FROM PHOTOSHOP TO CLIP STUDIO PAINT: REASONS YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH CLIP STUDIO PAINT.

Hello! I am Mius, illustrator of Barcelona and very passionate about cats, and I come with a tutorial for all those who like me come from Photoshop and we want to move to Clip Studio Paint, and also for all those who still have doubts when choosing Your future software to get started in digital drawing.

 

Photoshop is a complex program with many options and possibilities, but when it comes to focusing on drawing, it lacks certain tools and options that you have to look for by endless submenus, create them yourself or search the web and find something.

 

Clip Studio Paint makes it easy for you. Let's start for example with free downloadable materials.

MATERIALES (CLIP STUDIO ASSETS)

Before I start I want to let you know that I use the software in English, so the screenshots and the names of tools and options are those of the English version. That does not affect the location of these options and tools.

 

Clip Studio Paint (or CSP) comes with a launcher where you can access an immensity of materials created by CSP users.

 

You have access to brushes, frames, 3D objects, workspaces created by users, effects ... and all kinds of free materials at just one click. In the launcher's material search bar you can filter your search so you can find what you are looking for more easily.

All downloaded material is stored in your “My Downloads” library, where you can review the author's comments, instructions and even re-download them if you have changed devices or if you accidentally deleted the downloaded material.

Within CSP, you can organize all these materials as best suits your needs, creating folders and subfolders, renaming the materials to know which is which and order it so that it is easier to locate them.

Adding them is very easy and fast, and you can do it from the same CSP program. Here in this material tab, there is the “downloads” folder, just like the launcher, where you will find all the materials that you have downloaded.

Once you know what material you want to install, it's as easy as dragging it to the corresponding tool and, tadaaah! Installed!

TOOLS (STEP BY STEP)

CSP has a wide variety of tools at our disposal. Some of them you will have seen in Photoshop, but CSP improves them and focuses them on drawing so you can devote yourself to what really matters, your art. CSP also incorporates its own tools focused mainly on the creation of comic books, functions that few programs offer.

 

Then I will show you the tools that I like most with a drawing and a simple step by step!

 

3D:

Something that catches my attention is that it incorporates 3D models. This tool allows you to use 3D models of characters, objects, backgrounds ... which you can change their position, angle and size. You can add more than one character model in the same drawing and modify parts to suit your needs more. There are even pre-made poses and you can download more poses and materials in the launcher.

For this drawing I have used one of the pre-made bases offered by CSP. You can add more or less contour to the 3D model so that when you draw your character above it is less chaotic.

 

Once you have the 3D model ready, we go to the outline.

BRUSHES:

For this step we reach our dear brushes or brushes. CSP offers a wide variety of default brushes of different styles and types, with specific and fully customizable functions. Within these we can modify them so that they adapt better to our needs.

For the brush tool, I usually use the default parameters but modifying small things to fit my style more. Normally I get the stabilization (we'll talk about it later) and the beginning and end of the brush, making it sharper.

For the preliminary outline I used the G-pen. I really like it as a default brush, it allows you to play with the pressure of the pencil and create very rich and lively lines, as well as make details whenever you want.

Once the preliminary outline has been made, I change the G-pen to the Design Pencil brush, which simulates the drawing of a graphite pencil, and I detail the outline correcting the mistakes I have made.

With the sketch done, we begin to ink the drawing. Inking both the G-pen and the Real G-pen are wonderful. Both perfectly simulate the stroke of a pen, allowing you to make very thin or thick strokes depending on the pressure you exert with the pencil. There are also many brushes that other users have created, so it is really to find the brush that best suits your style and way of working.

One option that I really appreciate is the stabilizer. This allows you to draw a smooth and homogeneous line without that effect of trembling lines. Many times we have bad days or we just have a hard time with a perfect line, but with this option you can control your line, adding more or less stabilization to that line.

Without stabilizer and with stabilizer.

VECTOR LAYERS:

Clip Studio Paint has a very key tool: vector layers.

As its name indicates, they are vector layers where everything you draw is automatically transformed into vectors, which allows you to edit and resize them without losing quality. These lines that you create in vector layers are editable thanks to this tool.

Anchor points:

You can edit the thickness of the lines, move the line in the desired position, delete some anchor points to make the line smoother and easier to edit, or add anchor points in case they are insufficient.

 

Within the group of tools, the most used are these five that I will show you below.

 

 

CONTROL POINT:

"Control Point" allows you to move an anchor point in the direction you want.

 

 

 

PINCH VECTOR LINE:

"Pinch Vector Line" allows you to move a line without the need for an anchor point.

 

 

 

SIMPLIFY VECTOR LINE:

"Simplify Vector Line" allows you to simplify the stroke by eliminating anchor points.

 

 

 

CONNECT VECTOR LINE:

"Connect Vector Line" allows you to connect separate strokes and have a single vector stroke.

 

 

 

CORRECT LINE WIDTH:

"Connect Line Width" allows you to correct the stroke by increasing or decreasing the size.

BUCKET TOOL:

A big complaint that all artists have of many drawing programs is the paint bucket. When you fill with the paint bucket, you can always see a pixelated edge that has to be repainted by hand.

 

In CSP it does not happen directly. You can fill a space of a certain color and forget about the pixelated edges.

Here we can appreciate how there is no border or gap between the two colors.

 

 

 

The paint bucket comes with another very useful function, the "close gap". It allows you to close open lines automatically without having to review the drawing.

CONCLUSION

And here the end of this tutorial!

 

I hope it has helped you to see very practical and useful functions offered by CSP, and that you are encouraged to try this wonderful program.

 

I leave my social networks so you can take a look!

 

See you!