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4.7 star rating
0
What is the best alternative to Pyxel Edit?
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Aseprite
All
16
Experiences
Pros
11
Cons
4
Specs
Top
Pro
Good selection of tools for animation
You can change the playback speed of the loop and the speed of each individual frame. There are three playback modes: forward, reverse, and ping-pong. Onion Skin mode is included to speed up the animation process and to allow for tagging the timeline to help keep animations organized. There is also a live preview so you can always see the end result. Onion Skin mode will overlay previous and next frames over the canvas so you can use them as references when drawing. For Onion Skin mode, you can adjust items like range, opacity, and tint, whether the onion frames are in front of or behind the canvas, etc. You can tag different parts of the timeline when, for example, you need different animations for the same character. You can then loop those tagged sections individually.
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Con
Not FLOSS anymore
The license was changed to a shared license, that does not allow redistribution of the source code. While older versions should still be FLOSS, the newest versions are not.
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Top
Pro
Easy to use
Getting started with the program is straightforward. It's laid out intuitively: the main workspace in the middle, color selection on the left, tool section on the right, and animation timeline at the bottom. All tools and the vast majority of functions have keyboard shortcuts, allowing for results to be obtained quickly. Aseprite is a very focused program: it's not filled with icons, there's no excess functionality, and dialog boxes generally only have a couple of options so you're never overwhelmed and it's easier to learn.
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Con
Text tool could be better
You can't change text and its font or size after you've inserted it. You have to re-insert text every time you wish to make an edit.
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Top
Pro
Responsive developer
Always in touch with the community and approachable via Twitter.
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Top
Con
No tilemap support yet
A tilemap editor is on the roadmap for version 1.6.
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Top
Pro
Awesome tools
Tools are good, easy to use.
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Top
Con
Pixel-styled interface can be jarring
Aseprite uses low-resolution window frames and fonts. Opinions vary on whether this sets the mood or gets in the way.
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Pro
Pixel perfect mode
It makes drawing lines and shapes less jaggy by default.
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Pro
Free and paid versions available
Aseprite is free if you compile it yourself. Its maintainers also offer a security-signed package with a technical support license for a one time fee of $14.99. It's also easy to use and presents really awesome tools.
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Pro
Cross-platform
Aseprite is available on macOS, Windows and Linux. The unfree source code is published on GitHub.
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Top
Pro
Made for pixel art
It was designed with pixel art in mind, unlike other general-purpose image editors. This means you get lots of useful features and very little clutter from tools and features that you won't need.
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Pro
Very intuitive thus easy for complete beginners
The interface invites you to be creative, and since it's pixel art you are creating, this adds to the feeling of being in the right environment. Everything seems to have its natural place and thereby could make beginners feel right at home.
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Pro
Beautiful interface
Aseprite has a beautiful pixel-art interface that makes it a pleasure to use.
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Top
Pro
Scriptable using Lua
Aseprite is scriptable using the Lua language, which can be used to automate tasks and add new functionality. Some consider the API more user-friendly than GrafX2's.
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Specs
Platforms:
Windows; OSX; Linux
License:
Commercial
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Experiences
$0-$14.99
201
51
PixiEditor
All
10
Experiences
Pros
7
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Free and open-source
It's actively developed on GitHub under MIT license, and it's totally free.
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Top
Con
A little buggy
It's still in early development stage, so there are some bugs.
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Top
Pro
Very easy to use
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Top
Con
Windows only
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Top
Pro
Stylus support
It has decent stylus support, erasing and drawing
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Top
Pro
Active development
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Pro
Multi-document editing
Interface is dockable and supports editing multiple documents at the same time, even side-to-side.
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Top
Pro
Clean and readable interface
UX is very similar to popular editing tools like photoshop, so getting started is easy.
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Top
Pro
Multi-document edititng
Interface is dockable and supports editing multiple documents at the same time, even side-to-side.
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Specs
Platforms:
Windows
License:
MIT
Technology:
C#
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Experiences
FREE
13
0
Piskel
All
15
Experiences
Pros
9
Cons
5
Specs
Top
Pro
Works in any browser
WPiskel is HTML5-based so it works in any modern browser.
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Top
Con
Lacks a true resizing tool
There doesn't seem to be any decent tool in Piskel for an easy stretch or shrink. The only ways possible is resizing the whole image or importing and image and shrinking it from the export tool.
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Top
Pro
Animation support
Piskel includes onion skinning, exporting to sprite sheets or gifs, defining frame rate, and present live playback.
