Art Just a few quick questions...

[Guest zorlin]

Hi everyone.

Ok, some of you may have heard of that one e-book u can buy that teaches u how to draw manga. It's called Art of Otaku, and it is sometimes advertised on this very site. And that's where I've heard of it. The link to the place is:

[url]http://www.artofotaku.com/?source=theotaku-banner[/url]

Anyway, is this place trustworthy, and has anyone here bought this book ? My parents are very suspicious when it comes to online dealings u see >_>.

And my other question is about photoshop. Now I need this program pretty bad if I'm going to draw manga, and I don't know which version to buy. There are so many, and some of them are really expensive, while others are at a reasonable price. So I was wondering what version do most of you guys use, and if it's expensive or not (please give me the exact name, as there are so many different ones T_T).

Any help would be appreciated, thanks guys :animeswea.

[sakurasuka]

[SIZE=1]As for the art of otaku thing, I have no idea. I can give you tons of info on programs, though =)

I personally use Paint Shop Pro version 6-8, 7 being my favorite due to ease of use, and merely the fact I've used it longest and grown accustomed to it. I bought an un-opened Paint Shop Pro 8 on E-Bay for $37 after shipping and handling. You can get it cheaper, but I'd suggest getting an un-used one, rather than one that may have been handled and scratched or something of the like.

PSP 7/8 (Or, if you can afford it, a higher verson. But 7/8 works just fine for me) is really great for coloring/fixing up manga. The controls and settings can be personalized to how you like it best, and there are tons of coloring tutorials you can find online to help you out.

I also use Photo Impact (Version 8.5 is my favorite) But I mostly use this one to fix up actual photographs, not drawings. Great program for simple web pages, too, for anyone who cares =P

I've only recently briefly used PhotoShop version 4, and PhotoShop CS. I really liked how much more stuff it has than PSP, but otherwise, there's not a whole lot of difference. To someone who needs a good program for graphic design, I'd say PhotoShop, but Paint Shop Pro is much easier to use and much better for beginners/people who don't need an awesome grpahic design program.

I know about a million people will disagree with me on that, but it's just what I noticed in my use of both programs *Shrugs*

For you, I'd definitely reccomend Paint Shop Pro v. 8 for manga stuff. It's a well-rounded program, and it's really user-friendly. You can do pretty much anything with it, and it'll help you grow as an artist and maybe even get you into graphic design =)[/SIZE]

[Retribution]

[size=1]Well, I have no idea about the site, but as for the program you need for editing your manga?

I don't think you really [i]need[/i] Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro -- they're nice to have, but artists have been getting along fine without that sort of technology for a while now. But, if you're set upon getting an editing program... I'd recommend [url=www.gimp.org][b]Gimp[/b][/url]. It's free, it's easy to use, and it'll get the job done just as well as Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro.

[spoiler]Or, you could pirate them if you were that super-crazy-hardcore, but that's illegal. ^_^[/spoiler][/size]

[Raiyuu]

[color=DarkGreen][font=Trebuchet MS]I've bought Art of Otaku and found it well worth the $19.95 (especially since that translates into about £11 for us Brits). Obviously a lot of people are wary of online transactions and that's a healthy attitude to take, but AofO uses PayPal, the most secure online payment service I know of.

(Grief, I'm starting to sound like an ad campaign.)

In terms of the quality of the product, it really is good, it's big and expansive which allows for lots of detail on the little things that people find hard to draw *cougheyescough*. The only thing I've found is that a couple of the tutorials assume you know how to do certain things; these are usually covered elsewhere, but sometimes it's not obvious where, as the chapters are arranged by artist, not by subject matter.

And in terms of payment, it is secure, but to take advantage of PayPal you'll need a credit/debit card. I think the site allows you to pay by cheque and other methods, but I'm not sure how the system works for that. And I'll vouch for the integrity of the people on the money's receiving end - Adam does my webhosting and he hasn't let me down yet, lol.

Hope all that helps.
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[Guest zorlin]

Thanks alot for the info guys, it really helps. I'll check all those programs out, and I'll be buying Art of Otaku as well. :animesmil