10 Best Clip Studio Paint Alternatives in 2024

Determined to find a good Clip Studio Paint alternative, which will help you draw illustrations and comics? Then the programs listed below will be a of great help. Aside from been reasonably-priced, they allow you to create high-quality drawings and use pre-installed templates and various color palettes.

With these products, you can use imported 3D models and frame-by-frame animations for your artworks as well as work on graphics tablets, and use drawing tools that emulate natural materials.

Top 10 Clip Studio Paint Alternatives

Creation of comics, illustrations, 2D animations, and multi-level drawings with support for raster and vector images are complicated tasks that require the best free drawing software with a wide range of tools and functions. Clip Studio Paint pleased with powerful functionality, but you need to purchase a paid subscription to derive a full benefit from this product. That is why many users want to replace Clip Studio Paint with more affordable software to create drawings of any complexity.

Top 3 Clip Studio Paint Alternatives:

Using these Clip Studio Paint alternatives, you can work with multiple files at the same time, rotate and scale the canvas for drawing, and adjust the instruments according to your preferences. The ground-breaking functions of the best free vector graphics software allow you to achieve all your creative goals.

Also, the Article Considers:

1. Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a widely used raster graphics editor developed and released by Adobe Inc. It is designed to be used by both artists and designers, even though many users are beginners. For professionals, it is an indispensable tool for retouching, image editing, photo retouching, creation of backgrounds and color adjustments. For technical use, read Photoshop (disambigmentation).

adobe photoshop interface
Pros
  • Object Selection Tool saves time
  • 3D design capability
  • Rich set of drawing and typography tools
  • Sky replacement tool is spectacular
Cons
  • Not found

Adobe Photoshop offers many different options for all kinds of photographers. The software is easy to learn, allows you to create quality images and is relatively inexpensive compared with similar programs used in professional studios.

In addition, it has hundreds of powerful tools for both photo retouching and graphic design. For example, Adobe Photoshop has hundreds of professionally-designed templates that you can use as projects for your own projects. These include everything from a simple logo to full-color paintings.

2. Affinity Designer

What is Affinity Designer? Vector graphics creation tool specifically designed for artists, graphic designers, web developers, and other professional illustration or color artists to help professional illustrators or web designers create user interface designs, icon art, typography, and design concepts.

Affinity Designer offers a shape tool, which allows graphic designers to generate abstract shapes for business card or logo designs with artboards of any size using a variety of artboards formats.

affinity designer interface
Pros
  • Wide range of tools
  • Professional depth of features
  • Customizable tools
  • Quality overlay layers
Cons
  • No animation or interaction

It can also help to edit and manage clip arts and re-use picture attachments. If you are thinking of a website, there is no reason for you to struggle. With the latest version of Affinity Designer available for download now, you can get your website up and running quickly.

The basic version of this software is free, however, the upgrade path allows users to get more functionality for their money. In addition to the basic functionality, it also offers a number of add-on apps that can be downloaded from the official site. These apps make graphic designing even easier and more fun.

3. Autodesk SketchBook

Autodesk SketchBook is an uncomplicated, fast and easy to use software application platform that enables you to quickly create professional level visualizations and animations. It supports various kinds of media, such as FBX, 3DS, and OBJ.

In addition, this software has a unique function called "laying out" which allows you to merge a number of sketches into one main sketch, which can be used for further work or illustration.

autodesk sketchbook interface
Pros
  • 190+ customizable brushes
  • JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF support
  • Distraction-free interface
  • Free for students and education
Cons
  • Difficult for beginners

In terms of Autodesk SketchBook's functionality, it really comes across as a very intuitive interface, especially if you have spent some time with other sketching applications. It allows users to effortlessly move between layers and swap between different sketches with ease.

With the intuitive interface, users are able to maximize their creativity by being able to determine where they want their next layer to go, thus making layering very easy. Also, due to the software's fluidity, it does not become complicated at all when you start using it.

4. Procreate

Procreate is an interactive raster graphics editing program for digital painting software designed and released by Savage Interactive for both iPad and iPhone. Launched in 2021, it was initially designed in response to the digital possibilities of the then new iPad.

This multi-player computer application was created in a spirit of artistic challenge against the pro digital artists of the world. The software can be used for non-commercial use but, users are encouraged to register their business name and website so they can market the Procreate brand.

procreate interface
Pros
  • Import color profiles for color matching
  • Assign Color Dynamics to any brush
  • Easily import all your favorite fonts
  • Air 2 Selection improvements
Cons
  • Not available on all platforms

Unlike other applications in the category of digital illustration and graphic design software, Procreate does not require professional training to master its features and usage. Users only need basic computer knowledge and a good eye for color. For example, the program allows users to drag, drop and modify physical media assets including photographs, logos, sketches, illustrations, or text.

The program allows the user to change the size, position and rotation of the images without loss of quality or resolution of the final result. As this is one of the few applications in the category that allows users to manipulate digital media assets directly, Procreate has become a leader in the industry.

