The draw space is Minimal .It’s not always apparent what settings do . A ”Vector Line layer” can move lines at any point ; limited compared to dedicated vector software .
Brush Map bristles allow basic customizing . Creatively applying image textures is how you mimic brush dynamics. SAI 2 now has a Smudge distort brush : together on a Binary Layer ; you can make Unique messy brush styles. I use to make brush fonts .
Text tool is lacking ; you can’t put objects and text to paths .https://www.systemax.jp/en/sai/devdept.html
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2. Clip Studio Paint Pro/EX by Celsys
( For windows , Mac , and iPad ) Pro or Ex versions .
A professional digital drawing & coloring software . It takes full advantage of pressure sensitive Pen devices . As a result lines can be drawn with precision control .
The Colors look and blend well .
Meet Minimum hardware requirements to run software .
EX version has extra options for animators and exporting art in book format .example : kindle etc.
A drawing Painting software using watercolor physics . Great software for a reasonable price.
The watercolor effects are Better than Corel Painter. and better than Expresii . I like to watch the water color physics react on canvas . Rebelle has new oil paint effects.
Painting on High dpi canvases without a fast computer will cause software to freeze.
Side by side comparison Rebelle and Artrage https://youtu.be/EUDUwd8a2QI At least a Nividia 1050 ti gpu; decent cpu and 16 gigs of ram with ssd should run these software without problem. .
_______________________________________ 4. Art Rage
Simple interface. Controls are easy to navigate .
Paint effects are similar to Corel Painter and for a better price . Many will find value in this .
This mimics painting . You’ll find it useful if you are a professional painter.
Problem with Corel Painter products generally : User controls are Not intuitive or poorly implemented .
I never could translate properly what I wanted to happen on canvas . U.I is simply dated.
A quality computer is needed to run this .
Corel Painter is Expensive . I do not recommend ; given the alternatives .
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9. ADOBE Photo Shop CS5 etc.
Primarily for photo editing ; Yet Many digital artists and Designers of all kinds prefer this software . There are even many video instructions online for T-Shirt designing using P.S. .
Newest ” Photoshop CC ” version can be pricey ; Adobe has it a paid subscription service ( However older CS versions are still available on the internet without subscription ) .
Be aware of purchasing addons from Adobe to software you don’t have .
Similar as photo-shop. Not user friendly . Offers very basic paint .
I’ve heard of issues with Gimp recognizing drawing tablets www.gimp.org/
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15. Sketch Book Pro ( Free )
.A finished work of art can look polished and colorful . You’ll find many brushes behave and look same no matter settings you change : High resolution doesn’t reduce that .A noticeable anti-aliasing is applied which blurs the canvas . Sketchbook has a good minimalist Interface .
The “puck” for adjusting Colors & brush size gets in the way or is not near Pen when needed : Unnecessary when other software can drag a pen at any point ; with a shortcut key .Limited brush dynamics .
Pen response seems slow .
You can find many you-tube videos of artist making very good art . I have made art I was happy with made in Sketchbook . Overall very good entry level drawing & coloring software .
I’ll mention this because I’ve tried it, some paint effects seem ok . .But overall a bit gimmicky . User interface looks like a afterthought . https://www.paintstormstudio.com/index.html
Scanners can be used to copy traditional hand drawn pictures ; into your computer for further work in software .
Two brands of scanners you can try are
Epson, and Cannon.
Get the flat bed version. I like portable kinds.
About drawing Tablets. To effectively use the above mentioned software, one must use a drawing tablet. Wacom is considered the best but way expensive . Consider XP-Pen brand drawing devices . Review of XP PEN basic drawing device :
