Customer Reviews

SketchBook Pro 2010 - Old Version

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Drawing and sketching programs seem to fall into two general categories - very powerful but excessively complex, or simple to use but lacking in options and power. SketchBook Pro successfully combines power and simplicity into one package, such that even a weak artist can be productive and successful.

I ran into a problem when installing the application - the installer crashed, giving some odd internal error and number. I tried again immediately and the second try went without a hitch. I assume it is a configuration issue with my system as I have occasional strange issues when installing software.

When first launched, the application asks if you have your serial number and key handy. If you are new to SketchBook Pro, I encourage you NOT to enter them just yet but instead specify that you want a 15-day trial. The reason is that you get presented a quick pictoral tour of the feature set when you run in trial mode (which is really just a time-limited demo mode with everything enabled), which is a nice introduction. Afterward, registration information can be entered through the help menu.

Being new to SketchBook Pro myself, I was startled by the sparse interface when opening a new canvas. There was little on the screen other than the main menu up top and the lagoon in the lower left. Most drawing applications clutter the screen with an assortment of toolbars, palettes, wizards and other things that just get in the way. Autodesk keep their application simple instead, putting the essentials out there and leaving everything else off the screen until it's really needed.

Most elements of the application are available in radial menus, accessible either through clicking on icons on the lagoon or right-clicking on the canvas. All menu items have help tips to guide along the way so you know what option you're choosing. Radial menus can be a surprise to those who have never been exposed to them, but once used to them they are very powerful and easy to use.

Plunging into the various options available, I immediately discovered a couple of things I have never before used in drawing applications. First, I discovered the symmetry options, which makes creating mirror images easy. Using the axis, I was able to draw a crude figure of a person in about 10 seconds without even expending any real thought. Even more productive for me, though, was the ruler, especially in combination with the layering tool. The ruler is a slight misnomer, as it is actually more of a straight-edge against which to draw straight lines.

Another interesting surprise was the help system. When I launched the help system, rather than bring up a compiled help file, my default web browser launched and I was presented with one of the best help systems I have seen. The help is easy on the eyes and very straightforward to use. There is sufficient detail with pictures to address almost any conceivable question that might arise.

SketchBook Pro is very fast and very responsive on my system. I am running Vista with 3GB of ram and a dual-core 2.1G Intel processor, and there is only the slightest hint of hesitation on rare occasion.

Having never played with SketchBook Pro before and being a poor artist, I was shocked that I could create viable results in minutes. In the hands of a professional artist, this is a powerful and easy-to-use package. Emphasis was placed on productivity, but power was not taken away.

About five years ago I had a tough decision to make--keep working traditionally with the occasional digital painting or make the jump to a fully digital workflow. Wacom's Cintiq line of tablets took care of the hardware but on the software side I had never been happy with Photoshop or Painter. Both programs, while sporting a broad range of tools for painting, lacked the fluidity and finesse for clean natural drawing.

Enter Sketchbook Pro.

From the first stroke within the program I knew an all digital workflow was possible in every way. Gone were the chunky stepping and unresponsive mark making of the other apps in the market. Sketchbook was silky smooth with every mark, every time. Years later, Sketchbook continues to serve as the rock solid foundation to my all digital workflow. Roughs, pencils, and inks are a joy to put together with the software. Coupled with the fantastic brush engine, 2010 incorporates some amazing new features including ruler and ellipse guides, symmetry tools, texture brushes, and fully customizable marking menus for seamless workflows.

So if you're looking to spend more time drawing rather than fighting with sluggish software, give Sketchbook a look. For responsive clean strokes and clutter free workflow, nothing can touch it.

Happy drawing,
Dave Guertin
[...]

Autodesk SketchBook Pro 2010 is quality paint/drawing software designed for use with a graphic tablet and pen. However it will also work with a conventional mouse but getting quality results is more difficult that way.

I installed in on a Windows XP SP3 computer along with a Bamboo Tablet/Pen and it works smoothly and with no problems. I also tried it on a Vista Laptop but unfortunately Vista 64 bit is not supported yet so please take note.

The program is excellent, the interface is easy to use and with a flick of your pen you can access the many features including pencils, brushes, markers, layers and pan/zoom tools.

This software is so good that even people who have little drawing ability can soon get great results. I would claim to be average at drawing but this program is so versatile and intuitive that I can get excellent results at times. It also increases my workflow because of the processing speed and easy accessibility of all the features.

It is difficult to compare it to other programs. Sure there are other paint programs like Photoshop or Painter but nothing compares to the ease and flexibility of using this program and at $100 it is a fraction of the price of other drawing programs.

If you still want to use Photoshop, then draw with this one and enhance your picture with Photoshop. This will save in most formats; it uses layered TIF images but it will also open/save BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG files and PSD files for use in Adobe Photoshop.

I highly recommend this software, it doesn't need much selling because it is already award winning and used by a stream of respectable computer artists and designers. All I can say is that if you have artistic ambitions and want a good program to enhance them then it is well worth a look at.

