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Ordered an iPad Pro! What are the must have apps? (Drawing, animation, pixel art, or your favs!)

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Deleted member 4970

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I just ordered the iPad Pro 11 inch and Apple Pencil 2 (along with that crazy expensive case; Yeesh Apple!) and was wondering what everyone else here who owns one uses.

I'm into a lot of things or at least trying to get back into a lot of things. I used to own a Wacom Bamboo many years ago and simply couldn't get into it as the disconnect between drawing on a plastic slate while having to look up at a monitor was too great. I haven't drawn in the time between owing that Bamboo and now and I'm hoping the iPad can rekindle my interest.

Is Photoshop simply enough? What about game design related creation? Is making pixel art easy on the iPad as that is something I'm also looking to try!

I appreciate any suggestions! Thanks!
 
Menchin

Menchin

Member
Apr 1, 2019
5,174
Photoshop or Procreate are enough but I'd recommend Pixaki as well if you want to focus on pixelart
 
Housecat

Housecat

Member
Oct 25, 2017
674
I like clip studio paint more than procreate, but I use procreate too.
 
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CDX

CDX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,476
"Procreate" is my absolute favorite and unlike Adobe apps it's a one time fee, non-subscription app. It has simple animation features but no audio support.

I also have "Art Studio Pro" I think it's priced exactly the same as Procreate, I really like it and use it often but not as much as Procreate. However one of my friends loves it, and it's his main app. Compared to the prices of traditional art programs on PC/Mac, trying a few iOS apps and finding your favorite would still be way cheaper.

As for pixel art iOS has a few dedicated apps for that. And I'm sure the other art apps can do it to some extent, but pixel art is not my thing so I can't really speak about it.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 4970

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Checking out Procreate now! Looks absolutely essential! Also thanks Menchin for the Pixaki shoutout! Absolutely what I am looking for!

Can't believe Procreate is so cheap, btw
 
Ryu

Ryu

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,316
+1 for Affinity stuff. Those apps are amazing, I love drawing and designing with them. Also, I like Stop Motion, iMovie and MediBang Paint.
 
CandySTX

CandySTX

Member
Mar 17, 2018
1,636
Scotland
It's funny. I bought Procreate, ready to really get into doing digital art.

Ended up exclusively using MediBang Paint. Felt the most like Sai to me. Simple but powerful. Worth a look if you want something free and fairly well featured for sketching and such.
 
Graefellsom

Graefellsom

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
1,630
Procreate! It's incredible.

I found Affinity to be utter garbage. The brushes all look like they have that weird outline in them that you sometimes get with a paint bucket tool.

Photoshop on ipad is also a featureless piece of garbage tho.

People also seem to enjoy Adobe's Fresco but when I tried it, it was good but didn't hold a candle to Procreate.

Does anyone know any program that can do a real bitmap halftone/diffusion dither? I don't mean a shitty filter. I could then pretty much use my ipad pro for everything I need.
 
artsi

artsi

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Oct 26, 2017
2,686
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I prefer Clip Studio Paint over Procreate having used both extensively, but both are solid choices.
 
signal

signal

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Oct 28, 2017
40,196
Buying the apple smart cover instead of the amazon knockoffs, yikes. Unless you mean some other case.
 
so1337

so1337

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,479
I use Clip Studio almost exclusively on the desktop now because the iPad version kept asking which subscription plan I'm using. Clip Studio is easily one of the best creation apps but I don't recommend using the iPad version if you have access to a PC or Mac. Too much of a hassle.
 
donkey

donkey

Sumo Digital Dev
Verified
Oct 24, 2017
4,855
Another mention for Pixaki over here! Used it for a game jam as I was trying to learn how to do pixel art as well. Easy to use and exporting to whatever format you want is a breeze.

donkey said:
VDMUGqB.gif

zMhQKXe.gif
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There should be an update soon that allows sprite rotation and other QoL stuff the dev has been working on.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 4970

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
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signal said:
Buying the apple smart cover instead of the amazon knockoffs, yikes. Unless you mean some other case.
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I did buy the Apple made one but cancelled it after seeing good reviews for a $12 one!

donkey said:
Another mention for Pixaki over here! Used it for a game jam as I was trying to learn how to do pixel art as well. Easy to use and exporting to whatever format you want is a breeze.



