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I'm gonna try my hand at the art scene soon, but before I do, is there any programs that you would recommend/insist on? I already got a scanner so I'll scan the pics rather than use a graphics tablet.

Some may disagree but photoshop is really good! Painter is pretty good as well!
PS Luv the new avatar!

I got a cracked version of Photoshop 7 so I'm fine with that. Any specific version of Painter?

only ever used painter 7, so can't comment on any other version

I'll be able to find that no problem. I have my ways...


...most of which are illegal.

Much like my own!

If you're going to edit/colour/touchup but not actually draw digitally, Photoshop should be more than adequate. A couple of other good programs are Painter (Painter8 is the latest, and my fave) and PaintShop, both by Corel I believe. Painter 8 and Photoshop are pretty comparable, both having layers and effects and whatnot, although I prefer Painter's handling of media (it feels more 'real' than the photoshop brushes)You didn't mention what exactly you wanted to do after scanning the pics, but if you are going to do anything more than basic pic manipulation, I would strongly suggest a tablet. Most everything is do-able by mouse, but a tablet makes life a lot easier. Hope that helps '>

After scanning, I was thinking of using Painter or something to add in colour.

If you're going to be just colouring and stuff, it should be ok with just a mouse, although things like fur texturing will be pretty darn hard to do without a tablet. Plus, with a tablet, you get pressure sensitivity (resulting in variable line widths, colour intensity, etc.), which is what the Painter programs were built around. Photoshop also supports pressure sensitivity to some degree, but is more mouse-friendly. I personally work with a scanner and a tablet, but you have to find what works best for you, I suppose. Some people can do amazing works with the mouse, although I imagine it'd take a very long time to do. Plus wrist problems.

In short, if you want to do basic cell shading-style colouring, Photoshop and/or Painter and a mouse should do. Anything more complex IMHO would require a tablet.

Any of Adobe's Photoshop versions, or Corel's Painter are a good choice. Corel Painter Classic & Painter 5 or 6 seem to be the most "user friendly", and great programs for getting started in digital art & graphics. Painter Classic has a very easy to learn interface, and is not so "ram-intensive" as Photoshop, meaning that Painter works faster on PC's with less memory than photoshop do. Painter uses less drive space too than photoshop. Painter and Photoshop is good for adding color and "detailing" scanned sketches & inks.

my comps got almost a GB of RAM so I guess I'll be fine with Painter 5 or 6.

cool, with lots of ram any graphics program including Photoshop & Painter should work fine with your PC.  

Just got my Graphics tablet last night. It's a Trust Wireless Design and Work Tabler 200. Looks kinda small though, but it's a start. Came with a mouse too that works along the same lines as the pen (both are wireless). I just need to get back Photoshop 7 and find Corel Painter Classic.

Congratulations!

Corel Painter 8 is better then 7. Though using a mouse wheel or a tablet on the menus is alot more buggy then 7. Adobe Illustrator 10 is better then Painter, but takes more time to learn how to use. Paint Shop Pro is decent, pretty much your all aound bad boy with enough tools too keep any aspiring artists entertained until a new version comes out. Maya is a miracle of god for painting, but is very time consuming to learn and often times to use on lower end PC's.

I hope this helps.

for hardware on photoshop i recommend
p4 with Hyperthreading and at least 512 MB ram
since photoshop is optimized for p4, it should do much faster renderings and stuff.

Opencanvas. Its simple, free, and not that good...but i like it. *nods*

I'm surprised that flash wasn't mentionned here.
Altho most people know it as an animation program, it's also quite whicked, when used in conjonction with another image-editing program (such as adobe photoshop or jasc paintshop pro), it kicks some serious butt, as it's vector-based and you can dynamically edit your bezier curves without having to select any bezier handles!

In english:
You can draw curves that will smooth themselves and modify them without trouble. ^^;

Darn me and my technical terms, huh? -_^

well, im new to the furry art scene but me and my dad both do alittle CG art.

i agree with the post above, flash is really great. and there are also some "hidden" features that perform certian tasks much quicker and easier then other programs.

ive always loved flash,  and ive always hoped to make an opensource alternive as soon has i brush up on my C++ '>

anyways, back to topic. even if your not drawing on the computer, i imagine (note: this hasnt been tested) that a wacom tablet would come in handy for coloring. feels much more naturual to me as far as drawing goes. i originally started with a $99 version, not sure what it was called, but i know they still make it..