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Top
Con
No button for undo
Have to use ctrl+Z.
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Top
Pro
Sleek interface
It is also easy on the eyes.
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Top
Con
Rotation is limited
Rotation is only made in predefined angles. Does not support variable rotations or mouse based rotation. Does not support rotating selected areas, only frames-layers.
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Top
Pro
Very simple for beginners
Once you get the hang of it its a very powerful tool
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Top
Con
Shading by hand
Shading can be difficult.
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Top
Pro
Offline versions available
The downloadable version of Piskel (built with node-webkit) is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
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Top
Con
Doesn't work well with drawpads
In the online tool you can't draw lines at all, yet using a graphic tablet, being in the offline version controls are pretty chunky and everytime you start drawing a line, the screen flickers black for a short period of time.
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Top
Pro
Easy to use lighten and darken tool
With the click of a button you can create amazing shading.
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Top
Pro
Enough tools to be powerful
It has enough tools to be powerful, but not too many to put off beginners.
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Top
Pro
Open source
Piskel is licensed under Apache License, meaning that the user can use the software for any purpose.
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Top
Pro
Has a straight foreward tile view mode
... so you can instantly see the result while drawing tiles
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Specs
License:
Apache
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Experiences
FREE
45
7
GrafX2
All
13
Experiences
Pros
10
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Scriptable using Lua
GrafX2 is scriptable using the Lua language, which can be used to automate tasks and add new functionality to it. The script library features advanced color reduction and enhancement tools, palette analysis, and much more.
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Top
Con
Dated look and feel
It looks like it was never supposed to be used in the modern world.
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Top
Pro
Supports many file formats
GrafX2 supports many file formats, including the popular gif and png, but also importing and exporting from deluxe paint, degas elite, and various other editors using custom formats.
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Top
Con
Lack of modern features
Some modern features that are necessary to do pixel art creation for game dev work are lacking.
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Top
Pro
Very large number of tools and effects
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Top
Pro
Free, open source, and cross-platform
GrafX2 is totally free to use, copy, and modify. It's available on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Haiku, AROS, MorphOS, SkyOS, Syllable, Mint, and a few more systems. Basically anything is supported by the SDL library.
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Top
Pro
Palette color cycling
GraphX2 being based on older 256 bitmap software has inherited some tricks that modern pixel editors do not have . One of them being the ability to cycle color palette and produce animations and effects with it.
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Top
Pro
Has a great palette tool
You can create gradients from one color to another, work in either RGB or HSL color space, save and load palettes, sort and organize palettes, and even work on "color cycling" images.
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Top
Pro
Supports tileset addition and extraction
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Top
Pro
Supports animations
The program has a basic support for animation using frames in newer versions. Graphics can be cloned and copied between frames and changed slightly. See here how to animate with GrapfX2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnq6zBZOqoM
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Top
Pro
Has a customizable UI with themes support
Theme UI style can easily be changed from settings including buttons and colors.
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Top
Pro
Drawing constraint mode for vintage 8bits machine
The program is able to enforce the pixel constraints of old machines (C64, ZX Spectrum, Apple II, Game Boy Color, etc.) For example, in ZX Spectrum mode, only 2 different colors can be used in a 8x8 pixel block.
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Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, macOS, Haiku
License:
GPL2
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Experiences
FREE
126
20
GraphicsGale
All
8
Experiences
Pros
5
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Powerful animation tools
The animation tools in GraphicsGale are very easy to work with. Furthermore, the live preview helps clean up the animations in real time without a hitch.
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Top
Con
Only available on Windows
GraphicsGale is only available on Windows.
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Top
Pro
Offers a great palette tool
With GraphicsGale, the user can save and load palette, create gradation, and make color uniform.
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Top
Con
UI requires a lot of clicking
The UI windows not very nice and requires a lot of clicking. For example mouse wheel is not useable at all to zoom in and out in main window.
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Top
Pro
Free
Graphics Gale used to cost money but recently the program switched over to a free license.
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Top
Pro
Pretty easy to learn the UI and the tools you have to work with are fantastic
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Top
Pro
Works really well under Wine
Wine can help emulate Windows on non-Windows systems. You can get Graphics Gale running anywhere Wine can run. See WineHQ for more details.
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Specs
Platforms:
Windows
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Experiences
FREE
85
17
Adobe Animate (formerly Flash Professional)
All
8
Experiences
Pros
6
Cons
2
Top
Con
No more support
Adobe ditched AIR which they will EOL at 2020
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Top
Pro
Powerful tool
This program has developed AAA TV Series and Movies like Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
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Top
Con
Exspensive
Flash can be priced at $999.99 on the official Abobe store.
