SketchBook Pro 6 

by Autodesk

• Free up the sketching process with ultra-responsive digital pencils, pens, markers, paintbrushes and airbrushes that look and feel just like the real thing.
• Designed to feel and respond just like a physical sketchpad when used in companion with pen tablets such as Wacom Bamboo, Intuos, and Cintq products or with Windows-based tablet devices.
• Familiar tools make it easy to get started, including pencils, paintbrushes, markers, airbrushes, erasers, flood fill tools, and smudge brushes.
• Draw Styles & Guide tools, like French curves, help create clean and precise strokes
• Streamlined interface delivering an unobstructed and discoverable environment, keeping you in the creative zone.

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B008TN81ZG
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 7.5 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: September 1, 2012
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (146 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #1 in Software > Graphics > CAD
  • #38 in Software > The Mac Software Store

Product Description

Platform: PC/Mac

From the Manufacturer

(view larger).

(view larger).

(view larger).

(view larger).

Autodesk SketchBook Pro for Windows/Mac is a fun and intuitive paint and drawing application, enabling you to transform your computer into the ultimate artist toolkit. With the tools designed for professional artists, illustrators and designers, SketchBook Pro’s easy-to-use interface will unlock the artist in everyone. SketchBook Pro is specially optimized to work in companion with pen tablets such as Wacom Bamboo, Intuos, and Cintq products or with Windows-based tablet devices to deliver an authentic drawing experience and supports multi-touch navigation support on the latest Wacom devices.

Key Benefits and Features

• Free up the sketching process with ultra-responsive digital pencils, pens, markers, paintbrushes and airbrushes that look and feel just like the real thing.
• Designed to feel and respond just like a physical sketchpad when used in companion with pen tablets such as Wacom Bamboo, Intuos, and Cintq products or with Windows-based tablet devices.
• Streamlined interface delivering an unobstructed and discoverable environment, keeping you in the creative zone.
• Featuring Copic Markers and the Copic Color System
• Familiar tools make it easy to get started, including pencils, paintbrushes, markers, airbrushes, erasers, flood fill tools, and smudge brushes.
• Draw Styles and Guide tools, like French curves, help create clean and precise strokes.
• Multi-touch navigation support on the latest Wacom devices.
• Synthetic paintbrushes that behave more like traditional paint mediums, such as acrylics.
• Smudge brushes for blending colors.
• Even more brush controls to customize.

System Requirements

Windows

• Microsoft Windows7 or Windows XP
• 1 GHz Intel or AMD processor
• 1 GB of RAM
• Graphics card capable of 1,024 x 768 display with 128MB RAM
• Pressure-sensitive tablet and pen recommended for basic features

Mac

• Apple Mac OS Version 10.6, 10.7, or 10.8, 1GHz, Intel-Based CPU
• 1GB of RAM
• Graphics card capable of 1,024 x 768 display with 128MB RAM, recommended with Core Image Support
• Pressure-sensitive tablet and pen recommended for basic features

Product Description

The award-winning application for everyone who loves to draw. Autodesk SketchBook Pro for Windows/Mac is a fun and intuitive paint and drawing application, enabling you to transform your computer into the ultimate artist toolkit. With the best-in-class tools designed for professional artists, illustrators and designers, SketchBook Pro’s easy-to-use interface will unlock the artist in everyone. SketchBook Pro is specially optimized to work in companion with pen tablets such as Wacom Bamboo, Intuos, and Cintq products or with Windows-based tablet devices to deliver an authentic drawing experience and supports multi-touch navigation support on the latest Wacom devices.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

114 of 116 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars See it in action! October 28, 2012

By V. Hutson TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Platform for Display:PC/Mac|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Length: 8:51 Mins

I do own Photoshop CS6 and Painter 12--but this is the software I prefer to sketch in. Why? Because for me it provides the closest sensation to sketching with traditional pencil and paper.

The pencil tool creates lines that are almost identical to the lines you would get with a regular pencil. If you have a pressure sensitive laptop or monitor (Wacom Cintiq) then the experience is very similar to using a pencil on paper. Download the free trial version and try it out first to see what I mean.

I also really like the simplicity of the interface. The workspace is not filled up with menu bars and palettes. This is really important if you are working on a small monitor or a pressure sensitive laptop with a small screen. Having written that, each new version of Sketchbook Pro does add more and more available palettes and windows, but it is still very easy to keep most of the palettes closed and still have access to the various tools.

