![Norton 360 Platinum 2025, Antivirus software for 20 Devices with Auto-Renewal – 3 Months FREE - Includes Advanced AI Scam Protection, VPN, Dark Web Monitoring & PC Cloud Backup [Download]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71OFYR9xzUL._AC_SR160,134_CB1169409_QL70_.jpg)
![Norton 360 Premium 2025, Antivirus software for 10 Devices with Auto-Renewal – Includes Advanced AI Scam Protection, VPN, Dark Web Monitoring & PC Cloud Backup [Download]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71BOIz4Tx1L._AC_SR160,134_CB1169409_QL70_.jpg)
![CorelDRAW Standard 2024 | Graphic Design Software for Hobby or Home Business | Illustration, Layout, and Photo Editing [PC Download]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/4178v0HUUmL._AC_SR100,100_QL65_.jpg)
After hearing from a friend about how wonderful this program was, I simply had to get it while it was on sale and try it for myself. There's a lot to like about Manga Studio 5, but there's also a few things that might drive you crazy.
First off, I've been using Paint Tool Sai and Photoshop (7 and CS2) for ages now. I'm familiar with both of the tools, and when I heard about MS5 actually replacing them for some people, I was excited. Something to simplify my workflow and help me produce better comics? I was all for that. After using it for a month or so, here's what I've found.
Compared to Sai, I enjoy the pencil tool in MS5 a lot more. It emulates an actual pencil well, and its actually rather fun to sketch with. I feel like the brush tools and spray can settings are much more natural "out of the box", I've not had to modify them very much or dig too deeply into the settings for them. MS5 also has comparable Stabilization settings, so if that's something you use when inking in Sai (I know I do), you'll be pleased to see it here; beware though, it doesn't have as minute settings as in Sai for this. There's 5 different "levels", compared to the 13 or so in Sai.
Another difference: The eraser tool. I use a Wacom Cintiq, and I'm used to the tool switching to the eraser when I flip the tablet pen over. MS5 does the same thing, however the "brush tip" and other settings do not change to reflect that. I've dug around and done some research, and it seems to be by design, with no way to change it at the moment. This led to some frustration as I'd flip the pen over to erase something, change the brush tip size, and then not find it reflected in the eraser at all! It would instead change the size of the tool I was currently using on the pen side of the stylus. Better get used to keyboard shortcuts to change the eraser size while using it, as that's the only way to do so with this "temp switch" method MS5 uses.
There's only one major difference between Photoshop and MS5 that keeps me from switching over to it completely: the text tool. MS5 handles text strangely. You can't rotate it. This might seem like a minor issue, but when you're doing sound effects for comic panels, its a big deal. The text tools in Photoshop are infinitely more powerful than in MS5. Sure you can emulate strokes and text transforms, but you can't edit the text afterwards when you do so as you have to convert the text layer to a raster layer to do any of this. This is very annoying, especially considering the word balloons in MS5 are easy to use and very helpful.
I often find myself putting in the text and word balloons in MS5, then going to Photoshop to add in the sound effect text, or even redoing the text in the word balloons due to a strange quirk with some font types in MS5, where it cuts off part of the text. I have to add in a space before and after a block of text to keep it from cutting off part of the letter T, or W, or any other number of letters. This doesn't happen with every font style, only certain custom ones it seems. Never had that problem with Photoshop.
If you don't mind any of the above, I'd recommend Manga Studio 5 to anyone who works on comics, or even general illustration. The brush settings are a lot more customizable, and there's a "close gap" option with a few of the selection tools and paint bucket, which is a huge help when filling in large areas with color and there's a break in a line somewhere that you just can't seem to find. It has the easy rotation of the canvas found in Sai, along with a few other of Sai's features, and the vector controls seem comparable to Photoshop. Try out the mesh transform tool too if you get this, it can produce some nice effects. The panel layout tool is a huge help as well, though you have to get creative if you've got characters overlapping/breaking out of panels.
One final word of warning though! If you plan on saving your documents as .PSDs to switch between Sai/Photoshop/MS5, do not, and I repeat, DO NOT use Draft Layers. They DO NOT get saved as normal raster layers when you save as a PSD. I lost over a week of work on a project for a client due to this, it simply erased the layers and didn't bother to even export them as raster layers (like how Sai does when you import Text Layers into it, for example). They may be nice as they're treated as the sketch layer by the program (and not exported in the final, flattened image), but only if you use MS5's proprietary format.
That's all I've got.
