I’m looking for new drawing software. My fairly ancient setup is not going to work from the looks of things. I do my editing/finishing in paint.net but it’s not a good drawing program.

I’m on a pc and looking for a good drawing experience. Something with many layers and that will export transparent pngs are the main things I’m looking for.

So what do you all use?

I use Clip Studio Paint for my line work, and Photoshop for my coloring.

I am trying to gradually migrate off of Photoshop. I love the program, but I consider Adobe's subscription-based licencing model to be morally reprehensible.

I have gradually been migrating over to Affinity Photo for my coloring work. I also use Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher for vector art and document design, respectively.

Each Affinity program is $50.- for a perpetual license.

Clip studio is $100.- (I think), but sometimes it's on sale for $50.-

Thanks fc - yeah, I use an older version of clip studio paint (then called manga studio) and I’m leaning toward getting a newer version of CSP that’ll do what I need it to.

Definetely Clip Studio Paint is my recommendation. I heard about Paint Tool SAI and GIMP but never give them a try (I think they are free, so you could check them anyway).

One of the things I like about CSP is that you could use “vector layers” and manipulate every trace as an individual object, for my inks this is a very handy tool because you can correct the trace, move it, or even make it thinner/thicker.

It supports .psd, .png, .jpeg files and the layers aren't a problem, some of my arts have +150 layers without any restriction (as far as I know).

It can let you add all the texts and editing them without having to use any other software, plus it has a lot of material/assets that you can use in your works.

The advantage I see from CSP over other ones (even PS) is that all the tools are designed for making comics with little to none adjustment.

Gimp is very good, I used it for a long time. I didn't find any other free package that came close to it. I use photoshop these days as the subscription is cheap if you get the photographer bundle which also includes lightroom.

@Avart - thanks! Yeah, I do like my Older version Of CSP. might be worth getting that one - Since I already know the basics of the earlier release. Yeah! Strong contender!

@Genejoke - yeah I know about Gimp too! I tried it a couple times but got stuck trying to do certain things. I know Tantz uses it and gets great results with it. Being free is a big plus and the drawing tools seemed quite good. I’ll have to give it another look- I don’t quite remember which parts were confusing/not working for me. Thanks!

fallopiancrusader wrote:
I use Clip Studio Paint for my line work, and Photoshop for my coloring.

I am trying to gradually migrate off of Photoshop. I love the program, but I consider Adobe's subscription-based licencing model to be morally reprehensible.

I still use photoshop 4. It's 64 bit so it works perfectly on new operating systems and you buy it outright so no worries about subscriptions :)
You can still buy it cheap on places like Ebay.

99.9999% of my work though is all done in Artflo on my Android tablet. I think that cost about $6.

Banes wrote:
I’m looking for new drawing software. My fairly ancient setup is not going to work from the looks of things. I do my editing/finishing in paint.net but it’s not a good drawing program.

I’m on a pc and looking for a good drawing experience. Something with many layers and that will export transparent pngs are the main things I’m looking for.

So what do you all use?

I use corel Paint Shop. I like it, because they don't want money every month, like photoshop does. I just buy the update yearly when they make it available.

ozoneoceanwrote:
99.9999% of my work though is all done in Artflo on my Android tablet. I think that cost about $6.

I am gradually incorporating Procreate and Autodesk Sketchbook on the iPad into my production pipeline. I do all my page layouts, much of my pencils, and some of my inks in Sketchbook now.

It gives you a lot more freedom of movement and positioning!

Just to be clear though- the drawing program was $6, that tablet was a few hundred, hahaha, but less than a good drawing computer :D

I personally like Firealpaca (free) , Ibis paint (Free with IAP /also on itunes), or Krita (free)…

all are really good programs that I use alot.

Kiddermat wrote:
I personally like Firealpaca (free) , Ibis paint (Free with IAP /also on itunes), or Krita (free)…

all are really good programs that I use alot.

Might have to check some of those out!

DuckPlease39 wrote:
I like Illustrator.

I use Affinity Designer for all my vector-art based needs. In terms of capabilities, it’s roughly the equivalent of Illustrator.

I use procreate for $9.99 on the iPad. The issue I have with procreate is that when you resize an image, it pixelates too much that I end up redrawing it. Also, right now it cannot stroke anything. I still end up going back to photoshop to have better control over the image. It is easier to draw on the iPad for mobility.

I know that this isn’t really what you asked, but perhaps there are some Macintosh users reading this who are curious about what is out there. I have been using some form of Macintosh since the late 80s. I had enjoyed using an early graphics program called GraphiicConverter by Lemke Software.

https://www.lemkesoft.de/en/products/graphicconverter/

At first, I was just using it to convert various graphics formats from my Commodore Amiga at home, but later, I started using it to create or edit my artwork and photos. I was using the shareware version of this for the longest time, and later paid the U.S.$39.95 to buy the full version. It has a lot of the features of Adobe Photoshop but without all of the expensive annual lease and the memory problems.

It’s not really specific to comics like Clip Studio Paint, but a very powerful program.

— Rick