If you’re willing to spend some money on your manga software, a lot more stable options open up for you. One of the top choices for graphic designers remains Adobe Photoshop, and it’s great for manga creation, too. Photoshop does come with a steep price tag, but if your budget doesn’t allow for that upfront cost, you can also pay a lower monthly fee to use it. Photoshop is one of the most comprehensive graphic design software on the market, allowing you to do just about anything with it that you can think of. The only limit is your own creativity (and ability to use the software efficiently).

If you want something that is more focused, especially, on manga, try Clip Studio Paint. You can get the Pro version for a reasonable price, or the EX version for quite a bit more (but with many advanced features). What makes Clip Studio Pro great for manga artists is that it still has the feel it traditional pen and paper drawing. Clip Studio Pro can detect the amount of pressure you put on your digital pen, creating pen strokes that look more realistic. Thus you can create manga that doesn’t look so much like it has been created in digital software, but still has the benefit of a cleaner finish and easier editing than actually drawing manga the traditional way.

Not everyone has a lot of money to drop on top manga drawing software (not until your manga becomes a hit at least!), but luckily there is a great free programme out there called Medibang Paint Pro. It’s the closest thing you can get to Clip Studio Pro for free. Medibang Paint Pro is specifically made for manga and comic book artists. It has a lot of pre-made brushes, backgrounds, and tones to help you get started, and even had free fonts that you can use to tell your story. It has a surprising number of features for a free programme and since it’s catered towards manga artists, is a great place to get started.

If you don’t mind spending a little bit of cash, Paintstorm Studio is a low-price programme that is a value for the money. It is better for experienced digital illustrators that know how to use similar programmes, but if you have experience in the field already you can use Paintstorm Studio to create manga. Its best feature is the huge amount of brushes it offers and the ability to customise them fully. It also had stroke post correction to help when you’re making your original sketches as the base for your manga. If you don’t have much money to spend getting started but want a more professional programme with a lot of creative freedom, try Paintstorm Studio.