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Top 10 Drawing Apps

Top 10 Drawing Apps

In this article, we will talk about the most popular and interesting drawing apps that can be used for drawing, photo editing, creating vector illustrations, and much more. These programs offer a variety of functions. I will list 10 of them that I have carefully selected because they are used by most artists or for personal use.

It's not obvious to know which software to use when you start learning how to draw. Indeed, there are so many options! Feel free to check out our article which discusses learning to draw. By the way, before you start dealing with software, this could be useful to you!

Without further ado, I will list the software programs that caught my attention: Photoshop, Sketchbook Pro, Paint Tool Sai, Gimp, Illustrator, Inskscape, Krita, ArtRage, Corel Painter, Paint.Net. There are many others but I can't deal with all of them.

VECTOR DRAWING SOFTWARE

We will first talk about the software that allows you to create vector drawings. But before listing them, we will see what a vector drawing is. Here is a brief definition.

A vector image is a digital image composed of individual geometric objects, such as geometric shapes: straight line segments, circle arcs, Bézier curves, polygons, each defined by different attributes (shape, position, color, fill, visibility, etc.) to which various transformations can be applied.

It is different in this respect from raster images which are made up of pixels. This means that there is no loss of image quality when it is enlarged. Here is a good example to illustrate the definition. Bitmaps represent the pixels.

Indeed, there are several software programs that allow for the processing of vector drawings. These include Illustrator, Inkscape, Corel Draw and Gimp. Here are some examples of drawings that can be created with this kind of software.

To be able to create vector drawings, you need to know how to use the right tools. We will see how to use them quickly. The interfaces of the software are not very different from one another, they use the same tools to create a drawing. What will differentiate them are their performance, accessibility, complexity…

Without further ado, I will introduce you to the interface of one of the chosen software. I have taken Illustrator as an example.

 

  1. Tabbed Documents

  2. Application bar

  3. Workspace selector

  4. Panel title bar

  5. Reduce to icon size button

  6. Four groups of vertically anchored panels

  7. Control Panel

  8. Tools Panel

The Application Frame groups all workspace components into a single, uniform window, allowing all applications to be manipulated as if they were one entity. When you move or resize the Application Frame or any of its components, all the contained elements do not overlap.

The application bar occupies the top part and contains a selector for switching to another workspace, menus, as well as other application commands.

The Tools panel contains tools for creating and modifying images, illustrations, page elements, etc. Related tools are grouped together.

The Control Panel displays options related to the selected object.

The document window displays the file you are working on. Document windows may feature a tab and, in some cases, be grouped and docked.

The panels allow you to control and modify your work. They can be grouped, stacked or docked.

When you launch Illustrator, the Tools panel appears on the left side of the screen. You use the tools from the Tools panel to create, select and manipulate objects in Illustrator. If you double click on certain tools, additional options will display. These tools allow you to select, paint, draw, sample, edit, and move images, as well as to enter text. Hover the pointer over a tool to display its name.

 

RASTER GRAPHICS SOFTWARE

I will now talk to you about the software that allows you to create bitmap images. I'll provide a definition to make it clearer.

A raster image is a digital image made up of a multitude of color points (pixels), and represented on a grid with two axes, X and Y. The definition (or precision) of a raster image thus depends on the number of pixels it is composed of. The more there are, the sharper the image will be: this is the resolution. It is possible to perform bitmap image editing or image creation.

The raster image, made up of pixels, is opposed to the vector image, created from vectors.

The software that uses this technique includes: Photoshop, Paint Tool Sai, Sketchbook Pro, ArtRage, Krita, and Paint.net. Here are some examples of drawings that can be created with this kind of software.

To be able to create a bitmap image, you need to know how to use the appropriate tools, which are much broader than those used for vector drawings, since you can use several techniques to render an image. Once again, the interfaces of the software are not much different from one another, they use the same tools to create a drawing.

What will differentiate them are their performance, accessibility, complexity, development of the color palette, and a much wider range of drawing tools... I would say that the process of creating is much freer than that of vector software.

An introduction to one of the interfaces is necessary. I'm taking the example of the well-known software Photoshop that many people are familiar with.

 

The main menu is located at the very top, it allows access to settings and adjustments that can be made to the image.

The Tools panel allows you to select a tool to work with.

The Options bar allows you to access specific settings for the selected tool.

The Color and Swatch panels allow you to select the color you wish to work with if you want to, for example, draw a line with the brush tool. There are other tools available for modifying the image.

The Layers panel is used to see all the layers that make up a Photoshop document, and to select the layer you want to work on. There are also settings to apply effects to the image you are working on.

In the midst of all these panels, we simply find the image we are working on (also called the Photoshop document).

There are also small arrows (encircled with a white circle in the image above) that allow you to fold and unfold the panels to make more room to display the image.

Here is an overview of the different tools that Photoshop offers for designing an image.

Here is a small preview of what a software tool that can create a bitmap image might be like.

I have introduced you to two types of software that most people use. Now I will talk about the features of the 10 software programs I have chosen.

