Beyond Photoshop: Manga Studio

At yesterday's meeting, we talked about the tools we use. Photoshop Photoshop Photoshop.

While a great tool, I've wandered away from it as the be-all-and-end-all graphics tool. I wanted to sing the praises of another program I use to cartoon: Manga Studio. Ignore the name, it's a marketing thing. It's a great comics creation tool, but also a great tool for imitating pen and ink drawing (and pencil, as well, though I've had to come up with a technique that combines Manga Studio with some final quick adjustments in Photoshop to get the effect I want). It comes in a basic version called Debut and a pro version called EX. Go with EX, it has great tools for perspective and other such useful things.

It's not a great tool for painters, but if you do comics, or pen and ink, or even under-drawings that require a lot of perspective, it's wonderful. But don't just ask me, ask the legendary Dave Gibbons, the artist behind The Watchmen.