Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2011

It is rare that I come across something, which fundamentally changes the way I do my work. But, for the past two (2) months, I must say that I have, not only found a software that simplifies my workload, but it is an actual tool that can produce work for a fine art project, graphic art project, engineering and architectural projects. This is a complete art workshops wrapped up in an inexpensive software.

As a fine artist for well over 30 years and a graphic artist for the past 10, working with and owning the Adobe Creative Suite I can comfortably say that AutoDesk--the producer of AutoCAD, Maya, Alias 3ds- has created in the essential fine and graphic artists' software: Sketchbook Pro.

This software is monumentally important. And, that's not an exaggeration by any means. When one can pick up a pen-tablet and sketch almost as comfortably as a pencil on paper or tracing paper on a drafting table without any difficulty and choose between 14 different virtual mediums: that is incredible. What took me literally months and months of arduous trial and error and forbearing that high learning curve that Photoshop demands, Sketchbook Pro is nothing short of a godsend.

It took me no less than a few hours of playing around with it to get completely comfortable with this engineering marvel.

Sketchbook Pro has a clean, minimalist interface. There's a tool bar that has such editing capacities as Back/ Forward buttons, crop, lasso, zoom, ruler (slide ruler), ellipse, symmetry, line, rectangle, layers, brush palette and color editor. The color editor, by the way, is very similar in look and features as Photoshop's.

The brush palette has 14-different brush selection. This includes a pencil, airbrush, marker, chisel-tip pen, ballpoint pen, paintbrush, felt tip, smear, blur, sharpen, hard & soft eraser, flood fill.

SBP also allows you to save in Photoshop and Illustrator-friendly formats such as tif, jpeg, png, bmp and Adobe Photoshop native PSD.

If there were one unique distinction between Photoshop and Sketchbook Pro, besides the $600 price difference, I'd have to say it is the addition of a "slide ruler." This is one of the singular tools that make this software worth the purchase price alone. Two handles shorten/ elongate the line. The middle bar moves the line up/down, left/right or diagonally. As you make adjustments, to draw a line or even to erase, a running scale determines the angle based on the XY-axis.

For around $75, this is one of the biggest secrets and best deals in computing today.

This software comes with my highest recommendation of any I own and/or have reviewed.

After just becoming fairly competent with Photoshop I was reluctant to try another painting program, fearing another uphill struggle. As an illustrator who uses very few of the thousands of tools available on Photoshop, the process of creating a digital painting can be fairly intimidating faced with the Adobe interface. After installing Sketchbook Pro, however, I was painting competently and intuitively within minutes - I can't recommend this product enough. The pen flicks and shortcuts are easy to memorize, and there isn't any confusing jargon or unnecessary tools. It is designed specifically for tablet users so it obviously works with your tablet's pressure sensitivity, and most shortcuts work simply through pen movements, minimizing use of the keyboard. I kept discovering new features and thinking, this is what I wanted all along - why hasn't anyone made features like this before??
One downside is that I use a lot of overlaid textures in my work, and I still find that photoshop has more precision in this field. However, it bridges the gap between other programs well, even allowing you to open up PSDs while keeping layers intact. It could also do with a few more brushes, but I still haven't discovered if you can create your own or download ones elsewhere. The ones provided are still good, but I would like a few more that imitate real brushes and media. If anyone could help in this area it would be greatly appreciated.
Despite this, it is still a wonderful piece of kit that every tablet owner should buy.

So far, this for me is the best program for drawing digitally having used an earlier version.
Pros
*Fast and easy installation.
*Great new features with templates, mirror drawing, etc.
Cons
Some "lag" after prolonged use (operating iMac 10.6.7, 4 gig ram)
Needs improvement on how to manipulate and save your custom brushes