I have most image/gfx programs. I love gimp. Seashore is Free and based on Gimp; but much more user-friendly for beginners.
I would start someone who is new to computer graphicDesign with Seashore the Seashore Help is well-written and makes it easy to learn tools/concepts/terminology …
whatever you chose to use … play around with it and experiment before you actually try to work in it.
MH PS @calvin9403 is so right about Photoshop Elements; it is for image editing only.
It depends on what you want to do... Neither one is really great when it comes to pixel art nor will you be able to easily create casual game art in the style of angry birds as they most likely went vectors.
I prefer the value for money ratio of corel's paket - and photopaint allows animation and good pixeling while coreldraw allows multiple pages and faster node manipulation...
I would suggest trying out gimp and the free trials of the other tools and then go with the one that 'feels' best. Personally I hate the Aadobe approach to UI and find it very unintuitive.
SlickZeroHouston, TexasMember, Sous ChefPosts: 2,870
None of them are worth a crap if you don't have the skills to make good art. Take tutorials, read up on the programs, do whatever you have to do to make an informed decision on what program to use. I personally use Photoshop and Illustrator, because that's what I've been using for the last 15 years. There are plenty of awesome alternatives that do basically the same thing, and they are free. Every program mentioned here so far are great alternatives to the Industry Standard, which is Photoshop and Illustrator, but it comes down to artistic talent. If you don't have it, it won't matter what program you use.
SpriteAttack is being very modest, and is not telling you he is one of the best vector artists you will hear from. My suggestion to you would be to download Inkscape for free, and get familiar with vector art. He also has some awesome tutorials that will instantly propel you into making graphics that are on par with anything you see in games now. Bookmark this, and make it your graphics bible. I'm not an ass kisser, I just know good art tutorials when I see them. http://2dgameartforprogrammers.blogspot.com/
Gilesgka - there are a zillion programs out there to create your art with - I have not even heard of serif draw but it looks as good as any other. Go for one, get creating, read tutorials and stay with it. Practice and more practice and eventually you will create the art you want. It's not the program - never has been and never will be... it's the artist making it happen. We have had this conversation a few times on the forum and it always boils down to the same thing - pick a tool you feel comfortable with and stick to it. I have been using Corel for some 20 odd years now - never was the best nor the only tool - but it does the trick for me... but I can achieve similar results with inkscape, illustrator or even youdraw free (for the ipad)...
As for PSe - it's just photo manipulation and a lot less of a painting tool.
gilesgka
Member Posts: 73
Comments
gimp is quite good I will say, and I don't hink pe6 is a drawing software
Calvin
Seashore is Free and based on Gimp; but much more user-friendly for beginners.
I would start someone who is new to computer graphicDesign with Seashore
the Seashore Help is well-written and makes it easy to learn tools/concepts/terminology …
whatever you chose to use … play around with it and experiment before you actually try to work in it.
MH
PS @calvin9403 is so right about Photoshop Elements; it is for image editing only.
I prefer the value for money ratio of corel's paket - and photopaint allows animation and good pixeling while coreldraw allows multiple pages and faster node manipulation...
I would suggest trying out gimp and the free trials of the other tools and then go with the one that 'feels' best. Personally I hate the Aadobe approach to UI and find it very unintuitive.
SpriteAttack is being very modest, and is not telling you he is one of the best vector artists you will hear from. My suggestion to you would be to download Inkscape for free, and get familiar with vector art. He also has some awesome tutorials that will instantly propel you into making graphics that are on par with anything you see in games now. Bookmark this, and make it your graphics bible. I'm not an ass kisser, I just know good art tutorials when I see them.
http://2dgameartforprogrammers.blogspot.com/
We have had this conversation a few times on the forum and it always boils down to the same thing - pick a tool you feel comfortable with and stick to it. I have been using Corel for some 20 odd years now - never was the best nor the only tool - but it does the trick for me... but I can achieve similar results with inkscape, illustrator or even youdraw free (for the ipad)...
As for PSe - it's just photo manipulation and a lot less of a painting tool.