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Top
Pro
Export to HTML5
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Top
Pro
Interpolation between frames
Several ways to create animation and special effects: motion tweens, classic tweens.
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Top
Pro
Create and organize layers
Layers help you organize the artwork in your document. You can draw and edit objects on one layer without affecting objects on another layer.
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Top
Pro
Bone tool
Bone tool that enables you to link symbols together quickly and easily in a parent/child relationship commonly referred to as inverse kinematics.
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Top
Pro
Easy to use
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Experiences
Get it
here
18
2
Cosmigo Pro Motion NG
All
18
Experiences
Pros
15
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Good tilemap editing tools
Tilemap can be drawn with tools that automatically keep your palette of tiles consistent. Both free painting and tile-placing modes work in the same workspace allowing you to easily switch between workflows.
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Top
Con
Pro version and upgrades come at a price
The Pro version of Cosmigo Pro Motion costs $39 and includes a number of features that aren't available in the limited free version. If you have an existing Pro Motion license, it costs $19 to upgrade to the newest version or you stick with the feature limited free edition.
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Top
Pro
Supports palette indexing
You can separate the color information out of the image file into a separate palette file.
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Top
Con
Supports Windows only
Pro Motion only supports Windows, but you can easily run it on macOS and Linux using Wine, PlayOnMac, PlayOnLinux etc.
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Top
Pro
Onion Skinning support
You can use Onion Skinning to see surrounding frames to help create animations.
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Top
Pro
Supports custom grids
The user can create normal rastered or custom grids with custom shapes, or they can just mix up all they want.
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Top
Pro
Marquee select allows you to see your results
Pro Motion gives you a direct feel for the pixels: how they will lay down when pressed as soon as you've finished marquee selecting. It's thus very easy to drag around to get a perfect look, moving it a few pixels here or there. Related to this then is the way you can play with single-color mode. You can drag-click the 'paste' to create different colored silhouettes of the selection. Even while zoomed in, you can see the exact pixels as they would be rendered if set down where your mouse is.
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Top
Pro
The Developer is very active and helpful.
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Top
Pro
Includes almost all original DPaint and PPaint functionality
Oldschool pixel artists will find all their beloved functions from the Amiga Pixel Art Programs, DPaint and PPaint. Such functions include smear, paint, color cycle, mirror, kaleidoscope, tint, smooth, fill with dither or random dither, fill with spherical color fade, auto outline, and tons more. Most keyboard shortcuts are the same as those of DPaint, so you immediately feel at home with ProMotion. You can of course re-define them as you wish.
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Pro
Transparent 'color' behaves like any other color on the canvas
If you want to create a simple 'masking', it's very simple. Most normal paint programs have transparency, but what they don't let you do is treat transparency as if it were another pixel on the screen. Typically, you are required to set up layers, and use eraser to block/unblock areas to get the effect you want. This is both long-winded and uncomfortable.
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Top
Pro
Revamped Layer System (NG) support
Pro Motion supports the regular Layer System you would expect from Photoshop, but with the added support of animation layers (which have frames) and static image layers (for templates, backgrounds, or other static elements).
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Pro
Brush containers useful for animations
The user can copy any part of the frame or even whole animations and use them as brushes or just store them for easy re-use later.
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Pro
Offers drawing masks and brush capture masks
You can easily create a mask to protect part of the image against modification, or to exclude part of the image from the brush capture action. The mask is created either by selecting the colors (from the palette or directly from the image), or by drawing it using any of the available tools (pencil, line, circle, box, etc.) Once defined, you can freeze the mask or let the program update it, based on the drawing colors.
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Top
Pro
Background color is accessible by right-click
Pro Motion gives you instant right-click access to the background color. This is useful in cases where pixels are very close to each other and you are not able to easily get the balance of each color right.
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Pro
Free limited functionality version
There is a free version available for Pro Motion that has a limited feature set but is a good way to check out the software. This is also a good choice for those who do not need many features but want to use a simple pixel editor. The limitations of the free version can be seen here.
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Top
Pro
Gradient Tool
There's a Gradient Tool with several modes of dithering.
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Top
Pro
Supports layers
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Specs
Platforms:
Windows
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Experiences
$0-$39
36
6
GIMP
All
12
Experiences
Pros
7
Cons
4
Specs
Top
Con
Unintuitive interface
GIMP doesn't embrace OS X application design, thus Mac users might have a hard time wrapping their heads around GIMP's interface.
