Free software for painting?

[quaternion]

Merry Christmas to you all!

I have a question. The software I've used so far is Artweaver, a free Windows tool. But I have the impression that hardly anyone here uses it. So I would like to know whether there is a free software which is actually used a lot so that if I have problems or software specific questions I could actually find people using it.

Unless there is such a software: Which commercial software would you recommend, and what would be the costs (I am a student)?

[TASmith]

While you're a student you've got an opportunity for special discounts on expensive software, not just photoshop, and art apps but also website software such as dreamweaver, video editting such as final cut, etc.

[Fraz]

There are loads about. You could use The GIMP, which is basically photoshop for free. It will take a while to get used to as it is complicated for a start, but I think it has everything you need.

[Cookiedough]

There's OpenCanvas, find the latest version here: http://opencanvas.en.softonic.com/. For networking with others, you need OC71 or 72.

There's also Artrage, find it here:http://www.artrage.com/.

Gimp is here: http://www.gimp.org/

These programs range from free to about $25 purchase fee. Photoshop and Painter can be downloaded for free for evaluationpurposes for about a month. With students, they have some interesting discounts, but you'll have to look locally for that information/ ask some techpeople at school where to get it.

[quaternion]

Thanks for your replies!

Talking about Photoshop, there are several versions (if I'm not mistaken). Which is it you recommend?

And talking about gimp (I like this because it will also work for Linux), do you know a good tutorial (video, text, book...) how to get into it with focus to painting? I'm interested in the basics, but also, like, where do I get good brushes from, how do I import them?

[Portus]

http://www.systemax.jp/en/sai/

For 35Euros you don't get better than this.

[Arshes Nei]

There is also Dogwaffle: http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/free/

Free version of Open Canvas 1.1 http://wistinga.online.fr/opencanvas/ <-- that also fixes some gui interfaces iirc.

Pixia: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mighty/knight/aboutpixia.htm

[Cookiedough]

I forgot what used to be Alias Sketchbook Pro, which apparently now is Autodesk Sketchbook Pro. It used to be free under Alias, but now is $100. Still cheaper than PS. Trial can be downloaded from: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=6848332&siteID=123112

[quaternion]

Hi again,

thank you for naming the software, I've had a look at them. To me, it seems most reasonable to use the best possible software, and that seems to be photoshop, provided that it's payable. I've heard that at our university, they might have licenses for students, but which one do I need, which one shall I ask about? Is it Photoshop Elements? Which version?

Also I'm interested in GIMP. How good is it compared to PS? Fraz wrote (and I've read that in other places as well) that GIMP is not an easy start. But once you're into it, how good is it? Also, is it well documented? Are there (nearly) as many tutorials for GIMP as there are for PS?

Merry Christmas!

[Justin.]

You can technically paint with any version of photoshop, but personally, out of CS2, CS3, CS4 (the 3 most recent versions, 4 being released most recently, and CS standing for Adobe's "Creative Suite"), I've found CS2 to be the cleanest and most stable, but I think that depends on your setup. If I were you, I'd get the demo for all 3 (or can you even get the demo for CS2 anymore?)

Granted, the differences are not big, but I find myself constantly stalled by small changes in CS4 that work much better in CS2.

If you have never digitally painted before, I would highly recommend Open Canvas, as it uses the same skill-base for painting as photoshop does (with the exception of custom brushes, which might not be a bad thing...), so once you get used to open canvas (1.1 is fine), maybe then go for photoshop, already knowing how to paint digitally.

hope I could help
(merry xmas)