Art editing program!

[vash-san]

i just recently started drawing anime and i have noticed that alot of ppl usually fix up their pics on some editing program like adobe photoshop or somethin like that before they submit it. i want to do this to my pics as well but i haven't been able to find any editing programs that are easy enough for a newbie, like me, to use...i currently have adobe photoshop and image ready 7.0 but its just seems to difficult for me. i can't seem to figure out how things work. i was just wondering what programs you would suggest??

[Hevn]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue][SIZE=1][B]I use Fireworks but I think it's as complicated as Photoshop. I don't know any easy to use editing program except for MS Paint. That should be the easiest though it only provides the basics. I suggest you just learn how to use those complicated editing programs. The [COLOR=Purple]Help[/COLOR] that goes along with it is not bad to read ^_^x

Good luck on your editing.[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[eleanor]

[color=firebrick] Adobe Photoshop is the best program for editing photgraphs, pictures, etc. Well, I'm not sure. Are you just talking about plain editing or actual coloring?[/color]

[vash-san]

i talkin about like both editing and colouring some of my pics..like i want to make my pictures look less like i drew them in pencil.... i think thats possible rite??

[AzureWolf]

I know a lot of people will agree with me when I say I've seen the most wonderful manga artwork/editing done in PaintPixel. I've never tried or seen the program myself. Just from seeing what it can do, though, I'd say whatever its level of difficulty, it's worth mastering.

Every program needs time. You have to get adjusted and learn the program, which can't happen overnight. Even Photoshop is fairly simple to get around and figure out how to do what you want after you are comfortable with it.

[eleanor]

[i]i talkin about like both editing and colouring some of my pics..like i want to make my pictures look less like i drew them in pencil.... i think thats possible rite??[/i]


[color=firebrick]*rubs neck* I'm not really sure... There's an Ink Tool in Photoshop, but it's a devil to use and it takes a long time to get used to it. Actually I don't get what you mean mean by 'less like I drew them in pencil'. The best way to get rid of a plain lineart anime pic or whatever is to color it in. Of course I don't know why so many people think they have to have Photoshop to do stuff. Paint Shop Pro is just as good when it comes to just plain coloring [Photoshop just has a bunch of filters and some slightly better quality coloring tools, but it's like 600 freaking dollars].

But you can get used to it in time, I guess. There's a program called openCanvas and it's excellent to color with...amazing when it comes to drawing with a tablet, but that's not really the topic at hand. [/color]

[cinnamon]

Well...to lessen the pencilness of a picture, you could try blacklining it with an ink pen. That way, if you scan it into any picture editing program, it's easier to color, and looks more professionalish. Even if you don't want to colour it, it helps sharpen the picture. You can do that, or play around with the brightness/contrast settings in adobe photoshop. That works too.

I'm still getting the hang of adobe photoshop, but when you're using it for coloring it's pretty simple. All it takes is practice. Just play around with the tools, and you'll get the general idea- everyone has their own way of working wih any image program, so it's up to you to create your own style once you know the basics. If your feeling confused, I suggest that you search for a couple of adobe photoshop tutorials on google or something- they'll give you some good pointers.

If you have photoshop, make use of it. It's the computer design industry standard, so it is pretty good. Just keep working at it, ok?

[Black Moon]

I know it's not going to help with the actual point, but what I think what vash-san wants is to make it look like it was painted, but, you know, not actually go get the paints out of the drawer and sit there for hours with a paint brush in hand.

Does that help you experts understand anything?

...Or maybe I was completle wrong and that's not what they want. O_o Either way, I tried.

[OtakuSennen]

[color=navy]PhotoShop is certainly one of the best all-around graphics editing programs available, but I've found that there are other programs out there that specialize in the field of anime.

[url=http://www.deleter.com/eng]Deleter[/url] is a little company that specializes in manga-making materials, such as "professional-quality" paper and screentones, but they also have two manga/anime-oriented graphics programs: CG Illust and Comicworks.

If you're looking for getting pictures to look professionally inked and colored, CG Illust is what you're looking for. Once you're experienced enough with the program, you can make the beautifully colored, detailed images that seem to be in most high-quality dating simulation games.

I've never actually touched the program myself, but from what I have seen it seems to be fairly simple to use. Some of the end-result sample images are amazing.

Comicworks is more for doing professional-quality, black-and-white manga. I went to a workshop about this one at Anime Expo and had an awesome time. They had digital drawing pads and pens for each computer which took a while to get used to, but it wasn't so bad once you got the hang of it. Unless you use a particular tool, all of your lines will come out looking as if they were professionally inked.

The coolest part was the screentone options, but I won't get into that.

Unless you want to spend $100 or more on one of those programs, plus the pricy digipad, you really should just hand-ink your drawings. I normally ink drawings I want to color, and it makes it so much easier. If you just take a little time every day to toy around with PhotoShop's paint bucket and selection tools, you'll get something good sooner or later. If you still can't figure that out, though, you could purchase Paint Shop Pro 8, which is considered to be more user friendly than PhotoShop, and seems to give equal results if you put some time into it. Good luck, and happy drawing.[/color]

[vash-san]

hey iwas just reading some of the responces and black moon as almost rite on the money... i want to colour my pics but i dont want to sit at my kitchen table for several hours ar a time just to colour it...plus spend all the money to get half decent colouring utensils... i've started practicing with adobe phototshop but im hopeless its not getting much better.. :( ive posted my first attempt at using phototshop in teh art studio check it out! its called " first submission!" :)