Manga Studio Debut 4 (Win/Mac)

by Smith Micro Software Inc.

Product Features

• Manga Studio Debut 4 is an all-in-one solution for stunning, ready-to-publish manga and comics
• Sketch original art with a mouse or tablet, scan in existing art, or import artwork or graphics to get started
• Invigorate your artwork using color, express motion using speed lines, apply dimension with screen tones and add dialog through built-in word balloons
• Export professional quality manga from Manga Studio Debut 4 to various Mac and Windows file formats such as JPG, BMP, PSD, TGA, PNG, TIFF and PICT
• Dynamic help offers instant access to information about tool palettes and menu options--getting started has never been easier

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 5.2 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001NK395Y
• Item model number: MSDC40BX2
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 11, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #3 in Software > Graphics > Illustration
  • #63 in Software > The Mac Software Store

Product Description

Amazon.com

Manga Studio Debut 4.0 is your all-in-one solution for stunning, ready-to-publish manga and comics. Invigorate your artwork using color, express motion using speed lines, apply dimension with screen tones and add dialog through built-in word balloons. Manga Studio helps you create professional manga and comics from start to finish!

Fun, easy to use interface. Click to enlarge.

The Beginner's Assistant groups together commonly used tool palettes. Click to enlarge.

Draw using a suite of familiar tools including pencils, pens, brushes and selection tools. Click to enlarge.

Choose from thousands of screen tones to add dimension and character to your art. Click to enlarge.

Invigorate your artwork using color. Click to enlarge.

Customize your projects with a large collection of special effects and features. Click to enlarge.

Complete artistic control
Sketch original art with a mouse or tablet, scan in existing art, or import artwork or graphics to get started. It's easy with Manga Studio Debut!

Design with attention to detail
Choose from over 2,300 professional-grade screen tones to add dimension, depth and character to your art.

Invigorate your drawings
Easily color and fill your manga or comic using the integrated color set, advanced shading tools, and pattern brushes.

Bring your Characters to Life
Pre-designed word balloons allow you to quickly add dialog to your creations.

Apply special effects
Add focus and speed line effects in seconds to express moods or motion.

Publish your work
Output professional quality manga for print or web in various file formats. Manga Studio Debut exports JPG, BMP, PSD, TGA*, PNG*, TIFF* and PICT* files.

*Mac-only publishing format.

Get fast results
Perform complicated tasks with a single mouse click. Double your productivity by reusing design elements in a flash!

New and Updated Features

Manga Studio Debut 4.0 provides a fun, straightforward way for you to start creating your own comics today.

New--Beginner's Assistant and dynamic help
With Manga Studio's built-in Beginner's Assistant interface, commonly used tool palettes are grouped together. Dynamic help offers instant access to information about tool palettes and menu options. Getting started has never been easier.

New--Color Palette
Color your artwork using the integrated color set. Choose from preset colors or create your own and add custom effects to your artwork.

New--Built-in Word balloons
Add word balloons with ease by dragging and dropping any of almost one hundred preset editable word balloons. Freely adjust the font, size, style and spacing of the text and add a curved or straight tail.

New--Advanced Text Input
Manga Studio Debut now allows you to enter text directly on your page using a standard text tool. You can also quickly add special characters and with support for many characters such as Katakana and Hiragana, Manga Studio Debut is better than ever!

Updated--More Screen Tones and Patterns
Choose from over 2,300 screen tones, a variety of special effects and comprehensive pen and brush tools, including over 80 customizable pattern brushes. Create and customize virtually unlimited combinations of patterns to create unique effects.

Updated--Additional preset page templates
Choose from over 160 built-in page templates for your page or story, or add your own customized pages and save them as templates.

Note: Register your product within 30 days of purchase and receive the Manga Studio Debut Content pack valued at $19.99 for free. This package includes over 100 background templates and over 100 Power templates. Information regarding registration and how to redeem your content pack are included with your purchase.

Product Description

Manga Studio Debut 4 is your all-in-one solution for stunning ready-to-publish manga and ics. Quickly and easily create manga and ics with Manga Studio's drawing tools filters and special effects. Get started immediately using dynamic help and the Beginner's Assistant. Draw naturally with a pen tablet and bring your artwork to life using the integrated color set. Express motion and moods with speed lines and focus lines while adding dialog with built-in word balloons. Choose from thousands of screen tones and add dimension to your drawings. Manga Studio helps you create professional manga and ics from start to finish!Features:Sketch scan or import your artwork directly into Manga Studio!Includes dynamic help and a Beginner's Assistant that groups together monly used tool palettes.Digital inking: Create panels and ink your drawings with precision.Select from over 2300 professional-grade screen tones to add dimension depth and character to your art.Customize your projects with advanced shading tools and pattern brushes.Choose from over 100 pre-designed word balloons to add dialog to your characters.Add focus and speed line effects in seconds to express motion or moods.Color your Comics and Manga using the integrated color palette.Output high quality Manga and Comics for print or web.Post your Manga and Comics to your blog or social working sites!System Requirements:Windows: XP Home (SP 2) Pro (SP 2) Tablet PC; Vista Home Basic Home Premium Business Ultimate [XP] 500MHz or faster [Vista] 800MHz or faster; [XP] 256 MB RAM [Vista] 512 MB RAM; 1.1 GB hard disk space; XGA (1024 x 768) SXGA (1280 x 1024) 16-bit color display; Pen Tablet (remended) Wa FAVO Bamboo Intuos Cintiq PL series etc.; TWAIN 32 flatbed scanner (optional); CD-ROM Drive. Macintosh: OS X 10.4.11 or higher or OS X 10.5.3 or higher; Intel Processors and PowerPC G5 G4 processor 867MHz or faster; 1 GB RAM; 1.1 GB hard disk space; WXGA (1280 800) SXGA (1280 1024) 24-bit color display

