So if you’re undecided about which type of program you may need for your art practice and you want to sample some art software without spending money, there are some brilliant programs that rival the expensive paid for apps.
In this review, we’ll compare all the free digital art software options. We’ll also show you how the features and functionality shapes up to the paid for industry standard programs.
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Pros: powerful image editor with a wide range of features, easy to use once you get familiar with the basics, easier to learn than Photoshop, wide range of plugins and extensions available, can be used for digital painting, open source
Cons: user interface can be confusing at first, not as many features as some of the paid for programs, no phone or tablet app available.
GIMP is a powerful image editor that offers a wide variety of features and tools. Use it for photo editing, web designing, graphic design and digital painting. The Adobe photography bundle which includes Photoshop, Lightroom and the Photoshop app for iPad costs just under $10 per month. So by using GIMP, you will be saving that extra cost.
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Beginner artists may need to take some time to learn the user interface. However, once you grasp the basics of the layout, it’s easy to master.
It’s compatible with OSX, Linux, Windows and GNU. The document files are also compatible with PSD, so if you create artworks in GIMP and later decide to invest in a Photoshop subscription, you will be able to edit these files in Photoshop.
There are also a wide range of plugins and extensions available to add even more functionality. For example, G’MIC is a plugin that comes with over 200 filters, so you can edit and colour correct artwork and photographs with incredible flexibility. There is also a heal selection plugin, which automatically fills sections you want to remove.
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Another great feature of GIMP is that it has a batch processing functionality. This means that you can apply the same set of edits and operations to multiple images.
Krita is a powerful and promising free digital art software program that’s been gaining popularity in recent years. It was specifically designed for digital painting and drawing. The software includes a wide range of features and tools that allow artists to explore their creative potential and create professional artworks. Artists can use Krita to create animations, digital paintings, concept art and illustrations.
The features of Krita are extensive, with a large brush pack, layers and masking, the ability to group layers and create vector artwork.
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The user interface is very straightforward and easy to use. You can also customise the workspace to better suit your needs, this means that you can load particular workflows to suit different projects.
Krita allows artists to save their work as .tiff files. So if you want to make prints of your artwork, Krita is a great choice of software.
Krita is another open source software and you can download plugins to increase the versatility of the program. Download new brush packs, texture packs and user made python plugins. For example, you can download a plugin to generate comic panels, upload videos to the program to use as animation frame references and much more!
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Adobe Fresco is a digital drawing and painting app that works on tablets, phones, touch and stylus devices. It is also available on Creative Cloud Desktop Windows and Surface Pro devices.
The program is available as part of a freemium model, so the free version has fewer tools and features than the paid for version. However, if you want to get the premium version, you can buy it as part of a number of the Adobe plans. If you subscribe to the Fresco single app plan for $9.98 per month, the Adobe Photoshop plan, or the Creative Cloud full plan.
The software includes a wide variety of brushes, including traditional media, live brushes that react to water and pressure and vector brushes. The latter are especially useful for line art, logos and illustrations.
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Fresco also has a number of features that make the digital painting process feel as close to traditional painting as possible. For example, you can use the app to add texture to your paintings by scanning in papers and fabrics. You can also create your own custom brushes by recording the gestures you make with your stylus or finger.
When you combine Adobe Fresco and Photoshop, you will have access to many more features, like merging photos, retouching artwork, adding text and layers. The premium version allows artists to animate their drawings.
There are a number of features that are not available in the free version of Fresco. The main drawback is that you can’t work in high quality, or export PNG or PSD images. Also around half of the brushes aren’t available in the free version.
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Inkscape is a vector graphic editor that digital artists use for a wide variety of design tasks such as web designing, logo design, illustrations and cartoons.
It’s a free and open source software that can be likened to Adobe Illustrator, in that it supports vector graphics. Use nodes to edit paths, clone objects, apply and edit gradients. Overall the path and shape tools have similar functions in both Illustrator and Inkscape, but Illustrator offers more brush effects.
If you are an aspiring graphic designer who wants to learn how to create vector graphics, like logos or illustrations without paying the premium for Adobe, downloading Inkscape would be a great way to get to grips with vector image design. The tools are easy to learn and arguably easier to learn than Illustrator. Therefore it would be an excellent program to practice making more complex designs.
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The main downside of Inkscape, is that it doesn’t support CMYK colour mode. This means that you won’t be able to make documents for print. However, if you’re looking for a program to use for digital work such as logos, web assets, typography and more, it is a great option.
With Adobe Illustrator, you can create any type of vector graphics you want for web or for print, as it supports CMYK colour mode. Save your Inkscape file as an SVG and export as a .tiff, webp, png and more.
Paint.NET has a lot of features and tools that would suit beginner digital artists. Digital artists can use it for photo editing, web designing, graphic design and digital painting.
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Draw and edit sections of your image with layers, and use a number of photography tools to alter the colour profiles of an image. Apply filters, use the clone stamp tool to sample areas of the image, clean up particular sections and remove red eye in portraits. Create gradients, text and use drawing tools to paint directly on the canvas.
This is a user friendly free digital art software that is less intimidating for beginners compared to more complex programs like GIMP. Artists can use the program straight away without much training. It’s possible to watch a YouTube video or two and figure out the toolbar intuitively for creating basic designs.
Paint.NET does have some advanced features that are on par with GIMP. For example, you can use the curves tool to make global and local adjustments to the tone and colour of an image, much like you would in Photoshop.
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Although the program doesn’t offer quite as many features or plugins as GIMP, it is a great free alternative for anyone starting out in digital art who doesn’t want to be overwhelmed by too many tools.
Autodesk Sketchbook has a free option with a fairly limited set of features. However, it’s still a great program for digital drawing and painting.
The user interface is very clean and simple which makes it great for those who want to get straight into their artwork without fussing about with too many settings. Choose from a variety of preset brushes or create your own, use the symmetry tool to create perfectly balanced drawings and paintings.
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This program also has a perspective tool that artists can use for sketching buildings or landscapes. If you want to take your sketches further, there is also the option to add layer effects.
Artweaver offers a basic version of their software for free. It’s a great raster program for sketching, drawing and painting, however the features are more limited than the premium version.
The tools in the program emulate traditional painting media, choose from brushes, pens, pencils. You can even make calligraphy lettering effects by using the calligraphy tool.
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If you’ve used any digital art tool before, Artweaver will be easy to navigate and get to grips with. Along with the industry standard image editing tools, Artweaver offers layer groups, blend methods, transparency and an exciting array of brushes to experiment with. Customise the program with the addition of plugins, or customise your workspace to suit your workflow.
Sketchpad is a free digital art software program that is specifically designed for digital painting and drawing and includes a