THE FEATURES OF THE 10 SELECTED SOFTWARE TOOLS

 

 

Let's start with Paint.net. This software should be used in conjunction with Photoshop, to have everything you need in terms of graphics. One uses pixel drawing, and the other vector drawing. Its advantages are as follows: it's intuitive software, easy to use being fast and versatile, and it has automatic updates.

The advantage of this software is that it is easy to access (free). The disadvantage of Paint.net is the following: it is a pixel-based software, consequently there is a loss of image quality, hence the need to pair with Photoshop for more refined images. Here is what it looks like.

Let's continue with ArtRage Studio Pro. It's also a raster image software. The interface is very pleasant and intuitive and it's really easy. ArtRage Studio Pro has better responsiveness and a very good way of selecting colors, which is also great for mixing colors. The downside is that it's not accessible to everyone. Here's a small preview of the interface.

Let's now talk about Krita, which is similar to other bitmap image editors, such as GIMP or Adobe Photoshop, and has most of their features. It is primarily geared towards bitmap drawing.

It was influenced by Corel Painter software, and integrates the MyPaint engine, libmypaint, for natural brushes. Animation features are also available. It is also free to access. A quick look at the interface of the software in question.

Let's move on to Gimp software. It's an image editing and retouching tool. It is a free and open-source software. There are versions available for most operating systems including GNU/Linux, OS X, and Microsoft Windows.

GIMP has tools used for retouching and editing images, freehand drawing, adjusting, cropping, photo montages, converting between different image formats, and more specialized tasks. Animated images such as GIF and MPEG files can be created using an animation plugin.

The next on the list is Inkscape, which is a free and open-source vector graphics editor. It has features quite similar to the proprietary software Corel Draw and Adobe Illustrator. This software is only available on Mac. Here is the Inkscape interface.

I'm going to talk to you about Corel Painter, which is realistic digital painting software for creating all types of artwork. The quality of the creations is quite impressive, but it is not accessible to everyone.

This software has the same features as the previously seen bitmap software, that is, a tab for tools used for painting, layers, possible transformations of the image... Here is a quick preview of the interface.

 

We are now moving on to Illustrator, which many people know. It is a software program from the Adobe suite. It is used for vector graphic design. It can be used independently or in conjunction with Photoshop.

It provides powerful vector drawing tools. One of the main tools of Illustrator is "the pen" which allows you to draw perfectly curved lines by placing anchor points and tangents that modify the curvature. One of the advantages of vector images is that they are resolution-independent, meaning they do not lose quality when enlarged.

Suitable for both creating paper documents and creating illustrations for the internet (logos, posters, etc.), this software is aimed at the professional market and includes many options designed to improve productivity. Here I am posting an image of the Illustrator interface.

 

It is also part of the Adobe suite, let me introduce you to Photoshop, one of the most used by professionals. It is a software program for editing, processing and computer-aided design. It is mainly used for processing digital photographs.

But it is also used for image creation. It primarily works with raster images as they consist of a grid of points called pixels. These images are able to reproduce subtle gradations of colors.

It uses a large number of formats, the most common ones. Although pricey (several hundred euros), this software is still used by amateur users at home, but is available for free in a pirated version through digital counterfeiting. To find out more about the interface and the tools available, you can consult our article to learn about drawing on Photoshop!

 

Now let's move on to Sketchbook Pro, which is a painting and drawing software program capable of creating professional-quality sketches. The application caters to both experts and beginners, with an exceptionally user-friendly interface. Ideal for professionals in illustration, entertainment, graphic arts, industrial design, automotive, manufacturing, or architecture.

Finally, the software supports interfacing with Adobe Photoshop for increased productivity and better rendering. Once again, the software is not accessible to everyone since it has a fee. It is most often used on Mac. The interface of Sketchbook Pro:

 

 

And to finish this top 10, we will see that Paint Tool Sai is a painting software program for Microsoft Windows. The software is in Japanese but there is an English version available. Paint Tool Sai is fairly simple software. The interface is very user-friendly, whether it's in terms of the color palette or the easily customizable drawing tools.

There is also a set of vector drawing tools like bitmap drawing, which is not as comprehensive as Photoshop in terms of image settings. SAI also includes line layers, which can be used instead of manually drawing lines.

The lineart layer includes various tools specifically designed for creating lineart, such as the Line, Curve, Edit, Pressure, and Weight tools. Similarly for Sai, I'll show you the software interface:

 

 

 

 

 

WHICH SOFTWARE SHOULD YOU CHOOSE FOR DRAWING?

 

It all depends on what you are doing, what you want to achieve and your resources. I believe that there is no bad drawing software. Ultimately, they look very similar in terms of interface, but what differentiates them are the tools used to compose or create an image, a concept, a photo, a logo… Some will be more efficient or complex than others.

The most important thing is to be comfortable with the tools you use to create beautiful images. Speaking of tools, we deal with drawing materials in our blog article, feel free to check it out!

Editor: Laure-Hélène Vivaux