Hello, if you're reading this then I assume that you're looking for some cheap programs or tools to help you become a digital artist, or at least something you can play around in with little upfront cost. The reason this is in the forum and not in the tutorial sections is because I don't know everything. I am likely to miss some very good programs and resources out there just because I don't know about them. That means if you know about a good program that isn't listed here, then speak up and be heard.
The Index of Awesomeness!
Okay with that said there are some rules.
-*`RULES`*-
1. It must be art related, preferably comics related. That means no spam, no plugging your own stuff (unless you coded something like Photoshop, or it's a tutorial), and no posting things off topic.
2. Please, please, PLEASE! use the form you see later on. I'm going to try and keep this up to date and index all of the post that contain additions, and just posting a link isn't very helpful to anyone looking through these.
3. All programs must be $100 or less. While this seems steep, you can use a program for the rest of eternity (theoretically anyway). and $100 is pretty good for something that compares to Photoshop or Painter.
4. Tutorials and other resources that are not programs must be free. If we listed the books that are helpful to vitally important to our craft I'd never be able to keep up and the list would get HUGE in a hurry.
5. No flaming other programs and/or resources. While I could explain this one, I think an example helps.
Good: Program X lacks some features such as tablet pressure sensitivity and layers.
Bad: Program X sucks. Program Y is what you need if you're a serious artist.
6. No links to pirated software. Be glad I'm not an Admin if I see this happen. I'm a Computer science major and I take software piracy VERY seriously.
7. No repeats. nuff said.
Okay now that those are out of the way, let's get down to business.
The Form:
[Name of the software or resource]
Price: [should be obvious]
Medium: [2d, 3d, or hyper-dimensional with a little 4d math for flavor, if it's a tutorial or something like that, what programs, if any, is it for.]
Description: [tell what it does and how it does it]
Pros: [why is it awesome (don't include free in here, it's annoying)]
Cons: [why might people not like it (again don't include price)]
Where to find: [links to e-shops and websites it can be bought, downloaded, or seen]
And there you go. Have fun and feel good knowing you've helped somebody.
Start publishing on
DD Comics!
Advertise with us
Tips and Tricks/Support *
Ultimate Digital Artist's resource on a shoe string (or no string) budget.
The Index of Awesomeness!
This is an index of all the software, tutorials, and other stuff that is posted here.
2-dimensional Programs:
-Artweaver
-Corel Sketchpad
-GIMP
-Inkscape
-Manga Studio
-MyPaint
-Paint Shop Pro
-Paint Tool SAI
-Paint.Net
3-dimensional Programs:
-Blender
-Daz 3D
-Google Sketchup
-Wings 3D
2-dimensional tutorials and resources:
-20 Character Design Tips
-Brusheezy
-GFXartist Tutorials
-Manga coloring tutorial (001)
-Armor Tutorial by Kataabalzuua
3-dimensional tutorials and resources:
-UV texture mapping
Writing and Coding Programs:
-Aptana
-Celtx
Open Office Writer
Writing and Coding tutorials and resources:
-Lisa Explains It All
-W3C CSS Tutorial
-W3C HTML Tutorial
-W3C JavaScript Tutorial
GIMP
Price: FREE!
Medium: 2d images
Description: GIMP is a powerful image editor and authoring tool that handles several dozen formats, including those used by Adobe and Corel. It is currently being overhauled and promises to get even better. There is also a fairly active community that provides plugins and brushes for GIMP.
Pros: Powerful with a tool and feature set on par with several commercial programs, Numerous tutorials, an up-to-date-easy to read user manual.
Cons: Work space spread out over several windows, can be a little user unfriendly.
Where to find: www.gimp.org
Blender
Price: FREE!
Medium: 3d images
Description: Blender is an extremely powerful 3-dimensional modelling and animation package that has several unique and intuitive features. Regarded as being on par with high-power 3-d modelling programs such as 3ds Max and Maya, Blender has been used in several notable productions such as Elephant's Dream and Big Buck Bunny.
