When you start in the world of digital illustration it is common to find yourself with a classic question: Which program is the best? We can feel a bit overwhelmed when we discover a large number of options available and choosing just one may not be so easy.
Don’t worry, it is not so difficult once you know the tools and benefits that each one has. That’s why we present you with a list with just a few options for you.
Adobe Photoshop: A classic. Surely you already know the interface of this program, and if so, it will not be difficult for you to get used to its use for digital illustration. With the wide variety of brushes that you can find on the net, it is possible to play and experiment to get all kinds of interesting finishes and results. Of course, digital illustration is not the main use of Adobe Photoshop, nor is it the purpose for which it was initially intended, so it is common to waste most of the available tools. This makes it uneconomical since its price is quite high compared to other platforms on this list.
Medibang: I have good news for you: this program is free! If you are just taking your first steps, this may be a viable option to consider as you adapt to the changes involved in expanding from traditional to digital illustration. However, if you want to opt for something a little more in-depth and specialized, this may not be the best choice. Medibang does pretty well with the basic digital drawing tools, the opportunity to store your work in the cloud and share it with other artists. But it lacks advanced features and doesn’t have a wide variety of brushes, which may prove to be a setback in the long run.
Krita: This is another free option, which unlike the previous one, does include the possibility of having a great variety of brushes. It allows you to import those created by the community and add them to the default ones. In addition, it offers useful and innovative tools for all types of creations, such as vector layers, symmetry tools, and frame-by-frame animation options. A negative point is that it is an unstable tool, since it is in constant development, it can be a bit heavy for your PC and you may have to deal with a little delay in the response of the strokes when drawing.
Paint tool Sai: This is one of the cheapest and lightest paid options on the list. I can assure you that you won’t have any problems getting it to work and it won’t demand much from your computer. In the 30 days, it offers a free trial, you can see how comfortable it is to draw lines thanks to its stabilizer, and the quality of the color tools. It is possible to achieve traditional-looking finishes while working with vector lines as in Adobe Illustrator. Despite this, the absence of complete text tools, gradients, or CMYK color profile makes it a bad option if you want to work with illustration, editorial design, or even comics.
Clip Studio Paint: This is the most complete option, a digital drawing studio. With two versions, Pro ($50) and EX ($220), it requires a PC suitable for graphic software. But in exchange, it offers all the tools mentioned in the previous options. It is software designed for digital illustration and the creation of comics, manga, and even simple animations, with a stroke stabilizer, hundreds of brushes, textures, 3d models, and other resources available in the platform’s integrated store, with paid and free resources created by members of the community. It is a fairly intuitive program, and even so, it offers tutorials to discover all its functions. Undoubtedly, it is a good investment if you are professionally dedicated to digital illustration.
Now, surely you already know which of the options best suits you. What are you waiting for? Let’s create!
