design tools to create graphics

The animation industry is much in demand since a decade. It is because animation serves many purposes. It simplifies the message you want to convey, holds people’s attention better than other types of content and educates and entertains at the same time.

2D animation software have gained a lot of popularity and are being used in a wide range of projects. Which can help you out in making funny cartoons, illustrations, explainer videos, or informative shorts.

You will be amazed to know that 2D animation is rooted deep in the history of movie-making and has now become a wild thing. 2D animation software also comes handy to make illustrations for games and mobile apps.

2D animation software is often required for the creation of complex animations and are used by professionals like game developers, cartoonists, architects and artists. Some of the main features that are looked for in a good 2D animator are motion & animation, production environment, proper input & output system, character creation and stage & SFX.

Creating exciting and intricate stories has become an interesting and fun activity with the advent of so many 2D animation software.

You can unleash your imagination and build interesting and funny characters, and more. You can then use your creations in presentations, advertisements, or simply add them to your website.

Are you scavenging for the top 2D animation software for PC? Then you are in the right place. This article will be covering some of the best 2D animation software with their pros and cons to help you find the one that suits your needs.

Some of them are free and some of them are paid. But before choosing a 2d animation software you need to know about the important features of those softwares.

Top 10 best software for 2D animation

There is nothing called Best animation software. It highly depends on what you want to do and achieve. Sometimes it also becomes a personal preference. There is a number of animation software to do different jobs.

1. Toon Boom Harmony

Platforms: Windows, Mac OS | Price: Paid

When it comes to digital production, you can count on Toon Boom Harmony as it is considered as the gold standard in the field of 2D animation.

You can create art and emotion in a variety of styles with this end-to-end animation software. Whether you prefer to have a cutout or paperless animations, Toon Boom Harmony can be the best choice to set the trends for top-notch and award-winning animations.

It is designed for 2D animation but has 3D control over the stage, allowing you to see and manipulate objects on multiple layers in a 3D environment. On top of this there is control over cameras which other software packages do not incorporate. It has the best of both worlds when it comes to hybrid animation tools.

The latest in shading, lighting, and special effects can give more life to your series and characters. It has three packages naming essential, advance, and premium.

Toon Boom Harmony is one of the best paid animation software. It might be expensive for beginners. However, it has a perfect interface, intuitive controls, streamline environment and is used by professionals the world over to produce some of the best animations on the planet. Some examples of this are, Family Guy, Archer, South Park, Rick and Morty, SpongeBob, Bob's Burgers, Simpsons, and Clarence just to name a few.

Toon Boom Harmony features of Advanced color pallettes and painting options , Cut-out animation tools and Conventional paperless animation . It is best suited for narrating a story through 2D images, creating an art piece, or creating a message for your audience.

It is professional software that contains vector and bitmap tools to create art, 3D imported models, and best suited for creating multiplane scenes with z-depth. It may take some time to master the learning curve of this software; it is worth it.

2. Adobe Animate cc

Platforms: Windows, Mac OS | Price: Paid

This software, once known - not that long ago as Adobe Flash and before that as Macromedia Flash has been around for almost 20 years. This gives you a wonderful collection of learning resources from online courses, DVD's, web videos, books, and entire sites devoted to animating in Flash.

It is very easy to use. A variety of layouts for every screen size and monitor setup. The timeline and stage are easy to navigate, making it simple to create walk, run and other cycles, and then embed them in other videos to allow for reusable animated sequences. Pressure sensitivity when drawing with a graphic tablet, and the ability to scrub through the audio when synching dialogue.

If you need to create vector graphics and animation, Animate is the right tool for you. Excellent vector brushes in all sorts of styles for being able to create a large variety of characters.

We can use Animate CC to create a variety of animated content such as animated cartoons, advertisements, games, and other interactive content to publish on platforms such as HTML5 Canvas, Flash Player & Air, WebGL, or custom platforms such as Snap SVG. It includes an option to add certain actions without having to actually code. More Possibilities in the Future.

Animate CC has the new ability to export a project as an .oam file, making it possible to directly import your work into Adobe. Creative Cloud membership allows access to all latest features and fixes as well as other software you might find useful .

Adobe Animate offers support for video and audio embedding, ActionScript scripting, rich text and raster graphics.

The final work that you can create using Adobe Animate stands out from others because you can achieve high-quality results through frame-by-frame animation that lets you create more expressive characters.

Animate is one of the best 2D bone animation software. For more realistic effects, it includes bone tool animations so you can add bones to your characters.

This 2D animation software can bring banner ads and cartoons to life by the terrific feature that it offers. Artists can create animated avatars and doodles quickly and effortlessly as compared to other tools available. Intuitive layout, so that even the common user can easily get used to it . This is among the cheapest and cost-efficient tools available in the market.

3. Moho

Platforms: Windows, Mac OS | Price: Paid

Moho was formerly known as Anime Studio and offers everything you need to create eye-catching animations for presentations, games, illustrations, storyboards, etc. It's a proprietary vector-based 2D animation software for animators. You can easily import and export vector files in this application.

It offers two version, the Debut and the Pro . The first one doesn’t have all the functions that the Pro version has, plus the Debut version is a bit more restricted in terms of possible length and image size. The debut is for hobbyists and beginners while the pro offers working professionals its most advanced tools.

Moho is more of a “purpose built” tool that is heavily focused on rigging and animation of characters (though it does have a frame by frame workflow as well.) . It allows you to create unique textures and effects for the characters. You can expand your animation toolkit, which will improve the quality and workflow of your projects.

It has many great and intuitive 2D-vector drawing tools. You can even fade the color of your 2D vector into another color and into a fourth and fifth color easily, while its being animated.

