Best Free Paint Program
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In a Hurry?
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Introduction
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Although they overlap in function, paint programs are really a different class of product: From raster editors such as Adobe Photoshop, and the GIMP, which apply artistic filter effects to photos to look like works of art. To vector-graphics drawing software, such as CorelDRAW and Inkscape, which are programs that have freehand illustration tools with the ability to render images at any sizes. Even traditional 2D animation programs like Toon Boom Studio and Pencil that use both raster/vector imaging are more concentrated in the animation than paint manipulation. A paint software application is supposed to mimic traditional painting mediums and effects more than just a bitmap drawing program like Microsoft Paint. My only two requirements are graphic tablet support and the feel of natural paint on a digital canvas. All artists at one time or another dream of doing a comic book and cartoon animation, so if it supports animation or booklet pages, it's a plus. WOW, these free paint programs are truly a fantastic work of art. Any one of these will definitely satisfy the inner artist in you. Listed in favorite order: |
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Discussion
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Related Products and Links
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What about paint.net? it has layers, transparencies, and a handful of FX.
i am looking for a program that will let me draw comics, has translucent (sp) layers of color, bright dramatic colors that glow off the page, and then i'd like to be able to animate it. what would be the best one?
Ah. You're referring to Vector 2D Animation like Adobe Flash and ToonBoom where it gives you clean lines and bright colors. And even thou Project Dogwaffle can accomplish this, is a raster program where digital pixel gets mix and dirty.
The best free 2D vector animation right now is Pencil at www.pencil-animation.org. No scripting thou but who needs it, this program is easy to use and install, highly recommend it.
Happy animating. :)
thanz i love it
Why isn't Paint.net located at http://www.getpaint.net/
on this list? It seems to be like Artweaver but without the bugs.
The present version is 3.36.
Here's what's said about it:
It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple image and photo editor tool. It has been compared to other digital photo editing software packages such as Adobe® Photoshop®, Corel® Paint Shop Pro®, Microsoft Photo Editor, and The GIMP.
Paint.NET can be found at Digital Editor and Artweaver has moved to that category.
is this good for making comic bok coulers blend in and stuff ?
TwistedBrush has a very nice page explorer where you can keep track of all your comic book pages and view them in a pdf slide show. It has one of the best blends and color management palettes around. Plus if you don't have a tablet board you can apply your scan image to a tracing paper. Totally recommended for overall comic book development.
I have tried the other programs you've listed but you have missed the best freeware paint program of all: DEEP PAINT. It's a serious 58MB program created by Right Hemisphere - BUT the freeware version is being replaced by a shareware version. Use Google to find a website where the freeware version is available.
It is a real paint program with lots of brushes, surfaces, textures, angles of light & layers.
Deep Paint is NOT a drawing program - Inkscape is the best freeware Drawing program - I prefer it to GIMP.
Thou DEEP PAINT can be found and download for free on various site, the program isn't distribute by its developers at Right Hemisphere and I hate to promote a product that is no longer supported and may get obsolete. I will keep these comments for anyone who want to try out the program.
what about photofiltre? it is great
Check out photofiltre, It's in our Best Free Digital Image Editor Category mimics an old version of Photoshop, very light and easy on resources.
Is there any free painting software for kids? My little boy currently try Creative Painter. It works pretty fine and completely compatible with Vista.
release began 2100 partners points economists
Project DOgwaffle 1.2 is the free version, see http://www.dogwaffle.info/dogwaffle/free
They might enjoy more painting with particle brushes, as in PD Particles - www.dogwaffle.info/pdp
Or PD Artist - www.dogwaffle.info/pda
These and v2.1 can be had for free if you need something else such as a NetFlix subscription, an antivirus or other products and survices, available thrlough TrialPay: buy something else and they'll pay for your Dogwaffle ;-)
One of the better ways to see how to use it and what it can be used for (painting, animation, special fx, painting with video on video,...)
is through the many tutorials at www.dogwaffle.info/dogwaffle/tuts
Creative Painter looks like a great kids program but is not free. Several of our readers recommended Tux Paint with is one of the best drawing for kids program I've ever gone through with my five years. If you do download it, recommend you download the rubber stamp option as well.
http://drawing.gamemaker.nl/index.html
Tux Paint is an free, open source program designed for children 3-12 that has received many good reviews:
http://www.tuxpaint.org/
Another great program is Pencil which is allows to draw vector images, exports to Macromedia Flash SWF format and create cartoon animation. It worth a try. Here is the URL:
http://www.les-stooges.org/pascal/pencil/
I really love this programs simplicity. The big thing in a paint program is where one manipulates paste and color to get an effect. I don't consider an illustrator to be a painter (picasso/van gogh) but a sketch artist/inker. If you're looking to cartoon this is a great pickup. Thanks.
Try Tux Paint:
"Tux Paint is a free, award-winning drawing program for children ages 3 to 12 (for example, preschool and K-6 in the US, key stages 1 & 2 in the UK). It combines an easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who guides children as they use the program. "
http://www.tuxpaint.org
Thank you so much for this. My daughter just loves it!