But that’s what Manga Studio was known for, wasn’t it? Just a bunch of glorified linework, right? 16-year-old me who couldn’t paint digitally would think so. A user can not only change the shape of the brush’s imprint, but also control the stroke’s direction, gap, scattering, density, anti-aliasing, and more, all of which can be found in the Sub Tool Detail view–accessible by clicking on the crescent wrench in the brush properties window. However, unlike SAI, it also has the customization capabilities of a Photoshop brush. Like SAI, it has multiple brush types (ink, watercolor, oil,) with different weights, opacities, blending capabilities, etc., all within their own subcategories. I spent the first hour testing the brush library presets alone. I imagined I would spend about an hour discovering how this program was inferior to both Photoshop and SAI, and be done with it. The free trial version of Clip Studio nearly equates to the fully licensed program without saving or loading, so I downloaded it. My immediate assumption was that it is only $50 for a reason, something along the lines of SAI’s limited support or lack of Photoshop-like filters. Not bad, but so does Paint Tool SAI, give or take.

(All of our other game artists do, but I require the hand-eye disconnect.) However, any associate’s suggestion is worth looking into, so I decided to check it out.įirst things first, how’s the price? Clip Studio Paint sells online for $50. Wescom’s recommendation, especially since I don’t even use a Cintiq. I figured I didn’t need it, I already had the biggest, most expensive art program out there (because when you’re sixteen-years-old, cost correlates directly to quality, apparently.) I’d had no personal experience with the tools or features. I only have a vague memory of hearing second-hand reports that it was a good inking program, but that was it.

Having grown up in the digital art scene, I had heard of what was known as solely Manga Studio back in the day. The pressure response on a Cintiq is greatly superior to Photoshop and the cost is much better.” “You should look into Clip Studio Paint (Manga Studio) by Smith Micro Software. And then a comment came in on our LinkedIn page from one Kirk Wescom. The feedback was largely positive and I gave myself a small pat on the back for a job well done. In a previous blog post The Game Artist’s Arsenal, I covered our game artists’ most-used programs: Paint Tool SAI, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Animate (Flash.) Listed were each of the softwares’ pros and cons, along with general prices to help inform prospective artists.

Clip studio paint sale price