Adding and layering soundtracks or vocals is easy to do in it as well. You can easily fade them in or out. now it offering the brand-new freehand drawing capabilities, bitmap options.

It has a complex bone system for rigging and even supports the Unity engine. You have an option to use multiple layers for carrying out complex animated tasks. And, its amazing bone-rigging capability lets you skip frame-by-frame animation, as it enables you to add skeletons to characters easily, saving you a lot of time, while creating a sequential timeline.

There are several good videos online on how to work with the software focusing on scene setup, character creation, and audio synching. The only thing that is a drawback is that it has quite a steep learning curve. The tools are not as intuitive as other software packages, the timeline is not as easy to work with and manipulate and if you have ever used another environment there is a lot of unlearning you will have to do to move over to this package. However. For the price if you are just starting out it is a great go to.

4. TVPaint

Platforms: Windows, Mac OS , Linux, Android, AmigaOS | Price: Paid

A french animation software, TVPaint is the all-in-one 2D animation software you’ll ever need. it simulates animating traditionally, with pencil and paper. It has been used to create many animated and otherwise movies.

It's based on bitmap technology. No confusing vector art or tweening or keyframes vs regular frames. If you want to animate traditionally and redraw every frame, use TvPaint.

Thanks to this technology, you can animate natural renderings (gouache, watercolor, oil painting, crayon, pen…) traditionaly (image by image). TVPaint doesn't impose a graphical style nor a workflow. Feel free to mix animation on paper and digital animation, do rotoscopy, use different software or simply make your project with TVPaint entirely.

You will get all the essential tools and feature to animate efficiently without the paper stage. Navigating across the images in the timeline like image marks or bookmarks is handy with this 2D animation software. The flip-flop feature enables the user to customize the preview of the animation by conveniently setting up the shortcuts. The out of pegs can be used to adjust the Light table display through rotating, moving, and scaling. You are going to love this tool with improved features.

Tvpaint enables you to modify live camera parameters like tint, luminosity, hue, etc. This tool enables you to manage the layers and images. You can make storyboards and view them instantaneously as animatics. You can touch up images with a drawing tool . It allows you to combine many FX (effects) within the FX stack. You can use a graphics tablet to handle the opacity, size, jitter, and angle of brushes in real-time.

But not everybody has an extra thousand dollars to spend on TvPaint, so I think you should look at multiple programs before choosing one. This software is for professional animators and studios.

5. OpenToonz

Platforms: Windows, Mac OS, and Linux | Price: Free

Opentoonz is most certainly an amazing free 2D animation suite if you want to get into REAL 2D (frame by frame ) animation. It won’t hold your hand like other expensive software and you won’t have a simple time creating silly potato heads that can talk or stick men jumping over buildings. It is aimed at animation ARTISTS - people who can draw, animate and create.

So OpenToonz is a new free, open-source animation program that has been used by Studio Ghibli and on shows like Futurama and Steven Universe. Studio Ghibli is the Japanese anime film studio responsible for movies like My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke , Spirited Away and Kiki’s Delivery Service.

You can also plug-in SDK effects and change picture styles using artificial intelligence. This includes changing picture styles, affected incident light, wavy distortion, digital painting,compatibility with raster and vector etc. As an animator, you can freely add any specialised effects to OpenToonz, thereby creating stunning animations.

A fun fact about OpenToonz is that it has a high level of customization. The software has a wide range of keyboarding shortcuts to use for easy access in rendering and animating your projects and has an impressive variety of animation effects including lighting effects and picture styles. Some of the features include onion-skinning and frame-by-frame animation, so you don’t have to redraw your work at every frame.

Just like the paid version, OpenToonz is great to use. It combines both traditional drawing and 2D animation and has many features (dynamic palette, tweening coloring, bitmap tools etc).

OpenToonz features extremely powerful drawing tools which help in scaling and modelling of animation features. It’s very efficient when it comes to frame-by-frame animation and along with features such as tweening and tracking; the frame integration is almost seamless. Scripting is another convenient feature added to its list. Particle Systems are another of its added features which help in minute and intricate animation tweaks.

It is compatible with 4 types of scanning. It allows you to save settings of scanning. To animate a drawing, you just have to scan it. users can modify the source code to add specific features to this simple animation software. So, once the user has got enough knowledge and expertise about this tool, he can bend and mold the toons to his whim. But for beginners, getting started with this software can be a little bit daunting.

However, the downside of Opentoonz is that the design of its user interface is outdated compared to other 2D animation software in the market. Regardless, users would still have an exhilarating experience.

6. Synfig Studio

Platforms: Windows, Mac OS, and Linux | Price: Free

Synfig Studio is an open-source, free timeline-based, and 2D vector graphics computer animation program. Synfig Studio is a real back-end and front-end application, that allows you to design your animation in front-end and render it in backend at a later time even on another computer, without having to connect the graphical display.

Synfig Studio allows users to create powerful animations without having to graph and sketch frame by frame. You can create animations with the help of bitmap and vectors in Synfig Studio and all this can be done just by adopting.

Synfig was designed to look like and work similar to Adobe Animate , so if you've used Flash in the past, you will quickly learn the Synfig workspace. It includes a number of advanced animation tools, including vector tweening, layers and filters, and bones. Synfig gives you a lot of power – and it's all free.

The best thing about Synfig is that it provides more than 50 layers you can choose from to create simple or professional animation. It does not impose any limitations on you. these layers are of various types; geometric, gradients, filters, distortions, transformations, fractal and a few others.

