I've yet to find a single illustration program that has every feature you might want AND has a great interface. One program simply doesn't do it all, yet. Here's a little speculation as to why that's so, for what it's worth.
Say you built the United States and it took you about 300 years to do it. Let's then say you know you could redo every single aspect of the country better, all you have to do is bulldoze and level the first one. Too much investment to loose right? But that's how software, corporations, and all systems for that matter become obsolete. Which is to say those programs we are familiar with today, the standard bearers will go away- not because they don't have great features but because they can't (or aren't willing to) pay the costs involved with scrapping them and starting over. Man, they should, or just take a lesson from Apple. Anyway.
I don't buy software on a whim. I've been able to get a lot of mileage from simple 'MS paint' and Adobe Photoshop 5 for many years now but my illustration needs have grown significantly. That said, neither of these programs can meet my needs. So I went searching for an illustrator program and ran across a few. I dreaded the idea of buying Adobe Illustrator because I simply HATE the Photoshop interface which it mimics. HATE HATE HATE it. It has to be the most 'PC' of all interfaces, meaning, 'let's see if you can figure this out so you can brag to your friends that you actually understand our cryptic software. Feel like a genius? If you do, thank us and don't pay attention to how this affects your workflow."
I'm not a teenager with all the time in the world to waste or the need to boast that I solved Photoshop/Illustrator or whatever else Adobe makes, regardless of how good it might be. Seriously, is 'magic lasso' intuitive? When you first saw that ridiculously tiny icon what did you think it was? How did you use it?
Hence my dread of adopting Adobe Illustrator. So I searched and came across Sketchbook. I'd heard of it but didn't like the idea of 'sketching' anything. I want my illustration work done NOW NOW NOW, not in phases of sketching. But they (Autodesk) offered it as a two week free full-featured trial. Fair enough. Twenty minutes later I was hooked. The program took about a minute or so to download and I was up and using it in ten. It's THAT intuitive. So I considered giving Adobe Illustrator a fair shake as they also have a free download/trial period. First Adobe loads a download manager to me. OK, perhaps I might want to manage ONE download. The trial period is free so it's just a minor thing. But then I start the download. Adobe said I would have the download complete in about... 3 hours. Maybe it might have taken that long. Maybe their download manager would allow me to do other things while their insanely huge file reached me. Whatever the maybe's might be I will never know because I didn't want to stick around 3 hours to download the software. That just seems insane, and like something that is absurdly huge. Considering Sketchbook took about a minute to download and so this suggests Adobe illustrator has 180 times the features and benefits (using my formula 1 download minute = 1benefit, 3hrs.=180minutes=180 times greater benefit than Sketchbook). As I haven't seen people dancing in the street shouting Adobe Illustrator's praises I doubt it's THAT good or worth THAT long of a wait. To me it seemed like more of the same. A long process to get results that aren't worth the process.
So what's the benefit of Sketchbook? First off it's layout is as simple as grabbing a pencil, paintbrush, airbrush or whatever tool you draw with, dabbing it in paint and going to town on a piece of paper. It's quick to load, quick to set up, quick to learn, quick to use. I feel like my workflow is streamlined and it is. And the tools produce gorgeous results that you can get in Adobe but only with fanagling, manipulating, wrangling and Houdini-ing, that is unless you've dedicated 1/2 of your life learning Photoshop. What was really striking to me are the circles. The lines are so smooth and pleasing to the eye in Sketchbook, whereas in Photoshop they just look like a cheap, 80's cartoon outline. And it's these reasons that Sketchbook seems like the very best and first place you should start when you have a graphic idea you want to put to paper. It IS a Sketchbook.
My ONLY wishlist item with program is the inclusion of a grid. I'm sure they have a reason for not including one and there are work arounds but it would be nice. Still, you start adding everyone's wishlist and you have Photohop. Sorry Adobe, that was a cheap shot. True, but cheap. And speaking of cheap, there's another great thing about Sketchbook. It is DIRT cheap, especially by comparison to Adobe products.
So am I ready to chuck Adobe for good? I wish. Adobe still has many editing tools that really help put the final touch on a graphic project. Autodesk appears to acknowledge this as they steer you to save your creation in PSS (photoshop file) format. Fair enough.
Now the only bad press I've read about Sketchbook is from Mac users. I've read about of Mac compatibility/bug issues which is sad because I'm ready to dump my PC and all things Microsoft. I've never used Sketchbook on a Mac so I can't speak to any experience in that area.
So there you have it. Great software, great price, easy to use, not everything you need but the first you should grab for your graphic creation needs. Maybe Adobe will wise up and learn from Autodesk.
Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2011
3.6 | 185 ratings
Price:
Last update: 06-24-2024
About this item
Autodesk SketchBook Pro offers professional-grade capabilities for artists, designers, and doodlers
Fast and intuitive user interface; so easy to learn, you will be productive in minutes
Ultra-responsive and customizable digital pencils, pens, brushes, markers, and airbrushes
Capture your ideas in writing, typed comments, and sketches... then email them instantly
Work on standard images formats, including TIF, BMP, JPG, PNG, and PSD
Fast and intuitive user interface; so easy to learn, you will be productive in minutes
Ultra-responsive and customizable digital pencils, pens, brushes, markers, and airbrushes
Capture your ideas in writing, typed comments, and sketches... then email them instantly
Work on standard images formats, including TIF, BMP, JPG, PNG, and PSD
Top reviews from the United States
C. L. Messina
The missing link in illustration creation
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2012
T. R. Allen
Meh..
Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2015S. Hunter
Neat little program.
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2010LunaLady
IT WASN'T ME !!!
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2014