Do you want to paint beautiful pictures, but don't want to spend money on materials? This is no longer a problem! Today, digital technologies have come to replace paints and canvases, which have made painting an incredibly convenient and exciting experience.

Mouse or graphics tablet?

This choice depends on your drawing skills. If you went to art school or are just a confident pencil and brush user, you'll be more comfortable working with a graphics tablet. If you still do not know how to draw, then you can easily start with a computer mouse.

As with any art form, drawing requires a certain amount of skill. The more confidently you use the tool, the more accurate the picture is. Someone creates second-rate drawings on a cool graphics tablet, and someone writes masterpieces using a regular computer mouse.

Choose a tool based on your abilities and skills, and special programs will help you turn your ideas into reality.

What program to draw in?

To paint a picture, it is not necessary to enroll in art courses and buy and buy expensive supplies. Just turn on the computer and run the appropriate software. In this article, we will look at the best programs for creating digital paintings.

To draw on a computer, you need to select a brush and move it around the virtual canvas using a mouse, keyboard, or special devices such as graphics tablets.

The tool can be a pen, pencil or an art brush with paints. With a long press, the thickness of the lines changes, mixing colors is allowed.

There are special panels for working with the palette. Various effects can be applied to finished objects.

The advantages of digital painting include items such as:

• Cancellation of unsuccessful actions;
• Unlimited color range;

Let's start the top 15 drawing applications on a personal computer with free programs.

You can use all their functionality completely free of charge for an unlimited amount of time.

Tux paint

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The educational program Tux paint was created for the smallest users of a personal computer, but it can also appeal to adult novice artists. It has a relatively small set of tools and does not have a lot of palettes.

The highlight of this application is its simplicity, large buttons in the interface, the presence of basic models, a large number of stamps, an integrated assistant in the form of a funny penguin Tuxie.

All this greatly facilitates the process of creating works.

By the way, it is possible to make a slide show. The program was developed specifically for children from 3 to 12 years old and is even used in a number of preschools in Europe.

Attractive and bright interface with funny sound effects offers easy-to-understand large buttons with tools and colors, and Tooks the penguin will show you how to draw.

Tux Paint will help your child develop creativity and teach him the basics of computer literacy.

Among the shortcomings of tux paint, we highlight the lengthy processing of applied effects.

paint.net

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At first glance, it may seem that this program is no different from the standard application called Paint, which comes bundled with the Windows operating system.

This is part of the point of paint.net. The interface is familiar to all users of the Windows operating system.

But the functionality of the paint.net application stands out significantly from the background of the integrated editor.

In it, you can create three-dimensional models, draw transparent objects, moving objects and other complex structures. Note a very handy selection tool.

In paint.net it is invoked by the magic wand.

The program contains a number of integrated tools, and also supports plugins, among which you can find a large number of useful tools.

inscape

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Inscape is a popular vector editor. It is often used for drawing graphic systems, as well as for creating business cards, booklets and other promotional items.

Using this application, it is very convenient to draw geometric shapes and objects, which are based on several small particles of the correct shape.

A special block is available for working with text and footnotes.

This program is primarily based on its own rendering engine, which means that with the proper performance of a personal computer, the process of applying new strokes will be carried out at lightning speed.

SmoothDraw

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A program called SmoothDraw is more versatile than the previous editor. There are various types of pencils, as well as convenient pens, sprayers, markers.

With this whole set, you will add personality to your painting.

This program contains a convenient layering algorithm, including an integrated collection of elios effects. Pixel technology allows you to create high quality drawings.

In this case, the principle of choosing the type of brush is very conveniently implemented, that is, depending on pressing a number on the keyboard, the corresponding drawing tool is selected.

It should be noted that the application is compatible with graphic tablets. The disadvantage of this utility is a poor localized interface.

artweaver

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A program called Artweaver is a good bitmap editor with a large set of customizable brushes.

The app stands out for having impasto, which is a unique painting tool that mimics relief paint. A similar feature allows you to create oil masks on canvas.

A program called My Paint is an art editor that includes high-quality visualization of each brush. Large icons help when choosing a tool.

The user clearly sees what each brush is capable of. In addition, all brushes are divided into three main blocks:

• Classic;
• Experimental;
• Favorite.

The last section is initially empty. If desired, it can be filled manually by simple drag and drop.

One more feature may paint is the presence of a notebook that performs the function of a paper tool.

If you are in doubt about whether you should try using this program, then first take a look at the gallery of works by users from around the world. It contains interesting work.

livebrush

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An application called Livebrush is a beautiful graphic editor that is loved by many users from different parts of the globe.

The program has a very convenient function of creating brushes.

The application allows you to generate tools based on your own pattern. Not for nothing, after all, the name of the application is translated as a live brush.

Among the features of the program, we note such functions as:

• decorating the line along which the brush passes;
• It is also worth highlighting the presence of fractal brushes.

Livebrush is based on the EtoubiAir platform. To run the program, you must first install this environment, although this installation method cannot be called convenient.

Krita

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The next program, called "Krita" is considered one of the best in the industry. This application selects a large number of artists from different parts of the globe.

Key features:

• Unlimited canvas size;
• Imitation of canvas materials;
• Emulation of real drawing tools;
• A huge number of artistic effects.

This whole set is successfully enclosed in a concise Russified interface.

Add to this a high level of detail, a good implementation of the layering function, a lot of post-processing tools and a lot of other useful features.

Of course, the Krita app supports most modern graphics tablets.

The Gimp

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The developers produced an application called Gimp initially as a competitor to the well-known photo editor Photoshop.

Over time, this application has acquired enough features to be considered a full-fledged drawing software.

• Editable hard and soft brushes;
• layer-by-layer processing; Smoothing functions;
• Built-in effects;
• A large number of tools that allow you to change the size and other characteristics of an element;
• And so on.

Thus, we have a fairly good editor for creating high-quality works.

There is one significant disadvantage that you should pay attention to.

Since the program has a very large number of options, you will need a fairly powerful personal computer to use it.

Application for drawing on the computer Paint Tool Sai

A program called Paint Tool Sai was created by Japanese developers.

This application has recently gained popularity among users living in the Russian Federation. The program has two drawing modes:

• The first of which is bitmap;
• The second is a vector.

It is worth noting that each of the brushes belongs to a different mode. The application boasts a high-tech rendering engine, full support for graphics tablets, and its own pen smoothing algorithm.

As in most other solutions, the application interface resembles a menu from Adobe Photoshop.

However, the developers of this application went even further. Thus, the hotkeys are completely the same as Adobe Photoshop.

This editor can be installed on any Windows operating system, including Windows ninety-eight.

Unfortunately, the application is not adapted for the Russian Federation and the CIS as a whole, the menu is available only in English.

It must be understood that the program is paid, but there is time to use it in the trial period of one calendar month.

The application is available for purchase forever for seventy-seven United States dollars.

Affinity Designer

Another paid product called Affinity Designer is notable for having three modes of operation:

• Drawing;
• Pixel editing;
• Export.

Each of the modes has an interesting name - Persona. It is logical that Affinity Designer can work with raster and vector graphics.

The program is based on a fairly fast engine. Its interface also has a Photoshop-like design, though it would be more accurate to compare the app to Adobe Illustrator than to Photoshop.

The set of brushes is standard. It is possible to create your own drawing tools.

An interesting fact is that initially the developments produced this application for an operating system called Mac OS. And only very recently the program appeared on the Windows operating system.

The program is paid, but there is a trial period, which is ten calendar days. The cost of the license is fifty United States dollars.

It should be noted that the developers of Affinity Designer did not take care of the Russification of the menu and the availability of such an important option as plugin support.

Greetings to all!

If earlier, to draw a picture, you needed a brush, easel, paints, etc. things, but now you can create without leaving your computer! Moreover, I want to note that the pictures created in some editor on a computer also cause great delight (as if it were a picture on canvas)!

I will add that many mistakenly believe that it is easier to draw a picture on a computer than on a canvas. Moving the cursor (or even drawing with a graphics tablet) is no easier or faster!

Actually, this article is about tools - to draw a picture, you need special programs for drawing (note: graphic editors). Here they will be discussed below. (by the way, I will add that I chose free programs with support for all popular Windows: 7, 8, 10 (32|64 bits)) . So...

By the way!I have another article on my blog about drawing. There is a special sites that allow you to create paintings online, meet other artists, find common ideas. See this article for more on this:

List of the best programs. Let's start drawing?

Before moving on to programs, I would like to dwell on one important issue - the type of computer graphics. In general, there are two main types - vector and raster charts.

Raster drawing It is a canvas on which there are many multi-colored dots (pixels). Together, all these points look to the human eye, like some kind of picture (or photo).

Vector drawing consists of entities: line, segment, square, ellipse, etc., which are all interconnected. All these entities also form the most diverse pictures.

The main advantage of a vector drawing over a raster one is the ability to transform it in any way (for example, increase it) without losing quality. The computer, in fact, only needs to recalculate your picture according to the mat. formulas.

Raster graphics are convenient for creating high-quality photos and digital drawings. The most popular bitmap image formats are JPEG and PNG. It is raster graphics that are most popular in our time (and that is why, in my article, the main focus is on programs for working with it).

Vector editors in the article: Gravit, DrawPlus, Inkscape.

Raster editors in the article: Paint, Gimp, ArtWeaver and more...

Paint

Raster editor

Basic program in Windows

How to run: find it in the START menu, or press the Win + R buttons, enter the mspaint command in the open line and press Enter.

A very simple graphics editor designed not even for drawing, but for easy editing of pictures (add an inscription, an arrow, wipe something, cut one piece of the picture and paste it into another, save the screenshot, etc.).

Professionally, of course, you can hardly draw anything in Paint, but if we are talking about some very simple drawings, then the program can be used. At least if you are only at the very beginning of the journey, then why not try? ☺

gimp

Raster editor (partly vector)

The GNU Image Manipulation Program (or GIMP for short) is a very powerful free and multi-purpose image editor. This editor is very versatile: it can be used for drawing, or as a program for retouching digital photos, as a program for processing a package of pictures and publishing them (+ converting one format to another).

In addition, there are very interesting opportunities for creating step-by-step commands (scripts) that will automate routine tasks (and scripts can be really complex)!

Main advantages:

• drawing pictures and posters;
• support for graphics tablets (Wacom, Genius, etc.);
• draw web designs for sites, edit ready-made layouts from Photoshop;
• you can refresh your old photos, make them more juicy and bright;
• or poster;
• remove unnecessary elements from photos (a bad shot can become a good one!);
• a huge collection of plug-ins for GIMP will allow you to solve a wide variety of tasks;
• program support Windows, Mac, Linux.

ArtWeaver

Raster editor (some analogue of Photoshop)

This program repeats many of the tools of such a popular editor as Adobe Photoshop. To edit ready-made pictures and draw new ones, there are a bunch of ready-made brushes of all types and sizes, different modes, pencil imitation, ink pen, oil brush, etc.

Main advantages:

• support for all popular graphic formats: GIF, JPEG, PCX, TGA, TIFF, PNG (including PSD and AWD);
• a huge number of tools for editing pictures: gradients, selections, fillings, etc.;
• plugin support;
• the presence of convenient tools for drawing: brushes, pencils, etc .;
• support for a graphics tablet (a BIG plus for those who like to draw);
• many different filters: spot, blur, mosaic, masking, etc.;
• working with text layers;
• the possibility of consecutive undoing of their actions.
• support for all popular versions of Windows.