Synfig has basic features for syncing your animation with soundtrack using Sound Layer. Linux users can get all benefits of full-featured audio editors through the JACK integration.

By Synfig Studio, you can transform any vector image into another form as it offers powerful tools to give you full command over your vector artwork. Calculating the frames has never been so handy. You just need to set the key positions, and Synfig will calculate the in-between frames automatically.

You can also enjoy some pro features that are surprising in this free drawing animation software. For instance, Synfig offers support for gradient routes with which you can shade your drawings, manipulate vector lines, use a grid, use onion-skinning and choose from a variety of blend methods for your drawing.

Overall, Synfig is a great application for those who have a little experience handling animation software. The community behind this animation program is one of the best, with hundreds of tutorials and videos to learn from.

7. Pencil 2D

Platforms: Windows, Mac OS, and Linux | Price: Free

If you are into traditional hand-drawn animation, then maybe Pencil 2D is a great software to start your animation project. This free software lets you use both raster and vector graphics and you can switch easily between the two types of artwork. It started as a simple "pencil test" at first and developed into animation software.

Pencil 2D is a cross-platform tool and lets you focus on animating even when you are on the go. Since the software is completely free and open source, users can have access to the source code and add features. No matter if you use it personally or commercially, the features can help you out in every project.

The user interface is simple and intuitive, letting you create your compositions in color, with a pencil, pen and brush tools. Anyone with little to no experience using animation software — even total newbies — will be able to tell at a glance what they can do with the software.

The tool features layers, a timeline with a simple keyframe manipulation system, onion-skinning, colors, pressure sensitivity, workspace toolbars and panels that you can rearrange to fit your animation needs and workspace.

Animators will appreciate the clean, uncluttered timeline where it is quite easy to add new keyframes on different layers, duplicate, change the frame rate and work quickly to create animations with minimal fuss.

It's focused on traditional frame-by-frame animation so every frame is made from scratch. It comes with a manual to learn how to use the program adequately. The program is lightweight and doesn’t use large amounts of RAM, so almost any computer can handle it. It can be used by a graphic tablet and pen.

This best free 2d animation software is lightweight as there are not many tools present in it. It does not support shapes tools due to which it becomes impossible to create or draw shapes. advanced animators may not find that the features are robust enough for their preferences.

Pencil 2D is true to its name, as it fully supports 2D animation only. If you are looking to learn basic cartoon animation principles, Pencil might be a great choice. Moreover, you can easily produce good quality drawings and animations with this free 2D animation software.

8. TupiTube

Platforms: Unix-like, Windows, Mac OS | Price: Free

TupiTube is one of the best free 2D animation software for beginners which created by Maefloresta Inc. It's free and open-source , compatible with phones, tablets, and PCs. It was created by two animators to encourage the animation industry in Latin America. It’s free and open-source, so you can download it to see if you like it.

It’s basically an amateur animation very popular among kids, students, and teachers. Schools and colleges are a market for Tupitube. Its simplistic design and UI is very easy to use for beginners. It also a virtual assist feature to help with the animation process.

Tupitube can help create a range of animation features. Hand-drawn animation feature is the most commonly used followed by Cut-Out animation. Even though it might appear amateurish, Tupitube does have advanced functions such as Rotoscoping and Stop-Motion animation.

It offers features like basic tools for vector illustration, support for tweening of positions and colors, a library panel to organize files, and different formats for exporting. The goal is to eventually reach a professional level for more advanced users.

TupiTube does seem to be focused on hand drawn/traditional animation i.e. the kind where you draw each frame yourself. It comprises of basic illustration tools that are easy to understand for beginner animators. Pencil, color, tweening tools, exposure sheet, import SVG image file and export animations are the key features.

If you have no experience of animation software at all TupiTube is probably a good place to start. The software is aimed at complete novices from children to amateur animators. It’s likely that you’ll be up and animating something very quickly.

From what I’ve seen you could probably use TupiTube to create good quality animation for a web series etc. but that’ll depend on how confident you get with it, and pushing the boundaries of what it can do.

9. Blender

Platforms: Windows, Mac OS, and Linux | Price: Free

Blender is a free 3D Animation software and we can also make 2D animations. Blender is a free animation software that has been able to get a lot of love from its community of various kinds of professional and business owners. It has a wide range of tools that allow you to create 2D, 3D, or even mix 2D and 3D objects in your video.

It has a jaw-dropping rendering feature that allows you to smoothly process layers, characters, background, and other objects in the video. Along with that, you can use its amazing video-editing tools for cutting, slicing, adjusting layers, and more.

As of Blender 2.8, the grease pencil system has been revamped into a full 2D animation tool. we can create the story, script, storyboard and animatics using the grease pencil as a primary tool.

Through its open architecture, Blender provides cross-platform interoperability, extensibility, an incredibly small footprint, and a tightly integrated workflow.
This tool allows you to import or export videos in MPEG, QuickTime, and AVI file formats.

Keep in mind that you need to spend a little bit of time on learning features of Blender before you can fully harness the power of this powerful software.

10. DigiCel FlipBook

Platforms: Windows, Mac OS | Price: Free + Paid Plan

DigiCel FlipBook was Considered as one of the easiest 2D animation software on the market. It come with Free version ( with a watermark) , Lite Version , Studio Version , Pro Version and ProHD Version for different grades. It was created with the intention of duplicating the animation process in its traditional form, much like Toon Boom Harmony and TVPaint.

As FlipBook wants to keep the traditional aspect and the traditional toolkit of the animation, it does not support skeletal animation. Thus each frame has to be created and drown separately and inbetweening is performed via onion skinning.

