly, learning to use a tablet for my art made me better at a number of traditional media! So I'm hopeful that it will help you too.

It's also worth noting that, with scanning things in or producing them digitally, as long as you keep regular backups, there's far less risk of loss or damage of your art. With traditional art on paper or canvas, it's really very easy to damage or lose art. With digital backups of everything, it's a very different situation indeed. Something to think about!

[lambspell]

Both of your responses were really helpful! You even mentioned the digital art software I was eyeing. And thanks for the heads up about the sale!

I've only ever drawn by hand before so I'm fond of that method but for webcomic purposes I'm under the impression that it'll ultimately be easier to go digital since I could probably take care of everything in one go.

[csimma]

My tools are rather archaic, however, I am a firm believer that it's not the tool, it's the artist that wields it.
I use a free program called GIMP 2.8 and I have a Genius brand drawing tablet. Both working on my Acer laptop running windows 7.

[Emma]

Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch small. As for software, I use Medibang Paint and GIMP 2, with some rare instances of Krita.

[Kyulein]

When I started out making Soul's Journey I was using a Wacom Bamboo and a rather old laptop. I have since upgraded to a Cintiq 22HD (I need way less time for each page now) and a new desktop pc (the old laptop just couldn't handle much anymore and I also wanted to play more video games).

As for software, I use a mix of PaintTool SAI 2 (inks, flats, character shading and city scape/interior sketches), Photoshop CS6 and ComicLife 3.

[timinabox24]

shetchbook on my phone and then I finish on the computer

[punkarsenic]

like, okay, ill be honest yeah - dont bother w wacom. get a huion. theyre cheaper w/out losing any quality like idk how many levels of pressure they have but iirc its as many or more as a wacom. you can get one for like, 50 pounds, so maybe even less in dollars now.

so, clearly, i use a huion graphics tablet, plus my laptop, which is hp because thats what someone gave me, and paint tool SAI.

[dojo]

Photoshop is the only program I've ever used and ever will use. I started with it because of a disc that came with a printer my parents bought when I was in middle school, and I continued with it because it's industry standard (if you ever decided to work professionally for a company, photoshop is what they'd make you use, so knowing the program is important, but only if you wanted an on-site job somewhere).

Currently you can actually get a subscription for photoshop that's only $10 a month (which considering it used to be thousands of dollars to buy the base and sometimes even the upgrades, is an incredible good deal. A lot of people in general seem to be unaware of this subscription service, though). I know some people have complained in the past about brush quality and versatility, but they've honestly improved 'em over time, and especially coupled with a decent tablet, feel amazingly good to use. Oh yeah, and I will point out that what tablet you have does matter when it comes to using programs like photoshop where the quality of your line isn't artificially adjusted to make 'em smoother at all (This is why you'll see a lot of artists use multiple programs, one for inking, one for painting, etc). A lot of other programs will adjust your lines subtly to help get around any hardware limitations, so you may be better off using a program that does this subtle adjustment if you're looking for something to do all your work in (I'm not familiar enough with Manga studio to know if it does or not, but I know SAI does). There IS a tool to do this in photoshop called Lazy Nezumi, but it's a mod by a third party you have to purchase extra for about $10 (I think. It's been awhile since I looked into it). It's not all the mod does, as it's got a huuuuge variety of other handy tools (like adjustable perspective grids and the like). If you have really shaky hands, Lazy Nezumi is a life saver from what I've heard. I played with a trial of it a little and considered getting it, but haven't yet.

I'd honestly just recommend looking at free trials of several programs and seeing which you like best, cuz in the end, it's going to be a matter of preference. MOST painting programs have 30-day or limited trials you can pick up, if they're not just straight up free. Cuz I've had people tell me in the past that such-in-such program was really easy, and then I'd open it up and be baffled as to what I'm looking at. (annnnnd I know Photoshop can be one of those confusing programs for people, because it is a little overstuffed with tools)

If you did end up deciding to use photoshop, I highly recommend getting some of Kyle T Webster's brushes. Some of his brush packs you have to pay for, but he has tons of free ones as well. I haven't even bothered trying to make any of my own since I started using his because they just feel that good. I will point out, though, that unless you do use a current version of photoshop, these brushes will not work. Since I started using his brushes, I haven't made a single one on my own, cuz they pretty much satisfy my every itch.

[TristanJensen]

I use an Intuos Pro Medium tablet, which I've seen a few others use as well, IDK
That and paint tool SAI...

[VikiKuli]

I basically only use my computer to draw Wednesday 7. I don't have a tablet or anything, but my computer screen is touch screen, so I am able to draw on that with a stylus. Probably not the most efficient process, but meh, I'm use to it

[antimekii]

I've been using paint tool sai, ps and a wacom intuos for two years now. I'm mostly using photoshop for panels and dialogues and mostly ink and color with sai, The great thing about sai is the stabilizer, I discovered that way too late and it practically saved my line art.

As they said, wacom is pretty expensive but it sure is sturdy. (It survived water, pasta sauce and it still looks good and functions well) It took me a month to fully grasp this tablet it could've been easier if the tablet had a screen but that'll make me bleed money. The buttons at the top is pretty useless and I don't use the tablet pen's eraser. I really rely on my old keyboard in shifting commands, it's faster.

Btw, does anyone think Surface studio will be worth it? I've been thinking for some time to switch to cintiq but my pc is quite old so it might lag.

[agentfink]

Manga Studio and Cintiq 21UX

I have photoshop and used it for years, but MS is just perfect for the comic process. If I ever need the tools from Photoshop, they are compatible. Win win I think.

[Silerna]

I use Clip Studio Point/Paint tool SAI and my Bamboo Pen & touch tablet connected. Always after I scanned in the pencil sketch of the comic. and I'm lazy I just draw with my tablet instantly..

[NickRowler]

I use a small (and old) Wacom Intuos on Photoshop CS4.

I sort of want a new tablet, mostly because mine is 7 years old and covered with scratches. But I am so thrifty, I probably will just use it until it breaks. Now, people have been saying that there are programs better than Photoshop out there but I have been using the program for more than 10 years so it is sort of hard for me to adjust to new software.

[ObsidianNova71]

I use Krita and A Wacom Intuos Tablet, I sometimes used Medibang Paint Pro as backup in case Krita isn't acting right

[Tieback]

This was fun to read, because I know zip about tablets. I'm old fashioned. I create my pages with watercolor and ink, then scan the originals to get a digital copy. Lastly, I fine tune a little in photoshop and vuwla!