Hi all, I've been thinking (again) and would really like to try and make some digital art, 1, cause its cool, and 2, cause I'm horrible at colours and colouring things in. So having a digital would be idea to play around with, and 3, because I like the digital art style, nice smooth lines and clear solid colours.

I was just wondering what software would be idea to use (yea yea yea, I know, people say photoshop but I'm on a $0 budget here). I've also been looking around at those graphics-pen-drawing-tablet things; would anyone know what the idea brand/model would be to get, I already have one but its a real budget version and not precise for drawing (and its a little buggy).

I currently have a Wacom Bamboo One tablet which is a small-ish tablet as far as tablets go but it was good value for money I think. It has pressure sensitivity and is simple enough for a beginner like me to use :) It works well with Photoshop which is what I use. The only trouble with it is when I switched from Windows XP to Windows Vista, my tablet didn't like it very much. Or maybe Vista liked my tablet too much?

If you have Vista, beware because once you install a tablet, it thinks "I know, I'll turn on all these other cool functions too" like handwriting recognition and an onscreen keyboard sometimes. For me, this makes the computer so unbearably SLOW and it seems the only way to fix the problem is to uninstall the tablet.

Thanks for suggesting Wacom, I've been looking around and they seem to be a pretty good brand, and they're cheapish; and it doesn't matter how much power it uses, my pc can handle it (quad core XD).

I have currently have a wacom Bamboo Fun, I paid $99 for it, and I will say it's a good tool for beginner. While I know there's are other better Wacom tablets such as "Intuos" and "Cintiq," and you should stay away from them until you feel comfortable with what you have, it'll just be overkill.

As for photoshop, it can be quite expensive, but you can always ask your friends or even your school if they have a copy laying around, if your on good terms with them like I was, they usually make an exception and give it to you.

I also notice alot of people interested in anime-style artwork often use photopshop alternatives, such as "Sai" or "Open Canvas" which cost about a fraction of the price, and in my opinion are more intuitive to use then photoshop.

P.S. I suggest you get photopshop, sai, or open canvas first before you buy a tablet, honestly when it comes to coloring, you can do a lot with a mouse or probably a bad tablet. You just need the proper software.

Personally I have a Wacom graphire4 (and can't be more happy with it), which was discontinued as the Bamboo and Bamboo Fun came out. For a beginner, the Bamboo Fun is probably the exact tablet you want. It's the cheapest Wacom tablet with pressure sensitivity, which is the number one feature you want on any tablet anyhow.

Program wise, if Photoshop is way too expensive for you, try openCanvas. If you get a grip at it, it can be actually a lot better than Photoshop. PS is only expensive because it comes with all the extra feature that I'm sure, if you're only going to do digital painting, never going to use. (I haven't used half of it yet, honestly, and I've used PS for 5 years. Not too long, but still.)

Or, even better, if you want to go completely free, use GIMP. Never tried it personally, but from what I heard, it can substitute for Photoshop in many areas. If you're just starting out, I suggest that you go with the open source GIMP to get a grip first, then look up the right program that you may buy.

Thanks for suggesting Wacom, I've been looking around and they seem to be a pretty good brand, and they're cheapish; and it doesn't matter how much power it uses, my pc can handle it (quad core ).
lol @ "pretty good brand." They're the industry standard, and the best you can get. =P
I still have my trusty old Graphire3 from like a thousand years ago, hahah.

Program wise, if Photoshop is way too expensive for you, try openCanvas. If you get a grip at it, it can be actually a lot better than Photoshop. PS is only expensive because it comes with all the extra feature that I'm sure, if you're only going to do digital painting, never going to use. (I haven't used half of it yet, honestly, and I've used PS for 5 years. Not too long, but still.)
High-five! I have OC and Photoshop CS2 on my computer, and I fucking love OC to death. Way more fun to use than Photoshop, and better for painting I think. And like 500 USD cheaper. Really, I barely ever touch PS. OC is for painting, and Graphics Gale is for spriting. I only use Photoshop extremely rarely, when there's some weird thing I need to get done that's a bit easier to do in PS than OC. But that barely ever happens.

