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It's easy to concentrate on hardware, but the software is what makes the machine go.
If you're colouring professionally,
there's no substitute for Adobe Photoshop; it's the market
leader, and for good reason. Photoshop has an enormous array of
tools that let you do almost anything you can think of; I've been
using it day in, day out for over three years, and I'm still finding
new tricks.
Also useful
is either Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand, two similar
vector-based drawing programs which are handy for generating logos and sound
effect lettering.
Since version 8, Illustrator has moved ahead of Freehand as a tool for drawing onscreen using a graphics tablet. Illustrator's custom brushes let you simulate all sorts of brush strokes and textures, including charcoal and splatter. I do all my drawing in Illustrator these days.
Designers: Freehand has better tools for setting text.
Painter is a program which simulates
natural media, from oil paint and watercolour to chalk and pastel. Earlier versions
were confusing and awkward to use, not to mention unstable; however, with Painter
8, Corel has finally produced a tool worthy of professional use.
If you are used to working in natural media, Painter will feel more natural to use than the other programs listed here. But be warned, it can take some time to set up - it took me about three weeks to get my copy running smoothly. The interface can also be a little quirky.
Two important tips:
1) Buy The Painter WOW! Book by Cher Threinen-Pendarvis (Peachpit Press, August 2003, ISBN: 0321200071). This is an indispensable guide to Painter's vast range of features, crammed with handy tips on how to get the best from the program, and dozens of examples you can adapt to fit your preferred method. Equally of use to the experienced artist who is starting out in the digital world, or the experienced computer user who wants to learn painting. I can't recommend it enough.
2) Check the Corel website for upgrades!
QuarkXpress 4.1 or later is
the tool of choice if you want to become a professional letterer, with vector-based
tools that let you generate speech balloons and caption boxes. Watch out though
- at nine hundred quid, you'll have to sell a kidney to buy it.
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