In the last decade or so, manga and anime have seen a surge in popularity all over the world. This has led to more and more people wanting to learn how to draw manga. If you are one of those people, then you are in luck! In this article, we will discuss the 5 best drawing softwares for manga artists in 2022.
We will break down each drawing software feature and how they are effective tools to draw manga with. So whether you are a beginner or an experienced artist, there is sure to be an app here that is perfect for you!
What is the Best Drawing Software for Manga Artists?
1. Clip Studio Paint
Clip Studio Paint is one of the most popular and recommended drawing software apps for manga artists. It is packed with features that allow you to create beautiful and professional-looking manga art.
Some of its key features include:
- Advanced pen tool – With a function that calculates pen pressure based on numerous test brushstrokes, weighted lines may be generated.
- Built-in Vector Tools – Draw vector lines in the same way that you would raster lines using this tool. Lines may be freely altered without sacrificing picture quality after scaling, moving, transforming, or changing line thickness.
- Preset Templates – You can start generating content right away without having to worry about complicated page parameters. Choose from pre-designed themes for color or black-and-white comics, webtoons, and so on. You may also design and register your own personalized preset templates.
- Create Comic Panels Easily – An extensive list of pre-divided template frames is readily available to you. You can also save frame layouts you have created as templates. *EX Only
- Reference library and Community – An extensive reference library and community that you can use to find inspiration for your manga characters and stories
There are so many features in Clip Studio Paint to help you create manga the way you want, all of them supported by the powerful brush engine that lets you personalize your digital art.
There are an abundant amount of brushes available to you, whether that is the preset brushes or custom brushes from Clip Studio Assets. It has all the brushes professional manga artists or beginners could need.
Clip Studio Paint is a great choice for both beginner and experienced manga artists to work on their concept art and final products. The manga and anime community is huge, very active, and helpful.
While Clip Studio Paint Pro is a great tool when creating manga, the Clip Studio Paint EX is definitely worth the upgrade price. It’s like having a manga studio in an app.
Upgrading to Clip Studio Paint EX allows for extra features including but not limited to:
- Multi-page comics/manga & illustrations
- Unlimited frames for professional animation
- Export and Print multi-page files
- Convert images and 3D models into lines and dot shading
- Preview your work with 3D preview before printing
It is a great comic creation software with all the comic page management that you would need.
You can try it for free for up to 3 months to see if it is the right fit for you! If you want to draw or practice creating comics, give it a test run!
Clip Studio Paint Pro and Clip Studio Paint EX are definitely the top end of manga drawing software that artists use, and we don’t hesitate to give Clip Studio Pro the TOP SPOT for best drawing software for manga. So give them a try today!
2. Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers will have access to Adobe Photoshop. You can use it to create great manga art, but you will need to know how to use the software first as it is not as intuitive for manga creation as Clip Studio Paint.
Adobe Photoshop does have many features and tools that can be used for creating manga art or improving the art that you already have.
Some of its key features include:
- Layers – Layers are important in digital art, especially when creating manga. They allow you to separate the different parts of your artwork and work on them individually.
- Adjustment Layers – Adjustment layers allow you to make global changes to your artwork without affecting the individual layers. This is useful for changing the overall color of your manga or for adding effects.
- Warp Tool – The warp tool is great for manga artists as it allows you to make changes to the shape of your artwork without distortion.
- Content-Aware Fill – The content-aware fill feature allows you to remove unwanted elements from your artwork without affecting the surrounding area.
While Adobe Photoshop CC is not known as a manga drawing app, the Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers suite gives you access to other excellent programs, such as Adobe Illustrator, that you can use for editing drawings and to create drawings. It really is a powerful set of tools, allowing you to create pretty much anything you want, even outside of manga.
It has all the features needed to make great manga illustrations or even anime. Adobe Illustrator is often used for anime.
Check out Adobe Creative Cloud here!
3. Corel Painter
Corel Painter is another great software for drawing manga. It has many features and tools specifically for manga artists. Not only is it great for manga artists but it is a great painting software overall.
Some of its key features include:
- Manga brushes – Corel Painter comes with a set of brushes specifically designed for manga art.
- Line art – The line art feature in Corel Painter allows you to create clean lines without jagged edges.
- Textured paint – The textured paint feature allows you to add texture to your artwork without affecting the underlying layer.
- Rulers and guides – The rulers and guides allow you to create precise lines and shapes in your manga art.
Corel Painter is a great choice for manga artists who want software that has specifically designed features for drawing manga. It is also a good choice for artists who want to add texture to their artwork in an advanced drawing software.
You can download a trial of Corel Painter here.
4. Krita
Krita is a great free and open-source drawing software that can be used for manga art. This free software has many features and tools that are specifically designed for manga artists.
Even though Krita is a free manga drawing software, it has an incredible amount of features that make drawing manga a great experience.
Some of Krita’s features include:
- Brushes – Over 100 preset professionally designed brushes
- Brush stabilizers – 3 different ways to stabilize and smooth your brushstrokes
- Resource Manager – Import brush and texture packs from other artists to expand your tool set. Customize brushes for yourself or the community
- Brush Engine – 9 unique brush engines
For a free manga drawing software, Krita packs a powerful punch and is worth exploring if you are interested in free graphics software.
Check it out here!
5. Procreate
Procreate is a powerful and popular drawing software app for iPad that is often used by artists to draw manga. It has many features and tools that make it a great choice for drawing manga.
Take a look at our in-depth article on Procreate here.
Some of its key features include:
- Layers – Procreate allows you to easily create and manage layers in your artwork. This is important for creating complex manga art.
- Layer Masks – Layer masks allow you to selectively edit parts of your artwork without affecting the rest of the image.
- Clipping Masks – Clipping masks allow you to apply effects and filters to only part of your artwork. This is great for adding shadows or highlights to specific areas.
Procreate is a great choice for manga artists who want an iPad app that has powerful features for drawing manga.
If you want to learn how to turn your manga drawings into a business, check out our course “Procreate to Product“.
Procreate is definitely one of the best drawing software for manga artists.
Now that you know some of the best software and apps for drawing manga, it’s time to get started on your next manga masterpiece! If you want to learn different ways to make money using your digital art, check out this article here! Which software or app will you be using? Let us know in the comments below. Happy manga drawing!