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 85 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the money December 16, 2009

By FrankPatriot

Platform for Display:PC/Mac|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm just starting to use this software, but from what I've seen, it's worth the money. Conceivably, you could do an entire comic from start to finish, from pencils, to inks, to coloring, to lettering, with this program and never have to touch pen to paper. Plus, if you register it online, you get extra content for free. However, i wouldn't entertain the thought of buying or using this unless I had a pen tablet. not sure how you could use this with any efficiency without one. Debut doesn't have a vector option, as the more negative reviews state, but if you are like me and just love to draw comics for fun, then that's something you probably won't miss. I draw comics as a ministry, so i want to do a good job. I think this is definitely a useful tool. There may be a slight learning curve at first, but there's tutorials found online that can help you figure it out pretty quick. the menu interface is very very similar to Photoshop, which made it pretty easy for me. You probably won't be disappointed with this. just my two cents.

208 of 231 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Consider Carefully: Do you want a toy or a powerful tool? September 27, 2009

By Fujiarmu

Platform for Display:PC/Mac

If you want a toy, then get this version, but if you'd like a really great tool for drawing manga, then get the EX version. The EX version may be much more expensive, but if you're a serious artist, then you might as well throw away your money if you're going to buy this version. To give you an example of how many features that this version is missing: it doesn't have vectoring, an eyedropper tool, or even a gradiation tool! Check the website's manual for a list of features it doesn't have.

Skip this version, buy the EX version.

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful, very useful February 15, 2010

By southpawami

Platform for Display:PC/Mac

Manga Studio Debut 4 is the closest thing to a perfect sketchbook replacement on the market. A 70 dollar bamboo pen tablet and a 50 dollar Manga Studio Debut 4 program, and you have enough(assuming you have a sufficient computer) to stop buying sketchbooks for as long as you want to.

Manga Studio Debut 4 is fast enough at pencil, pen, and paintbrush/airbrush(airbrush is hidden in the paintbrush options) tools. This makes it perfectly reasonable to replace a sketchbook. Add the storybook files of 32 pages, with the option of seeing your pages to your left while working on your picture to the right and you've got a tight sketchbook.

Does it do panels? yes. Custom panels? yes. Tones? yes. Custom Tones? yes. Layers? yes. Ruler layers, Grid Layer, Selection Layer? yes. Layer Opacity? yes. Layer color? yes. Advanced curve settings for pen/pencil tools? yes. Does the brush have materials that are fun to play with in B&W and color? yes. Speed lines? yes. Does it have print settings? yes, a host of them. Could you make your own comic? As easy as a comic is to make. Can the program draw for you? Actually it kind of can... you can make selections, then paste tones inside the selections, and you can subtract selections from within a selection and add selections outside of the selection... and have the program tone or material all your selections. First... this is where it's a bit slow... and two, that's kind of overusing the feature.

Weak tool points of the tools present.
Text - for whatever reason... text rotation seems only present in the EX version. text rotation?? oh, come on... you'll probably work a page at 90 degrees for comfort. Just sketch your own text, or work a page vertically. Balloons? yes. Sizing? yes. Multiple language input? yes. Vertical text? yes. So everything that made sense with text except rotation was included in the text tool.
Line tools - there is no such thing as a decent pen tool in this program, nor in the EX version. However, you can use the polygon line tool to create custom panels. And the Curve line tool makes tracing possible for Ruler work on the Ruler layer(a custom layer of saved paths for line work that is unique to Manga Studio)

Conclusion: Amazing digital sketchbook... better in page organization with 32 page story files than any program on the market. With it seemingly overpowered, the lacking rotation on the text tool is a hair puller.

Tips: With all that sketching practice in your tablet, you may want to animate your sketches... and a free program called "Pencil" will do that for you.

Update1: IllustStudio is the companion to Manga Studio. It is available in Japanese only. The next software to come will probably merge the two.
Update2: Recommended this application for a short newsletter a friend was creating.
Update3: Added Pictures.
Update4: OpenCanvas5.5 has an easy save layer function. OpenCanvas5.5 is probably better as a sketchbook replacement. Manga Studio is better for print/comics.
Update5: Manga Studio 5 is now out and it's finally 64bit and multicore for Windows 7 64bit users. !! Manga Studio 5 has blend modes. !!