Photoshop or Corel Painter?

Many people ask this question on forums so I decided to write a little blog post about it.

In my opinion both are really great in their own way, you just gotta find out how to use them and you will notice how powerful they are. I will try to list up pros & cons of each so you get an idea of what they can do.

Pros  -  If you have a background in traditional painting and you want your art to have that "natural media" look, then this is the choice for you! The way it simulates bristles & blends colors is just stunning. A great feature is the rotation tool which lets you rotate the canvas in any direction. A great plus are also all the awesome brushes that come with it, there are like hundreds of them in different variations!

Cons  -  Lag! This is what I hate the most about Corel Painter, it gets really laggy if you use big brushes or multiple layers. Also I really don't like the brush editor because it's way to complicated for beginners and just doesn't makes sense to me.

Pros  -  In my honest opinion this is the better software but that's just what I think. The way the menus are layed (layed or laid? I'm not sure but feel free to tell me in a comment if you want to haha) out makes it really easy for artists to work. Also Photoshop has some awesome tools like dodge, burn and some really great filters, which can really add that little something to your artwork! Definitely a powerful program for almost any artist.

Cons  -  It's just too f***ing expensive! But I guess you already know... Another bad thing about Photoshop, is that if you zoom out to something else than 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% (lets say 33%) it always gets pixeled. (Ok, the last was a bit confusing but you'll notice what I mean if you ever get to work in Photoshop!)


Now what if both aren't what you're looking for?
No problem, here's a list with some other great programs and I bet you'll like atleast one of them!


(Note: These are all raster based programs.)

Paint Tool Sai - Easy to use and runs really smooth on most computers. Many mangakas (manga artists) use this software to create stunning pictures.

Artrage - One of the best tools if you want to paint with oils digitally!

openCanvas - Similar to Photoshop but a bit more limited and not as expensive.

SketchBook Pro - Nice UI (User Interface) and quite easy to handle. Many industrial designers would recommend this software.

GIMP - It's FREE so it's GREAT!


narutokunobessed (a member on deviantArt) suggested to check out this list:
Art Programs Index



I hope this post was helpful to you!
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