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Top 12 alternatives to Photoshop for digital painters and illustrators

Hello there!

Yes, we haven’t done this in a while… but our inbox and chat are swamped with questions on the subject, so this article was very much needed.

it’s a simple list of art apps, but we know you love those :D

Enough with the intro, here it is, a list of twelve art apps you may want to check out.

ArtRage is an art program for beginners and professionals. With its minimal interface, it’s easy to keep the essential tools at hand without stealing space from the canvas. Panels can be moved around and tools can be customised. We all know how important it is for digital artists to be able to modify brushes!

Pros: easy to use; friendly interface; essential tools from professional apps available; available for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac

Cons: it may get sluggish with big files and when using big brushes, but performances also depend on the running machine; limited selection of editing tools if compared to Photoshop - ArtRage is more of a painting program rather than an editing one.

Paid

ArtRage Lite is a different version at a cheaper price, mostly for beginners, but also for professionals if they need the essential.

Now free, Sketchbook is the famous app created by Autodesk for various platforms.

Pros: clean, friendly interface; easy to use; professional features

Cons: lack of official tutorials; doesn’t offer as many tools as other apps (it’s down to the essential); paid subscription in Adobe style for the pro version

Free and paid

Black Ink is a powerful little program few actually know, but there’s a reason: this isn’t your classing drawing app. What’s cool about it is the vast selection of special brushes, completely non-realistic, and definitely able to boost your creativity.

Pros: vast selection of customisable brushes; excellent performance

Cons: not very easy to use; non-intuitive interface

Paid

This is probably the most complete software for painting, drawing and animation. It was originally known as Manga Studio, but with its updates and addition of features, it became Clip Studio Paint. 

This doesn’t say much about the quality of the features themselves considering the affordable price (if you haven’t used the app yet, that is), but among graphic apps, this one is the top seller.

Pros: professional features for illustrators; layout tools for comic/manga artists; 3D reference models; customisable tools; various sales with special prices

Cons: the interface may not appear intuitive at first; the program may lag (again, performance also depends on the running machine)

Paid

GIMP is the famous open source image editor originally created for GNU/Linux and available for OS X and Windows. 

Best known as Photoshop’s main competition, this is a manipulation program for both beginners and professionals who love design.

It offers many professional features, making the program a powerful tool.

Pros: professional editing tools; supports different formats; supported by different platforms; active community

Cons: in spite of the simple design, many options are hidden and it takes time to discover all the features; slow startup

Free

Krita is an open source painting app created by artists for artists.

Pros: easy to use; intuitive interface; great brush workflow; brush stabilizer; customisable brushes; general good performance; very enthusiastic, although small, community

Cons: it may be slow or even crash depending on the running computer and the app’s version; very few editing tools compared to Photoshop

Free

MediBang Paint is a free and light app for drawing and painting, perfect for manga and comic creation.

Pros: vast selection of brushes; cloud sharing; friendly, minimal interface (non-desktop app); also available for iPad, iPhone and Android

Cons: requires an account to use all features; non-intuitive interface (desktop version)

Free

Mischief is a sketching app with essential tools, useful for brainstorming and ideation.

Pros: infinite drawing canvas; friendly interface; easy to use; cheap pro version

Cons: few updates; offers only the essential (but that’s the point); no editing/adjustment tools

Free and paid

Corel’s jewel, Painter is the most famous software that offers digital tools able to give a traditional feel to brushes and canvas.

Pros: different selection of media; many professional features; PS-friendly

Cons: certain brushes may work slow; not easy to use at first; the software may crash (this is the most common report); pricey

Paid

Paintstorm Studio is a professional software for digital painting. It’s focused on the use of brushes and blending, which makes the software a little gem in the digital painting field.

Pros: good brush workflow; brush stabilizer; “close gap” feature; customisable interface and tools; professional features; affordable price

Cons: non-intuitive interface (desktop version)

Paid

Procreate is the powerful drawing app for iOS. 

With the very sensitive Apple Pencil, Procreate is so easy to use that many artists chose the iPad over the most famous graphic tablets.

Pros: friendly interface; makes it easy to organise files; excellent brush workflow; customisable brushes; video recording; affordable price

Cons: hidden features; only available for iPad

Paid

SAI is a simple app for artists who want to focus on painting and drawing. 

It’s well known for its good pressure support and its essential tools for manga artists, but SAI can be used by any kind of artist who wants to paint.

Pros: easy to use; friendly interface; light software; customisable brushes; tons of (non-official) tutorials

Cons: limited selection of tools, even basic ones; limited canvas sizes and uses; it might crash from intensive work, especially with big canvases and brushes; supports only RGB colour mode; lack of support

Paid

We hope you’ll find this list useful. 

If you think there are other apps that should have made this list, don’t hesitate to let us know!

Thank you and peace out,

G&M

Buy us a coffee ❤

Other articles:

10 inspiring and helpful YouTube channels for digital artists

6 inspiring Art Podcasts for digital artists

7 amazing Photoshop extensions and tools for digital artists

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"how much new knowledge would we be closer to if cowardice and neglect weren't limiting our quest?"

frankenstein, by mary shelley.

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"wealth didn't matter to me, but how much glory would my discovery get if i were able to get the human body rid of illness and to make humans invulnerable to any kind of death - except from violence!"

frankenstein, by mary shelley.