MyPaint

Raster editor

MyPaint - painted portrait of a girl

A popular raster graphics editor designed more for digital artists (those who like to draw). Represents an unlimited canvas (sheet) and a relatively simple interface on GTK +, without distracting the artist from the creative process - drawing.

Unlike the same Gimp, MyPaint has much less graph functionality. editor, but to your attention a huge dimensionless canvas; a large number of brushes, for a variety of tasks and for different functions (there are a lot of brushes, see the screen above).

MyPaint is a tool for painting with brushes on a PC screen in much the same way as you would on a real canvas. In addition to brushes, there are: crayons, charcoal, pencils, etc. It is difficult to resist if there is a craving for drawing ...

Main features:

• the program is specifically designed for drawing, so it has fewer options for editing existing pictures (that is, there are no functions such as selection, scaling, etc.);
• a huge set of brushes that can be customized: create and change groups, blur, mix colors, etc.;
• the program supports graphics tablet;
• the boundless canvas is very convenient in the process of drawing - nothing holds you back while creating;
• layer support: copy, paste, transparency settings, etc.;
• supported by Windows, Mac OS, Linux.

SmoothDraw

Raster

A free program for painting and those who like to draw by hand on a computer. The interface of the program is very simple, designed so that anyone who has just started as an artist can immediately start creating, without wasting time studying.

I want to immediately note that the program has a lot of brushes (pen, brush, airbrush, pencil, etc.), there are tools for retouching, working with layers, you can change the brightness, contrast, colors of pictures, add some effects .

Program features:

• many types of brushes for drawing: pencil, chalk, pen, airbrush, brush, spray, etc.;
• works with tablet PCs, supports graphic tablets;
• works with the following image formats: PNG, BMP, JPEG, JPG, TGA, JIF, GIF and TIFF;
• there are photo retouching tools;
• work with layers;
• the possibility of color correction;
• compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10.

Note! For SmoothDraw to work, you must have at least NET Framework version v2.0 on Windows.

Paint.NET

Raster

Paint.NET is a free picture and photo editor for Windows. The main difference from other programs is that it uses an intuitive and innovative interface with support for layers, a dimensionless canvas, special effects, useful and powerful editing tools (analogues of which are only in paid products).

Active and growing online support will help in case of non-standard problems. In addition, a lot of instructions have been written for the program, add. plugins to expand the possibilities.

Peculiarities:

• free for distribution and use;
• user-friendly interface (somewhat similar to Photoshop);
• you can work with multiple documents at the same time;
• support for working with layers;
• a large number of instructions;
• the program is optimized to work with 2 and 4 core modern processors;
• supported by all popular Windows: XP, 7, 8, 10.

livebrush

Raster

livebrush(translated from English "live brush") - a powerful graphics editor that allows you to draw with brushes. Moreover, I want to note right away that the “drawing tool” is not simple, with its help you can create quite interesting pictures, decorate art with beautiful strokes and lines, etc.

In the process of work, you can pick up and adjust the brush so that while it is moving, the line under the brush will change its thickness, color, transparency, tip rotation, depending on your mouse movement speed, pressing speed, etc.

By the way, those who have a graphics tablet will be able to fully experience the benefits of Livebrush, because it also understands the force of pressing and its inclinations.

The set of the program has a lot of brushes of different shapes: from simple lines to patterned gothic ornaments. By the way, any pattern can be corrected by yourself by switching to pencil editing.

In addition, you can draw a pattern yourself and save it as a template. You can import ready-made brush sets, projects, decorations into the program. By the way, they can be found in huge numbers on the official forum of the program.

In general, my verdict is that the program is very convenient, interesting, and deserves the attention of all drawing lovers!

Inkscape (Inkscape)

Vector editor (one of the few)

Free analogues: Gravit, DrawPlus

Paid counterparts: CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator

Inkscape is a free vector editor, one of the few that can partially replace such monsters as Corel Draw and Adobe Illustrator. The application has a fairly standard interface: a color palette, menus, tools. The program supports all major graphic formats: SVG, PDF, AI, PS, EPS, CorelDRAW.

By the way, Inkscape also has tools from the bitmap editor - for example, it supports various types of blending. In addition to drawing some geometric shapes, the program supports extensive work with text: you can write text along curved lines. Looks very cool and unusual.

The application has a fairly large number of filters, extensions, etc. in its arsenal. All this is available at the office. program website.

Gravity

Vector editor (online version)

Gravity- quite an interesting vector editor. Of course, he will not be able to replace Adobe Illustrator, but he will be able to argue with the previous program (Inkscape).

Of the tools, there is all the most basic: feathers, lines, intersection and carving of shapes from each other, alignment, layers, fonts, etc. Works can be exported to SVG format, to several bitmaps. Also in the program you can open the work made in Adobe Illustrator.

What is somewhat surprising is that Gravit looks like a real program while running in a browser window, and without the use of Flash. Of the main shortcomings, I would single out the lack of the Russian language.

By the way, Gravit has an interesting implementation of the canvas selection: you can choose both standard formats for sheets, business cards, postcards, as well as create covers for popular social networks, phone screens, and other gadgets.

In general, an interesting editor that deserves attention.

Draw Plus

Vector

A very flexible and powerful graphics editor that allows its users to create high-quality illustrations. This program will allow you to fully reveal your abilities in drawing.

DrawPlus has many tools that will allow you to easily and quickly create a variety of shapes, strokes, lines. Each of the elements can be combined with others and gradually everything in the complex will become a rather complex, but beautiful illustration.

By the way, DrawPlus has a 3D module - it will allow you to turn your creativity into real 3D design elements. You can apply a wide variety of effects when creating logos, isometric projections, flowcharts.

A huge number of formats can be imported into the program: PDF, AI, SVG, SVGZ, EPS, PS, SMF, etc. Own format for projects - DPP.

graffiti studio

Website: http://www.vandalsquad.com

Raster graphics

One of the best graffiti drawing software, looks as realistic as it gets!

