Which One?

Obsidian · 12-28-2014

Ok, so I have a choice, and I'd like the community's advice before I commit.

Of those who have used these programs, which one is:

A). Most user-friendly for someone who has never drawn much of anything in their lifetime, but would very much like to learn...

&

B). Offers the most utility/features?

The programs:

1). Manga Studio 5

2). Manga Studio Ex 4

3). Sketchbook Pro 6

Lightfoot · 12-29-2014

That's a complicated question. You might be able to download demos of most of these and try them out first. Different people might come to different answers about them. It also depends on if you want to draw artwork, or instead do the more complicated step of making comics.

Manga Studio 5-
A great combination of features to allow you to make your own comics. Vector brushes, helpers, etc. Can do a ton, which might make it seem more complex.

Manga Studio 4 EX-
More confusing than 5, except it does a few extra things like instead of each page being a different file, it can make a whole comic one file.

Sketchbook Pro 6-
Probably the simplest if you aren't looking for a program meant to make all aspects of a comic. It has nice brushes that look pretty real without being slow like Painter. I use this myself, although I've been considering switching to Manga Studio 5 just so that I could make comics completely in one program. One con is that the brush stabilizer doesn't work in the same way as other programs. Other programs will re-render your line to be more straight after you've drawn it, and with this one the smooth brush is a setting where you are almost pulling the brush with a string to get smooth lines.

I would say that Sketchbook Pro 6 is the easiest to use, and the two versions of Manga Studio have more features. Considering that EX4 is older, 5 seems like a better choice of the two.

You also have other choices that would be free to use, like-
http://mypaint.intilinux.com/
https://krita.org/
http://firealpaca.com/en
http://www.gimp.org/

Badass Santa · 12-29-2014

If neither of those work, I strongly suggest Paint tool SAI

Obsidian · 12-29-2014

Interesting. MyPaint seems like a nice program. And hard to argue with *free*. Maybe I'll grab that and Manga 5.

12-28-2014	#1
Obsidian Process Master Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 752	Which One? Ok, so I have a choice, and I'd like the community's advice before I commit. Of those who have used these programs, which one is: A). Most user-friendly for someone who has never drawn much of anything in their lifetime, but would very much like to learn... & B). Offers the most utility/features? The programs: 1). Manga Studio 5 2). Manga Studio Ex 4 3). Sketchbook Pro 6 __________________ My FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/chaamp/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ObsidianReaver

12-29-2014	#2
Lightfoot Frequent Poster Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 137	Re: Which One? That's a complicated question. You might be able to download demos of most of these and try them out first. Different people might come to different answers about them. It also depends on if you want to draw artwork, or instead do the more complicated step of making comics. Manga Studio 5- A great combination of features to allow you to make your own comics. Vector brushes, helpers, etc. Can do a ton, which might make it seem more complex. Manga Studio 4 EX- More confusing than 5, except it does a few extra things like instead of each page being a different file, it can make a whole comic one file. Sketchbook Pro 6- Probably the simplest if you aren't looking for a program meant to make all aspects of a comic. It has nice brushes that look pretty real without being slow like Painter. I use this myself, although I've been considering switching to Manga Studio 5 just so that I could make comics completely in one program. One con is that the brush stabilizer doesn't work in the same way as other programs. Other programs will re-render your line to be more straight after you've drawn it, and with this one the smooth brush is a setting where you are almost pulling the brush with a string to get smooth lines. I would say that Sketchbook Pro 6 is the easiest to use, and the two versions of Manga Studio have more features. Considering that EX4 is older, 5 seems like a better choice of the two. You also have other choices that would be free to use, like- http://mypaint.intilinux.com/ https://krita.org/ http://firealpaca.com/en http://www.gimp.org/ __________________ http://pulse.webcomic.ws/ https://www.deviantart.com/lightfootcomics http://twitter.com/Lightfootadv http://lightfootadv.tumblr.com/ https://lightfootadv.newgrounds.com/ Last edited by Lightfoot; 12-29-2014 at 12:41 AM.

12-29-2014	#3
Badass Santa HOHOHO MOTHERFUCKERS Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 32	Re: Which One? If neither of those work, I strongly suggest Paint tool SAI __________________ Where I hang out More of Badass Santa's Art

12-29-2014	#4
Obsidian Process Master Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 752	Re: Which One? Interesting. MyPaint seems like a nice program. And hard to argue with free. Maybe I'll grab that and Manga 5. __________________ My FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/chaamp/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ObsidianReaver