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Top
Pro
Free, open source and cross-platform
GIMP is completely free and open source, meaning you can use GIMP and all of its features without spending a penny. This makes it an excellent case for artists or designers who may not have the budget to spend over 700 USD on Photoshop. It is also available for free on Windows, Mac OS and Linux. It's licensed under GPL with source code available here.
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Top
Con
Less features than other programs
Being a free program, it shouldn't be surprising that it has limited features. For those needing more advanced features for something more professional, GIMP just isn't for you.
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Top
Pro
Powerful
GIMP is the most feature rich free image editing tool. It has most image manipulation and workflow tools that you would expect from an image editing software and what it lacks it makes up with plugins.
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Top
Con
Lacks adjustment layers
Adjustment layers offer a non-destructive way of combining different photo manipulations. Without adjustment layers the only way to see changes is by irreversibly editing the image. They are promised in future updates.
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Top
Pro
Content-aware tools with a plugin
There's a content-aware fill plugin available for GIMP.
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Top
Con
Poor performance
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Pro
Modular & single-window interface options
By default GIMP splits out each window, but you can check to use the one screen mode in options if you prefer.
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Pro
Lightweight
Compared to to other photo editing software, GIMP is very light weight. In addition it isn't very resource-intensive, meaning you can put it on a flash drive and have it with you to load up on just about any computer.
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Top
Pro
Beginner-friendly
Gimp has less features than programs like Photoshop, but for a beginner, or someone not needing complicated options, Gimp is the perfect choice. It allows you to quickly do basic photo manipulation so you can easily get the product you need without having to worry about complicated features getting in the way.
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Top
Pro
Full channel support
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Specs
Platforms:
Windows 10/8/7; Linux; MacOS
License:
GPLv3+
Tethered capture:
No
Non-Distructive Editing:
No, Feature in development with GEGL
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Experiences
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here
283
60
PaintShop Pro
All
5
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Con
Windows only
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Top
Pro
Has tutotirals
There are quite a few tutorial videos available on Paint Shop's website for users.
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Top
Pro
Several file formats supported
Can read and write images in several file formats: PCX, PNG, GIF, CDR, PSD, JPG, EPS, TIF, TGA, WMF... even RAW.
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Top
Pro
Custom palettes
Being able to work with a pre-defined number of color palettes, save and load custom palettes and several modes to reduce the number of colors on a picture.
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Specs
Platforms:
Windows
Tethered capture:
No
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here
15
5
Photoshop
All
19
Experiences
Pros
9
Cons
9
Specs
Top
Pro
Industry standard
Photoshop is used by professionals everywhere in a wide variety of fields including photography, graphic design and digital art. It is the de facto standard for image manipulation. If you've seen a magazine ad featuring a model, you've probably seen the effects of Photoshop. You won't be alone when using Photoshop.
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Top
Con
Expensive
The standalone version of Photoshop costs $19.99/month, though it can be leased as part of the Creative Cloud Photography bundle that includes Lightroom for $9.99/month.
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Top
Pro
Trove of plugins that extend functionality are available
A wide variety of plugins that add new effects, improve existing functionality and simplify workflow are available.
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Con
Latest versions of Photoshop are subscription-only
While you can still buy CS6 from 2012 without needing a subscription by contacting Adobe support or the cut-down Photoshop Elements, any full-version version of Photoshop past CS6 requires a subscription.
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Top
Pro
Lots of tutorials
There's a huge number of both free and paid tutorials available online. Websites like Lynda.com offer premium high-quality, in-depth tutorials, but there are plenty of free alternatives to be found on YouTube, blogs and specialized sites on the Internet.
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Con
Learning it can take some time
While you can relatively quickly learn how to perform a few basic image editing tasks, understanding Photoshop's ins and outs can be difficult. It's partially due to the sheer amount of functionality that Photoshop packs (and understanding that some of the advanced functionality can take a while to understand on its own), and partially due to it being aimed at professionals with little hand-holding for novice users.
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Top
Pro
A cheaper, standalone version called Photoshop Elements is available
A stripped down version of Photoshop, called Photoshop Elements can be bought as a standalone application for $100.
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Con
Very slow
It needs a very power CPU and GPU and many GBs of RAM and still it is so slow.
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Pro
Includes powerful content-aware tools
Photoshop includes content-aware tools such as content-aware fill that can fill in a select area based on what surrounds it.