To start drawing: you need to select a piece of canvas (car, walls, bus), and, in fact, start creating (there are just heaps of ready-made options for selection!). The artist's arsenal includes a large palette of colors (more than 100 pieces), several types of caps (skinny, regular and fat), a marker. The distance to the surface is changed manually, it is possible to make streaks. In general, for fans of such graphics - the scope is huge!

Those who do not believe that real masterpieces can be created in the program, I recommend that you look at the official website and see the best works - your look will change a lot!

PixBuilder Studio

Raster editor

Powerful program for processing and editing graphic images and photos. In addition to editing, it is quite possible to draw and create (however, there are fewer tools for this than in previous similar programs).

PixBuilder Studio has quite interesting tools that allow you to finely work with color, brightness, contrast, and layers. In addition, there are built-in effects (for example, dithering (when processing digital signals, it is the mixing of pseudo-random noise with a specially selected spectrum into the primary signal) ), blur, sharpen, etc.

Peculiarities:

• support for popular raster formats: BMP, PNG, JPG, GIF, TIFF, etc.;
• there is an opportunity and tools for drawing (though very limited);
• great opportunities for editing finished photos and pictures;
• the ability to work with layers;
• professional work with color: balance adjustment, brightness, contrast, etc.;
• setting "hot" keys;
• the presence of ready-made effects (you only need to apply them);
• preview (to evaluate the result);
• support for popular Windows OS: 7, 8, 10.

Krita

Raster editor

An excellent and convenient raster graphics editor for artists (by the way, at the time of writing this review, the program is free even for commercial use). Krita works on both Windows and Linux.

As for the most important thing: there is a good brush motion stabilizer, layers, masks, dynamic brushes, animation, a large number of blending modes, paper and pastel imitation, an "infinite" canvas, etc.

By the way, there is even a portable version of the program that can be run from a regular USB flash drive on any PC. The program has also been translated into Russian.

PS: the article will be supplemented ...

Thanks in advance for tips and advice in the comments!

The search module is not installed.

Programs for the artist

Svetlana Shlyakhtina

No computer technology has developed as rapidly as computer graphics. Thanks to her, artists have replaced the easel with a computer screen, but there’s no need to talk about designers, because no matter what area of ​​design we take, there are specialized graphic applications for each today that allow you to develop anything, from the simplest business card to the design of a car or a cottage .

But, as stubborn statistics show, a significant part of digital artists use the same popular products as designers, and primarily Adobe Photoshop, less often Paint Shop Pro and the like. Proof of this are the numerous online galleries of the work. However, the choice of artists is not limited to these applications, moreover, there are many packages that are more suitable for them. They will be discussed.

Graphic editor for the artist

If you look at popular packages designed to work with raster graphics from the point of view of painters, it turns out that in reality these applications are not very convenient for them. There is no doubt, for example, in the same Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, an abyss of possibilities opens up for processing graphics, but, alas, not for drawing in certain painting techniques. For example, try, say, in Paint Shop Pro to draw with tempera? Yes, of course, through countless experiments, you will be able to model the brushes necessary for this purpose, but it is unlikely that ordinary artists will want to do this, who, unlike designers, do not consider the computer simple and natural.

However, there are programs that are really convenient for artists, moreover, simple and natural, but, unfortunately, few artists know about them. Therefore, it is worth looking on the Internet to the websites of the respective development companies, where you can both download the software packages themselves to get acquainted with their capabilities, and visit the galleries of works created in certain applications. The latter will be very useful, because. will give you the opportunity to quickly understand whether a particular application will allow you to work in the technique you are interested in.

Corel Painter IX

The first place to look is http://www.corel.com/painterix/home/index.html for Corel Painter IX (http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel3 /Downloads /Trials, 105 MB, $319, Figure 1) is the most feature-rich solution for professional computer painting. The application allows you to imitate almost all known drawing techniques: watercolor, airbrushing, oil and acrylic paints, gouache, crayons, pastels, oil pastels, etc. At the same time, you can draw not only with brushes, but also with calligraphic pens, crayons, charcoal, colored pencils, felt-tip pens and liquid ink, apply paint with a palette knife or sponge, scatter with splashes, etc. However, the program is not easy to learn, and therefore artists who are little familiar with the computer, it is better to turn to another application.

At the same time, it should be noted that an excellent help system has been developed for this product and a variety of textbooks are presented that will help you master the program from the very beginning and at the same time may be of interest to professionals. In addition, there is a series of tutorial videos freely available on lynda.com (http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=124) that will make it much easier to master Corel Painter IX and get started. its productive use. In search of lessons on this program, you should also look at http://sketchers.ru/forum/resources.php?s=1, which discusses some drawing techniques in Corel Painter, for example, highlights the nuances of digital watercolor drawing, understands the nude drawing technique , there are several interesting tutorials from different artists that demonstrate in detail the creation of a particular drawing, and a complete catalog of brush samples is presented, however, for the seventh Painter "a. Beginners do not hurt to look at http://brush.spoke.ru/modules /articles/index.php?cat_id=5 - the lessons presented here will introduce you to the basics of drawing in Corel Painter, demonstrate the technique of drawing with pastels using the example of a conventional still life, help you get acquainted with the technique of drawing fur, using clone brushes and applying effects. with a drawing lesson, which is presented at http://www.3dcenter.ru/tutors/read.php?sname=reports&articlealias=CorelPainter .

Pixarra TwistedBrush 8.1

Painting Simulation Applications

There are situations when creating a real painting from scratch is not the best option. Of course, there is no doubt - real art is real art, and imitation will remain just imitation. But imitation is quite acceptable, for example, for graphic designers who can turn any photograph into a drawing by applying an imitation of a particular technique to it. It will turn out very quickly, and in this case, with a successful selection of parameters, it will look no worse than a real drawing.

