Just bought Manga Studio 5/ Clip Studio Paint (Patreon)

Right now SmithMicro is having a 58% discount for MS5 and MS5 EX that ends on the 29th. I'm not endorsing it.. yet. I'm just letting you know if by chance anyone is interested!

Both as a tablet PC enthusiast and an illustrator in general I've had people suggesting Manga Studio 5/Clip Studio Paint to me as an updated alternative to Sai for years. Not sure what the story is, apparently they are the same program but w/e I just bought it since I saw the an ad for the regular version for $15 and EX for $80. I also went ahead and bought some fonts and their motion comic suite as well (which are also discounted,) because... well... I intend on using them!

I've seen and heard a lot of great things from this program and as awesome as Sai is unfortunately it's been years and years since they've had a real update and I've been dealing with Sai's issues for far too long now. I know a 64-bit version of sai is in the works but the fact that I am even saying this tells you how long in the tooth this is as an illustration platform. The lack of basic publishing tools, gradients, the limited brush engine and driver jankiness on tablet PCs.... if Sai had a new version available I'd go for it but for now I see no issue giving MS5/Clip Studio paint a chance.

Despite what the name would imply it's actually pretty robust with a lot of key features I like from Photoshop and Sai and unlike Painter and Photoshop It's highly optimized making it ideal for tablet PC use which makes it all the more enticing.

It's been years since I've given new drawing programs a chance so I'm pretty excited to see how this turns out!