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Con
Stop paying, it vaporises
With Adobes adaptation of the "subscription world" PhotoShop too is available as subscription software only. This means it will never become yours. And if you stop paying, you won't have any PhotoShop any more. Whether you are OK with that or not, it also means that PhotoShop for a large part becomes software for those "who can afford it". Or "push cost to others". Like customers of professionals. Which is also a way to become an "industry standard".
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Top
Pro
Packs a staggering amount of functionality
Photoshop is the most fully featured image editing software available today allowing you to perform highly advanced image manipulation. It has tools for RAW image adjustments, lens correction, retouching, image stitching, HDR, fixing framing. It supports most professional color modes and file formats. It includes extensive lists of filters, styles, effects, fonts as well as tools for painting, sketching and typography work. It understands both raster and vector graphics. It even includes tools for video editing, working with 3D objects and support for 3D printing.
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Con
Affinity Photo is just as good at a fraciton of the price
Switching from Photoshop to Affinity Photo and it's hard to notice the difference quality of a professional's work. They say that PS is the industry standard, but so very few pros that tried Affinity Photo ever look back.
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Pro
Integrates with Creative Cloud
You can save all projects directly to the Creative Cloud allowing you to access them from any device and with any relevant Adobe software.
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Con
Not good enough to be so expensive
Probably the only big advantage Photoshop has over the other free software is the adjustment layers. But still too expensive for just one feature.
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Pro
Creative Cloud Photography subscription includes Lightroom
Lightroom is another image editing software from Adobe that's specifically designed for photo editing and managing of large quantities of digital images.
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Con
Batch editing of images is not straightforward
Photoshop is designed to work extensively on one image at a time and while batch editing support exists, it's not that intuitive to use.
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Pro
Mobile companion apps available
There's a free mobile app available for iOS, Android & Windows Phone.
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Con
Asset management capabilities are lacking
In Photoshop asset management is done through a separate program called Bridge. As Bridge is supposed to be a file management tool for not just Photoshop's files, but for files generated by all of Adobe's applications it covers a breadth of capabilities, but not depth.
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Specs
Platforms:
Windows, macOS
License:
Hagu
Tethered capture:
via Bridge
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Experiences
$9.99/mo
114
47
Pixly
All
14
Experiences
Pros
13
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Color selector with different color systems
RGB, CMY, HSB, and a somewhat different HUSL.
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Con
No PC version
The PC version has not yet been released.
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Top
Pro
Offers color ramp generator
Pixly offers a color ramp generator that then exports directly into a custom palette.
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Pro
You can use reference images
You can work with a reference image on top of your art, or by its side.
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Pro
Allows you to continue your work even when not in front of your PC
This tool works on both phones and tablets that run Android, which is handy for when you do not have access to a PC.
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Pro
Layered projects
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Pro
Gestures that feel natural on touch screens
In Pixly, you can move the art around with two fingers (like in Google Maps) and change the brush/eraser size with a three-finger pinch.
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Pro
Supports onion skinning
Onion skinning is also called ghosting. It allows the user to see the past and previous frames, while editing the current frame. This way, the user can make decisions on how to create or change an image.
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Pro
Mirroring support
In Pixly, the user can make symmetrical art with a mirror, or even go bananas setting up two or more mirrors at different angles at once.
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Pro
Transparency support
The user can make transparent sprites in Pixly.
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Pro
Animation support
Even though this is a mobile tool, it's fully featured and even allows you to create animations.
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Pro
Standard and custom palettes
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Pro
Live image tiling
The user can create tiles in Pixly and keep an eye on progress in real time.
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Pro
Color filters
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Experiences
Free
9
1
Tiled
All
14
Experiences
Pros
12
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
Multi-platform
Not everyone uses the same operating system and why should they? Tiled supports Windows, Mac, and Linux so you can work in any environment you like. Also with daily builds you get to stay ahead of the curve!
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Con
Must implement .tmx if your engine doesn’t support Tiled.
It’s not a huge deal but you do need to implement Tiled into your engine if you don’t have it. Don't be lazy just follow this guideline to get your game running. Must implement .tmx if your engine doesn’t support Tiled.
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Pro
Free and open-source
Using the GPL license means you get to use this software free and are free to make changes to it as you see fit.
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Pro
Unlimited layers
Sometimes you need 20 layers to make something epic. Tiled lets you create as many layers as you need.
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Pro
Use shell commands
Setup shell commands within Tiled so you can setup workflows for each of your games.
