Drawing Software Review

Why Buy Drawing Software?

If you want to create professional-looking illustrations while only spending a fraction of the cost of professional illustrator software, then you have come to the right place. Here you can read comprehensive reviews and articles on drawing software. Professional illustrator and graphic design software can be quite pricey. With drawing software such as Xara Photo & Graphic Designer, Serif Draw Plus X5 and Real-DRAW PRO, you can still have powerful tools that will assist you in creating professional-looking art.

But, you may ask, why spend money at all on drawing software when you can use the paint program that comes free on your computer? The basic paint application that comes with your operating system only has the most basic of tools. To create professional-looking digital art, you will need more than those basic pencil, eraser, fill and spray can tools. Most drawing software will allow you to create vector images, which can be resized or moved without becoming blurry or pixilated. Additionally, these applications will have custom brushes and much more.

Drawing Software: What to Look For

Every company that makes drawing software has a slightly different idea about what to include. Some focus on the natural artistic side and give you advanced and custom brushes like you would have in real life. Others lean their drawing software more towards graphic design and photo editing styles, which are more centered on manipulating the drawing once you do a quick sketch or upload existing art. The basic tools in both will be a pencil, eraser, select, fill and color palette. Beyond that, the experience varies, so we have broken the products down and rated them on the following criteria. At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don’t Have To.™

Features
Some of these drawing applications have powerful vector editing tools that resemble the tools and features on a professional graphic design application. In each review, we will discuss the unique features of each drawing application and what you can do with them to create professional-looking art. We will also let you know if we found features that are not as advanced as they could be.

Ease of Use
Since these applications are for use in the home rather than for business or professional use, they should be easy to use for everyone. We will discuss the interface of each application, how simple the features are, and how easily you can navigate through the application. In this section, we will also discuss each application's learning curve.

File Compatibility
For home user software, file compatibility is very important. Many professionals are not as concerned about file compatibility because they know how to manipulate the files to save them the way they want. If you are not an expert on drawing applications, however, it is simpler to choose drawing software that allows you to export and import as many file types as possible. This way, you can always save your files the way you need to.

Help & Support
In this category, we will discuss what options the software developers have provided for you to obtain help, whether it is for installing software or general questions about the application. We will also discuss what support options are available to help you learn how to use the application. These might include video tutorials or online forums.

Drawing software can be a valuable tool that will help you and your art reach its full potential. It will also give you an idea of what high-end illustrator software can do, should you later decide to go professional. Do not sell yourself short – get drawing software with powerful features, at a price you can afford.

 
 
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Software » Multimedia » Drawing Software Review
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Xara Photo & Graphic Designer DrawPlus Real-Draw Pro Autodesk SketchBook Pro Sketsa SVG Editor
Xara Photo & Graphic Designer DrawPlus Real-Draw Pro Autodesk SketchBook Pro Sketsa SVG Editor
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Lowest Price
Visit Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 7
$89.99
Visit DrawPlus X5
$99.99
Visit Real-Draw Pro 5
$55.00
Visit Autodesk SketchBook Pro 2011
$59.00
Visit Sketsa SVG Editor 6
$89.00
Overall Rating
Ratings
Features
Ease of Use
File Compatibility
Help & Support
 
Features
Pen/Pencil Tool
Add Text & Text Effects
Gradients
Transparency/Opacity
Textures & Patterns
 
Templates
 
Layers
 
Custom Brushes
 
Transparent Gradients
  
Shape Builder Tool
 
Vector & Raster Effects
 
Tracing
Simple  
Clipart
  
Contours, Bevels, Shadows
  
3D Vector Effects
   
Bleed Setup
   
Graphics Tablet Compatible
 
 
Export Capability
JPEG
PNG
BMP
 
TIFF
 
GIF
 
PSD
 
 
WMF
   
EMF
   
PDF
   Requires Plugin
Other AI, EPS DXF/DWG, SVG    SVG
Import Capability
JPEG
PNG
BMP
 
TIFF
 
GIF
 
PSD
Single Layer Only
 
WMF
   
EMF
   
PDF
   
Other RAW, AI, EPS SVG, AI, EPS    SVG
Help & Support
FAQs
Online Forums
 
Email Support
Video Tutorials
 
 
Digital Manuals
 
Phone Support  
   
Supported Configurations
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP