Best pen? (and other questions)

[Vatina]

I use Copic liners as well, and I like them a lot. I have only had one Micron pen that I used for a while - but as soon as I got a copic liner with the same width, I put the micron aside and haven't used it since.
I can't say a lot about the difference, since honestly I'm no good at noticing these things... but there is once, apparently, since I prefer the others

[Jake]

Gimp does have all the core functionality of Photoshop

This depends very much on what you consider 'the core functionality of Photoshop'. It maybe has the core functionality of Photoshop Elements. I forget, does it load Photoshop standard filters?

[mrsulu]

You can use some Photoshop filters in GIMP.

http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32/pspi.html

You can restate my comment as "GIMP covers nearly all of Photoshop's core functionality" or "some of" or even "parts of". I don't mind. I'm aware that GIMP isn't Photoshop. I frequently use Sketchbook over both.

The point is that after the original poster said he was using GIMP to adjust scan levels and lay down a few colors, he gets a comeback saying real artists don't use GIMP and it's so bad it could actually cause birth defects in your grandchildren. For what he was doing, GIMP was fine, and free, and could get him pretty far before he ran into limits. It doesn't do everything, and the interface has issues, but it's definitely able to adjust levels.

You gotta find what works for you, and what fits your budget and your needs.

[Andrew]

Hey guys, what's the best kind of pen for outlining your character? I use a fine line pen that doesn't write in dark ink anymore and it appears sloppy on photoshop (maybe I'm supposed to do lineart after that?) and won't appear neat after coloring. Anybody knows how to make your art look neat after scanning? Also, I can't download photoshop anymore since I used up the trial version. Is there another program that's like photoshop? If it's open canvas, how do I make the background transparent(like a magic eraser)?

I use normal, cheap ink pens with thin tips. You can erase mistakes with plain correction liquid and edit some stuff using Paint after you scan it. Any type of pen works nicely, as long as you have the patience to use it.

For your second question, I use GIMP.