Pros: Powerful tool set and internal renderer, compatible with many other free and cheap renderers, intuitive user interface, Non-overlapping GUI
Cons: Steep learning curve, reliant on Open GL so older versions (2.49 and earlier) don't always work with integrated graphics, Newer versions can be buggy (2.50 to 2.56 are currently alpha and beta versions)
Where to find: http://www.blender.org/
MyPaint
Price: FREE!
Medium: 2d images
Description: MyPaint is a free alternative to programs such as Corel's Painter series. It includes numerous brushes, several nice tools for reproducing brush settings, and an infinite canvas.
Pros: Dozens of brushes, saves in several different formats
Cons: Hard to find where things are sometimes, saving in a format that doesn't support layers results in all the layers being compressed whether they are visible or not.
Where to find: http://mypaint.intilinux.com/
Google SketchUp
Price: FREE! (There is a pro version for about $300 if anyone REALLY wants it)
Medium: 3d images
Description: Sketchup is an easy-to-use alternative for more expensive 3D modelling programs, for people who don't want all the bells and whistles. SketchUp is an excellent way to build models for backgrounds, basic settings, etc. for people who struggle with those - build a background, arrange the camera, and then you get a nice, correct structure to trace or insert.
Pros: A large free library of pre-built objects contributed by a strong user community; Google and others provide several tutorials and demos; simplistic controls make it easy to use; fewer features than a full-fledged program for people who just want to do basics.
Cons: Not really suited for modeling people (like Poser) or really detailed/highly textured 3D comics. Despite being easy to use, it still takes a little learning/fiddling and watching the tutorials will help.
Where to find: http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/index.html
Paint Tool SAI
Price: 31-day Free trial, about $60 if you want a license after that
Medium: 2d images
Description: SAI is a Japanese program for drawing (and painting, if you want to experiment with brushes). It has fewer features than Photoshop which is useful for people who want a simpler experience. Many people use SAI for its good-looking inking and its small-but-unique usability features, like "turning" the canvas.
Pros: Supports layers and many layer effects (multiply, opacity, etc) found in photoshop and supports the .psd file format (although not completely, like text layers would be rasterized), also shares many keyboard shortcuts with photshop. Has an incredibly useful feature where the canvas can be "turned" so you can draw at different angles. Other small usability ehnancements. Superior out-of-the-box inking brushes (with adjustable "smoothing" algorithms) to photoshop and most other programs.
Cons: Almost no image manipulation features, since this is a drawing tool and not a photo editing one. Commands/menu finding can take a little getting used to for a veteran photoshop user, when available features or menus don't match. If creating very large (300+ dpi) and complex image, SAI can start to drain system resources, respond slowly, etc. (Though sometimes restarting fixes this.)
Where to find: http://sai.detstwo.com/sai/ for the English translation of the free demo, http://www.systemax.jp/en/sai/ for the software license.
DAZ 3D
Price: core version free (advanced version with added features $150, I know this is more than $100 but it isn't limited to a trial peroid)
Medium: 3D
Description: Daz 3D is very similar to poser, the core character models are free also but clothing and hair needs to be purchased or found from various free resources. You can build your own very basic models in the program from primitives (simple cubes, spheres or planes etc).
Pros: Even if you do not use it for making a 3D comic it can be very useful for referencing and anatomy.
Cons: Like much 3D software it can seem daunting at first. Finding free models and installing them can be time consuming.
Where to find: http://www.daz3d.com/i/software/daz_studio3?_m=d
For free models and textures I recommend Share cg http://www.sharecg.com/
Celtx
Price: Free
Medium: Writing.
Description: Script writing software with formats for film, comic and whatever else you my want to write a script for.
Pros: If you want your scripts formatted nicely and have all your character notes organised in one place then celtx is really useful.
Cons: cutting and pasting can be awkward. exporting to html seems to lose page details.
Where to find: http://celtx.com/
Aptana
Price: FREE!
Medium: HTML, PHP, and several other languages.
Description: Aptana is a IDE that is useful for several languages that are used on the web.
Pros: Supports dozens of languages, Scores of plugins available to extend functionality, Has an integrated SSH (Secure SHell) client.
