openCanvas

openCanvas, popularly abbreviated as oC, is an art program for Microsoft Windows popular among Japanese digital artists. Portalgraphics, the company that created it, originally released it as freeware, but moved to a demo/retail model starting with version 2.

openCanvas is known for its unique blending style, something of a cross between Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter. Unlike many similar programs, openCanvas is specifically designed for use with pressure-sensitive drawing tablets, like the popular Wacom's digitizing tablets. It is designed from the bottom up to be a sketch program rather than a graphic design program.

While it does not compete in larger markets and lacks many of the graphic design features of programs like Adobe Photoshop, it has quite a community following and is capable of work comparable to its competitors despite its small footprint.

Up until the last free version, 1.1-b72, openCanvas also included network support, allowing artists to collaborate in real-time over the internet, using different layers of the same drawing. This feature was removed on the release of version 2.

openCanvas v4.5.09 is currently available in English and Japanese.

No comments: