Let’s compare ArtRage vs Photoshop to help you select the software that meets your drawing needs.
Photoshop is an industry standard used by digital artists, photographers, and other creative professionals who need to create drawings, graphic designs, and other visuals. This powerful editing suite has a huge collection of customizable brushes that can be used for applying various effects.
ArtRage is a widely used software for creating digital drawings. With it, you can produce graphic designs, digital artworks, book illustrations, comics, sketches, visual effects, concept art, and product designs.
Photoshop is a pro-level drawing software with a streamlined interface. You can switch between different windows, panels, and palettes to create and manage your files. Besides, you can adjust the settings depending on your needs, use a default workspace or create a custom one.
This software lets you use only the tools that you need. The rest of them will remain hidden. You can also pin the color palette near the canvas, which will improve your drawing experience.
To hone your skills, watch useful Photoshop tutorials on the official site and third-party platforms to learn more about the main features of this software. This way, you will master all the tools and techniques that you might need to use while working on your project.
ArtRage has a stylish and intuitive interface, which makes it suitable even for beginners. When you run this software, you will see a new window with the Canvas and various options around the edges.
You can select tools from different panels to solve a task you are working on. The interface has a convenient layout and lets you hide the tools that you don’t need to use.
There is the main canvas under panels and modules. Click on it to enlarge it. You can rotate and move the canvas, if necessary. It will make it easier to enlarge a selected part of an image or move it to another place.
Photoshop supports non-destructive painting techniques. This way, you can change only the adjustment layers without affecting the source image. Thanks to layer support, you can easily create complex drawings and save all your edits in separate layers.
When comparing ArtRage vs Photoshop, you will see that the latter has both basic and advanced painting tools. For instance, you can select Brush or Pencil and adjust their settings. Photoshop also has various patterns and fills for creating unique designs.
Besides, Photoshop is known for its handy options that allow you to smoothen strokes. You can use three main smoothing modes. Stroke Catch Up will come in handy for those who often pause while painting. The program will catch up with the stroke where you stopped the cursor. Catch-Up On Stroke End is useful when you need to draw a straight line to the point where you release your mouse or stylus. Besides, you can use the Pulled String mode to change the direction of your strokes.
Similarly to Photoshop, ArtRage also allows you to create drawings using layers. You can save your edits in separate layers without affecting the whole image.
Since ArtRage was designed for drawing, it supports different blending modes, which allows you to create realistic paintings using various materials. Besides, you can use grids, guides, and layout perspective tools.
This software allows you to use a variety of effects, textures, and gradients. You can quickly apply them to your drawing. Besides, the program allows you to use its tools to fully transform your image, clone paint, or use pattern fill. When creating and editing their works, users can use the available tutorials.
Photoshop comes with a huge collection of brushes that can be customized depending on your needs. You can adjust their hardness, opacity, tilt, and shape. Save your settings as presets to quickly apply them when working on new projects.
If you plan on using your brushes in the future, you can save them to Creative Cloud libraries. This way, you will be able to use them in other mobile or desktop drawing apps to create digital paintings on the go. Besides creating custom brushes, you can use tools created by other professionals.
When writing this ArtRage vs Photoshop comparison, I tested the powerful Airbrush tool available in Ps. When you hover it over a specific area, paint builds up as long as you press the mouse button. To customize this tool, you can adjust its hardness, opacity, flow, speed, and intensity.
ArtRage is considered to be the best Adobe Fresco alternative for those who want to create digital paintings using brushes that are similar to real-life tools. They let you create watercolors and oil paintings with realistic brush strokes.
This software allows you to use oil painting techniques that are similar to the ones used by traditional artists. It will help you spread the paint evenly on canvas and get a realistic texture. Besides, the program has a set of pens, markers, and other digital drawing tools.
In addition, ArtRage allows you to upload brushes created by other users. This software comes with a set of collaborative tools, which makes it easier to work on a project together with your colleagues and share brushes with them.
Photoshop supports several color modes, which enables you to get accurate colors. You can select any available mode: RGB, CMYK, Index, Grayscale, or Bitmap.
The image mode lets you combine colors in a specific way using a certain number of channels. The size of an image depends on the color mode. For example, it’s better to select CMYK color mode if you want to create a full-color brochure. The RGB mode is more suitable for images that will be sent as email attachments or posted online since it reduces the file size without affecting the original colors.
Besides, this program lets you use a top-level color palette. You can use the available shades or create custom ones. Then, you can save them into Creative Cloud, which will allow you to use them in other Adobe programs, such as Fresco or Illustrator.
ArtRage comes with an easy-to-customize color palette that allows you to preview the selected colors. Thanks to the Small Color Arc and Large Color Arc, you can get any tint you want. To do it, you just need to select the main color on the small arc and mix it with another color (black, gray, or white) on the large color arc.
If you want to quickly select any color, try using the Color Picker Tool. You just need to click on any color that you want to use. The program also allows you to add a metal tint to any color in your image.
When using a color palette, you can switch between several modes to display colors differently. You can also use custom color palettes. To do it, you need to upload your image and create a personalized color palette.
Photoshop allows you to use several techniques to create a drawing with the help of tools that imitate real brushes. For instance, you can quickly convert your photo into a drawing. You can also make it look like a sketch. If you zoom in on it, the strokes will be clearly visible.
Similarly, you can create a watercolor or oil painting. With the available tools, you can implement a variety of graphic design ideas and convert a photo into a drawing even without any prior experience.
ArtRage has a collection of 6 filters for tweaking colors and applying various effects. To find them, go to Edit > Filters. To enhance your images, you can use such filters as Warp, Remove Color Matte, Adjust Layer Colors, Noise, Blur.
Keep in mind that ArtRage supports only some filters available in Photoshop. They come in .8bf format.
If you compare ArtRage vs Photoshop, you will notice a lot of similarities when it comes to drawing features. However, there are some important differences between them.
Photoshop has:
ArtRage comes with:
Photoshop uses a subscription-based model, which means that you can use it as a part of Creative Cloud. You can also buy a standalone version of the software.
To get the full version, you need to pay $20.99 per month. If you opt for the Photography Plan, you will need to pay only $9.99 a month. Besides, you can purchase the All Apps Plan that allows you to use 20 programs for $52.99 per month.
If you don’t know which software to choose, ArtRage or Photoshop, keep in mind that the former doesn’t have a trial version. However, you can download Adobe Photoshop free for Windows 10 or Mac. This trial version allows you to learn more about the functionality of the software without paying a dime.
Adobe often offers various Adobe Creative Cloud discounts, so make sure to visit the official website regularly if you want to purchase this software at an affordable price.
ArtRage offers two payment options. If you want to create drawing on the go, you can download ArtRage Vitae Mobile for $4.99. This version of the software was created for iOS and Android devices. To use this software on your PC, you need to pay $29.90 for the ArtRage Lite plan.
Photoshop is the best option for designers who are looking for a full-fledged graphic design software that has many other features besides a set of drawing tools. This software will come in handy for graphic designers and other creative professionals who want to find a powerful solution for creating digital drawings.
ArtRage will be a perfect option for professional digital artists who are looking for a software with an extensive set of drawing tools. This is program was designed primarily for creating drawings and paintings, it’s hardly suitable for solving other design tasks. Besides, it has a steep learning curve, which makes it hardly suitable for beginners without any prior drawing experience.
If you don’t want to spend much time mastering advanced drawing techniques, you can use the ready-made textures created by the FixThePhoto experts. In a few clicks, you can make your image look like a watercolor or an oil painting. Select a bundle that you need to use and learn how to add textures in Photoshop.