Cons: It's not a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, No multi-browser preview, Installing plugins can be difficult.
Where to find: http://aptana.com/
Inkscape
Price: Free
Medium: 2d images
Description: Inkscape is an open-source vector graphics editor similar to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Freehand, or Xara X.
Pros: Available for multiple Operating Systems. Crisp, scalable images. Has some cool features.
Cons: Feels somewhat limited when compared with Adobe Illustrator. Might need to spend a bit of time learning how to do those cool features (read the tutorials!).
Where to find: http://inkscape.org/
Paint Shop Pro (or Corel PaintShop Photo Pro)
Price: Between $30 and $100
Medium: 2D
Description: Pretty standard image editing program. It has a bunch of features I don't use, but basically any time someone talks about things to do with Photoshop, I've been able do it with PrintShopPro.
Pros: Lots of features but not overly complex. Auto-save functions. Really easy to find a copy. The built in tubes and textures are nice. New versions are easy to get used to. Doesn't need a CD to run.
Cons: Occasionally, it inexplicably crashes. I have been told by hardcore Photoshop users that there are limitations to file sizes and layers. From what I've read, it doesn't support tablet pressure sensitivity.
Where to find: Free Trial (30 days): Corel.com Full version: Amazon, BestBuy, WalMart, etc.
Lissa Explains it All
Price: Free
Medium: Coding Tutorials (html, css, javascript)
Description: A fairly comprehensive site of website-building tutorials.
Pros: Instructions are in easy language with examples of everything. The site covers a lot of topics from basics to more complex coding.
Cons: The navigation can be confusing as far as finding what you're looking for since the links in subsections are labeled "Section 1, 2, 3" instead of what they cover. The bright colors can be intimidating.
Where to find: http://lissaexplains.com/
Manga Studio, by Smith Micro
Price: $49.99
Medium: 2D software, Art supplies and mediums
Description: A couple other hot items right now for the comic strip artists are Manga Studio and Anime Studio by Smith Micro, which I believe is a steal at $49.99.
Pros: I know of at least one DDer who is using Manga Studio and the comic strips they are putting out are great:
* Complete artistic control. Sketch original art with a mouse or tablet, scan in existing art, or import artwork or graphics to get started. It's easy with Manga Studio Debut!
* Design with attention to detail. Choose from over 2,300 professional-grade screen tones to add dimension, depth and character to your art.
* Invigorate your drawings. Easily color and fill your Manga or Comic using the integrated color set, advanced shading tools, and pattern brushes.
* Bring your Characters to Life. Pre-designed word balloons allow you to quickly add dialog to your creations.
* Apply special effects. Add focus and speed line effects in seconds to express motion or moods.
* Publish your work. Output professional quality manga for print or web in various file formats. Manga Studio Debut exports jpg, bmp, psd, tga*, png*, tiff* and pict* files.
* Get fast results. Perform complicated tasks with a single mouse click. Double your productivity by reusing design elements in a flash!
Cons: Must invest in Pen Tablet (recommended): Wacom Bamboo, Graphire, Intuos, Cintiq, PL series etc.
Where to find: Much more information at this link: http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-3440824-10547363. At that link, if you click Downloads, you get a host of free Premier trials of Smith Micro software programs.
I also keep a number of links available at my home site for both 3D and traditional resources. For the traditional comic artist I have links to the most popular and especially affordable art supply companies (Mister Art, Inksupply.com, Dick Blick, Daniel Smith, BlueLinePro).
http://houseofthemuses.com/store/art-supplies
http://www.renderosity.com/index.php?AID=623
Artweaver
Price: Artweaver: Free
Artweaver Plus 2.0 : 29 € / $37.50
Medium: 2D
Description: A great program that seems to be the amalgamation of Adobe Photoshop and SAI paint tool. The free version has been around for quite a while (I'm still running Artweaver 0.5; I need to update it, hahah.) however there has recently been a newer version added called "Artweaver Plus" that has more extensive features, however costs money. (Artweaver Plus has a free 14 day trial)
Pros: Free Version: Has layers, a color wheel, various filters, textures and photo effects. Comes in multiple languages, and has an extensive help guide. You can create your own custom brushes, and a guide for such things is featured in the help guide. Is rather hardy (I once used 90 layers on a digital painting with little freezing). Supports multiple file saving types.