So yeah. Grab yourself a cheap Wacom, buy Open Canvas, and download Graphics Gale. You won't need anything else art-wise for the next decade or so. Have fun! =D


If you have Vista, beware because once you install a tablet, it thinks "I know, I'll turn on all these other cool functions too" like handwriting recognition and an onscreen keyboard sometimes. For me, this makes the computer so unbearably SLOW and it seems the only way to fix the problem is to uninstall the tablet.
lol, I thought the same thing too, but after ten minutes of tinkering, I found the button to turn all of that crap off. I forget where it is, because it's in a really stupid spot, and the button's label is totally ambiguous and unhelpful, but it can be turned off, hahah. Good thing, too; I was seriously pissed off for those ten minutes, because the handwriting recognition thing was a complete pain in the ass. But yeah, the handwriting module thing has a menu somewhere on it where you can shut it off. Just check every menu and every button, and you'll find it. Just know that the names of the buttons and menus won't help you at all - it's like they don't want you to find the "turn this piece of shit off" button, like they knew that everyone would instantly want to shut it off and were purposefully trying to spite their customers for it.

For a $0 budget.... I liked Gimp okay. The basic program is good, and if you are willing to learn a little scripting it can be a really terrific one. I use Irfanview for some things like batch conversion to greyscale. I haven't tried Open Canvas.

For the mid-range budget... I bought Photoshop Elements since it's a lot cheaper but still has most of the functions of the full version. There's also Manga Studio, but i haven't tried it yet.

For a Professional budget I like Creative Suite (Photoshop and Illustrator used together). I used CS at work (for professional graphics and publishing).

I highly recommend a tablet if you can get one within your budget. I love the functionality of the Wacom tablet's mouse (it's the best mouse I've ever tried) and the pen tool can be really useful for painting programs, especially if you like watercolor or airbrushing effects, I love it for shading and highlights! I just wish there was some way for me to use the pen in one hand and the mouse in the other without moving my tablet from one side of my desk to the other. I'm right handed when drawing with a pen and left handed with anything else i do, so it gets awkward.

Mostly I <3<3<3 my Wacom tablet, but occasionally...

Right now I'm trying to turn off the pressure sensitivity on my selection tool in Photoshop. I can only turn it on and off for the brush tool, WHY???? I've been trying to find the right command for a week! I can't find it in PS =or= the pen-tablet menu... It's so stupid >_< Oddly enough, on my desktop with XP it works fine, but on my laptop with XP it has a totally different stripped-down menu. A mystery...

Well... that was a really long post... I hope some of it is helpful :)

Thankyou all for your suggestions, I'm planning on buying a Wacom Tablet soon (when my money somehow miraculously re-appears).

Personally I have a Wacom graphire4 (and can't be more happy with it), which was discontinued as the Bamboo and Bamboo Fun came out. For a beginner, the Bamboo Fun is probably the exact tablet you want. It's the cheapest Wacom tablet with pressure sensitivity, which is the number one feature you want on any tablet anyhow.


I found Graphire4 horribly hard to use compared to Bamboo Fun. I bought the Graphire one and used it here and there and then I borrowed my friend's Bamboo Fun and noticed it was very easy to use as the surface wasn't so...slippery and plastic-ky

Now I never really use my tablet anymore as im overly jealous of Bamboo Fun D:

lol I bought my Graphire4 when the Bamboo Fun was still in developing stage, so I didn't have much a comparison. I guess it's just personal preference; I got use to the "plastic-ky" feel and it feel just like paper to me now. o___o;; I actually think that the Bamboo Fun will give me too much friction.

^Heheh, I'm used to my plastic-y Graphire now too, and didn't really like the Bamboo's drawing surface either. XD