Sketchbook Pro is a fantastic program for artists and designers. It is uncluttered and designed entirely for a pen interface. If you don't have a tablet, you might find the interface a bit awkward.

If you do have a pen, you'll soon be wishing that every program was designed this way. The design lineage goes back to Alias, who created Sketchbook from the ground up to be an intuitive and extremely fast way for artists to communicate visually. Eschewing the cluttered interfaces of typical paint and photo programs, they focused on the bare bones of what the artist needs to put "ink" to "paper" and get the job done. To this end, those looking for full-featured painting programs might find Sketchbook lacking. The key word here, is "sketch".

Sketchbook Pro is fast. Pen responsiveness is top notch, giving you the most drawing bang for your buck. Without the enormous overhead of other digital graphics programs, Sketchbook Pro wrangles the most performance from even slightly older machines. You'll find that the software is easily able to keep pace with even your quickest or most subtle pen movements. Tool selection is equally easy, with "flickable" radial menus popping open instantly. While the austere interface can seem disappointing or shocking at first, it provides maximum ease of workflow, letting you make easy use of the entire page with less panning and zooming.

My problem with Sketchbook Pro extends to its Autodesk foster parent. Alias was swallowed up by Autodesk, and Sketchbook became somehting of a forgotten child. It received minimal attention with the Sketchbook Pro 2009 edition, which gave little extra to an already solid program. The Autodesk website, likewise, gives little indication that Autodesk even supports it, making it difficult for the new user to ge tinformation, check for updates, or engage in community forums with other Sketchbook users. This has improved, somewhat, over time. But, going to the Autodesk Technical Support page and looking at the list of products in the drop-down menu still finds Sketchbook Pro missing. This seemingly apparent lack of support isn't a deal breaker though, and there are Autodesk community forums with Sketchbook support, if you dig around. Autodesk does need to step up with their "old school" site design and make these changes more obvious.

For the price, nothing in the world beats Sketchbook Pro at what it does best: sketching and rapid drawing. With the 2010 version, some new tools add extra value, but perhaps not enough to make upgrading a necessity for longtime 2009 users. I use Sketchbook Pro 2009 to do rapid sketching and then port my roughs into Portalgraphics.net's "openCanvas" which I find to be a perfect companion. It supports all the same formats and has nearly as robust an interface, designs for pen use. It would seem that Autodesk took a page from Portalgraphics' openCanvas design, which has already supported canvas rotation for a long time.

Note: If you're looking for a good blend between rapid sketching and paint, with PSD support check both products, you may find both aren't necessary, with openCanvas being nearly as speedy and robust, and also offering a bevy of natural media pen and brush options, to boot.

I rate Sketchbook Pro at 4 Stars because it excels at everything it promises. The lacking 5th star is because Autodesk seems not to care very much. This program is clearly not their bread & butter, and as such, it seems to be constantly on the back burner, and receives minimal attention.

For the very small pricetag, you can't go wrong. Speed, ease of use and stability are the hallmarks of this program, and any artist with a tablet should have it in their arsenal. However, non-tablet artists are encouraged to stay away. The interface and design will, quite simply, make drawing even more cumbersome with a mouse, as it has no vector tools, and minimal "stamping" ability.

I just purchased a new HP tablet PC, and though Photoshop seems to have issues Sketchbook Pro is great on my computer. The new symmetry and brush creation tools are a major upgrade, and very easy to figure out (especially if you know Photoshop). Sketchbook Pro also has a simple but effective layer system and a very slick interface, especially for portable computers. I have already created a handful custom brushes and exported them to my other computers all in minutes.

Sketchbook Pro is not meant to be Photoshop hence without some of PS more advanced tools. However, Sketchbook Pro loads quickly, has no bloatware and does the job fast. So I use it for sketching initial ideas for later refinement on my desktop through Photoshop.

The interface is ideal for a quick workflow, but it is extremely unstable. It crashes once or twice each night and I typically work for 4-8 hours each night. My new system exceeds the system requirements.

There are also issue with a number of the tools, that appear to be fine when you use them, but when you reopen your file there is a big problem - all of your negative space is now black! BEWARE OF THE PAINTBUCKET TOOL AND THE SHARPEN TOOL - they will ruin your artwork beyond repair (and it wont be initially apparent).

I have written Autodesk several times about the bugs and get no response. There have not been any product updates. There seems to be no way to get support.

I continue to use the product despite the instability because it is ideal for quick sketching and rendering for Industrial Design. I save my files every minute or so and avoid the paint bucket and sharpen tool like the plague! Hopefully next version will improve.

This is for the MAC version of the software.