5. MediBang Paint

MediBang Paint is an excellent full-featured graphic drawing software that I have been using for some months now and it is damn great. MediBang Paint comes with several pre-installed tools to help you begin creating high quality artwork right out of your home or office computer.

medibang paint interface
Pros
  • 100 free brushes
  • Snap guides make drawing in perspective easy
  • Pen correction helps make the lines you draw smooth
  • Large variety of pre-installed fonts
Cons
  • Requires a MediBang account to access all the features

With MediBang Paint, you can easily erase unnecessary drawings by simply selecting the "erase" icon in the top right corner of your screen. If there are layers of artwork you want to remove from your photo or image, all you have to do is select the "remove layers" icon in the bottom right corner of the screen.

You will then see all of your original artwork erased, as well as any background layers you may have added to the image. This makes MediBang Paint one of the most convenient programs for photo and image editing on your iPad. The interface for the program is very simple to use even for someone who has never used a program like this before.

6. Krita

Krita is an open and free open source raster image editing software developed primarily for the 2D animation and digital painting. It runs on Windows, Linux, Android, MacOS and Chrome OS.

With Krita you can import any kind of file, be it a.BMP,.PSD or any other bitmap/ICO format. You can then make a new image, change its attributes (size, color, re-face, transparency etc) and save it to a desired location.

krita interface
Pros
  • Completely free
  • Easy to use
  • Wide range of brushes
  • Professional capabilities
Cons
  • Available on desktop only

The main selling point of Krita as a program is its capability of layering different image formats (BMP, GIF, JPEG and others) but also allow for conversion to and from many other image formats such as PSD, PNG and others.

Most people use krita to create and edit their own paintings although it can also be used by artists who are willing to pay for the software. However, the real artist in us wants to convert our paintings to another format so that we can sell it. Krita has the ability to do this but it is not available in the free version. We therefore have to find another way.

7. MyPaint

MyPaint is an open source and free raster graphics editing software for digital painting. It's available for Windows, Linux, and Unix-style operating systems. In short, it is Paint Shop Pro with a "MyPaint" feature, which is essentially a GUI (Graphical User Interface) for using the program.

The MyPaint software can be used in conjunction with a number of other graphic tablet and program plugins to increase the painting capabilities of your desktop or laptop. Some examples of additional plugins are Adobe Photoshop, Path Works, GIMP, Xcart, and Paint Shop Pro, just to name a few.

mypaint interface
Pros
  • Interface gets out of the way
  • No need to resize the canvas
  • Sensitive on graphics tablets
Cons
  • Not a lot in terms of image manipulation

MyPaint also includes an engine for loading and utilizing bitmaps. These can be used by other software as well in conjunction with MyPaint to enhance the output from your graphics tablet. To save your work in the program, one simple option is to save your work to a compressed file. Another option is to save your work in a folder, so it will always be ready if you need it.

8. PaintTool SAI

PaintTool SAI or Simple Paint Tool SAI is an open source raster graphics editing and painting software for Microsoft Windows released and developed by Systemax Software Corporation. The program can be used for medical, legal, architectural and engineering drawings and it can also produce fine art prints.

It has the capability to draw text, logos, and non-rectangular patterns and shapes. This program comes with the benefit of having a virtual canvas that is editable. You can use PaintTool to create, modify and save your artwork.

painttool sai interface
Pros
  • It is possible to lock and move layers
  • Anti-аliased drawings
  • Large color spectrum
Cons
  • Poor color overlay

This program is very user friendly and you can start with just one application and you can perform multiple functions simultaneously. The features of PaintTool SAI include a large selection of drawing and paint effects tools, image editing and layer tools and many more. Painttool can be used in conjunction with SAI to produce stunning artwork as well.

9. FireAlpaca

FireAlpaca is an effective digital paint program, loaded with fun functions and innovative features. At a glance, you can launch the software, select a paint brush and begin drawing with ease.

Painting is simple and fast with FireAlpaca because it allows for various editing options such as erasing, combining colors, shadows and highlights. You can apply borders and customize the appearance of text. FireAlpaca comes with function for both professional and non-professional artists.

firealpaca interface
Pros
  • Availability of comic templates
  • Light performance
  • Professional tools
Cons
  • Not enough features
  • Possible lags during work

FireAlpaca also features outstanding image editing tools that allow the user to adjust or modify color, contrast, sharpen, remove red eye, crop, rotate, skew and remove scratches. Furthermore, this amazing software also allows the user to save images with different formats such as JPEG, GIF and PNG.

10. Corel Painter

Corel Painter is an interactive digital arts software designed to recreate as closely as possible the look and feel of traditional media related to drawing, painting, and even printmaking. It's designed to be useable in real time by professional graphic artists as a productive, practical, creative tool.

Although, this software was designed primarily for artists, it can be used by anyone who wishes to create high quality art from their PC. But what exactly is this program, and how does it actually work? To answer those last two questions, we need to take a more detailed look at the Corel Painter software itself.

corel painter interface
Pros
  • Real art materials
  • Has many different brushes
  • Paints beautifully
Cons
  • Requires a modern computer
  • Complex functions

Corel Painter has four main settings, each with a different function that can be changed, or modified in order to create the perfect drawing or painting experience. These four settings allow the user to choose from the brush tool, the grid tool, the raster tool, and the paintbrush tool.

Even for a beginner, the software is extremely user friendly. Even those who may have previous art programs experience can easily learn how to customize and change things within the parameters, which makes Corel Painter an excellent option for anyone interested in drawing and painting.

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