Oscraps

software for doodling...

Hamer Lodge

Hamer Lodge

forever learning
Hi there, I would like to explore digital art journalling and to be able to draw my own sketches and faces and word art etc. Can I ask what software other use for this? I use a laptop for making my layouts and scrapbook pages but feel I might need to buy a tablet with a stylus? Would I then just save the 'doodles' as a png and then use them in my pages? Sorry if this is a silly question, not sure how to get started. Thanks in advance...
 
Vicki Robinson

Vicki Robinson

Designer + Brush Queen + Mac Guru
Designer
No silly questions at all. I’m a Mac girl though, so my answers are from that perspective.

I use a Wacom tablet with my Mac so I can make simple doodles at my desk. However it is much easier to doodle/draw when you can do so as if you are working on paper. I use my IPad Pro with the Apple Pencil and the Procreate app which is a bit like Photoshop because it has layers and brushes and can save a PSD format. Files are saved to the Apple Cloud (Or Dropbox) and then accessed from my Mac for editing. I’m sure there are other apps with similar features for Android tablets.

Another, much less expensive option is to use paper and a black pen for your sketching and then scanning the artwork and bringing into photoshop. I manipulate those pages by adjusting levels and curves to get the best contrast and then turn the images into brushes - that’s how my first hand drawn brushes were made.

does that help at all?
 
Hamer Lodge

Hamer Lodge

forever learning
Vicki Robinson said:
No silly questions at all. I’m a Mac girl though, so my answers are from that perspective.

I use a Wacom tablet with my Mac so I can make simple doodles at my desk. However it is much easier to doodle/draw when you can do so as if you are working on paper. I use my IPad Pro with the Apple Pencil and the Procreate app which is a bit like Photoshop because it has layers and brushes and can save a PSD format. Files are saved to the Apple Cloud (Or Dropbox) and then accessed from my Mac for editing. I’m sure there are other apps with similar features for Android tablets.

Another, much less expensive option is to use paper and a black pen for your sketching and then scanning the artwork and bringing into photoshop. I manipulate those pages by adjusting levels and curves to get the best contrast and then turn the images into brushes - that’s how my first hand drawn brushes were made.

does that help at all?
Click to expand...
yes, that's a great help, thank you. I just went out and bought a Wacom tablet after doing some research on what others use. I think that's the best option for me. This opens a whole new world for me to explore.
 
Vicki Robinson

Vicki Robinson

Designer + Brush Queen + Mac Guru
Designer
Hamer Lodge said:
yes, that's a great help, thank you. I just went out and bought a Wacom tablet after doing some research on what others use. I think that's the best option for me. This opens a whole new world for me to explore.
Click to expand...
Which Wacom did you get? I was going to do some tutorials—especially for those that got the mid level programmable series — but my husband ‘s back surgeries got in the way. The nerve of him huh? lol. I made a pun!
 
Hamer Lodge

Hamer Lodge

forever learning
Vicki Robinson said:
Which Wacom did you get? I was going to do some tutorials—especially for those that got the mid level programmable series — but my husband ‘s back surgeries got in the way. The nerve of him huh? lol. I made a pun!
Click to expand...
lol....husbands and their surgeries get in the way of everything. I got a lower end of the range Wacom One it was around $500 AUD. There are some great tutorials on youtube, but nothing about saving images, using your own software and how to actually import them into your scrapbook page. Would LOVE a tutorial from you about using the tablet for us scrap bookers. Its raining and flooding here today, so I have all day to play woo hoo.
 
Hamer Lodge

Hamer Lodge

forever learning
Update on the Wacom tablet, I actually need a tutorial on how to draw....who knew 'doodling' was so hard. I did some raindrops yesterday and they look like tadpoles...horrible........;)
 
wombat146

wombat146

ONA - Administrator
CHEERY O
Hamer Lodge said:
Update on the Wacom tablet, I actually need a tutorial on how to draw....who knew 'doodling' was so hard. I did some raindrops yesterday and they look like tadpoles...horrible........;)
Click to expand...
It takes a lot of practice Debra, keep going! :) Did you get one with different tips for your pen? With mine I had a selection of tips to choose from and there was a nice 'soft' tipped one that mimicked writing with a pen, I used that one a lot......... the others just felt too hard for me, and gave me that feeling of fingernails on a chalkboard! lol!! I used to love my wacom I had to revert back to the mouse because of the horrible shoulder pain I started to get.......... went back to the mouse and all okay............ about a month ago I plugged the wacom back in, by the end of the day the shoulder pain started up again so I am back with the mouse. :)

But I must admit, I didn't really use mine for drawing as such, just used it in place of a mouse but it was so easy to move stuff around in photoshop with it.................... so if you actually draw something in photoshop, can you not save it as a jpeg??
 
Hamer Lodge

Hamer Lodge

forever learning
wombat146 said:
It takes a lot of practice Debra, keep going! :) Did you get one with different tips for your pen? With mine I had a selection of tips to choose from and there was a nice 'soft' tipped one that mimicked writing with a pen, I used that one a lot......... the others just felt too hard for me, and gave me that feeling of fingernails on a chalkboard! lol!! I used to love my wacom I had to revert back to the mouse because of the horrible shoulder pain I started to get.......... went back to the mouse and all okay............ about a month ago I plugged the wacom back in, by the end of the day the shoulder pain started up again so I am back with the mouse. :)

But I must admit, I didn't really use mine for drawing as such, just used it in place of a mouse but it was so easy to move stuff around in photoshop with it.................... so if you actually draw something in photoshop, can you not save it as a jpeg??
Click to expand...
sorry to hear about your pain, I too have pain between my shoulder blades, too much computer work I recon....Yes, I can save and create with ease using my software saving doodles as a png. I just need to learn how to draw, hats off to the designers...amazingly creative.
 
FiddletteDesigner

FiddletteDesigner

Well-Known Member
Designer
I use a Wacom too, and I use illustrator for doodling but last year discovered procreate and love it! I use it with my iPad and Apple Pencil. So I go back and forth between illlustrator and photoshop with my Wacom and my Apple Pencil and iPad with procreate :) I also do real life art journaling so once in a while I’ll scan stuff I’ve made but not as often as I used to. :)
 
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