Similar brands on Amazon
Page 1 of 1Start Over
Sponsored
The BEST Illustration / Comic Design Software When Paired With A Drawing Tablet
I've used this product for a few years now and absolutely love it as a digital comic artist and freelance graphic designer. I mostly use this program for inking as the brush engine is far superior to anything Photoshop or Illustrator can do. I would also highly suggest that you look up Ray Frendan (a commercial artist in Austin) and purchase his Manga Studio 5 brushes as soon as you get this software. If you can catch Manga Studio 5 (Also being rebranded right now as Clip Studio Painter Pro) on sale and pair this with a good Huion drawing tablet (H610Pro for example) you can get an insanely good art creation set up for less than or right at 100 bucks if you already have a computer. . Pros +Brush Engine +Templates +3D posing software for references (or tracing) +Installable Materials +High Quality Color Blending +Saves time if paired with Illustrator by 10 fold (take the raster inks from Manga Studio, load them into Illustrator, then run the Image-Trace functions using black and ignoring white) +Works wonderfully with drawing tablets +They just added animation on the new update! Negatives - Vectors are not transferable to Adobe Illustrator (one color auto-tracing is fine but if you do any blending in vector it will not translate well) -Color picker could have better schemes like Photoshop or Illustrator (minor issue) -Occasional crashes (save often) -Clip Studio Painter Rebranding is somewhat confusing. Overall: This is the best product you can buy if you are either a budding illustrator/comic artist or are wanting something more natural than what Photoshop or Illustrator can give you. I give 5 stars because of the combination of price, features, and brush engine far outshine software over 10 times its price. Attached is the first piece of artwork I did 100% digital with this software for my school's yearbook using Manga Studio 5 for the inks/color and Adobe Illustrator for the background/lettering. My main job is Fine Arts education but I also do various other comic writing/illustrating and graphic design jobs. -Eraser options
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2014
- Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2016
I've used this product for a few years now and absolutely love it as a digital comic artist and freelance graphic designer. I mostly use this program for inking as the brush engine is far superior to anything Photoshop or Illustrator can do. I would also highly suggest that you look up Ray Frendan (a commercial artist in Austin) and purchase his Manga Studio 5 brushes as soon as you get this software. If you can catch Manga Studio 5 (Also being rebranded right now as Clip Studio Painter Pro) on sale and pair this with a good Huion drawing tablet (H610Pro for example) you can get an insanely good art creation set up for less than or right at 100 bucks if you already have a computer. .
The BEST Illustration / Comic Design Software When Paired With A Drawing Tablet
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2016
Pros
+Brush Engine
+Templates
+3D posing software for references (or tracing)
+Installable Materials
+High Quality Color Blending
+Saves time if paired with Illustrator by 10 fold (take the raster inks from Manga Studio, load them into Illustrator, then run the Image-Trace functions using black and ignoring white)
+Works wonderfully with drawing tablets
+They just added animation on the new update!
Negatives
- Vectors are not transferable to Adobe Illustrator (one color auto-tracing is fine but if you do any blending in vector it will not translate well)
-Color picker could have better schemes like Photoshop or Illustrator (minor issue)
-Occasional crashes (save often)
-Clip Studio Painter Rebranding is somewhat confusing.
Overall: This is the best product you can buy if you are either a budding illustrator/comic artist or are wanting something more natural than what Photoshop or Illustrator can give you. I give 5 stars because of the combination of price, features, and brush engine far outshine software over 10 times its price.
Attached is the first piece of artwork I did 100% digital with this software for my school's yearbook using Manga Studio 5 for the inks/color and Adobe Illustrator for the background/lettering. My main job is Fine Arts education but I also do various other comic writing/illustrating and graphic design jobs.
-Eraser options
Images in this review
- Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2016
Pirating software never sat right with me, and I could never afford Photoshop, so ever since I began doing digital artwork I've used GIMP. Now for a completely free program GIMP is fantastic, and I made some decent (at least for me) art with it. But then someone suggested Manga Studio 5.
I decided to give it a try. I was immediately pleased to find out that it worked with my Parblo Coast 10 artist tablet right off the bat, with no need to fiddle with settings or calibrations. The pressure sensitivity and even tilt sensitivity are spot on. The next thing I noticed was just how smooth the lines are. I've uploaded 2 pictures. The picture that shows me practicing folds was done with GIMP. you can see how choppy the lines are. in comparison to the picture drawn with Manga Studio.
The program is very intuitive. If you are familiar with Photoshop, GIMP or probably any other artwork software that utilizes brushes, pens/pencils, layers, wand and lasso tools and so forth, you will get the hang of this right away. I've only had time to do a couple of quick sketches since getting it but I really look forward to sinking my teeth in with a finished piece.
I highly recommend Manga Studio 5, even now that Photoshop is a bit more manageable as a subscription base, this program works just as well, perhaps even better as it is tailored entirely to digital art work (whereas Photoshop is also for photo-manipulation and touch up work). This program is NOT a poor man's Photoshop, it is excellent and I don't know how I ever lived without it.
Occasionally I've seen it on sale, so if you can bare to wait around and snatch it up for $25 or so then it's an amazing deal, but even at it's full price it is worth ever penny!
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
-
- KatelynnReviewed in Canada on December 31, 2013
Great program for new and old artists
- Create with Franz - the Mindset PodcastReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 15, 2022
Amazing software and no membership - good bye Photoshop!
