Adobe Photoshop is the best known graphics product on the market.
$20
per month
Clip Studio Paint
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Celsys headquartered in Shinjuku City, Tokyo supports creators to create artistic content with digital technology. They provide solutions for content creation, distribution, and browsing, including support of creative activities through our illustration, manga and animation production app “Clip Studio Paint” and web service “Clip Studio”, as well as our e-book solution, “Clip Studio Reader”.
I started my design journey by just learning one software, Photoshop. The possibilities of what one can do with this softwares are infinite. I have mainly used Photoshop for image editing, making mockups, and producing quick GIFs. Photoshop has better effects than most softwares and plugins, which helps if one is after a particular style or image treatment. I always struggle with it being slightly not beginner-friendly, as one might find the interface too overwhelming. The other thing is that it is an image-based and not a vector-based software, so one has to move back and forth if someone has to access a file in another software like Illustrator.
I cannot really imagine a situation other than creating custom 3D models in which Clip Studio Paint would ever be inappropriate; it offers tools for art such as: 2D, pixel/voxel work, vectors, painting/drawing, comics, animations and more. The only place that Clip Studio Paint does not shine is in the creation of 3D models, but I think that that is fair given that it's competitor, Photoshop, also cannot do this; this was never a tool meant for 3D model design or creation, but the fact that you can import models and that there is a library of free and paid posable models native to the app is rather impressive.
Expensive - It is too expensive to buy Photoshop alone, and hence leading the user to purchase the entire Creative Cloud Package though he/she is not even aware of half of those apps.
High System Spec - Requires high system specifications to run the application smoothly, and to use it at its best.
Process lag - When it comes to large-sized files, the application becomes laggy taking much time even to render a single layer.
We get a lot of use out of this software. It's vital for work with production in our industry and has a lot of cross-functionality - creating social media images, retouching photos, editing photos, creating gradients, and more. It's pretty fuss-free in that we haven't had to reach out to support and the program hasn't crashed on us. We are trained on the software (so again, this isn't for beginners), but for detail-oriented designers and creatives like ourselves - it's a no-brainer.
I've used it for a long time and would consider myself a Pro user at this point. I know where everything I need is, have custom actions set up to make common actions faster, and have my workflows automated so much that everything is easy. Occasionally, a new version of Photoshop will change a common usability feature which will slow things down for a short time before I'm able to adjust, but generally I really like my setup. However, if you're new to Photoshop, it is likely going to take you a while to figure out how you can best use the features.
I think that once one gets the hang of how to navigate and use Clip Studio Paint, they will find that it has so much more to offer than one might expect when looking at it for the first time. There are hidden gems all throughout this program, and they are all there to make your creative experience all the more streamlined and natural.
Adobe Photoshop is very reliable, but is never 100%. There have been times when Adobe Photoshop has had trouble opening, but nothing a little computer restart couldn't fix. I use Adobe Photoshop on a Mac for both work and at home on a daily basis, and I would be lost without it.
Speed can be an issue when you are dealing with large files for large format printing or billboards. When working on web images, speed is not an issue.
While I never contacted Adobe directly, there is so much content out there in the form of YouTube videos, Lynda/LinkedIn learning that almost any issue, including bugs, can be worked around (and this method is generally faster as there's no turnaround time involved).
I took a course so it really helped. I didn’t take the course until much later after beginning to use it, so I wish work would have sent me right off the bat. It would have alleviated a lot of frustratinon
Canva is a great tool for creating infographics and it's free with limited options. Adobe Illustrator CC and Adobe InDesign are much more suited for creating infographics, however, I still selected Adobe PhotoShop primarily because of my familiarity with all of the tools and hotkeys. There are always workarounds from with Adobe PhotoShop, and I just haven't taken the time to learn how to use Adobe Illustrator CC as effectively.
I have used a handful of other free art programs, including MediBang Paint, and while they are all good, and I'm sure perfect in the hands of the right artist, I feel as though they simply do not offer the number of options necessary for my needs. They feel very limited and stale; customization is limited and their UI's are outdated. Clip Studio Paint is modern and sleek, highly customizable, and offers far more tools than the other options around it.
Time saving. Many features can be automated, which drastically saves time on projects that need a quick turnaround.
High-quality. The images that can be created in Adobe Photoshop are the best quality and often requested when we send things to print.
Streamlines our process. The ability to batch-edit or batch-export allows us to work on other things while Photoshop processes in the background, which is wonderful.
I think that the initial price was incredibly steep, but I managed to get it on discount. As a starting artist, this was a hard blow to take at the start, especially before these subscription options existed.
After years of use I have more than paid off the cost I sunk into Clip Studio Paint EX.
I see myself making marked profits by continuing to use the program, even with the new subscription service rather than a perpetual lisence.
