14 best drawing programs for your computer

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-15 16:39

Paid and free tools for experienced and aspiring artists.

Free software for drawing on the computer

1. Krita

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.

Krita is such an advanced and functional drawing program that it is hard to believe that this is not a commercial product, but an open source development. This editor has support for layers, a huge number of brushes and tools, a bunch of different filters and effects.

Krita can be used to create digital painting, sketching, paintings, comics, and even hand-drawn stop-motion animations. The interface is conveniently customizable. Plus, Krita works great with graphics tablets.

2. GIMP

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.

A powerful, flexible, customizable open source bitmap editor. True, the interface and hotkeys are peculiar here - artists who are accustomed to Photoshop will have to retrain.

GIMP has most of the tools available in Photoshop: layers, masks, color grading, smart selections, brushes, filters, and a host of other possibilities. Some of the missing ones can be screwed using third-party extensions.

3. Inkscape

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.

But this is already a tool for creating vector graphics - a free and open source analogue of Adobe Illustrator. It works well for creating logos, icons, web graphics, vector illustrations, and other design products.

Inkscape contains everything for comfortable creation and editing of vector images: color and texture management tools, layers, smart placement and alignment of objects, as well as the ability to vectorize bitmap images.

4. Paint. NET

Platform: Windows.

This, of course, is not a full-fledged analogue of Photoshop, but rather the good old Paint on steroids, but it will be enough for amateur drawing.

It is precisely because of its simplicity that Paint. NET is well suited for aspiring artists. Plus, it is able to work quickly even on low-power devices.

Paint. NET supports working with layers and has a lot of effects. There are tools for blurring, styling, sharpening and noise suppression, and if desired, the program's capabilities can be expanded using plugins.

5. MediBang Paint Pro

Platforms: Windows, macOS.

It is a specialized tool that will appeal to comic, anime and manga creators. The app is very lightweight, fast and completely free. MediBang Paint Pro has over 800 preset anime backgrounds and templates. In addition, there are about 50 brushes and a large selection of free fonts.

6. Gravit Designer

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, web.

Gravit Designer is a pretty powerful and advanced, yet free vector graphics editor. It can be used to easily create icons, logos, banners, and other images. There are many tools in the application: curves, layers, shapes, selection and transformation of objects, working with text and fonts.

In addition, Gravit Designer has a built-in library of user-generated vector objects. You can freely use them in your own work. Another feature of the application: if you wish, you can launch it without installation, right in the browser through the native Gravit web service.

7. MyPaint

Platforms: Windows, macOS.

Fast open source bitmap editor. The work is structured so that you focus on the drawing process, and not on wandering through the menu items. MyPaint supports graphic tablets, offers a built-in collection of brushes and the ability to create your own.

Other features of the program include an endless canvas, duplication of basic functions with hot keys and a visual choice of color right under the cursor.

Paid software for drawing on the computer

1. Affinity Designer

• Platforms: Windows, macOS.
• Price: $ 49.99

The editor is impressive in its capabilities. Customizable panels and keyboard shortcuts, a convenient canvas rotation system that makes it seem like you are drawing on real paper, compatibility with graphics tablets, shadow, glow, outline, bevel effects - just to name it.

Affinity Designer is definitely worth a try for professional graphics and design professionals who don't want to overpay for Photoshop.

2. BlackInk

• Platform: Windows.
• Price: $ 59.99

A very peculiar drawing program, which differs from the others presented here. BlackInk allows you to paint incredible paintings with a rather unusual style. But what can I say, just take a look at the ones created in the editor, and you will understand that it allows you to create art.

Instead of traditional approaches to creating raster images, BlackInk uses its own mechanism. The so-called Controller opens up unprecedented possibilities for customizing brushes. It is not easy to master, but the result will impress you.

3. Adobe Photoshop

• Platforms: Windows, macOS.
• Price: subscription from 644 rubles per month.

Photoshop is actually the standard in the world of computer graphics, the most popular program for artists, designers and photographers. There is no point in talking about the capabilities of Photoshop: if something can be done with an image, it will do it.

Since Photoshop is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, you can easily use your brushes, colors and styles on all devices - settings are synced literally on the fly. In addition, there are a bunch of plugins created for Photoshop due to its popularity.

The only thing wrong with Adobe's brainchild is the subscription price. However, this was to be expected, because Photoshop is the most powerful and advanced of all raster editors in the world.

4. Corel Painter

• Platforms: Windows, macOS.
• Price: 429 dollars.

Everyone knows Corel Draw - the most powerful professional vector graphics editor. But Corel has another brainchild - the Corel Painter raster editor, perfect for drawing. This editor has many handy tools for working with color, synthesizing textures and cloning objects, as well as brushes, canvases and layers.

This expensive but effective editor for sophisticated artists is well worth the money.

5. Sketchbook Pro

• Platforms: Windows, macOS.
• Price: 1,790 rubles.

A powerful raster editor with an intuitive interface and a large set of tools, which is suitable for both beginners and professional artists. Sketchbook Pro boasts hundreds of brushes, custom color palettes, and layered image manipulation.

The developers have paid great attention to the user experience: as a result, the feeling of drawing on paper with physical brushes and other artistic tools is created. At the same time, each brush (or pen) is adjusted to the smallest nuances.

6. ArtRage

• Platforms: Windows, macOS.
• Price: $ 29.9

A simple artistic drawing tool for creating lifelike creatives. ArtRage very accurately imitates painting techniques such as oil, watercolor, pastel, and provides the most intuitive process of working with them.

The editor allows you to fully customize all the parameters of the picture and create your own style. There are also editing functions like color correction, transformation and others.

7. PaintTool SAI

• Platform: Windows.
• Price: 3 600 rubles.

A high-speed, multi-format Japanese raster image editor suitable for creating manga, anime and comics. PaintTool SAI allows you to simultaneously process several files at once, is able to smooth lines, removing small flaws, and also supports drawing using graphic tablets.

The program is well optimized and low on resources. And thanks to its simplicity and minimalistic interface, it should appeal to novice artists.

This material was first published in October 2018. In September 2021, we updated the text.