The toolkit is raster-based and supports direct digital input of a drawing using graphics tablet and scanning the physical drawing via either webcam or TWAIN-compliant scanner.

FlipBook is easy to use for beginners and pros who want to improve the editing experience. It is a powerful video editor that you can make 2D animation with various functions like syncing sound with animation, scanning cells, and more. Want to add sound, just drag a sound file onto the xsheet.

If you enjoy drawing and you’ve always wanted to create your own Disney-like cartoon, this software will suit you well. It's definitely an old-school approach, but if that's the way you roll, FlipBook is the software for you.

11. Powtoon

Platforms: web browser-based | Price: Free + Paid Plan

PowToon is an interesting 2D animation software developed for business use. if you own a small business or a website and you want to stand out in the crowd, this tool will help you achieve that.

PowToon is a web-based animation software that allows users to create animated presentations by manipulating pre-created objects, imported images, provided music and user-created voice-overs. It allows you to move scenery around, props, move your characters.

The user interface is very intuitive and you’ll quickly learn how to use the tool without even watching dedicated tutorials. it enables you to create 2D animation videos online without investing a lot of time in learning new skills and spending money on video equipment.

It’s a great tool for beginners, with several professional-looking templates to choose from, including animated explainer and infographic-style videos, as well as templates built specifically for product promotion. You can also start from scratch or import a theme from PowerPoint.

Powtoon uses an Apache Flex engine to generate an XML file that can be played in the Powtoon online viewer, exported to YouTube or downloaded as an MP4 file. It supports full 1080 HD quality videos, which means that you do not need to compromise simplicity and price with quality.

The wide range of features offered by the free version of this software can’t be ignored. In fact, this is a one stop solution for all your animation needs. Once you start producing and uploading 2D animated videos with PowToon, you can switch to its paid versions to get more features and publish mind-boggling videos.

12. Animaker

Platforms: web browser-based | Price: Free + Paid Plan

In explainer video industry, the demand for quality video is huge. They need a digital vehicle which can explain their business instantly and engagingly like an elevator pitch.

Animaker is a online simple animated video making app which helps a wide range of users to craft videos of studio standard without much training or external guidance. Everything starts with just a simple drag and drop.

Animaker is much like PowToon in that you set up a storyboard and animate the characters or props in that scene. Animaker's helped over 5M people create awesome videos by themselves! And is trusted by some of the world's leading brands. It’s used by companies like Google, Verizon, and Pepsi.

Animaker provides numerous animated characters, icons, properties, BGs, maps, and charts. It is one of the best 2D animation software that helps you to create an ideal video for your organization, presentation, freelancing projects, as well as personal projects.

The software is cloud-based, and was launched in 2014. With Animaker, you can create 2D and 2.5D videos, animated infographic videos, handcraft videos, whiteboard videos, typography animations, and more. it addding a perfect mix of UI experience, simplicity in video making and equally a well qualified video to be proud off.

The software provides online tools to create and edit video animation. Animaker uses both HTML5 and Adobe Flash to create animated videos that can be exported to Facebook, YouTube or downloaded as an mp4 file. The software is also available as a chrome extension in the Chrome Web Store.

Summary

There is a range of premium and advanced animation software tools also available on the internet which comprise even more features and are heavy duty to carry out many animation simulations in one go. But for most of the animation process to take place, the mentioned software in the blog should be more than sufficient.

The best free & paid animation software really depends on your skill level, your hardware, and the types of videos you want to make.

There is a plethora of 2D animation software, and choosing the best one can be challenging. To connect with your audience, you need some visuals to convey your message effectively, whether you want to increase the sales of a business or want to earn some bucks through funny videos.

Thus, it would help if you recked your brain before making the final decision. It is advised that you should check out the features that the software offers along with the price that you need to pay to use them.

Once started with those animation software, sooner or later, you will notice that, drawing with mouse is tedious. Then you may want to get a drawing pad ( XP-PEN , for example).

Also, tool is just tool. To create professional looking animations, you must learn principles of animation. Only then, the chosen tools may help you.

Regardless, we are all so fortunate to have such a great little menu of animation programs to choose from in this day and age. No matter your preferences as a beginner animator, you can find a 2D animation program for you.

Source: https://www.xp-pen.com/forum-1727.html

Digital Drawing & Painting are fun . A person uses all his imaginations, innovation and creativity to draw a master-piece that eventually reflects his set of thoughts. Visualizing a certain thing and then picturing it in a canvas is a big art in itself. Drawing a picture freshens up one’s mood, makes a person more positive and lively and therefore this activity is very fun to indulge oneself in.

Becoming a professional digital artist takes years of hard work. Achieving this goal is impossible without spending thousands of hours practicing and polishing your skills. Drawing apps for Android & iOS enable you to keep practicing your drawing and painting skills whenever you have some free time.

There are plenty of drawing apps are available in the market for all kinds of devices. Irrespective of whether you are using an Android device, an iPhone or even an iPad Pro, there are drawing apps for everyone. Drawing apps for Android & iOS devices have come a long way from being a basic sketching app a few years ago to full-fledged drawing software. They come with all the advanced features which you will find in some of the pro level desktop apps.

If you want a digital art drawing tablet to connect to your Android devices as well as computers . some models ( Star G640s,Star G960S , Deco mini7, Deco 01 V2 and Deco Pro ) of the XP-PEN sports great pen pressure sensitivity and transmits your drawings to the connected Android smartphones and tablets using Android OS (6.0 or later). For a dedicated tablet for doodling or professional art, XP-PEN is a reliable brand to being your search.

Here are some of the best and well-known art apps for beginners looking to get into the digital world. These are the drawing apps that are quick to pick up and easy to work with. They have a lot of great resources available and a large community to lean on for support while traversing the learning curve.

The 12 Best digital Art Apps for Android or iOS that artists will love

1. Procreate

Procreate is an iOS-only app designed to fully harness the power of Apple’s popular iPad Pro and Apple Pencil combination. There is a Procreate app for the iPhone with fewer features called Procreate Pocket.

It's a classic and well-known app that won the Apple Design Award. Its wide canvas with touch operation ensures a comfortable drawing experience. The simple UI makes it easy to find features.

It features the ability to use a 4K canvas with over 120 brushes available. On top of that, there are 25 customizable settings for every brush resulting in a nearly unlimited number of combinations. On top of that, there are an absurd list of other features you can use including various import/export settings, 250 levels of undo/redo, optimizations for 64-bit processors, and plenty of deeper functions such as exporting HEX values for color.

From transformative tools to video capture of workflow, multi-touch gesture commands and GPU accelerated filters, Procreate offers impressive performance to artists.

You can create just about any kind of art with Procreate, from oil and acrylic style paintings to pixel art, lifelike graphite drawings, digital illustrations, and so much more.

More than just a drawing app, Procreate combines many of the powerful tools you’d expect to find in a much more robust program like Photoshop. Layers, custom brushes, and all sorts of special effects are available on your tablet.

You can export your ended up work of art as PSD, native.procreate, TIFF, transparent PNG, multi-pages PDF, and JPEG file formats.

Procreate offers impressive performance to artists. It's overkill if you're just looking for something to doodle with, but if you're in the market for a robust, professional-quality art app on an iPad, Procreate deserves a look.

2. Adobe Illustrator Draw

Be sure to check out Adobe Illustrator Draw if you use an Android or iOS tablet. Adobe Illustrator Draw has full layer support, much like its desktop counterpart.

The free Adobe Illustrator Draw is a versatile vector graphics drawing app that can be further enhanced with Creative Cloud integration. It supports zoom as much as x64, so you can easily see all the fine information.

You can mess around with five customizable pens and stylus support for popular devices such as Adobe Ink. support for Adonit, Wacom, Pencil by 53 and Apple Pencil devices. You can also enjoy the ability to create up to 10 layers to create images on the app. Easily mixes photos with drawing layers.

Users can import in assets from Color CC and Shape CC, and can export drawings straight to Illustrator CC on the desktop, or PNG files to Photoshop CC. That allows you to begin a creation whenever inspiration takes you, and then flesh it out fully on a desktop rig.

The app is beautifully laid out with a simple approach to Adobe Photoshop Sketch, though the learning curve can be challenging for those who are unfamiliar with design software. The upside: the app features a robust tutorial platform and community engagement available for all users and skill levels.

3. Adobe Photoshop Sketch

If you’re looking for a free app that combines the ease and simplicity of drawing on your mobile device with the power of Adobe Photoshop, check out Photoshop Sketch. It includes many of the same features as Adobe Illustrator Draw , including zoom support for fine detail, support for various drawing hardware, layers, advanced tools, and more.

The app is quite intuitive because it’s well laid out for use on a tiny screen. You can easily select brushes, color palettes, new tools, and make quick layer adjustments.

With a myriad of drawing tools and customizable toolbar, this app can turn your concepts into incredible and realistic artwork and designs. You can make use of tools that imitate an ink pen, marker, as well as a graphite pencil.

If you’re fond of using a stylus while drawing, Photoshop Sketch can work well with you since it supports Bluetooth styluses such as Pencil, Adobe Ink, and those from Wacom and Adonit.

Photoshop Sketch aims to replicate the analog drawing experience, augmented with a few digital flourishes such as a color picker and an undo history. Users can import in assets from other Creative Cloud tools such as custom brushes and colors, and your creations can also be exported into Creative Cloud as layered PSDs to Photoshop, or flat images for Illustrator.

You can also get rid of the menus completely so you can have your whole screen to draw on. Then bring ‘em back when you’re ready to adjust something.

This is truly a beginners app but it’s also the ideal choice for Photoshop artists who want a slimmer version of their favorite digital art program on the go.

4. Autodesk SketchBook

SketchBook by Autodesk is one of the most powerful and popular drawing apps for Android and iOS. Additionally, Autodesk made SketchBook entirely free. That makes it arguably the best free drawing app on the Android and iOS, with no ads or payments required. Apart from Android and iOS, the app is also available on Mac and PC.

SketchBook stands out from similar apps due to natural drawing experience , clean interface and consists of the unique Copic Color Library. It comes with a variety of drawing tools and brushes, all of which you can customize on the fly, pinch to zoom, a gallery organizer, and support for saving and storing your works to Dropbox or iCloud.

SketchBook also has a Scan Sketch feature, which lets you capture a sketch using your device’s camera, and it automatically makes the background of the paper transparent. This way, you only have your drawing to deal with. Many industrial designers, architects and the like have integrated this handy little tool into their workflow for easy drawing and quick transition into the Autodesk family.

There’s also a screenshot tool that allows other people to view and add notes to your artwork for review. If you wish to create flipbooks or animations, SketchBook has got you covered. Simply click on File > New FlipBook then choose any of the options to enter Animation mode.

Autodesk SketchBook basically works like a sketchbook for your mobile device. You can use this for practice and to work out ideas, but not really to draw your finished pieces in. Sketchbook isn’t meant for fancy finished pieces so it’s not a true painter’s app. But it’s great for quick sketches and working out concepts from anywhere in the world.

The application also lets you export your work as JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, and PSD. Lastly, Autodesk SketchBook has complete support for layer features.

