I've heard people talk about Open Canvas, and Photoshop (of course Photoshop) but I don't know what versions of things I would be looking for, and where to buy them, ect. So let's start with Open Canvas...

1. How good is open Canvas?
2. Is it comparable to Photoshop at all?
3. Where can I buy it?
4. What is the newest version, and do you have to pay every time you want to upgrade to the new version?

1. It does most of what you need it to do, but it's not free anymore.
2. Photoshop is a professional program developed by Adobe, and in my opinion, will always be superior.
3. By it do you mean OpenCanvas or Photoshop?
4. Again, specify, but I'm going to assume you're asking about OpenCanvas. I believe the new version is 2.22E, but don't quote me. I haven't used it in a long time.

As for finding it, I can't even google it without getting cracks and serials, so if you're looking for the legit way to purchase it, I couldn't tell you, you'll have to dig a bit.

Yes, sorry. I meant Open Canvas for those questions. And I found a website, is PortalGraphics.net a legit Open Canvas site?

Personally, I use both Correl Painter X and Photoshop CS3. I use CS3 alot more, though

Photoshop all the ♥♥♥♥ way.

I see PortalGraphics as being people who crack and illegally host the file, if that kind of stuff means anything to you.

Isn't the definition of the "open" in OpenCanvas the fact that it is free/shareware?

Free? It's not free. It costs like $80 US dollars.

It stopped being free as of their new version 2.

Okay, what can you tell me about Corel? Is that any good?

open canvas 1 can be used as a paint chat/art collaboration tool, the newer versions of it cant do it. Photoshop is all round good. Painter is as good as photoshop but is focused more on traditional style brushes and tools, so between photoshop and painter is just preference.

Another thing to consider... If you just want to draw and have it look nice, Photoshop probably isn't the best. It uses lots of resources, and it's always the fastest. Of course, you can do a lot more fancy effects with it than other programs. For just plain drawing, I really like ArtRage. It's $25, so cheaper than most art program, but isn't designed for graphic design. It's better for doing artistic drawiing and stuff, since it (mostly) realistically simulates the art mediums.

Photoshop is sh­it-tier for drawing. People usually draw on paper scan it and redo it over the lineart in photoshop.

OpenCanvas is what you want to use unless you feel like paying $400 dollars. OpenCanvas is free. Just don't get that dumb new version that is advertised. The version anyone that matters(See: Any a/c board) is the free collaboration version. The newer ones don't support online collaboration etc.

But that's just how they're used by people who know how to draw. I suppose you could draw just using photoshop, if you don't want to make anything detailed or nice-looking. I recommend drawing, inking, scanning, drawing over the lineart in photoshop(Tablet, etc). If you'd rather go the cheap way and only draw using a tablet and a program, use OC. Use the free version.

And where do I get said Free Version?

Pretty sure if a program goes commercial older versions don't count as piracy. Kind of like old CC builds. So, here-

http://www.sendspace.com/file/hec3ae

Ignore the warpaint stuff. The .rar name should be descriptive enough.