To varying degrees, the ability to simulate various painting techniques is presented in all popular graphic packages, including Adobe PhotoShop and Paint Shop Pro. The possibilities of imitating visual techniques by applying filters in popular raster packages are quite diverse - as a rule, drawing techniques with chalk and charcoal, watercolors (Fig. 5) and pastel crayons, oils, pencils (Fig. 6) and even neon paints are implemented through filters. But it is not easy to achieve good results - as a rule, applying one filter, even with well-chosen settings, is not enough. Often, in addition to a filter that imitates the desired technique, you have to use a suitable blur option, process individual parts of the image manually using suitable tools, resort to layer effects, etc.

However, it is much more convenient and easier to use a specialized application such as Virtual Painter (http://www.vpainter.com/download.asp, 3.98 MB, $79). It is intended for graphic artists who can use the package to simulate various painting techniques and turn any photo into a drawing in the blink of an eye (Fig. 7). Of course, in reality, the works of art obtained in this way will be far from the masterpieces of Leonardo da Vinci, but for design purposes they are quite suitable. The Virtual Painter package can be used as a standalone application, and can also be used as a plug-in for programs such as Jasc Paint Shop Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Elements, Corel, PHOTO-PAINT, Ulead PhotoImpact, and others.

With the help of 16 original filters, you can transform a photo as if it were painted with oil paint, watercolor, gouache, pencil, etc. For the final image, it is not difficult to simulate the surface on which the canvas is written - it can be wood, canvas, paper, etc. As a result, if you successfully select and adjust the effect, material and a number of auxiliary parameters, then you can get a picture from a photograph that looks like a layman indistinguishable from handwritten. However, not every photograph can be turned into an electronic masterpiece of painting, and the result depends not only on its quality, but also on what and how exactly it is depicted. A solid landscape, still life or portrait on a neutral background can be a good basis for imitation. In addition, it is worth recognizing that, as a rule, you will not get a real picture by applying one or another filter from the Virtual Painter assortment, and further manual refinement is required, but as an intermediate step, using this program can significantly speed up the process of creating illustrations.

Useful Utilities

There are a lot of utilities focused on working with graphics, but we will focus only on those that are most interesting from the point of view of artists.

Image Eye 7.1

The sole purpose of Image Eye (http://www.fmjsoft.com/download/ieye71.zip, 342 KB, $19.95, Figure 8) is to quickly view images. Unlike other viewer programs, when using it, no clutter of menus, toolbars, pop-up windows, etc. appears on the screen, which interferes with the viewing process itself and is especially important for artists. Even the window title of the program itself can disappear if the mouse is outside the image field. As a result, nothing clutters up the desktop, and this allows you to focus on viewing images as much as possible, and any desired action is carried out by right-clicking and selecting the appropriate command from the pop-up menu.

The browsing itself is very fast thanks to image caching, and the miniature size of the program makes it even more attractive. It is worth noting that despite the simple interface and small size, Image Eye has many attractive features that make viewing more convenient. It is possible, for example, by pressing a single combination to close all open images; set one or another representation of images when starting the program; the image can be "frozen" on the desktop - in the end it will remain in its place even when you restart Windows; you can create small copies of images (thumbnails), etc.

Pixie 3.1

Pixie (http://nattyware.com/bin/pixie.zip, 62 KB, Figure 9) is a free, fast, easy-to-use utility that instantly detects RGB, HTML, CMYK, and HSV for any color in the palette, and for this, it is enough just to point the point on the image you are interested in with the mouse. You can use the indicators obtained in this way to reproduce the selected color.

ImageDupeless 1.6.3

The ImageDupeless program (http://www.imagedupeless.com/zip/ImageDupelessEng.zip, 3 MB, 29.95 rubles, Fig. 10) is designed to search for similar images, regardless of their size, format, resolution, etc. . and supports major graphic formats. There are opportunities for cataloging galleries available on CD and further off-line work with them. At the same time, the comparison of newly arriving images with those already available in the gallery takes much less time than a complete rescan of the gallery itself, and it is possible even in the absence of the CD with the gallery itself. There are internal tools for comparing, deleting (including groups of pictures), moving and updating files, and changing the binding of the gallery's root directory.

The demand for traditional painting will probably always remain as high as it was several centuries ago. However, digital painting is also increasingly being used, for example, in the design of books and the creation of posters. This is not surprising, because creating illustrations on a computer (compared to traditional drawing) takes much less time - here you can quickly select the right tool and the desired color (no need to tediously mix paints), change the texture of the canvas or lighting, etc. In addition, in the arsenal of a digital artist there are many additional and very useful functions. In particular, you can instantly cancel an unsuccessful action, save several copies of the image at different stages of its creation (in order to compare the results and choose the best one), protect a specific fragment of the picture from changes when performing any operations, and draw on several layers. The latter is necessary when creating drawings in the technique of multi-layer painting and greatly facilitates work in other techniques, since different fragments of the image can be drawn on different layers and edited independently of each other.

Thus, the only question is which of the proposed software products to use when creating digital illustrations. Most professionals have long made their choice in favor of a bundle of Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop and, as a rule, use them in combination. Of course, in reality, the last package (with all its many advantages) is not very suitable for the role of a painter's tool, since it is more focused on image processing. However, due to its huge popularity, it is used to solve a wide variety of tasks for creating and processing images. No doubt - you can draw from scratch in Adobe Photoshop (as well as in any other graphic editor), since the basis for drawing in the form of brushes and palettes is present in any such application. The difficulty is that setting up the brushes and palettes required to imitate the chosen artistic technique (of course, we are not talking about a variety of painting techniques here, but creating a watercolor, pastel or oil painting is quite real) will require a lot of time and knowledge.

