Art Programs YOU recommend

Sai or Firealpaca, but Sai all the way. And sometimes (cause I suck) Paint.NET. =u=;

 

While it is pricy, I fully recommend photoshop. I've used other programs (sai, firealpaca) and while those are good (Sai is definitely amazing, if not better than photoshop for drawing) I just feel so much more free with photoshop. While its more expensive, you can probably find it online somewhere. They Also have photoshop elements that is cheaper but still just as good!

 

im not sure if linking site with the program/download location is allowed so im gonna stay in my lane and such but

SAI - I got this free(??? i dunno i just found a download link for it on a site and it was the full free thing)
Krita - its updated a bunch but i have a older version
Fire Alpaca - its said before but i honestly enjoy the program but only use one brush
GIMP - i dunno if this is even used anymore but it is something i had before in my early years
Paint.net - basic and simple, not good or bad, more like meh but it is used for new artists to get a feel for some brushes
Sumo paint - i used this a few years back when i learned about more advanced brushes, its in browser still?? maybe
mobile: sketchbook s - i used it, has pen pressure (finger pressure????) and is free but limits to 3-4 layers but its also for desktop but i forgot if its free tbh because my tablet came with things free to use

thats all i know personally but still overall SAI is the best well known program for thousands of artists who do digital wise, Fire Alpaca is great too but it comes with premade brushes and im not sure if you can add more to it all

 

I use FireAlpca only, I downloaded Sai but it didn't work so oh well. I used to use GIMP but it was too blocky for my taste. Fire Alpaca has a great offering of brushes and the flow it has is wonderful. It has the Snap tool, which is very very helpful for more perfect lines. I kinda want the full version, they have it on Steam, it looks amazing in full, more like Sai that way.

 

I use MediBang Paint Pro. It's free, and easy to use. I used to use Fire Alpaca, but I like MediBang a lot better. (I usually do traditional art though.)

 

Personally, I favour Photoshop, I find it easy to use & the wide variety of things you can do in it I feel are more than other programs

 

I use Photoshop and it's served me for many years. Tried other programs too but couldn't get used to them.

 

If you are starting to get into digital art and you have a windows software, I recommend trying out for MS (Microsoft) Paint so you can get an idea on how to use the materials and practice them. For other art software with more advanced paint materials, try to use either GIMP or Paint Tool Sai. Both programs are easy to use and help introduce you to other materials

 

With my medium of choice (spriting) nothing does me better than good 'ol fashioned Microsoft Paint 2000. Vista's paint is a pain in the arse so I don't like that one too much.

 

Paint.net is what I use to edit all my pictures. It's easy to use and not complicated. Just very straight forward, even though it doesn't have that many fancy features. Photoshop is unfortunately expensive if you get it legally...

 

I've tried a lot of other programs but these are my faves for now!

• SAI - for beginners, I love all its smooth brushes (esp. for blending!) and its easy to understand interface
• FireAlpaca/Medibang - for people who want a free but nice drawing software
• Clip Studio Paint - for mac users looking for an alternative for SAI / SAI artists looking for and upgrade -- this program has super smooth lines and a lot of features that SAI doesn't have; but at the same time, it's slightly more challenging to get used to (at least in my opinion!)

Photoshop is also nice for GFX artists since it has a lot of effects and layer modes - also a nice program for super pro artists who paint a lot (?) I've never really mastered it so I can't say much...
There's also a program called mischief which is good for storyboarding / concept artists; and paint storm studio, a program which looks like most well suited for painting and bgs (there's a lot of fancy and custom brushes that make drawing backgrounds easy) - probably can be seen as a cheaper alternative for photoshop (as a painting software) with more drawing functionalities!

 

I haven't tried out a lot of art programs, but most of the ones I have tried are pretty good! Here's some of my recommendations for different types of art:

Pixel art - Aceprite
Vector art - Inkscape (I've tried Illustrator but it wasn't very intuitive to use for me)
Pretty much anything you'd do with a tablet art - Clip Studio Paint/Paint tool SAI (I haven't actually used SAI but I know many great artists who use it)
Effects and editing - Photoshop
Music - LMMS
SNES style music - Famitracker