Digital art/image editing programs

[leeray666]

I just thought I'd plug some awesome free programs; some quite cheap, but even more awesome; and a link to a site offering a real discount on Adobe products. Hopefully someone will appreciate this...


... I'm not spam by the way...

Free Programs

These two probably don't need mentioning, but I will anyway.
GIMP - for photo editing and Inkscape for your Vector needs. Both programs are feature rich and constantly being updated. They've grown so much over the years that they are now really top quality applications which actually offer you better features, reliability and options than most mid-ranged priced products. If you don't want to spend any money, get these, and you won't feel like you're missing out.

Sculptris
This little 3d sculpting app is great, and free for the time-being. But get it quick, because it's been picked up by Pixologic - the makers of Z Brush - and I shouldn't imagine it'll be free for much longer. This app is great for sculpting, it's simple but efficient and allows you to create some really detailed stuff without eating all of your resources. You can import textures etc. or paint directly in the program if you like, but you can also export to any 3d program for further editing. I like it because it's quick and responsive and so easy to pick up. It's got a simple layout and doesn't bog you down with tons of tools or settings. I really can't big this one up enough, go and get it.
check this video out.

Blender
There's 2 versions out at the moment. 2.49 the last stable complete version - and the one to download if you like to go from your vector app to 3d - and the Beta 2.53 which is stable but missing a few features. The beta is very much worth checking out. The whole UI and structure is completely profesional. Also, the range of features and options it offers is staggering, even more so when you consider that it's free and not yet even complete.
It has dedicated sections for sculpting, video creation, game building and rendering, all of which really do rival the professional applications which cost thousands. I really do urge you to take a look at it. If you're looking at getting into 3d you couldn't go far wrong with this program.

Alchemy
This is a really neat vector based sketching/art program. With no 'undo' option it feels just like art creation rather than design. You can paint with type, symbols (default and/or imported) or just create shapes on the fly. You can mirror your effects, or you can even paint with sound! Get down and dirty with this application and create some really individual pieces.
Check some of their videos out to see what you can do.

For Pixel Art we have:
Pixen3 for the mac and GraphicsGale for Windows. Both are really great and offer you a nice solid feature rich working environment.

OK onto the Budget Priced Products:

Art Rage
It's now into it's third iteration, and is the best budget painting program out there. It's a great rival to Corel Painter, but at less than a quater of the cost. If you like to get a real painterly look to your work, or like to paint in general, look no further. You can paint in watercolour, inks, oils etc. etc. wet or dry; you can mix your own colours right there on the canvas, work with type, layer blending modes etc. It's a great package especially if you're an artist or illustrator.

Pixelmator
This ones just for the mac users. If you really like Photoshop but can't afford to buy it, then this is the program for you. It's a professional image manipulation program at a budget price. I would rate it higher than GIMP because it's faster, more stable on a mac than GIMP and it looks better. If you have a mac check this one out.

For those who have a bit of money and want to own a legit copy of Photoshop etc. then I've recently come across a great site.
buyitultracheap.com. It offers Adobe products among others for very cheap. At first I thought it was dodgy, but after checking around the net for reviews and word on the various forums I decided to take the plunge and buy the CS5 Design Premium package. Guess what? It's all legit and they really did come through for me. Not an upgrade copy, not a student/teacher edition, not an OEM copy, a 100% full and legal copy for less than a grand. That means I'm the proud owner of Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Flash, Fireworks, Acrobat and a few other additional programs, all registered to my name. All this cost me less than the full price of Photoshop alone direct from adobe or from Amazon, Play or even ebay.

So if there's any digital artists, illustrators, 3d designers, graphic designers etc. out there, I hope I've helped you out.

[michaelarby]

some good programs there i might check out- especially the sculpting one- i downloaded a crack of zbrush, but a free legal one would be handy too. artrage is a good program too, i used a trial of the 2nd version. its like painter without the learning curve- which is handy. u can just get stuck right in really. i still do most of my painting straight into photoshop tho. starting uni in september doing design & communication degree- aiming to become a digital illustrator so will probably check out most of these programs at some point. meantime- heres a link to my current portfolio

http://michaelarbuthnot.daportfolio.com/

[PlatinumSpectre]

I've used Blender myself and it is some good kit. It can create some really great stuff.

[leeray666]

The new app store for the Mac has just opened. At the moment Pixelmator and Sketchbook pro—two very decent programs—are down from around £60 to £17.99 each. The guys at Pixelmator also promise a free upgrade to 2.0 when it comes out.

For those into art but living on a shoestring, it's very worth checking them out.

[Killer_Carp]

Wow, I must have missed this thread. I would highly recommend Manga Studio to anyone who is into doing illustrations, manga and comics.

http://manga.smithmicro.com/index_ex.html

[bobmorton]

Same here, I also use Blender and it really works great.