In addition, users can create a free Sketchbook account to gain access to more features such as layer and symmetry tools. A premium subscription unlocks more pro tools such as an expanded brush library, and more powerful layer and selection tools.

5. Ibis Paint X

If you’re searching for an app that’s easy and enjoyable to utilize for both kids and grownups, look no more than Ibis Paint. ibis Paint is the of the best drawing apps for Android and iOS out there.

It has some unique features like recording your drawing as video, and SNS features where you can see and learn from videos other users have made.

Other features like fast open GL technology, 335 customization brushes, , 46 screen tones, 27 blending modes, and over 1,000 fonts makes it an obvious choice for people looking for an android or iOS drawing app with lots of plus points.

It does have layer support and you can use as many layers as your device can handle.

Apart from this, there are separate features for those artists who are interested in creating manga. the app works great with concept art, anime/manga, or any type of illustration work.

There is also optional pressure sensitivity and you can load images to trace with the easy tracing mode.

On top of the above functions, Ibis Paint offers stroke stabilization function and different ruler features.

ibis Paint X makes it easy to create beautiful art on a small smartphone screen. You’ll find great linework for drawing on a small screen.

While Ibis Paint X is a free download, an in-app purchase removes advertising, and an optional Prime Membership subscription unlocks extra fonts, materials, and filters.

6. Medibang Paint

MediBang Paint is a free drawing app available for Android, iOS, and PC/Mac computers. The mobile and desktop versions do feel a bit different so try both and see what you think.

The app comes with the features you'd expect from a solid mobile art app, including layers, rulers, a wealth of brushes, and snap guides and tracing aides. also support for 3D Touch on newer iOS devices.

The app makes it easy to create drawings and comic books and is packed with features such as brushes, screen tones, fonts, premade backgrounds, comic panels, and other resources.

It uses cloud storage by default so it’s easy to transition between your devices and continue working on the same piece. This means you can also easily share your artwork with others for collabs.

What’s more, the app has a vibrant community so there are plenty of resources and tutorials online that will help you learn the ropes quickly.

Due to its mild complexity MediBang Paint might not be the best for beginners who have never used digital drawing apps before. But if you have some experience you’ll probably really like it.

The app is free to download on the Play Store and App Store. However, the free version showcases ads from time to time. Purchasing the Remove Ads option will eliminate these interludes.

7. Infinite Painter

Infinite Painter might not have the easy name recall of Adobe, Autodesk or any of our other best drawing apps, but it's garnered a well-deserved cult following among Android users.

The app is free with a 7-day trial, after which premium features are available as in-app purchases. While originally an Android exclusive, Infinite Painter has since made the leap to iPad screens, operating under the same free trial model.

Infinite Painter features 80-plus natural brushes and the ability to create custom ones, infinite layer support, paper textures, a variety of transformation tools and perspective aids, color blending, pattern and gradient tools and more. Works can be exported into PSD, PNG or JPG.

The well-designed layout makes it simple to change brush sizes and color choices quickly. You can also sample colors from anywhere in your paintings.

The minimal layout is designed to keep your drawing space clear so you don’t get lost in menus to find what you need. Infinite painter also makes it easy to see which tool you have selected, because it’s the only one you can really see.

Use layers, create masks, add symmetry tools, and work with selection tools similar to what you’d find in Photoshop. You can even create your own brushes and modify the ones that come with the app. And when you start a painting you can record a video of your process to create your own speedpaint videos.

Infinite Painter is tailor made for sketching and painting on your phone and tablet. Its built-in brushes are incredibly diverse and work like actual paint on a digital screen. It feels very natural for anyone with painting experience.

8. ArtRage

The concept behind ArtRage is to make the experience of painting as real as possible on the Android and iOS . You can experience the mixing of different paints like you are blending them on a real canvas.

ArtRage delivering a set of drawing and painting tools firmly rooted in the analog art of applying graphite on paper or paint on canvas. It features a series of tools that aim to mimic real world painting tools and mediums, such as oil paints, watercolors, a palette knife, paint rollers, etc. The painting engine is designed to mimic the effects of paint thickness, thinner and other real-world behaviors of tools and media.

The canvas textures are beautiful so it looks like you’re painting on actual canvas. You can even customize your paper to get the exact texture and line quality you’re looking for.

As this app also works with layers, you won’t face any difficulty with the blend modes if you know Photoshop. You can also save your strokes for watching later on your desktop.

This is a brilliant program for traditional artists who want to continue working in their style, but with the benefits you get in digital art(ex: undo, painting over layers).

You also get a full set of stencils, grids, and perspective guides to speed up your painting process. You can tell ArtRage was created with artists in mind. ArtRage supports Apple Pencil, Adonit, Wacom and Pogo Styli.

As for the interface and workflow, ArtRage is an easy-to-use application. Even someone who is not familiar with the app can swiftly grasp the gamut of it. It also has built-in quick reference and essential help files, including multitouch support for canvas and object manipulation.

With ArtRage you can create gorgeous paintings and drawings that perfectly emulate working on a desktop computer. Due to all these reasons, ArtRage is hands down one of the best drawing apps for Android and iOS.

9. Dotpict

Are you trying to create a piece of art that is different from the rest? Or are you someone who just enjoys the world of pixel art? Dotpict is one of the best drawing apps for Android and iOS as it offers a different take on drawing. The app is free on the Play Store, the App Store, and has ads. In addition, this artsy app is also partly a game.

You get a solitary brush with a couple of chosen hues. Utilizing this application is somewhat similar to testing yourself. On the top bar you get couple of menus to play out some extremely straightforward assignments. Directly underneath it is the illustration zone.