I've been a comics artist / Illustrator for over 25 years and Sketchbook Pro is the ONLY program I'll draw in. Sure I use Photoshop and others for some tweaking / coloring, but when it comes to laying your ideas out on the screen, NOTHING beats the ease and smooth response of Sketchbook Pro. It's fast, a joy to work in and never lets me down or gets in my way. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Purchased product from Amazon. CD appears not to have a label burned into it. So, it will not mount with Snow Leopard. This is a known issue with Snow Leopard. Went ahead and purchased a second copy from the AutoDesk online store. Installed fine. New issue is that pen tracks intermittently with Wacom Intuos4 tablet. Called Wacom. They acknowledged that this is a SketchBook bug that appears only on Macs. After 45 minutes online with various folks at AutoDesk, I finally talked to a support person who also acknowledged that it was a bug with SketchBook Pro on the Mac. Until it's fixed the software is pretty awkward and frustrating to use on a Mac. Having said that, I give it 1 star because it is a very slick package (if and when it works).

And there's more...During my interaction with the numerous folks at Autodesk, they commented that my software wasn't registered. They directed me to a registration website. I filled out the registration forms and soon received an email from Autodesk instructing me how to complete the registration process within the product itself. Unfortunately, the instructions were apparently written for a Windows product and did not correspond to the layout of a Mac menu bar or dialog boxes. When I pointed that out to them, they claimed I actually installed version 4.1 instead of 2010. I found that odd, because the folder it installed into was labeled "2010." Nonetheless, I uninstalled the software and reinstalled it, screenshotting every step in the process. Every single link, window, dialog, and form displayed "2010." The product again installed into a "2010" folder. But, on launching it, the dialog box still displayed "4.1." Apparently, either the wrong software version was written to the installation CD (and online store website), or "4.1" refers to the internal version of the "2010" software. In either case, the Autodesk team was of no assistance and obviously is completely unfamiliar with at least the Mac version of the software. What a nightmare!

I really like this product. I wish they had this software when I was really into drawing and sketching. This takes the concept of sketching to a whole new level. With computer-based sketching and drawing programs such as Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2010, the concept of layers become so much easier to design pictures with ease. So, you can layer several portions of your drawing and if you choose to remove a portion of your picture it can be removed easily without affecting the drawing as a whole.

The tools are simple and very easy to use. Everything is right on the screen that you'll need. The menu system for changing the type of medium you use; pencil, airbrush, eraser, etc are all easily accessible and great to use. This software was designed to be used with a tablet. This allows the variation of hard and soft lines to be used. With sketching with a regular pencil, it is important to capture the variation of light and dark strokes. This software does that very well. You can also set the "weight" of the pencil so you don't have to press really hard to get a dark stroke either. It's fully customizable.

Also, you have the ability to change the color of your brush or pencil. This is such a fun program. The ability to use symatry is great because you can draw an image on one side of the line and it will automatically duplicate it on the other side. So, if you want to draw a picture of a body of water and have a "reflection" of objects off the water, you can do this. Or if you need the same object to appear on both sides, or even one big object that needs to be the same on both sides, you can use this feature. Very cool.

The "help" is all within the software, so don't look for any book. At first this was disappointing for me because I was expecting a book to read and learn about all of the features. But, when i went to the Help page and saw all of the great tips and topics, it was easy to navigate and find the answers I needed.

The other feature that can be useful is the "SnapShot" feature. What this does is it allows you to bring something on your screen, click on the snapshot icon on your system tray and it will take a picture of that onto your clipboard. Then when you open the Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2010 software, it will bring that screen capture right on the canvas. You can then sketch around it. Very neat tool. I haven't found a use for it in my case, but you may.

I recommend this product if you like to sketch using the computer and have a tablet. I wouldn't recommend using this product with a mouse. It's really designed for a pen/tablet.

There could not be a better name for this product than "Sketchbook"; it really feels like one. This is not a Photoshop or Painter alternative, it is a lightweight, digital sketchpad with pencils, pens, and a few brushes thrown in.

PROS
- Very fast and lightweight
- Clutter-free interface; it really gives you the feeling of working with a sketchpad with just the needed tools, as against, say, an "oil-on-canvas" masterpiece.
- The tools closely mimic the real thing; the "Pencil" feels like a real pencil by default without any tweaks to its settings.
- (New to 2010) Ellipse and ruler tools allow for some technical sketches and diagrams; ruler is most useful for perspective lines.
- (New to 2010) Layer transparency can now be locked.
- (New to 2010) Live canvas rotation!!! Greatly improves ease of drawing (why isn't this feature standard in EVERY drawing/painting app yet?!)
- IMO, very affordable, for what you can do with it (even better if you can get it while on discount)

CONS
- The live rotation is quite a resource hog; this could be the reason it is turned off by default (merely enabling it slows down the program even if not rotating). It tasks the processor, so I feel it may be designed for newer, multi-core machines (I'm using it on a Pentium 4 PC).
- The Blur tool also greatly tasks the processor when selected, though strangely not when in use. It may be remedied the same as the Live Rotation.

Some may desire some advanced painting features and maybe image adjustment tools, but then it'd lose the lightweight, quick sketchbook feel now, won't it? While it is capable of some painting (solid as well as soft fills using the brush and airspray tools), anything advanced (like textures, tonal adjustments) would have to be moved to Photoshop or the likes.

It is definitely a perfect complement to other graphic apps. I recommend it to EVERY digital artist. Combine it with a Cintiq and you've got true digital paper!