Art Programs- user reviews and preferences

I ended up buying Expresii online and loading the 64 bit beta on my machine. For some reason the fans calmed down, and I was able to enjoy a really smooth and quiet eastern calligraphy experience on my surface pro, with no glitches. I finally figured out the procedure of “holding” your brush in the color well to load it up with pigments and water in any combination. It is stunning how fluid and realistic it is. And you can zoom in amazingly close. I read their forums a bit and see members asking the developer for a western watercolor version as well. The developer is very engaged. I am thoroughly amazed by this app!

They now have dial support as well, allowing you to do things like control the dryness of your brush.

One thing I noticed is that even after I use the hairdryer to dry my paper, my ink will bleed into previously wet areas. I don’t know if this is a flaw or intended behavior. I am also having a bit of trouble understanding how the layers function... i cant target certain layers to paint on— I end up simply toggling visibility rather than selecting them. To be fair, I haven’t bothered to read the help guide yet because I was just expecting it to be like all other painting apps.

I think this sale lasts 19 more days. I would definitely recommend this app after spending some time with it. The remarkably fluid and expressive brushes are more realistic than any I have ever seen. It is quite a zen experience to use it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

Paint Tool SAI 64bit beta had an update two weeks ago...

https://www.systemax.jp/en/sai/devdept.html

Still no finger touch feature.

Everything else is looking nice. That brush engine is SMOOTH!

Will this program be done and ready before 2020?

 

ArtStudio Pro 2.0 for macOS and iOS is out:


Even if the video lingers on the higher contrast interface too long, it looks pretty cool. I'm surprised they didn't mention their ability to import PhotoShop brushes (.abr).

 

The full Photoshop CC is apparently coming to iPad next year
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/10/adobe-bringing-the-photoshop-to-the-ipad-next-year/

 

Latest version of Krita seems to have really moved forward in leaps and bounds - having tried a few of the freebies I would say it's the best of the bunch for me.
Autodesk Sketchbook (you just need an account and download the desktop version) is really good now too - really enjoy the simple nature of the flip book for animation. I think a lot of Sketchbook's brushes and pencil settings are getting long in the tooth though.

Spending more time in these two than with Clip Studio recently - that GUI defeats me.

 

Tried Krita recently and could not get smooth strokes like I get in CSP. Also no iPad Pro app.

I was also surprised that they use color in their tool palette icons. I thought the software community figured out a long time ago that tool palettes should be neutral.

Anyway, I hope it keeps improving. Competition is good.

 

I take your point:
However I think it is a matter of personal preference as I have found the brush strokes slightly "artificial" at times. I am prepared to be told by everyone the brush engine is the bees knees but the nearest thing I've seen that I am reminded of are some of the strange brushes in the old version of MyPaint.

MyPaint did have a G-pen type of brush which worked fine and I think the one in CSP is similarly good so I've not given up on CSP but general consensus seems to be that getting used to the interface takes quite a while whereas I want to get results quickly. SBPro and Krita are easy to get the hang of quickly.

 

Having played with Flipaclip on a 2017 work iPad I'm really impressed. I'm no character animator but my 9 year old daughter has been doing some powerful stuff with it - the sound capture and edit tool is simple but incredibly powerful and she's already doing some lip-sync tests.
I'm seriously tempted to upgrade to the pencil enabled iPads to see what she can do when drawing with a stylus rather than her finger. This would be mainly for her (ahem ahem) but wow, what a powerful little program.

 

More to think about where Adobe is concerned. Might be behind the news but this may be relevant to some.

1) Subscription model has moved to higher payments
2) Adobe have removed all software older than 2 years old from their servers.

Most controversially - 3) Adobe has warned users to remove older versions due to the possibility of being sued by a 3rd party (mainly Dolby).

https://www.engadget.com/2019/05/14/adobe-creative-cloud-older-apps-warning/

https://www.slashgear.com/adobe-creative-cloud-is-turning-into-a-big-legal-mess-13576505/

Not great if you are mid project or you are working on large .psd files with hundreds of layers and filters and looking for another piece of software that will translate those files faithfully.
Personally, I have CS6 on my MacBook and 5.5 on my zBook and will keep them until someone knocks on my do...


Oh? Was that a knock?

 

I sure it's all empty threats to cover their butts and legal BS talk. I'm legit license now, and I just don't think about it anymore since I put it against my taxes and use it so fervently. Still would love to see someone best them, but at this point I have little hope Adobe will ever be toppled in my line of work, at least in my lifetime.