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Pro
Supports Orthographic and Isometric tiles
Whether you want a straight on look at your world or a slightly skewed one Tiled has you covered.
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Pro
Terrains
Setup boarders with your tilesets so making tiles provide the correct connections automatically. This feature will speed up your level creation.
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Pro
Auto-mapping
One of the coolest things is to create rules so you can automate the mapping process. Want to have certain tiles to always have a collider? Simply make a rule for it and it'll do it automatically. Speed up your mapping process with this feature.
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Pro
Many engines already have support
A big list of engines already have support for Tiled provided by those in the community. See if the engine you use is already on the list.
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Pro
Can create colliders and triggers within editor
Tiled makes it easy to setup triggers and colliders with its vector tools or you can set up a tile that’s invisible in your game. Change collider/trigger properties so you can access them within your game.
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Pro
Tile size and image size do not have to match
Want to import a giant object but don’t want to split it up? Import it and place it the exact size you want it as one object.
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Pro
Properties
Create properties for your map, layers, tilesets, tiles, and objects. Have the flexibility you need to create the best levels for your game.
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Pro
Engine agnostic
Tiled provides an easy solution for tile maps for any engine even the custom engine you are now making. This makes Tiled a very versatile tool for 2D games.
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Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac
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Experiences
Free
102
13
Paint.NET
All
10
Experiences
Pros
7
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Easy to learn and use
Unlike most photo editing software, Paint.NET is simple to learn and easy to use. This means less time is spent learning the in's and out's of Paint.NET and more time on photo editing. For those who only edit photos sporadically and don't have time to invest in learning complicated tools for editing, Paint.Net will suit your needs.
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Con
Only available on Windows
Paint.NET is only available on Windows.
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Pro
Free software
There is no charge for this software; but donations are welcomed.
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Con
No project-based interface
You can only edit a single image at a time in Paint.NET. For example, in other tools you can open 5 or a 100 images at the same time, and stack those windows in all directions. Furthermore, when you are editing in Paint.NET you can only "view" a single image at a time, even though you can have multiple images open. This limits your zooming ability, as the image will go fullscreen quite quickly, and hide parts of it behind the floating toolbars which can not be embedded anywhere on the screen.
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Pro
Lightweight
Paint.net provides a streamlined but effective core tool set. Support for advanced and niche features is provided through modular plugins, allowing the user to install only what's needed.
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Pro
Actively developed
The project is active and being continually expanded and refined.
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Pro
Active and friendly community
The forums are filled with tutorials, as well as people who are friendly and eager to help.
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Pro
Plugins allow extra functionality
Plugins can be made by anyone in the community, and are offered for download on the forum. They extend the capabilities of Paint.NET to cover most tasks.
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Pro
HiDPI support
Paint.NET supports fully HiDPI displays, with no scaling problems.
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Specs
Platforms:
Windows
Technology:
.NET
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Experiences
FREE
77
15
Pixla
All
3
Experiences
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Pro
"Free"
Considering what you get and in comparison with some competitors, you have to say that this is a pretty inexpensive piece of software. If you use it, you are free to make a donation. Otherwise Pixla is "free".
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Con
GUI
The style of the GUI might seem a little outdated, but that is a matter of personal taste more than anything.
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Pro
Easy to use
Clean, uncluttered interface which is a must for a tool like this.
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0
1
0
Blender
All
25
Experiences
Pros
16
Cons
8
Specs
Top
Pro
Free and open source
Blender is licensed under the GPL. Some Blender modules such as the Cycles rendering engine are licensed under the Apache 2.0 license.
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Con
Too many possibilities, no unified workflow
The operations are not optimized enough for specific tasks.
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Pro
Wide import and export format support
Support lots of modern 3D formats including DAE and FBX - ideal for game developers.
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Con
The physics engine is a bit lagging behind, especially the destruction physics
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Pro
Has a powerful rendering engine
Blender runs the Cycles path tracing engine under the hood. Cycles is a very powerful rendering engine capable of full path tracing (light fall off, caustics, volumetrics). It is mostly compatible with OpenCL and CUDA rendering, and is implementing mycropolygon displacement features. The upcoming release has a viewport engine called EEVEE whereby you can see and interact with your work in render mode in real time!
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Con
Difficult learning curve
Blender has a history of being unintuitive, but the 2.8 overhaul made the program far easier for beginners to pick up, and changes continue to be made to further improve the experience. However, there is still a learning curve.
