Manga Studio EX 4 (Mac/PC CD)

Don't be put off, as I was by the name Manga Studio; this isn't just for Manga artists. If you've been in the situation that I was in a few years ago with 10 pages of comic strips - about 100 panels, yipes! - to draw before a fast-approaching deadline then I think you'll appreciate the simple things it does like helping you in ruling panels and placing word balloons.
If like me you go back to the days of Letraset rub on screen tones you'll appreciate the 3000 screen tones available. And of course you can use them as many times as you like without having to buy another sheet.
I'm not sure how much I'm going to use the 3D objects. For figures this is a bit like having one of those articulated wooden lay figures that you can move about to get the pose you're after. You can then drop it into your page as reference for your drawing (or apply effects and use the 3D object directly, but I like to draw everything in my strips). You can also import 2D photographs and artwork and manipulate them to suit the effect and printing method that you're after.
I felt that it was worth going for the EX version rather than the Debut. I didn't want to be working on a project and suddenly discover that I would really like access to one of the extra features such as exporting as a TIFF, facing pages layouts, saving your own word balloon as a material or vector layers (As a Photoshop user, I've never drawn in vector lines but I feel that it's worth trying).
I think that it's best not to think of Manga Studio as a program that's trying to push you into a certain style of drawing but as a box of tools, many of which you're probably never going to use, which can help take some of the donkey work out of creating your own artwork. That artwork doesn't just have to be comic strips; I can see a use for it, for example, in the picture maps that I produce to illustrate my walks books.

This software is aimed at profesional comic book/ graphic novel artists. I run it under windows 7, and it hasnt seemed to slow my computer down or cause any issues- though alot of that depends on how much work your going to save to your computer from it and at how high a resolution you like to work at. So, lets break this down.

THE "USERS GUIDE"
The inbuilt "help/users guide".... well lets see. Its practically infamous all over the web for how ridiculously useless it is- and it makes the programme seem about as user friendly as a bulldog with a crocodile strapped to its head, prompting most newcomers to the program to feel completely and utterly lost. When you register it you can pester smith-micro on thier live support... my experience with this? They told me to check the manual....NOT impressed. This is the reason MS got only 4 stars and not 5, because you are basically going to have to teach yourself, even with all the manuals in the world.

THE PROGRAM
As much as it infuriates me, as a graphic novel artist this is the best software you can get- no matter where your work fits in under the "sequential artwork" banner this is the ultimate labour-saving software. Instantly you will begin to discover and realise that this is software put together by people who truely understand the laborious nature of a comic artists work!
I love working with traditional media and was highly sceptical at how I'd react to the digital side of my work but now I've even switched to inking digitally as it has to be at least a million times easier and less tedious than if inking by hand, not to mention all the paper I've saved! In conclusion, there are far, far to many features to get into here but it is the holy grail for all those who want to save space (no need to store all that equiptment anymore when its all in a virtual form on your computer), time (set up shortcuts and macro's in seconds)and money (No more buying expensive screentones and fancy manuscript papers- yay)

CONCLUSION
A very complex, but incredibly well comprised piece of software which truely understands its intended market. Alot of money over here in the UK but compared to something as extortionate as "photoshop" or the like and you'll be absolutely saving the £££'s!!

I'd already (stupidly) bought Manga Studio Debut when I tried the demo of Manga Studio EX 4 - and realised that there is a massive difference between the two programs. Manga Studio Debut offers a stripped out subset of the tools and goodies this full-fat version has. Vector layers, more vector manipulation options and a vastly increased subset of tools, layer options, templates and other goodies will get you off to a flying start whether you're new to digital comic creation or a veteran of comic artwork.

It's almost eerie - the way the raster tools work and offer beautiful ink-like lines and flows (particularly when used in conjunction with a Wacom graphics tablet). On the vector site you can nudge, tweak and perfect your line work to the nth degree - in fact there is no better tool available for digitally inking your sketch work.

It's not cheap, and some of the elements make it feel a little old fashioned (for instance, the fact that when you go to register the product for the extra goodies, you're expected to type in the serial number case sensitized and with dashes in place - and the installation method on Macs is bloody horrible if you've got a slow and noisy optical drive!) but it doesn't look like Smith Micro are doing an EX 5 any time soon so this really is the best thing out there.

Note: Though I mention comic art here, it's absolutely brilliant for any kind of digital art work