Here are some of the great NEW features in Sketchbook Pro 6. Check out the video to see these in action.

1. Additional Brush Libraries! My current favorite is the new "Synthetic Round Brush 2." These brushes are similar to the natural brush feel of many of the brushes in Painter 12.

2. Copic Color Palettes. Makes selecting colors and incorporating slight variations so easy!

3. Brush size can now be controlled with the right and left square bracket keys (the same keyboard shortcut as Photoshop).

4. Layer Blending Modes (normal, multiply, screen, and add)

5. New Color Puck (similar to Painter)

My usual workflow is to start out a sketch in Sketchbook Pro and then I bring it into Photoshop or Painter to finish. However, with the new features in Sketchbook Pro 6 I believe I will be doing more work in this program. It's also just more fun to use!

Bottom line: When it comes to pure sketching---this software is my first choice. Combined with a pressure sensitive laptop or monitor--it doesn't get any more natural feeling than this.

52 of 56 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good option for drawing/painting October 25, 2012

By J. FELLA VINE™ VOICE

Platform for Display:PC/Mac|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I've been doing digital art for six or seven years now and have used a handful of good programs. I currently have Photoshop, Corel Painter, Manga Studio and GIMP (which is open-source), and have also used Photoshop Elements. So, I think I can give a good, objective review of this software.

First off, this has a rather charming and unique interface that focuses a lot on radial menus, which is kind of a nice change of pace. This makes the interface and screen less cluttered, but everything you need is easy and quick to access. It has a good, solid set of basic tools: pencils, pens, airbrushes, etc. with the addition of a couple of brushes to add texture (charcoal, cammo) which are very useful. Now keep in mind, basic tools can get you all the way to (over very close to) photo-realism if you're skilled and patient enough. After all, look at what artists can do in real life with just a pencil, eraser, and paper. Just looking at some of the work people have done with this program will show you it's capable of some impressive results. But as is often the case, it isn't as much about the software as it is about the artist who uses it. You still have to have skill =)

I won't compare this to Photoshop or similar programs, because those are somewhat different programs. But you could compare this to Corel Painter (obviously this would be a scaled-down version) as well as to the Paint.Net program and Mypaint 1.0 (both free). And I have to mention the open-source software GIMP, here, as well. The price of Sketchbook Pro is fair, but I can't help but think you could possibly get more for less, with some other programs. GIMP, for example has equivalent drawing/painting tools but also the photo-editing/filter capabilities that Sketchbook doesn't have. Mypaint and Paint.Net are both specifically geared towards painting as well, have excellent tools and a very easy interface. However I haven't used either of them, myself.

But sometimes it all comes down to which program do you LIKE better. And this is where many might really gravitate to Sketchbook Pro. As I said, the interface is very nice and some people may love it even if they have access to cheaper programs with more options. So as far as how much I like this program, I would give it 4 stars, but since the value compared to what you get is a little modest, I'm going to give this three stars. I'd give it 3 1/2 if I was able to. Certainly check this program out. I plan on using it right alongside the other ones I use.

63 of 78 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple tool with an adequate amount of features. October 9, 2012

By Anne B.

Platform for Display:PC/Mac

Sketchbook Pro 6 is a great tool for people who are like casual digital drawing. It is a good tool for those who do this seriously. It is an adequate tool for those who do it semi-professionally. A professional wouldn't use this except as a "fun drawing tool."

It says that it can create professional illustrations and that's true. For all intents and purposes it is a paint-only program that is paired to the tablet/stylus crowd. If you could imagine having a canvas or paper in front of you and then just about any tool you wanted and color of paint/oils/chalk - that's what this is.

Note that I left out any sort of filters. This is NOT a graphic design program or a photo editing/manipulation program. This is ONLY a drawing program.

You can smudge and use tools as you would in "real life", but none of the higher-end functions that you might be expecting.

This is a decent price for the software, but if you go directly to their website, you can download a free trial and see if this is what you're looking for and then come back here and buy it.

A replacement for Photoshop this is not.

Edit: I changed this to a 4-star review because for a drawing-only program it's a 5 star program. For a graphic program which is how it masquerades as, it's a 3 star program - combine that and it's a 4 star.