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"'we did so much!' frankenstein's soul exclaimed. "and i will accomplish so much more. by following the steps of those that have already left their print, i want to inaugurate a new path, explore unknown powers and reveal to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.'"

frankenstein, by mary shelley.

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"life and death only seemed to me to be seperated by theoretical boundaries that i would need to break immediately, to unleash a torrent of light on the darkness of our world. a new species would bless me as their creator and their origin; many would be those, naturally happy and excellent, who would owe me their existence. no [mother] could expect gratitude from their child like i would deserve their's."

frankenstein, by mary shelley.

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Hello, here is my photoshop cc 2017! It is already cracked, extended version, please like or reblog if you download. Thank you!

How to install?     After you unzip the file, look for the file named Photoshop that have the ps icon, then right-click Run as Administrator.

Contains timeline?     Yes.

What is an extended version?     The extended version contains all the photoshop tools, and may be a little heavier than normal.

Download (mf)

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are   you  tired  of  feeling  left  out  of  the  psd  fun ?  maybe  you  have  a  chrome book  &  can’t  use  photoshop ,  maybe  you  have  a  computer  you  aren’t  allowed  to  download  junk  to.  never  fear.   today  i  found  FOR  FREE , PHOTOPEA.COM.  you  can  open  psds,  edit  them,  and  saving  icons  is  as  easy  as  file >  export  >  save  .png  >  copy  to  clip  board.

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       PSD_023  :  OLDSCHOOL ,   please  like  or  reblog  if  you  download.   any  problems  with  it,   feel  free  to  contact  me.   adjustment  layers  included  so  it’s  easy  to  use  on  assorted  screencaps ,   psd  suggested  for  larger  edits  .   (db)

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FOSSAED  PSD  13 ,  a poc friendly icon psd for the roleplay comm , can be used on most skin types and will not whitewash . border is included within psd .  you may need to adjust psd layers to better suit your icons . please like or reblog if you plan on using it , it’s the least i deserve for my efforts . also credit is not necessary but appreciated !   ( dl. )

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PSD 001: KENDRA.

a psd made specifically for poc. ( there is a lighter option in there that was designed only for white fcs. ) as you can see from the examples above, there are quite a few settings you can use, which will be listed next. psd settings: no psd / regular psd / grey psd / both psds. i hope you guys enjoy this and use it for edits or rp icons ! if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to hit up my ask. disclaimer: the border used on this is not mine, as stated when you open up the psd. you can get this border, along with others, right here.

download: mediafire / dropbox

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         PSD_021  :  HOGWARTS ,   please  like  or  reblog  if  you  download.   any  problems  with  it,   feel  free  to  contact  me.   adjustment  layers  included  so  it’s  easy  to  use  in  assorted  screencaps,   requested :   80px border.  (db)

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        PSD_022  :  LIGHTS ,   please  like  or  reblog  if  you  download.   any  problems  with  it,   feel  free  to  contact  me.   adjustment  layers  included  so  it’s  easy  to  use  on  assorted  screencaps  and  were  used  in  examples  2  and  3,   (db)

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8tracks alternative

hey, so mourning the slow death of 8tracks, a lot of people are looking for alternatives. i know suan.fm has been suggested a lot but it doesn’t have any built-in community interaction as of yet,, BUT!!! playmoss.com  is RLY GREAT and it has all the basic fuckin features that 8tracks always should have had like: - see the entire tracklist - start the playlist from any point - unlimited skips and listening - see how many playlists contain a certain song - see top listeners of a playlist - collaborative playlists!! etc etc !!!  plus while it does have a “subscription”” it Only allows you to upload music files directly instead of linking from youtube and soundcloud. doesn’t add more than that or punish you for not paying this sounds like an advertisement but i just want a community to start building there so we can rise above 8tracks’ tyrannical management :^) p.s.  yes it does have a mobile app!!

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          PSD_020,   please like or reblog if you download.   any problems with it,  feel free to contact me.  adjustment layers included so it’s easy to use,  which were used for examples 2 & 3.   (db)

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YOU  CAN  ALWAYS  IGNORE  YOUR  CONSCIOUS .

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First of all, I want to say that I love your work. It makes me so happy! I'm pretty sure that has to do with your color scheme. So, I just wanted to ask, how do you choose your colors?

🌿 This website is amazing for color palettes and there’s so many of them to choose from! But I realized that I kinda suck at sticking to palettes someone else made so I gave up on using pre-made color schemes haha.

🌿For my art I always use soft colors with a pop of brighter/contrasting colors. I use Paint tool SAI as my main drawing program and I always have the HSV slider and color swaches options enabled.

🌿 I’ve saved a lot of colors on my swatch pad throughout the years (5 years so far) so when I’m coloring a piece I always choose from the colors I already saved and then I adjust them through the HSV slider if needed. Here’s my swatch pad:

🌿 When working on pieces with one dominant color I like to mix warmer shades with cooler shades of that color. Here’s my Sailor Moon piece as an example:

🌿 For my Kiki matching set I knew I wanted it to look soft yet have contrasting colors (‘cause that’s the kinda colors Kiki wears). Colors can also look different depending on what other colors you pair them with and even tho  I picked a pink-ish color and a orange-y color for her shirt/cap and jacket,they actually come off more as red and yellow (at least that’s how I see it idk haha).

Keep reading

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                       HAPPY  39TH  BIRTHDAY   ,   2D  !!