SAI

It's been nearly two years since I started using an extra software as a tool for many of my illustrations. So far I can say that I got used to many of it's features that now I struggle when I don't have them in Photoshop; I'm talking about the originally Japanese software Easy Paint Tool SAI or better know as just SAI (ペイントツールSAI).

This is a lightweight raster graphics editor and painting software built for only for Windows by Systemax software. It has been around the market since 2004, but only as a free beta test and it was until 2008 that it was released as an official version. I remember trying a Japanese version ages ago, but it was definitely confusing not being used to the language as I was with the commands in Photoshop   

In my opinion it's one of the simplest drawing softwares there is out there as it shows only the important tools need to make a digital painting or drawing and the customization of tools get as simple as a double click. It is not to say that it substitutes Photoshop over all; the post production process and tweaking needed at the end of any piece is definitely impossible to make in SAI so unfortunately you're forced to open Photoshop and add the final touches, of just to add any text. 

Photoshop is without doubt the most solid and complex software for photoediting without a doubt but this feature can backfire and make things more complicated if you don't know the software entirely. 

Naming the pros and cons of SAI from my point of view: 

Cons: 

• Can't make modifications of colour, light, sharpness and others as easy as Photoshop. 
• Limited space for customised brushes. 
• There are resources for the software but obviously not as many as in Photoshop. 
• The amount of formats that its compatible is not extensive, but at least the most used digital ones are there. 
• No text tool whatsoever.

Pros:

• Very light program; there's no need of a super computer to make it run smoothly even when you creat pieces that are rather large. 
• It's said that it's a very unstable software that crashes a lot, but I've actually never had it crash on me...
• Better selection tools than Photoshop.
• Really intuitive and simple tools. 
• Has a Lineart layer that works with vectors that are really easy to modify and change line thickness. 
• Has a stabilizer features perfect when you need for the making of straight hand drawn lines (I wish Photoshop had this feature).

Over all, I've found this as an incredible useful tool, and I tend to integrate it to my work flow more often than I realize. The ability of being able to save in a Photoshop format makes it so easy to jump back and forth between the two softwares. I anyone has the chance to give it a go I highly suggest you do, even just out of curiosity.