CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Has anyone ever heard of something called Manga Studio | Debut 3.0?
I think it was put out by e-frontier.
Although I still lack a tablet, I got this program for a birthday present recently. I have no idea what it is besides a specialized version of photoshop (for manga and such)...
I'm scared to open it, because I might want to take it back if it is what I think it is... o.o

Any help or tips here? Experience with the program? Something?

I use MangaStudio ALL THE TIME, I love it, it's an amazing program. I've used Photoshop and ComicWorks before, but it's just not the same. It's got a huge tone library and you can import your own tones, it has realistic pen pressure that resembles real manga nibs, and there's just a lot of nifty little things like speedline filters and perspective rulers...

HOWEVER! If you do not have a tablet, its use decreases dramatically. Personally, I can't ink with a mouse worth crap, and if you can't take advantage of the pen pressure, that's pretty sad. You can still tone and stuff, but unless you get EX, which has vector, I would say that being tabletless makes it not worth it for drawing into the computer.

I tend to avoid tones and go all natural media, so the toning features really didn't appeal to me when I tested this program. The paneling seemed nice, and if one had a tablet, the inking seemed pretty good.

My pet peeves were that it really wasn't very quick... it ran slower than photoshop, that the interface was somewhat counterintuitive at times.

As an alternate I've actully been testing out 'comics life', which is primarily for paneling and speech bubbles, which is exactly what I needed, since I prefer to hand draw everything else. It's light weight and cheap (less than 20 bucks if you can prove you're a student or teacher), and for what it does, its very nice. It does not have speedlines or tones though, and I could see that being the big drawing point here. It also comes free with some of the new macs, most likely just desktops, which is how I discovered it.

I have the Debut version...wish I could've saved up for the full EX Professional, but it's at least something to work with.

I do have a few gripes about it (that you can apparently do in the full version): you can't turn photos into screentones, you don't have an automatic word-bubble maker, and you don't have very many screentones. Other than that, I'm still trying to learn how to work out the program, but I've been able to draw some fairly decent art, and in color might I add. Although, to export my images in the size and definition I want them, I use the old "screencap and paste into Paint" method. It works great.

Oh yeah; and if you're going to use it, I absolutely recommend getting a tablet. I got one for $100 (you don't exactly want a cheap one) and it was well worth it.

I has a tablet nao!

I'll be sure to put this program to good use. Thanks for your help, guys!

You're welcome. That tablet takes a little time to get used to, but practicing a lot will really help. Heck, I don't even use a mouse anymore!