Thinking about getting Photoshop
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At the minute I use Gimp on my PC (not a fan), procreate and Sketches on my ipad when I need to but I don't really do a lot of digital work at all, like none. I feel like I should be learning Photoshop but it's a little bit of an expensive experiment. I do want to use relevant and efficient software for when I am working so I feel like I should be learning PS, but I don't know.
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If you want to start in digital but dont want to put out money yet there are some good alternatives out there that are comparable to photoshop. One of them being Krita. You can check it out here on their website https://krita.org/en/
If you want more a YouTub-er that I follow did a video a back in the fall about cheap or free alternatives to Photoshop that you might check out. I really trust his opinion on things and agree with most of what he says in this video. Here is the link to that as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5NLG4MtJ10
Hope this helps.
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@lollyw Clip paint studio is really good for digital painting and Autodesk Pro is now free.I dont use PS much for digital painting ,but I use it for other things photoediting and texturing my 3D stuff .I am really glad I learned Photoshop though because I always felt I was missing out on something everyone else knew.There are some tools like puppet wrap and liquify which I have found hard to get in other software,So it is really up to you,if you dont do digital painting and editing maybe you could spend your money better else where,hope this helps.
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If you have ProCreate and you’ve never done digital painting, you don’t need PS. Learn to use ProCreate and master digital painting there - it can do nearly everything that you can do in Photoshop. The tools that are missing are not tools you’ll need or use at the beginning - not until you are a few years into digital painting actually - or maybe never at all, depending on your process.
ProCreate is a fabulous piece of software, and very similar to Photoshop in many ways, so all skills you learn there you can transfer later on if you do decide to learn Photoshop. -
@dottyp Thank you for this! I'll look into these. x
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I second just using Procreate. Photoshop has the advantage of efficiency, not ability (by which I mean end product results). Procreate receives feature updates on a twice a year schedule and each time it closes the gap with Photoshop feature-wise. For my part, I don't plan on switching away even if I am working professionally.
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@lollyw I will preface this by saying I use both traditional and digital media. You really need to ask yourself is what you would be using digital tools for. You already have an iPad, and if it is compatible with the Apple Pencil then you can learn to use Procreate very effectively. That would be great if you just want to learn how to digital paint. However, if you want to eventually work in a studio environment, PS is currently the industry standard and has been for a long time. If you are freelancing or working on your own projects, professional or otherwise, 99.9% of the time, no one cares what you use to make your art, so it becomes personal preference.
However, keep in mind that Procreate is specifically a digital drawing and painting program. Photoshop is not. Some people would say that is a bad thing, but I think it's actually a good thing. PS is a powerhouse and has the capability to do tons of things that Procreate will never be able to do because Procreate will never be designed to do those things. I've dabbled with Procreate, but can't get into it because, in addition to painting/drawing, I use PS for editing scanned images, adding type, formatting/reformatting, planning layouts, large files etc. I also do a lot of traditional work, and do my thumbnails and sketches and rough linework in PS before printing and transferring to watercolor paper. Photoshop's photo editing & extra capabilities are super useful to someone who does both traditional and digital work. Now if all you are going to do is digitally paint/draw, then PS might have too much unnecessary baggage.
You have the advantage of not having any preference yet, so you can choose. Procreate is very intuitive to learn. I personally struggle with it because I have to 'unlearn' some of my PS training and have not spent much time trying to learn it. As of right now, I prefer PS for my needs. 'Simple' things I can do in PS are 'missing' from Procreate. But you won't feel that way since you don't use PS! Learning PS was also really hard and not intuitive, but now I know how to use it and I'm always discovering new things it can do that I never knew before.
Procreate might be perfect for what you need especially if you are using it only for drawing/painting. It might be a better transition for you from traditional painting. You might find it does everything you need! I suggest going to a store and trying it out for an hour or two. But If you want to edit and manipulate traditional work, as well as digital paint, then PS is the better option.
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I can highly recommend Clip Studio Paint Pro for only USD 50. I used to work mainly in PS but Clip Studio Paint is, in my opinion, superior to PS when it comes to brush engine and other artist friendly tools. It does not offer that many filters but that is more for photograph post production anyway. It is also available for ipads. Hope that helps and happy drawing!