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Pro
Python extensibility
Blender embeds Python 3, which can be used to write add-ons, tools, extend the interface, rig characters and automate tasks.
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Con
Not good for Industrial Design because it uses average vertex normals
You can not create a hard surface with a radius continuity degree along a surface using a specific radius value.
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Pro
Powerful animation suite
Blender provides a full rigging system, and automates animation by interpolating between keyframe positions.
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Con
Vertex normal issues on edges after boolean operations.
After creating a simple boolean operation the vertex normals are broken. A lot of work to fix the issue and you loos surface continuity.
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Pro
Supports both low-poly and hi-poly modeling
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Con
Bad vertex normal after boolean operations
Does not handle well polygon intersections. And need tweaking by hand points or adding average vertex normals via modifiers.
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Pro
Regular release schedule
Releases are made every ~3 months.
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Con
Does not handle NURBs
Is not capable of real hard surface for industrial design because is not able to reproduce surface continuity degree as a NURBs does and average vertex normal destroy surface radius.
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Pro
Sculpting and 3D painting features
Although Blender's 3d painting and sculpting tools (mostly painting) are not at par with specialized software like Substance Painter, ZBrush, or Mari, it is more than capable of getting most jobs done if the user takes the time to learn and understand it.
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Con
Poor particle system
The Blender particle system can at times be a little limiting and finicky (and buggy) to get working. Even if it can get most straight forward jobs done, it is far from the most advanced system, and could benefit largely from advancements.
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Pro
Includes video editing & compositing tools
Blender's node-based compositor has comprehensive video sequencing and post-processing features.
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Pro
Node based modeling support
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Pro
Keyboard shortcuts
Good keyboard shortcuts for everything. Keep your left hand on the keyboard and your right hand on the mouse.
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Pro
Very useful for a freelancer
It offers a round solution (it covers many areas and professional fields) for a freelancer, for free, constantly updated, very polished, and allowing high quality results that clients do require. After some learning, it becomes very useful for professional work.
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Pro
Has a large community
There's a huge community to help you get started immediately.
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Pro
Coherent and streamlined workflow / internal use logic
The trick with Blender is to get used to its usage philosophy, as it keeps consistent through all the application. Once you get it, every feature or addition is learnt naturally, almost effortlessly.
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Pro
Very versatile
You don't have to switch between software when you want to do different things. Because modeling, sculpting, composting, video editing etc can all be done in blender.
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Pro
Generative geometry using nodes
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Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac, FreeBSD
Technology:
C, Python
3D:
Yes
2D:
Yes (as of 2.8)
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Experiences
Free
663
95
Spine
All
10
Experiences
Pros
6
Cons
4
Top
Pro
Integration libraries support most engines
Spine provides integrated modules for 14 major engines including GameMaker Studio, Cocos2Dx, LOVE, MonoGame, Unity, XNA, Flash, HTML 5, libgdx, Corona, and more. Generic runtime libraries are also available for C, C++, Objective C, C#, JavaScript, Lua and ActionScript 3. Dozens of third party libraries support additional targets.
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Con
Spine Professional is expensive
Spine Essential includes nearly all features, except IK, weights, and meshes. Spine Professional is expensive, though it does give all future updates for life (Spine is updated very often).
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Pro
Simplified UI allows for an easy learning curve
No-nonsense workflow allows you to create your artwork in programs much better suited for the task like Illustrator and Inkscape for example, while Spine itself focuses only on the important task of skeletal animation.
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Con
Requires EVERY developer to have a license
Ever developer needs a license, not just the animator, or an overall license for the project. The license agreement is extremely restrictive.
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Pro
Allows for easy use of artwork from third party programs
Spine's developers provide scripts which makes exporting artwork from third party programs much easier to do.
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Con
Doesn't support gamemaker 2.3
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Pro
Community-driven feature roadmap
Esoteric Software maintains public Waffle issue trackers to help plan and prioritize feature additions.
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Con
No integration for lesser known engines
Spine does not directly support some game engines, such as Construct 2 or Clickteam Fusion.
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Pro
Funded via Kickstarter
Spine received resounding support from Kickstarter backers, beating its pledge goal by over 5 times. A second successful Kickstarter added meshes and other important features.
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Pro
Price high for this product
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Experiences
$69 / $299
227
41
Krita
All
12
Experiences
Pros
7
Cons
4
Specs
Top
Pro
Easy to use layout
All the most used and useful tools are easy to find in Krita's UI and are often just one click away. They are not hidden behind menus or dropdowns.