Other business - the programs focused on artists. They allow you to draw on a computer, imitating traditional fine art techniques, natural materials and paints, without undue effort and using the classic skills of drawing on paper and canvas. For example, to paint with watercolors in a professional solution, the artist will only need to select the desired type of watercolor brush, while the necessary brush settings and a special watercolor layer will be created by the program itself. The most famous (but also the most expensive) among such solutions is the Corel Painter package, which provides ample opportunities for creating real masterpieces of fine art. The most worthy alternatives to it are TwistedBrush Pro Studio and ArtRage Studio applications, which are more modest in size and offered at a more affordable price. There are also very simple and cheap (or even free) drawing tools, the functionality of which will be quite enough for amateurs, for example Artweaver Plus.

Note that painting applications are usually designed specifically for Tablet PCs and graphics tablets, so their user interface is designed to control the pen, replacing the mouse. This is understandable, because drawing with a pen is much more convenient and more natural than with a mouse. In addition, the pen, unlike a mouse, is pressure sensitive, which makes it possible to create strokes that gradually fade away, which turn out to be identical to brush strokes on the canvas. If you wish, you can work in any of these applications in the usual way on a computer - that is, with the help of a mouse. Finished masterpieces are saved in native program formats or exported to popular raster formats (BMP, PNG, JPEG, etc.), all worthy solutions also provide support for the PSD format for saving multi-layered images.

Corel Painter 11

Websiteprograms: http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1166553885783

Distribution size: 117.5 MB

Work under control: Windows XP(SP2)/Vista and Mac OS X 10.4/10.5

Distribution method: shareware (30 day demo - http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1166553885783#tabview=tab7)

Price:$249

Corel Painter is one of the best solutions for professional computer painting (Figure 1). Designed for artists, it supports the full line of Wacom tablets (including the state-of-the-art Cintiq interactive pen displays and Intuos tablets) and simulates virtually every known painting technique such as watercolor, airbrush, oil and acrylic painting, gouache, pastel, and more.

Rice. 1. Corel Painter Interface

The package provides for drawing with brushes (there are about 400 of them in the delivery - Fig. 2), there are even brushes that are sensitive to pressure and the texture of the selected surface (they allow you to apply more precise and perfect strokes on a virtual canvas). You can draw with calligraphic pens, crayons, charcoal, colored pencils and felt-tip pens. Functionality is provided for creating your own brushes and fine-tuning the included brushes for specific tasks (if you wish, you can even define colors for each bristle of the brush individually, which allows you to paint with multi-color strokes), drawing with liquid ink, applying paint with a palette knife or sponge, scattering splashes and so on. Color selection in Corel Painter is implemented in two ways: classic for computer users (that is, by choosing a color from the palette) and mixing colors familiar to artists in the interactive Mixer palette, which allows you to get unique colors and shades. The contours of objects are not only formed by hand, but can also be set with Bezier curves (these curves are preliminarily created with a regular pen), which makes it possible to achieve high accuracy of applying paint to the boundaries of objects. It is allowed to use more than 30 different materials and textures that imitate various natural surfaces as a basis for drawing, and the canvas itself can be not only dry, but also wet, which is realized by creating a special WaterColor layer. The program supports drawing through tracing paper, which allows you to turn photos into hand-drawn reproductions - this is done by closing the image with virtual tracing paper (Tracing Paper), and then recreating it by drawing.

Rice. 2. Examples of drawing with different types of brushes
in Corel Painter

The application allows you to create and manipulate an unlimited number of layers, with each layer having individual blending and transparency modes, and multilayer images can be saved in PSD format. The use of masks is provided to protect individual fragments of the image from changes. The option of interactive saving (Iterative Save) allows you to automatically accumulate intermediate copies of the drawing, which will help to avoid losing successful sketches. Support for scripts that remember the actions of the artist in the process of preparing the image, allows you to recreate all the stages of obtaining a drawing, which is useful in terms of transferring experience in the learning process. In addition, standard image processing features are implemented in Corel Painter: rotation, scaling, transformation, mirroring, applying filters (including filters from the KPT Collection series), etc.

TwistedBrush Studio 17.22

Developer: Pixarra Inc.

Program website: http://www.pixarra.com/

Sizedistribution kit: TwistedBrush Pro Studio - 21.03 MB; TwistedBrush Open Studio - 17.61 MB

Work under control: Windows NT/XP/Vista/7

Distribution method: TwistedBrush Pro Studio - shareware (15 day demo); TwistedBrush Open Studio - freeware (http://www.pixarra.com/download.html)

Price: TwistedBrush Pro Studio - $99; TwistedBrush Open Studio - Free

TwistedBrush Studio is a well-known program for artists (Fig. 3), which is distinguished by an affordable price and great opportunities for implementing almost any painting technique. Allows you to draw in watercolor, oil, gouache, pastel, oil pastel and acrylic paints, as well as create airbrush, draw with charcoal, pen, pencil, etc. The program is available in two editions: commercial TwistedBrush Pro Studio and free truncated TwistedBrush Open Studio. The free edition has a limited set of brushes, no editing options, you can’t create custom brushes (although you can purchase additional brushes for a fee), there is no support for plug-ins, etc. In other words, the TwistedBrush Open Studio edition (despite full support for graphics tablets) for real work is hardly suitable, but the use of the program in the educational process may be quite justified.

Rice. 3. TwistedBrush Pro Studio Interface

All tools used for drawing appear under the name of brushes (in contrast to a number of competing solutions, where, for example, crayons, pencils, pens, etc. are presented as separate groups of tools), and the total number of brushes exceeds 5 thousand (Fig. 4). It is very difficult to navigate in such a multitude of brushes, so the brushes are combined into basic sets in accordance with their purpose. Frequently used brushes can be stored in custom ArtSets. You can create new brushes based on existing ones by adjusting various settings. You can choose colors in different ways - in color palettes (including dynamic ones) or on color sliders. In addition, it is possible to create unique colors by mixing specified shades in the interactive Color Mixing palette. It is allowed to use various types of paper and canvas structures, as well as textured surfaces as the basis for the drawing, the parameters of the selected basis are configured. The possibility of drawing through tracing paper is provided, which is convenient, for example, for creating reproductions from photographs.

