Looking at the Four 2d Digital Art Software!

Although there is a lot of digital art software out there, I will recommend four programs that will help you out in your 2d digital paintings.

The software is Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Painter, and GIMP. The basis for selecting simple: the program must allow you paint correctly.

This means it must contain a brush tool, an eraser tool, the dodge and burn options, smudging brushes, and layers. You may think digital art software should include them but there is software that doesn’t include a smudge tool like Paint.net.

Obviously, Paint.net will include it in the near future. But as of now, it’s not going to help you out much as a digital artist if it doesn’t have the smudge brush.

The second criterion is that it can run on a PC (Windows) machine as that’s what most people are using these days. That way, there is support if needed.

1. Photoshop

For what you do in the field of graphic design, Photoshop is one of the industrial leaders in the field of image manipulation. There is no question that it brings a lot to the table to help you paint.

Having said that, you will find that this digital art software offers a bunch of extra tools you can try on your own to enhance your paintings.

But for the purposes of being a digital painter, the program can get a bit complicated sometimes. As a matter of fact, you will be hard pressed to use more than half of the available features as a digital painter.

It is also quite costly. At around 600 dollars for a new copy of the latest Photoshop version and 150 dollars to upgrade older versions, you will find that it is a bit steep for what you want to do.

Due to the minimal changes for the purposes of digital painting, my recommendation is to use an older copy to help save on costs if Photoshop is your main digital art program.

2. Paint Shop Pro

Paint Shop Pro offers quite a few bang-for-the-buck features. In addition to the raster image capabilities of Photoshop, it is capable of doing vector paintings as well.

The best way to think of Paint Shop Pro is that it is the Jack of all trades but master of none. That’s fine though because as a digital painter, the tools and brushes are more than enough.

Another advantage is the price. At less than 100 dollars, it is more affordable than Photoshop.

But one disadvantage that Paint Shop Pro has is that it is only for Windows. If you are using a Mac or Linux, then you will not be able to use this program. Other than that, it’s a great recommendation and inexpensive alternative to Photoshop for beginning digital painters.

3. Corel Painter

In terms of capacity, the tool brushes available far exceed what Photoshop has to offer. There are a lot of brush and brush types you can choose from.

However, being painting oriented, it will lack in other features like some filters and measurement type tools for webpage design.

But as a digital painter, this program would definitely suite all of our needs. Just like Photoshop, it is rather pricey. At around 450 dollars, it’s a fairly expensive program.

Of course, see if you can find older versions of this digital art software to save on costs. Otherwise, it’s one of the best programs out there for painting. I highly recommend it as the program to use for all your digital painting requirements!

4. GIMP

GIMP is one of those digital art software has a lot of potential. The reason is that it’s an open source program. That means its development comes from different sources rather than one company entity since the design codes are viewable to the public.

As a result, the general public is able to contribute to building the program. More importantly, there is no cost to the end users!

Being free has its advantages as beginning digital painters are able to get started on their crafts without an initial investment. Moreover, with recent updates to the program, such as scalable brushes, GIMP has never been stronger to be a serious contender to more costly programs.

After being only exclusively for Linux, the move towards the Windows platform means it really is a dark horse in the world of digital design!

However, you also have to keep in mind that there still is a lot of work to be done on GIMP. For example, hardware compatibility issues are still present. That means there’s a chance that your digital stylus may not work correctly.

Regardless, being a beginner, try to start with GIMP first. If you are able to set up the hardware correctly, stick with GIMP as there’s nothing it can’t do right now as a digital painting program.

Otherwise, if you’re having difficulties, then try the other three programs. Then, come back to GIMP when it’s been updated correctly!

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