Plus Version: All the above, in addition to being hardier, supporting larger images, custom palates, can use photoshop compatable filters
Cons: **Note I am using Artweaver 0.5. The freezing may have been fixed** Will freeze up at times, depending on the amount of layers / size of drawing. Not as extensive as Photoshop and does not feature ALL the same things Photoshop has.
Where to find:
For both programs: http://www.artweaver.de/
Artweaver FREE: http://www.artweaver.de/products-en/artweaver-free/
Comparison / Version differences between Free and Plus versions: http://www.artweaver.de/products-en/artweaver-plus/version-differences
W3C HTML Tutorial
Price: FREE!
Medium: HTML
Description: The W3C, which provides standards for web programming languages, goes through all the tags and their uses in this very through tutorial. In addition to the lessons and examples, it also provides a comprehensive list of all HTML tags, pasty and present.
Pros: Comprehensive tutorial, plenty of examples, let's you modify code and see what it does on the site, handy reference.
Cons: It only goes over the mechanics of HTML, No instruction on how to put elements together, can take several hours to go through
Where to find: http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp
W3C JavaScript Tutorial
Price: FREE!
Medium: JavaScript
Description: One more excellent tutorial by the W3C. This tutorial goes about teaching JavaScript the same way the W3C tutorial on HTML, and the one on CSS does. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to .
Pros: Comprehensive tutorial, plenty of examples, let's you modify code and see what it does on the site, just like the W3C CSS and HTML Tutorials
Cons: It only goes over the mechanics of JavaScript, No instruction on how to put elements together, can take several hours to go through
Where to find: http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp
W3C CSS Tutorial
Price: FREE!
Medium: CSS
Description: Another excellent tutorial by the W3C. This tutorial goes about teaching CSS the same way the W3C tutorial on HTML does. This tutorial also has a list of CSS tags and parameters, which is really handy as a reference.
Pros: Comprehensive tutorial, plenty of examples, let's you modify code and see what it does on the site, has handy reference of tags and parameters.
Cons: Similar to the HTML tutorial, It only goes over the mechanics of CSS, No instruction on how to put elements together, can take several hours to go through
Where to find: http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp
Paint.NET
Price: FREE!
Medium: 2d images
Description: Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.
It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple image and photo editor tool. It has been compared to other digital photo editing software packages such as Adobe® Photoshop®, Corel® Paint Shop Pro®, Microsoft Photo Editor, and The GIMP.
Pros: Control features aren't too unsimilar to MS Paint, so it's really easy for those who have no photo editing experience. Helps you to become familiar with layers and is a good stepping stone towards photoshop. Website is packed with user generated tutorials.
Cons: Is more of a photo editor than a drawing tool, although it has all the features that MS Paint, has to offer.
Where to find: http://www.getpaint.net/
Just a question - I know a very good program (I use it occasionally for one of my comics, and intend to use it fully for my other one), but it's 120 dollars, 20 above the price cap. At the same time, it's like a mini Painter, and emulates traditional tools reasonably well (in fact, it's also by Corel, and intended to be a lighter version of Painter). Also, people who have bought Wacom tablets (and maybe even other wacom products) have the option of downloading it for free as part of a priviledge thingie.
So I'd like to know - is it a relevant option? Or is it a no-no?
Just a question - I know a very good program (I use it occasionally for one of my comics, and intend to use it fully for my other one), but it's 120 dollars, 20 above the price cap. At the same time, it's like a mini Painter, and emulates traditional tools reasonably well (in fact, it's also by Corel, and intended to be a lighter version of Painter). Also, people who have bought Wacom tablets (and maybe even other wacom products) have the option of downloading it for free as part of a priviledge thingie.
So I'd like to know - is it a relevant option? Or is it a no-no?