You get a square canvas with a customizable layout. This is trailed by a lot of various shaded pencils and toward the end we have the push catch. The tools in the app include a brush tool, an eraser, a color picker, a bucket, and a complete color wheel. Just point the cursor to a pixel and tap the big button to fill it with color. Apart from that, dotpict also allows users to undo or redo the steps.

Move a small hand with your finger or stylus, then push your color to create an 8-bit shape. There's a variety of canvas sizes, so you can create anything from a small figure to a whole landscape.

Maybe you just want to browse around and get some ideas on what to do next. Dotpict has a great gallery for you to peruse the creations of similar artists so you can take an idea and turn into something of your own. All of your work is automatically saved, and you can easy share or export it once you've finished.

You can directly save the project to your Photos app or share it within the app or to your social media.

Other than that, it’s not too feature heavy and it stays out of your way while you draw. It’s an excellent app for those who enjoy creating pixel art.

10. ArtFlow

If your Android tablet isn't feeling the love with all of these iPad apps in the running, don't lose heart. Artflow is a beautiful drawing app for Android that features a clean user interface and lots of pro features like layers and custom brushes. It is the perfect drawing and painting app to create paint your dream.

The ArtFlow digital art studio for Android comes packed with features and tools, both in free and paid tiers. ArtFlow's free version is already a solid drawing app, with nine customizable brushes, a symmetry tool, color picker, six-step undo and support for two layers.

A premium version massively expands the tool selection from the free dowload, with more than 80 brushes, expanded history support, the ability to create up to 16 layers, GPU-accelerated paint engine, stylus pressure support and custom palettes. That premium version has more features than any normal user would probably know what to do with, but it's great for seasoned and aspiring digital artists looking for an Android art app.

You can export to JPEG, PNG, or even PSD so you can import it into Photoshop later. To top things off, you’ll have access to Nvidia’s DirectStylus support if you’re rocking an Nvidia device. It’s a solid all-around option for both kids and adults. You can download it for free to try it out. ArtFlow is also free to use if you use Google Play Pass.

11. PaperColor

PaperColor is one of the most versatile photo editing and drawing app for Android devices. It is equipped with lots of professional tools for sketching and provides stunning system UI with easy controls. It includes both drawing capabilities and photo editing functionality with just some tap on your mobile devices.

PaperColor aims to imitate real-life drawing experience as closely as it can. It offers the necessary features that include different brush types, ruler, eraser, etc.

Different types of rulers makes each line you draw is perfectly straight or curved, depending on your needs. The paintbrushes this drawing app offers can imitate graffiti, a pencil drawing, or any type of doodle, as you can choose from a variety of paintbrush styles.

While most apps try to give you a modern, minimal UI, PaperColor lays the pens and brushes out in front of you. It's as close to an easel and canvas as you can get from an Android app.

It allows you to import a picture as the base map and set it to transparent mode. Then you can trace the original image and draw above it. A base map helps you to learn drawing in a straightway.

Moreover, other features include the ability to add text, custom cover, graphics tools, etc. You can add a handwritten signature to each image you create with this app, and share your creations with your friends on social media.

The app is free with no ads and has some in-app purchases. It is one of the best Android art apps that are worth trying for budding artists. Learning the basics of digital drawing and painting is much easier with an app like PaperColor that offers a base map.

12. Corel Painter Mobile

Finally, it's worth considering an offering from another publisher with desktop art package experience: Corel Painter Mobile is aimed at all levels of artist, with options to paint photos, trace, or start from nothing. and it intends to become one of the best drawing tools available for mobile devices.

With Corel Painter Mobile you can draw and develop your artistic work from almost anywhere.

Among the options offered by Painter Mobile, the following are included: Painting and drawing tools that allow us to make interesting sketches and easily color in images; Different sorts of brushes, pencils, and pens.Includes effects to be applied; Possibility to import images from the camera, gallery or Google image searches; Capacity to work with up to 20 layers.

You'll find the usual paint, blend, eyedropper, and paint bucket tools. Free version includes 16 brushes. paid version includes 70 natural media brushes. There's also integration with Samsung's PENUP social art network.

One of the greatest advantages of this software is that it allows you to import files created with the desktop version. Thus, you'll be able to continue working on your projects and show them from wherever you are.

Final Words

Producing digital artwork from an Android & iOS OS device has never been easier because there are so many different apps that enable you to draw or paint from your tablet or Smartphone. The majority of the drawing apps we included in this article can be used just for fun or for professional purposes.

However, your choice of a drawing app for Android & iOS devices depends on your digital drawing and painting skills, since there is no need to opt for an app aimed at professionals if you just want to create doodles.

Because all the features and descriptions of these apps are so clear that you will easily find your most desired app. Which of the twelve best drawing apps for Android & iOS are you going to choose? Also, inform us if you have any questions or confusion about this discussion. Leave a comment and let us know.Thank you for your time.

Source: https://www.xp-pen.com/forum-1579.html

you may want to treat yourself or the budding artist/illustrator/animator/Photographer/designer in your life to something special! You can't go wrong with graphic drawing tablets!

Whether you are looking for a graphic tablet to take your first step in digital art or a powerful pen display for your job, you can always look to XP-PEN to offer you elegant and reliable products no matter the use case.

Ever since XP-PEN was founded in Japan in 2005, XP-PEN has always striven to provide users all around the world with digital tablets that are reliable and user-friendly, and they have continued to be a leader in releasing quality tablets at affordable prices.

