Use MS paint to Draw!? Free Alternatives.

One of the biggest excuses for using MSpaint to draw is lack of funds. Either that or laziness. Well, I decided to go looking on the internet, to see if I could find a free vector art alternative to MSpaint.

Low and behold, my first search at download.com brought up a great little free program called "Serif drawplus 4". I installed it, and drew the following with it in under 10 minutes. (note, this was my first time ever using the program, yes, it is that intuitive)

http://www.realityglitch.com/a/zeb.gif

if you want this program, just go to www.download.com, and search for "serif 4"

Theoretically someone could make a comic using Microsoft Word.

Okay, I tried it.... I don't see myself making a comic for that. I can probably make a drawing with that.... But first of all, how on earth do I get it to fill? It automatically fills any closed space I make, and the fill (or what looks like fill) button makes lines and doesn't fill when I click.

Also, making lines are a hassle, because if I want to make a small detail, all I see are a bunch of boxes over the line, so I can't tell if I made my line or not until i make another line or use another option. I don't see any option to turn those boxes off either, blah.

Are you talking ASCII, or do they actually have vector art, and anti-aliasing features.

I'm just trying to help provide a link to a free program that doesn't make art look like crap. Microsoft word costs money. I know there are a lot of pirates here, and you can get all of this stuff for free, but for those of you that do not want to use pirated software, this is a great alternative.

There is no reason that you should use mspaint, unless of course you want to do pixel art, or sprite comics.

I don't think it's a good idea to use MSPaint, EVEN for sprites or pixel art. Without layers, it's a complete pain in the ass to make either.

Okay, I tried it.... I don't see myself making a comic for that. I can probably make a drawing with that.... But first of all, how on earth do I get it to fill? It automatically fills any closed space I make, and the fill (or what looks like fill) button makes lines and doesn't fill when I click.

Also, making lines are a hassle, because if I want to make a small detail, all I see are a bunch of boxes over the line, so I can't tell if I made my line or not until i make another line or use another option. I don't see any option to turn those boxes off either, blah.


Heh, just play with it a little, it'll eventually become intuitive. You've never really done work with vector art before have you? Try the following.

1.)First off to fill an object

http://www.realityglitch.com/a/serif/fill.jpg
Select Close Curve, and it will automatically fill.

2.)To choose the desired color:
http://www.realityglitch.com/a/serif/fill2.jpg
Click fill, and then click on the color you want.

3.)Dealing with nodes (those little boxes)

The nodes can actually be very usefull, if you want to see what your line looks like, simply deselect it. Here is how the nodes can be used.

http://www.realityglitch.com/a/serif/nodes.jpg
Click on the Node tool, and move the nodes around at your leisure.

4.)Controlling the smoothness of a line
http://www.realityglitch.com/a/serif/smooth.jpg
To control the smoothness of a line, adjust the "curve smoothness" slider. To the right is the smoothest(least nodes, or little boxes), and to the left is the least smooth(or most nodes).

5.)Give the Curved line tool a try, it makes life easier:
http://www.realityglitch.com/a/serif/curve.jpg
just play with it for 3 minutes or so, and you'll start to see what I mean.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask, or try looking up a tutorial on google.

Good luck!

-Zeb Spade

kazaa or whatever you pc owners use. illustrator or even flash.

problem solved.

Right, I personally use illustrator. I even own a legitimate copy of it. Not that don't also have Kazaa, and several other p2p progams, but some people don't like to pirate things. For those people, this is the best alternative I could find.

Personally, I trying something by "pirating" it, and then buy it if I find it usefull enough, or want to make professional works.

That looks like a lot of effort compared to flash's brush tool

I discovered some open source Illustrator-type program called Sodipodi. Yes, it's available for Windows as well as Linux. I'm not sure how good it is, because I've never USED Illustrator, so I can't compare, but it seems ok so far.

I use "The Gimp" now, but only for editing. Apparently its as useful as PSP or some such for art, though I try to avoid using computer programs for art much; frightening as they are.

Excellent, these are all great examples of why people shouldn't use paint, which was the whole point of this thread.

Or you could buy a Wacom and get a copy of Photoshop Elements free ^-^

I say stick to what your good at. I've used a blend of MS Paint and Photostudio 2000 for nearly 2 years now. I'd like to think I've gotten comfortable with what they can do for me.

I use "The Gimp" now, but only for editing. Apparently its as useful as PSP or some such for art, though I try to avoid using computer programs for art much; frightening as they are.

You beat me to it. "The Gimp" is probably one of the better freeware apps for computer artwork.

Paint is the right program for what I do

Yah but, that's because you're you, Elftor :)

You beat me to it. "The Gimp" is probably one of the better freeware apps for computer artwork.

Man, for awhile there I thought you guys were talking about the bondage guy from PULP FICTION.

I don't think it's a good idea to use MSPaint, EVEN for sprites or pixel art. Without layers, it's a complete pain in the ass to make either.
Layers actually makes things easier. However, if you want to go for a big challenge, then MS Paint is simple to use. Well, for me, anyway. I've been using MS Paint for all of my pixel art and for my sprites. Unless I'm doing an animation, then I'll go ahead and use PSP or something. I use PSP to save my works in .gif format with the transparent backgrounds, however.

http://gobi-fox.com/zach/art/giftart/to/pixelart/bdaymanda.gif

21 colors total on MS Paint, using PSP's transparency feature to save as a .gif. It may take long for me to do my works on Paint, but it's well worth it to get results and to get a challenge.

Damn! Are you part of the Pixelation forums? I still can't do something that good yet.

I know MS Paint CAN do stuff like that, but I'd rather use something easier (I currently use PSP 7). If only something out there was as simple as Paint, but had more undo levels(maybe 50 or so), and had layers, I'd jump over to that in a heartbeat.

Ahhhh, it all makes sense now! But le sigh, my next project is to be drawn! Found out 325 comics too late.... Ah well, this will help everyone else!

Damn! Are you part of the Pixelation forums? I still can't do something that good yet.

I know MS Paint CAN do stuff like that, but I'd rather use something easier (I currently use PSP 7). If only something out there was as simple as Paint, but had more undo levels(maybe 50 or so), and had layers, I'd jump over to that in a heartbeat.
Yup, I am part of the Pixelation forums. LoL. Mostly a lurker, but every now and then I'll submit something there. And nuu, it's not that good. I have lots of space to improve myself upon. :P

Topic time: Actually, the program that you are comfortable with is the one that you should be working with. I'm used to two: MS Paint and PSP (7/8). And I have to agree that "The Gimp" is a great freeware paint program for people to use. Some people actually use it for isometric pixel art (like buildings or cities). Just hopefully people will understand the different areas of art and not claiming it to be something else, using whatever tools on whatever they're doing (if anyone gets what I mean, or something). It's fun being a lurker.

Ahhhh, it all makes sense now! But le sigh, my next project is to be drawn! Found out 325 comics too late.... Ah well, this will help everyone else!

Well it should help you on your next project! Improvement can never come too late or too early.