Rice. 4. Examples of drawing with different types of brushes
in TwistedBrush Pro Studio

Implemented support for layers with custom layer effects and transparency adjustment (multilayer images can be saved in PSD format), as well as the use of masks, for the formation of which classic options for selecting different types of areas are used (rectangular and elliptical selection, as well as the "magic wand"). Sketches do not need to be saved in different documents - they are stored on separate pages of the document, which is referred to in TwistedBrush Pro Studio as an album. This is very convenient, as you can quickly move between thumbnails by turning pages. Such albums are saved in their own TBR format, however, some of their pages can be exported to any of the popular raster formats: TIFF, PSD, BMP, PCX, GIF, JPEG, etc. Support for scripts that are indispensable for automating repetitive processes, as well as demonstrating specific technique for performing certain visual effects. Additionally, the program has a basic set of options for image processing - they can be cropped, rotated and mirrored, as well as processed with built-in filters. There are more than 150 filters, there are even special “picturesque” ones that allow you to change the technique used, for example, turn a drawing into an oil painting.

ArtRage Studio 3.0.8

Developer: Ambient Design Ltd

Program website: http://www.artage.com/

Distribution size: Windows version - 35.19 MB; Mac version - 35.41 MB

Work under control: Windows XP/Vista/7; Mac OS X 10.4 and above

Distribution method: shareware (30 day feature-limited demo - http://www.artrage.com/artrage-demos.html)

Price: ArtRage Studio - $40, ArtRage Studio Pro - $80

ArtRage Studio is a rapidly growing painting program (Figure 5) that features a natural artist interface, where tool and color palettes resemble real palettes in traditional painting, and all windows on the screen are placed in such a way that they take up a minimum of space. It allows you to paint with oils and watercolors, apply the airbrush painting technique, create works in the multi-layer painting technique, imitating underpainting, writing and glazing, as well as in the pastel technique, drawing on a rough surface, etc. The program is available in two editions: basic ArtRage Studio and extended ArtRage Studio Pro. The latter additionally includes functionality for basic bitmap processing.

Rice. 5. ArtRage Studio Interface

The set of tools in ArtRage Studio includes all the usual tools of the artist (Fig. 6): a brush (there are only two of them - watercolor and oil), a palette knife, a pencil, an eraser, a felt-tip pen, ordinary crayons and crayons for pastels, etc. In addition, you can spray paint with an airbrush, apply even layers of paint with a roller, use tubes to squeeze a large amount of paint onto the canvas, add glitter and metal dust to the image, and spray pattern objects from the base (this will be useful for quickly creating woodlands, shoals fish strewn with pebble banks). It would seem that in comparison with 5 thousand brushes of the TwistedBrush Pro Studio program, the tools are very modest, but in reality this is not the case, since all tools have a whole range of settings, which allows you to draw in any of the painting techniques. The formation of the working color is also carried out in the traditional way in painting - by mixing colors (there are no palettes traditional for computer scientists at all); if desired, you can even mix paints right at the bottom of the canvas. It is easy to change the look of canvas or paper by choosing the desired option from the list of built-in presets - the number of presets is small (only basic types are included), but if desired, it is easy to get a wide variety of surfaces through settings. Functionality is provided for drawing on ready-made images - they can be drawn through tracing paper, placed under the canvas or attached unchanged in the free area of ​​​​the canvas in order to see in all the variety of colors.

Rice. 6. Examples of how different tools work
in ArtRage Studio

The program implements support for layers (including the ability to adjust their transparency level and blending mode), export of multilayer images to PSD format, and masking of image fragments to protect against changes. Finished drawings can be cropped and scaled, Photoshop filters (*.8bf) can be applied to them, and blurring and color correction can be performed on separate layers of multi-layered images.

openCanvas 4.5.20

Developer: System Products Corp.

Websiteprograms: http://www.portalgraphics.net/en/oc/

Distribution size: 1.81 MB

Work under control: Windows Me/2000/XP/Vista/7

Distribution method: shareware (30 day feature-limited demo - http://www.portalgraphics.net/en/oc/download/)

Price: 6,800 Japanese yen (approximately $81.2)

openCanvas is a little-known program from Japanese developers, positioned as a tool for illustrators and used primarily for drawing manga and anime (Fig. 7). The solution is compact and does not require installation. It is a program that combines the traditional capabilities of a raster graphics package with an artist's toolkit that allows you to simulate painting with oil and acrylic paints, gouache and pastel, as well as create poster images.

Rice. 7. openCanvas interface

The program includes tools familiar to any graphical bitmap editor: pencil, brush, regular and gradient fills, airbrush, darkener/lightener, as well as tools for moving, selecting, cropping, etc. At first glance, of the interesting options in the perspective of this article, only the watercolor brush is present in the menu, hiding under the Water Color icon. In practice, through the Options menu, the type of brush can be easily changed to another by selecting an oil or acrylic brush, a brush for painting posters or pastels, as well as various pencils, pens, markers and a palette knife (Fig. 8). The parameters of the built-in brushes, pencils and markers are easy to manage, not only by adjusting their size, pressure, transparency, etc., but also by radically changing the shape of the tool. Custom Instruments can be saved to Instrument Libraries for later use. Colors are selected from traditional palettes and surfaces are selected from a list of built-in textures.