It's that special time of year again for XP-PEN fans: The 2020 XP-PEN 15th Anniversary Sale is here. The brand's annual shopping event -- XP-PEN's biggest sale aside from the Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas Holiday.

so there will be a big promotion on XP-PEN's official stores. Almost every model of XP-PEN tablet is now having up to 30% discount. There have no doubt that this year's sale will be just as exciting as in years past.

If you're ready to upgrade your old pair of art tablets for some fresh kicks, then August 15–September 14 is your lucky time. The Anniversary special Sale giving you the chance to do just that. Thanks to this event, there's a slew of incredible discounts on a wide selection of popular xp-pen drawing tablets , making for the perfect opportunity to snag a new pair of tablets on the cheap (and perhaps shop the best active deals while you're at it).

Don't miss the chance to buy brand new merchandise at a discounted rate from xp-pen brands like Deco 01 , Artist 12 Pro , Artist 15.6 Pro, The Artist 24 Pro, and more. Keep reading this guide for everything you need to know about this epic sale event.

What is the XP-PEN Anniversary Sale?

XP-PEN sure knows how to throw itself one hell of a birthday party. Every Mid-August to Mid-September , XP-PEN celebrates with a can't-miss super sale on graphics art pads , accessories, pen display monitors and more.

As per usual, you can expect the Anniversary Sale to feature new product's Anniversary Edition ( Deco mini4 , Deco MINI7 , Innovator 16 for this year ) at great prices.

When is the XP-PEN Anniversary Sale 2020 ?

this big shopping event of the year dates are from August 15 through September 14 . the sale opens to the general public on August 15 .

Do I need a promo code for the sale?

No. There is no promo code required. The sale is available to all customers .

Should I shop in-store or online?

only support shopping online . In addition to free shipping and free returns, XP-PEN also offers expedited shipping and even international shipping.

Does other regions and countries have Anniversary sales?

official store of other regions and countries also offer the widest range of discounted products for their Anniversary sales events . you can visit different online store by click the link at the end of this guide or click the " store " button in the XP-PEN Official Site to chose your regions and countries .

What is the Anniversary Edition Tablets?

To celebrate their anniversary, XP-PEN is launching with 3 anniversary edition tablets with custom anniversary packaging and extra goodies included.

The anniversary edition tablets are: the new Deco Mini 4, Deco Mini 7, and Innovator 16 tablets.

The extra goodies included are: An exclusive XP-PEN branded ink pen, a keychain and stickers of XP-PEN's mascot Fenix, and postcards with illustrations of Fenix visiting iconic places around the world.

Every year, shoppers plan ahead for this sale, and rightfully so. They have to, considering how fast everything tends to sell out. Once you find a piece that sparks joy within your soul, you have to claim it before someone else does. You won't regret it either, since you won't find a better deal!

Any frequent XP-PEN shopper knows the Anniversary Sale is one of its biggest and most popular events of the year — it's the best time to score some of the most amazing savings at the online store. But in case you're unfamiliar, we're here to give you all the details. The one-month-long event typically offers majorly discounted prices on all of fashion and useful items.

Take a look at some of XP-PEN USA & Canada Store deals below:

Drawing directly onto the XP-PEN Artist series screen removes any mental disconnect you may encounter when drawing on a tablet while looking at a separate screen.

These are great quality machines, newest model's fully laminated screens reduce Parallax and reflections , Support pen tilt & pressure function while providing a natural, pen on paper feel as you draw.

Innovator 16 Anniversary Edition (was $549.99, 27% off)
Innovator 16 (was $499.99, 20% off)
Artist 12 Pro (was $299.99, 20% off)
Artist 15.6 Pro (was $449.99, 20% off)
Artist 13.3 Pro (was $349.99, 20% off)
Artist 24 Pro (was $899.99, 20% off)
Artist 22R Pro (was $699.99, 20% off)
Artist 12 (was $249.99, 20% off)
Artist 22E Pro (was $529.99, 20% off)
Artist 22 Pro (was $499.99, 20% off)
Artist 15.6 (was $349.99, 20% off)

If you're after a quality drawing tablet but are on a budget, or aren't bothered about drawing directly onto a screen, the XP-PEN Deco Series and Deco Pro are great options. Simply connect this nifty but affordable device to your Mac or Windows PC with USB or built-in wireless Kit ( Deco 03 ) , install drivers, and you're ready to start work directly in the software of your choice.

Deco Mini 7 Anniversary Edition(was $59.99, 30% off)
Deco Mini 4 Anniversary Edition(was $49.99, 30% off)
Deco Mini 7(was $39.99, 20% off)
Deco Mini 4(was $31.99, 20% off)
Deco 01 V2(was $79.99, 20% off)
Deco Pro M(was $139.99, 20% off)
Deco Pro S(was $109.99, 20% off)
Deco 02(was $89.99, 20% off)
Deco 03(was $109.99, 20% off)
Deco 01(was $69.99, 20% off)

The XP-PEN Star Series products is the perfect entry-level pen tablet for anyone getting started with digital art or image editing. But the pressure sensitivity levels Still reach 8192 levels , the stylus is battery-free , no recharge needed. Perfect for photographers, re-touchers or any designer looking for the creative control and comfort of the digital pen .

Star Star G960S (was $69.99, 20% off)
Star G960S Plus(was $79.99, 20% off)
Star 06(was $89.99, 20% off)
Star 05 (was $79.99, 20% off)
Star 03(was $69.99, 20% off)
Star G640S (was $49.99, 10% off)
Star G640 (was $39.99, 10% off)
Star G430S(was $29.99, 20% off)

Other Two English official Store List:

XP-PEN Australia Store

XP-PEN United Kingdom Store