I think that'll be okay, thanks for asking though. Like I said in the first post, $100 seems like a lot, but it's actually a pretty good deal considering you can use it as long as the technology behind it is available and supported, which could be at least a decade. The main reason for the cap was to keep people from posting suggestions for Photoshop, Painter, and Flash, which are all WAY out of most of our price ranges (unless you're eligible for the education discount, but even then it's still pricey).
I'd also like to add that anyone using Photoshop Elements, Painter Essentials, or Sketchbook Pro can, and is encouraged to post, all of them are below the $100 mark.
And I'd like to add on more thing. If it's between $100 and $150, go ahead and ask, anything above $150 is probably out, unless it's a really good deal (like something that has the tool sets and capabilities of Photoshop and Illustrator in one package. Anything $200+ is out from the get go. I know it seems I'm changing the rules, but I'm trying not to bar anything that's really good from being posted.
Thank you for the prompt answer. I actually have two of the three you mentioned, Photoshop Elements and Sketchbook Pro, which came with my intuos along with this one… but I couldn't get used to them at all. The one I'm trying to introduce is…
Corel Sketchpad
Price: $119.00 - a little higher than the stipulated price cap, but you receive it for free if you buy a Wacom tablet. If you bought something wacom, you might want to look into it - I didn't know about it and took over a year to download my program bundle.
Medium: 2D
Description: It's Diet Painter. Basically, it simulates a sketchpad (no way!), with basic watercolor, acrylic and oil brushes, a pencil simulator, markers, inking pen and calligraphic pen. It also has a sidebar displaying a thumbnail of all the "pages" in your "pad".
Pros: The page thumbnail display is very handy if you're drawing a series of related images, or the pages of a comic. You can easily go back and forth between pages, or check the colors/design you used from the thumbnail itself. For each new page you create, you can set a different size and texture, which will affect all drawing and coloring tools except for the pens. The watercolor tool blends very, very well, and you can "dry" the watercolor from the menu to overlay colors, just like building up washes traditionally. You can flip your page in the horizontal and vertical from easily accessible buttons. Also, I don't know about other tablets, but it actually recognizes the angle and rotation of my tablet pen, for all those hard-to-reach corners.
Cons: It's a pretty new, recent program, (version 1.0.75), and crashes like a mofo if you don't update it right away. (Help -> check for updates. It'll download and install automatically.) Even after updating, it still crashes sometimes, so it's best to save as often as possible. There's almost no documentation for it out there, either. Also, the layers work a little weirdly - no matter their position in the stack, clicking the "merge down" button will merge them to the background layer, skipping all others inbetween. I dunno what's up with that, but it means you can't go crazy on your layers or you'll get lost pretty fast (as the layers aren't labelled… they're just thumbnails).
Where to find: Corel Site
20 Character Design Tips
Price: FREE!
Medium: 2D, but can apply to any medium.
Description: Pretty much what it says on the tin, 20 tips on designing characters.
Pros: Provides some great times on character design, mentions multiple methods.
Cons: Is rather terse when it comes to the actual process of creating characters.
Where to find: http://www.computerarts.co.uk/in_depth/features/20_character_design_tips
Advertise with us
DDComics is community owned.
The following patrons help keep the lights on. You can support DDComics on Patreon.
- Banes
- JustNoPoint
- RMccool
- Abt_Nihil
- Gunwallace
- cresc
- PaulEberhardt
- Emma_Clare
- FunctionCreep
- SinJinsoku
- Smkinoshita
- jerrie
- Chickfighter
- Andreas_Helixfinger
- Tantz_Aerine
- Genejoke
- Davey Do
- Gullas
- Roma
- NanoCritters
- Teh Andeh
- Peipei
- Digital_Genesis
- Hushicho
- Palouka
- Cheeko
- Paneltastic
- L.C.Stein
- Zombienomicon
- Dpat57
- Bravo1102
- TheJagged
- LoliGen
- OrcGirl
- Fallopiancrusader
- Arborcides
- ChipperChartreuse
- Mogtrost
- InkyMoondrop
- jgib99
- Call me tom
- OrGiveMeDeath_Ind
- Mks_monsters
- GregJ
- HawkandFloAdventures
- Soushiyo