Paint Tool Sai vs. FireAlpaca - Review

22 min read

Deviation Actions

illuminatedflower's avatar
By
illuminatedflower
Published:
59.3K Views
:iconprojecteducate:
:iconprojecteducate:


Artist's Toolbox


Hi guys! Welcome to another one of my articles, this time I'll be giving you a thorough review about two very similar art programs, Paint Tool SAI and FireAlpaca.
FireAlpaca User Stamp by Demire             Stamp - Paint Tool Sai User by firstfear

Anyone who's just starting out with digital art might be asking themselves, Should I pay for Photoshop? Should I use a crack? Should I look for a free art program?

There are some of those like me, who kinda can't really afford expensive programs, I luckily got my PS in a package that came with my Bamboo Tablet. Luckily, FireAlpaca is free, and Paint Tool Sai has a portable version which is free.

Portable Paint Tool SAI

FireAlpaca Link

These two programs have some of what is already a good enough Photoshop. There are many artists who use Paint Tool SAI and Fire Alpaca, and create beautiful art.


Paint Tool SAI -  Commission: Tokiko by ZenithOmocha  Paint tool SAI /Speed paint video by ryky <da:thumb id="429911119"/> 

FireAlpaca - FireAlpaca was tried. by yumeyu <da:thumb id="322236113"/>  snowy by grimay  Cinyu SUPER LATE BIRTHDAY GIFT by illuminatedflower

And for those who probably have a crack/trial version of Paint Tool SAI and feel guilty, or have/will be buying a Mac (which cannot run Paint Tool SAI without a Windows crack), safe to say they're almost alike, and you won't have any problem switching over. Here's the layout of both programs.
FireAlpaca by illuminatedflower

Paint Tool SAI layout by illuminatedflower

To some people who have seen other's livestreams or whatnot, the layout will probably look different. (hence the featured pictures, they have different positions. I just like to keep mine in one line.)

So really, what's the same in both programs?

  • Smoothing (PTS) & Correction (FA) Tool
This comes in handy if you don't have a steady hand, mostly used for inking purposes.
  • Select Pen & Erase
When you have your outline and don't really feel like painting, you can use these to outline a part of your drawing, and color that in.
  • Importing and Creating Brushes
 Different artists have different brushes, luckily, if they have offered their brushes, you can import/create them.
  • Lock Opacity (PTS) & Lock Alpha
Instead of clipping layers, you can paint on the same colored layer, and not paint over other parts. It's helps the colors blend a lot more easier.

Great! Now tell me what's different about each other?


  • Textured paper (PTS)
I don't think many people use this, but it just gives the canvas a pretty cool look.
  • Transform (PTS)
There will be times something just doesn't look right, and you'll need to resize something or move it farther or further inside the picture.
  • Vectoring (PTS)
For mouse users, this is glory in Paint Tool SAI, you can almost ink anything, and look like you did it with a tablet. 
  • Fringe (PTS)
I know may artists who use the Fringe tool, it's very nice, and gives a cool look once you've used it correctly with shading.
  • Fixed Angles/Mirrored (PTS)
Sometimes you want to change the angle of how you're drawing something, cause it might look weird if you tried doing it upright.
  • Inserted Text (FA)
Some pictures require text been shown on the drawing, example being you'd need to put some text but you can't draw it cause you think it's ugly, or its not even your language. (Ahem, my handwriting is very ugly)
  • Shapes (FA)
It can be a pain trying to draw perfect shapes, and especially in backgrounds that use shapes. SAI is not equipped with this unfortunately. It's such a struggle.

So, which one would you suggest, Hikari?


I personally recommend both programs! Both have the full potential for creating art, and can probably help out anyone who is starting digital art! Just for a safe bet, stick with Paint Tool SAI (The Full Liscense version is like $56 USD) since there's many people who give out tutorials, guides, brushes out for free (or Patreon). But if you cannot do without certain relatable PS items, stick with FireAlpaca, as it has most of what PS kind of has.

Anyways, I really hope this review helped out some people! See you next time!

SUGGESTED TUTORIALS/BRUSHES
<da:thumb id="512552974"/>    Omocha's Advanced Sketch step by step by ZenithOmocha     Hair, Skin, and Eyes SBS by Sakon04    Coloring Tutorial and Sai Tips by DyMaraway    Full Shading Tutorial by AtsusaKaneytza  FireAlpaca: Layered Shading and Coloring Tutorial by ChoppinStix  Firealpaca Brush Pack by candydesufox <da:thumb id="518952502"/>  Fire Alpaca Brush Pack #3 by tubedfruit  Brush Settings- Paint Tool Sai by ShintaRee  Paint Tool Sai Custom Airbrush by Deckboy <da:thumb id="198284016"/>
IMPORTANT COMMENTS/QUESTIONS

:iconatsusakaneytza:

FireAlpaca has Fixed Angles/Mirroring functions as well. The keyboard shortcuts are the up, down, left and right buttons. Or if you have the Navigation subwindow open in FireAlpaca, you can press those buttons. For arbitrary rotation, you use Shift+Spacebar, and Click+Drag the canvas.


:icondeckboy:

There's a workaround for using text in SAI, btw, you just have to use the external program (more info here: deckboy.deviantart.com/art/Add…)




© 2015 - 2024 illuminatedflower
Comments122
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
hellomalaga's avatar
hellomalaga

Thanks for the review. It was very helpful.


Well, I think firealpaca is a pretty decent program for being free. But, as it is free, it can only go so far as to what it allows you to do. So I believe fire alpaca is good for learning the basics for digital art. But, like I said, it can only take you a certain distance.


Paint tool Sai is a very expanded program with many details and new users find it a bit difficult at first because of how complicated it is. But, It is also a good digital art program.


I switched from Firealpaca to SAI because of how much of a better program it was. It has a lot more layer selection types, brush selection types, and I just think you can customize it wayyyy better than firealpaca. Also, I can't remember if Firealpaca has a Brush Stabilizer, but I know SAI has a pretty good one!


I've always used Paint Tool Sai for years and it worked perfectly with my XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro https://www.xp-pen.com/product/479.html Display drawing tablet . The lines are beautiful and crisp with the pen and brush tools, while the blur and watercolor tools are to die for.


You can use photoshop to draw! But, photoshop wasn't made a drawing program so it is going to have its flaws. I suggest using it for backgrounds or effects in your drawing, but of course you can do whatever you'd like!


Good luck!