Rice. 8. Examples of drawing with brushes in openCanvas

Support for layers (including grouping, adjusting transparency and changing the blending mode) and connecting masks are provided; layered images can be saved in PSD format. An event support function has been implemented, that is, the program can remember the sequence of actions when writing a drawing, and then reproduce it at the request of the user, which is useful in the educational process. Additionally, the program has built-in mirroring, rotation, cropping, etc. operations common for raster packages, as well as classic raster filters are supported and it is possible to carry out full-fledged color correction.

Artweaver Plus 2.0/Artweaver Free 1.2

Developer: Boris Eyrich Software

Program website: http://www.artweaver.de/products-en/artweaver-plus/

Distribution size: 7.53 MB

Work under control: Windows XP/Vista/7

Distribution method: Artweaver Plus - shareware (feature limited 14-day demo); Artweaver Free - freeware (http://www.artweaver.de/download-en/)

Price: 29 euro

Artweaver is a simple program aimed at beginner computer artists (Fig. 9). It allows you to create drawings in some painting techniques (for example, oil, pastel, acrylic paints), but it does not provide a full-fledged mixing of paints when drawing, which significantly limits creative possibilities. In addition, the program does not have watercolor brushes, that is, it is impossible to create a watercolor drawing in it. The application is available in two editions: basic Artweaver Plus and cut-down Artweaver Free (version 1.2). The capabilities of the latter are quite modest: support for graphic tablets is not fully implemented, the size of drawings is limited, the ability to control brushes is cut (limited size, fewer editable parameters, etc.), there is no support for custom palettes, etc. In other words, the Artweaver Free edition in In reality, it can only be used when teaching schoolchildren the basics of drawing, although in this regard, ArtRage Studio, which is easy to learn and has more functionality, would be much more attractive if it were not for its price.

Rice. 9. Artweaver Plus Interface

The Artweaver Plus application includes a basic set of tools for a raster editor: brush, move, standard selection tools, gradient, fill, eraser, etc. Since Artweaver is positioned as a solution for painting, the main tool is a brush (Fig. 10), for which there are several built-in templates that allow you to draw with pencils, oils, pastels, charcoal, acrylics, crayons, etc. Each brush has quite a lot of adjustable parameters, the creation of custom brushes is provided. Colors are selected in the usual way - from palettes. As for the choice of the desired texture surface, this program implements a different approach than the other considered solutions - the texture is set not for the picture as a whole, but for a specific brush, which is generally wrong. However, if you wish, without changing the texture during the creation of a drawing, you can imitate drawing on silk, wet paper, canvas, etc. It is possible to record the process of creating an image, which can be useful for demonstrating the nuances of the painting process, for example, in the process of teaching.

Rice. 10. Examples of drawing with different brushes
in Artweaver Plus

The program provides support for layers with the ability to adjust their transparency level and blending mode and save the finished drawings in PSD format. It is allowed to select image fragments to protect them from changes and apply various transformations to images, including, in addition to cropping and rotation, color correction (adjusting levels, color balance, brightness/contrast, etc.) and applying basic raster filters.

NeoPaint 4.7C

Developer: NeoSoft Corp.

Program website: http://www.neosoftware.com/npw.html

Distribution size: 5.62 MB

Work under control: Windows 95/98/Me/NT4/2000/2003/XP/Vista/7

Distribution method: shareware (30 day demo - http://www.neosoftware.com/npwdownload.html)

Price:$45

NeoPaint is a simple program aimed at beginner illustrators (Fig. 11). It is an application that combines the traditional capabilities of a bitmap graphics package with the tools of an artist and GIF animator. The program allows you to simulate drawing with oil and watercolor paints, charcoal, pencil, chalk and ink, but it does not fully mix paints, which limits the possibilities.

Rice. 11. NeoPaint Interface

Drawing tools are called brushes (Fig. 12). In their list, in addition to oil and watercolor brushes, there are pencil, chalk, charcoal, pen, as well as texture and custom brushes - the first one draws with textures, and the second one is used if it is necessary to change the style of the brush (for all other brushes, only the size and shape can be adjusted) . In general, the editing capabilities of brushes are minimal. In addition, the brush group includes such traditional raster tools as a finger, sponge, clone, blur and sharpen brushes. Colors are chosen in the usual way from a palette, while surfaces are chosen from a modest set of non-editable textures.

Rice. 12. Examples of drawing with different brushes
in NeoPaint

Layers are not supported in NeoPaint, and selection areas cannot be used to protect image fragments from changes (selected areas can only be moved, copied and deleted). But the program has a number of features traditional for graphic raster solutions: cropping, adjusting brightness and contrast, applying special effects, auto-correct a specific color, removing red eyes, etc. You can also insert clips from the database and 3D objects. Additionally, the program includes a built-in image browser, as well as simple modules for creating screenshots of the screen, icons and cursors (including animation ones).

We would not dare to name the best among the leading software tools in terms of functionality (Corel Painter, TwistedBrush Pro Studio and ArtRage Studio). Of course, Corel Painter is unbeatable, but this solution is the most difficult to learn and the most expensive, and we would not recommend it to traditional artists who do not own computer wisdom. For them, the best option would be the ArtRage Studio program, which has a natural interface for the artist and work technology. In addition, in our opinion, this application has another significant advantage - it allows you to focus on the creative process, and not on the intricacies of working with panels, palettes and tools. TwistedBrush Pro Studio's solution is also difficult to call easy to learn - it will not be easy for beginners to get used to its environment with a myriad of brushes and palettes that are amazing in terms of variety of colors and shades, but for experienced users this approach will be at hand, as it opens up wide opportunities for creativity. In general, any of these solutions is great for creating professional digital illustrations. Therefore, the choice in favor of a particular one largely depends on personal preferences, because for an artist, the banal convenience of using the tools available in his arsenal may be more important, and convenience is a subjective concept.

As for the other products reviewed, their capabilities in terms of imitation of painting techniques are limited, so the choice must be made taking into account the characteristics of the images created.