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Con
New features are not tested thoroughly
Since releases are so often and with little time between them, usually new features are not tested a lot and this can bring a lot of bugs with them. Which fortunately are quickly patched in the next release.
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Pro
Constantly updated
Krita is getting constant releases with updates and bug fixes. New features are added at a pace that far surpasses the other alternatives.
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Con
Documentation is lacking
Krita's official documentation is incomplete in some areas, especially for new features that are constantly added. But this is compensated with it's great design and usability which makes it easier to understand how things work.
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Pro
Free and open source
Krita is completely free and open source. They have raised a couple of successful Kickstarters in the past to get the initial financing and now they are accepting donations.
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Con
Poor touch controls
They are still pretty much a WIP. But they are getting there.
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Pro
Developed in part by KDE, which has a great community and therefore great support.
KDE has a long history of making solid applications.
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Con
Working with text is not that pleasant
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Pro
Amazing support for displaying brushes
Krita's preset brushes are one of the default dockers. Each brush has a preview on mouseover that shows a detailed view of the type of brush involved. All the brushes also have useful and descriptive names such as "HP Pencil" or "Textured Fuzzy".
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Pro
Very customizable
Although the UI is rather busy, Krita is very customizable. The editing window can be themed and the sidebar can be customized extensively throw many dockers or panes.
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Pro
Easy editing in a tiled view
Tiled view that shows your image tiled in the editor, and permits you to edit it as you are seeing it tiled. If the brush passes out of your texture, it will just automatically wrap back the painting to the other side of the original texture, while permitting you to paint and see the results on any of the tiled "clones" (the shortcut key to activate this is w by default).
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Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac, Android
License:
Open source
Technology:
C++, Qt
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Experiences
Free
489
77
Pixelmator
All
9
Experiences
Pros
8
Specs
Top
Pro
Beautiful, easy to use UI
Pixelmator's interface is pleasant to look at, easy to use and specifically optimized for OS X users, making it very intuitive for long-time Mac users.
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Pro
Feature rich
Not only does Piexelmator provide easy to use tools that you should expect in any image editor, it also has rare tools such as layer styles, liquify tools and OS X optimized, fast image manipulation engine among others.
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Pro
Supports layer styles
Layer styles allow non-destructively applying effects to a layer.
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Pro
Powerful effects
Dozens of visual effects available, easily discovered from the visual Effects Browser, broken into categories. Effects have interactive dialogs and live preview.
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Pro
Multiple-display support
Pixelmator can be used across any number of monitors.
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Pro
Loads quickly
Gives you common image editing capabilities almost instantly.
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Pro
Great performance
Pixelmator's image engine is specifically optimized for use with Macs, providing one the best performance results available on OS X.
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Pro
Inexpensive
Pixelmator costs just $30 on the App Store. Additionally, it often comes bundled with other software that you might also find useful bringing the price down.
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Specs
Platforms:
OSX
Tethered capture:
No
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Experiences
Get it
here
67
16
PaintCAD 4Windows
All
5
Experiences
Pros
5
Top
Pro
Doesn't need to be installed
Simply download package, unpack, and use: no installation/setup/registry are required. Furthermore, all settings are saved in its own folder.
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Pro
You can draw images using the keyboard alone
The cursor on the image allows you to move it to any pixel of your image and place colored pixels precisely. You can draw on a small notebook (when travelling on a train or bus, for example), or in any other situation where you don't have access to a mouse.
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Pro
Completely free to use
All the user has to do is download the software and put it to use: draw images, create animations (gif), videos (avi), tilemaps, draw raster PCF fonts, and use it on your images for free!
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Pro
Support for Russian and English
The interface and help system have two localizations (English and Russian) included in the distributive package.
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Pro
Works with every Windows version
PaintCAD 4Windows doesn't need any .net, java, or other VM installed: it is a pure Windows 32-bit application and will work on every Windows-based operating system starting from Windows 95 until Windows 10.
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FREE
3
1
GAF Converter
All
4
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Supports 99% of what can be created in Flash
Artists and animators don’t need any special planning or preparations of their SWF files before converting.
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Con
Sound support only in Premium version
GAF Converter supports sound but only in the Premium version.
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Pro
Allows using Flash animations in Unity
You can convert Flash animations directly in Unity with the help of plug-in. The converted .gaf file consists of a texturte atlas and a binary config.
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Pro
Supports different frameworks
Full playback API supported in Unity3d, Cocos2d-x, Cocos2d, Starling.
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here
3
1
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