There should be an update soon that allows sprite rotation and other QoL stuff the dev has been working on.
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Nice! Thanks for the recommendation! Looks like I will be going with Procreate and Pixaki!

Your art looks great btw!
 
Epcott

Epcott

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,279
US, East Coast
Procreate absolutely!
It has a great animation tool as well.

There's also:
  • Picsart (free photo editing)
  • Clip Studio (manga & illustration tool)
  • ibisPaint (an ok manga illustration tool)
  • Jump Paint (manga creation tutorials)
  • Scrivener (for writing stories)
  • Sketchbook (has text which Procreate does not have, use to export text)
donkey said:
Another mention for Pixaki over here! Used it for a game jam as I was trying to learn how to do pixel art as well. Easy to use and exporting to whatever format you want is a breeze.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

What's a good (intuitive and simple to learn) program for iPad pro for game development?
 
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donkey

donkey

Sumo Digital Dev
Verified
Oct 24, 2017
4,855
€pcott said:
Procreate absolutely!
It has a great animation tool as well.

There's also:
  • Picsart (free photo editing)
  • Clip Studio (manga & illustration tool)
  • ibisPaint (an ok manga illustration tool)
  • Jump Paint (manga creation tutorials)
  • Scrivener (for writing stories)
  • Sketchbook (has text which Procreate does not have, use to export text)


What's a good (intuitive and simple to learn) program for iPad pro for game development?
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Are we talking actual game engine stuff?


Karspankey said:
Nice! Thanks for the recommendation! Looks like I will be going with Procreate and Pixaki!

Your art looks great btw!
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Thanks! 😃
 
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show me your skeleton

show me your skeleton

#1 Bugsnax Fan
Member
Oct 28, 2017
15,630
skeleton land
so1337 said:
I use Clip Studio almost exclusively on the desktop now because the iPad version kept asking which subscription plan I'm using. Clip Studio is easily one of the best creation apps but I don't recommend using the iPad version if you have access to a PC or Mac. Too much of a hassle.
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clip studio is such a great deal, it sucks the ipad version is sub based.
 
Sensei

Sensei

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
6,517
we all need to break the cycle of photoshop-on-artist violence

get CSP or Procreate
 
AZ Greg

AZ Greg

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
349
Unless you got a great deal you may want to cancel and hold off. Some rumors have the new iPad pros coming as soon as March.
 
Proxy-Pie

Proxy-Pie

Member
Apr 3, 2018
500
I use Pixaki for pixel art and Sprite animation. It's a bit on the expensive side and isn't perfect by any means, I just haven't found anything that's better.
 
8byte

8byte

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt-account
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
9,880
Kansas
Megatherium said:
As someone who has used several cases and uses their IPP for art, you should get this case. You'll thank me if you do. Return the expensive one to Apple and tell them you weren't satisfied.

The Muse Case - 2018 iPad Pro 12.9 inch 3rd Gen (New Model) - Very Protective But Thin + Convenient Magnetic Stand + Sleep/Wake Cover by ZUGU CASE (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K1M4PHY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_RVAnEb7ZZ3REM
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I endorse this post. The muse is the DEFINITIVE iPad Pro case.
 
Fulminator

Fulminator

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,202
i'll throw in a recommendation for Infinite Painter as well. Been using it recently and I like it a lot.
 
Yerffej

Yerffej

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,536
Procreate has yet to be topped for me as a drawing/painting app. I use it as my main tool for painting as an illustrator now.
 
dock

dock

Game Designer
Verified
Nov 5, 2017
1,370
Procreate is by far the best drawing experience on iPad. I love it.

For my game design work I'm using GoodNotes every day. It's incredible, despite being limited to hand written text.
I'll throw in a recommendation for Affinity Designer, which works excellently on iPad.

Fulminator said:
i'll throw in a recommendation for Infinite Painter as well. Been using it recently and I like it a lot.
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I want to like infinite painter more than I do. I bought it but I dread using it for anything serious. It crashes a lot, has limited options for import and export, and the PSD export simply does not work. I love the tiling pattern option for game textures, but it's obnoxious that you can't easily open a PNG and edit it.
 
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