Appletell reviews Manga Studio EX 4 for Mac OS X
by at March 18, 2010 6:46 am
Sections: Graphics / Design, Mac Software, Reviews
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Provides: Illustration/layout tools for manga artists
Format: Download and DVD
Developer: Smith Micro
Minimum System Requirements: Mac OS X v10.4.11 or v10.5.3 or higher, 867MHz G4, G% or Intel processor, 1GB RAM, 2.6GB hard disk space, 24-bit color display, Pen Tablet (recommended – Wacom FAVO, Bamboo, Intuos, Cintiq, PL series etc.), DVD-ROM Drive
Processor Compatibility: Universal
Price: $299.99
Availability: Now
Word to the wise for all of the would-be Manga artists out there; do not spend your hard earned money on Manga Studio Ex4 unless you mean business. This software is not only too expensive for most of us non-professionals, but from the second you open it you will be aware this is a professional grade tool. While there is a beginners’ assistant help tool, you will be spending some serious time with the manual, which is more than 100 pages long. That being said, once you get past the learning curve you will find that this software is responsive, varied and really quite amazing.
Anyone with serious graphic design time under their belt can dive right in and discover the world that this application has to offer its end user. In addition to scanning in hand drawn images and offering a clumsy mouse-draw option that will annoy those in search of precision, this software offers compatibility with a pen tablet. It works easily and quickly with the Wacom Bamboo model used by this reviewer.
Manga Studio EX comes with a color pallet of over 3,000 colors, as well as the ability to create custom ones just in case you don’t find the hue that you want in the pre set colors. The DPI is also fairly impressive as it supports resolutions as low as 72 and as high as 1200 for both web and print distribution. The software allows for an unlimited amount of layers, which is good news for anyone who wants to create a complex image.
There are also a wide range of features for altering your images. It has mesh transformations for giving your images texture. These range from brick to fabric, so you will usually find what you are looking for. The program also has a wide range of filters that give you ways to distort an enhance your artwork.
Layout tasks are also fairly easy to deal with since Manga Studio EX gives you book style page facing page layout, an important feature for designers since it allows for pages to flow easily. It also has a wide range of rules. In addition to your standard straight and parrelels, there are curved options, pre done panels and even concentric circles.
While this software does have vector tools, they are not for the feint of heart. Best to stay away unless you have no other choice.
When the time comes to export you will have the choice between .bmp, .jpeg, .png, .psd, .tga, .eps, .tiff, .pdf and .pict which is an impressive array of choices (pretty much everything you’d need).
One more handy feature of note is that in this program graphics and text are separate domains. That is great news for any collaborative teams since you won’t be waiting on each other to finish your side of the project.
On the whole, Manga Studio EX is comprehensive and powerful. But, as mentioned above, you’ll need to invest a lot time learning about the features—or have the knowledge base already—in order to make good use of its capabilities.
Buy Manga Studio EX 4.0
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