TOP 7 essential programs for digital illustration

Although for illustrators from old school usa nothing is comparable to working with a paper, pencil and physical tools the digital illustration it is gaining ground in recent years and is almost positioning itself over the traditional one. The great potential that illustration applications have today and the great possibilities they provide have made them an indispensable resource for today's illustrator.

In this article we will briefly review the offer of programs that we can find today to work in a tremendously intuitive way and obtain 100% effective results. Do you use any of these programs? Let us know in the comment section!

art rage 4

If a job created through ArtRage is identified by something, it is by the manual finishing that has the proportional application. This has a very good point and it is that thanks to it you will be able to emulate a large number of materials that have been used in traditional illustration. It is compatible with the OS and Windows operating systems and is priced at $ 50.

Sketchbook Pro

From the house of Autodesk, this application provides all the tools you need to create high-quality digital illustrations and sketches. In addition to having an extensive library of hyper-realistic brushes, it has a large number of tools capable of influencing perspective and providing animation. It is multilanguage and has a price of around $ 65, although of course it has a free trial version.

Manga Studio 5

It is perhaps one of the most popular and allows you to create digital comics. It has very useful tools such as templates for all kinds of bullets, speech bubbles and textures that will give your work a 100% professional and real style. It stands out for having a very intuitive, practical and affordable interface. It offers the possibility of exporting the works in different formats and endless possibilities for editing and exporting. It is compatible with Windows and OS and its price is around $ 50 although it also has a 30-day free version.

Clip Studio Paint

Among its strengths are a series of tools that help to streamline the work process and perfect the final result, such as the automatic line stabilizer. It is also quite versatile since different traditional textures can be emulated through its wide variety of brushes. Among its customization options, it offers templates and effects specialized in comic book design. Although it is only available in English, it has two versions: One free and one premium.

Corel Painter 2015

It is very useful because it includes both the perfect tools for digital illustration and for photo retouching or photomanipulation. Its quality and the level of professionalism offered by its engine and its interface stand out and have made it very famous among the community of designers around the world. As a weak point, we can perhaps mention its price, which stands at $ 400 and may not be available to everyone.

Artweaver 5

His work tools include brushes that imitate different materials such as acrylics, charcoal or airbrush. It has infinite customization options, so you can create your own textures and apply them with your brushes. Comfort is worth mentioning because among its niceties it provides the possibility of rotating the canvas during the work process to illustrate more comfortably. It has two versions, one free and one premium with a cost of $ 29.

Chalk

It is a free program but that does not mean that it is not a powerful tool capable of providing 100% professional results. It has a wide range of brushes that behave differently and are capable of imitating traditional materials, although it is not limited to them. It also has a wide variety of effective filters and effects to provide the most interesting finishes. It is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.