DISCLAIMER: This review is not sponsored, but at the time of recording this video Adobe did send me Fresco for free to review. Before and after that point, I have been paying for Creative Cloud. The Wacom MobileStudio Pro was sent to me by Wacom for review purposes as well. I may earn revenue from purchases made through the affiliate links in this video. All opinions in this review are my own. Get Fresco with Adobe CC: go.magik.ly/ml/1bn8f (Affiliate link)
For many reasons, I no longer use Adobe products. Not even acrobat. From day one, it never felt intuitive and always led to a headache, followed by spending more time googling confusing/inaccurate tutorials than actually getting anything done with my projects. I switched to Affinity designer and photo (best alternatives in my opinion) and also use Corel painter for backgrounds and certain projects that require more in depth work. For me, getting rid of everything Adobe was the right move as an artist. I now have a workflow that is stress free 👍
@@SingularForce I use both Windows and Mac but currently have Affinity installed on Windows. It works just fine with pretty much any project I throw at it. I'm installing on Mac soon but haven't tried it yet to know if there's any difference between the two. From what I know so far, I don't think there's any advantage one OS has over the other. Affinity was first released for Mac and was an exclusive for awhile before the windows version dropped. I'll let you know how it goes once I install on my Mac.
@@SingularForce You're welcome I'm glad to help. I do mostly gaming on PC and want to have a separate system for art. You're right about not needing to have two computers for it. For $200 total, you can have both Affinity designer and photo ($50 per license) on two computers, whereas with Adobe you'll be paying out the ass for life. Zero regrets about switching 😊
It would be cool if they made it compatible with any Windows 10 system, but that would make things complicated if those devices didn't have touch input. Committing to adding functionality for desktop means two diverging versions of Fresco. We'll have to see how it plays out.
You could probly find software that lets you paint in windows. There is several programs that lets you acess your phone on a pc, maybe for tablets too.
@@blendertutorialsandart4817 I was trying to use an emulator to try Fresco but that didn't work out -- I was hoping my Wacom would have made me eligible
Photoshop is far from dead and Fresco is a very good alternative to Procreate. It’s a good thing to have choices. If you prefer another program, use it. It’s that simple. One company can’t please everybody.
Watch what you say you’ll be ravaged by people on youtube. So many people here seem quick to say bad things about adobe or photoshop, but many don’t realize how far in the game adobe really is. So many things from other sources that just slow down workflows or just take long to develop because of budget constraints or a lack of developers. Photoshop is just now adding AI features too which is amazing, but you wont hear a word about that go figure.
This is surely the most complete and detailed review I have seen about Fresco to date. Others just mention some aspects, and wrap it fast, but not the real stuff that concerns a painter. Still, quite reassured on my preference for Expresii, Rebelle 3, or Art Rage, but is nice when reviewers reach these depths.
For example, the eyedropper issue that you mention, this can kill and an entire workflow for those who use glazing techniques picking colors on canvas very fast. You mention it while other reviewers haven't. One needs INSTANT speed there, what in desktop apps tends to be fast alt-picking.
The on screen shortcut button you can actually double tap it and release it and it will turn blue to blend or erase. You can move the shortcut button around by pressing and holding and dragging.
I was really excited about this application when I discovered it. But when I realized what it was lacking and what I did and did not have available to me on my Surface Pro 4, It totally killed my enthusiasm. My live brushes are not supported on my device, there is no ruler guide option for creating straight lines. I totally agree the instructions under help are vague and I wish there was a more comprehensive guide to my issues and it took me quite some time to dig and discover that the tools were not supported and not just hidden in a secret settings menu. I really hope in the next version that Adobe would make this more accessible for windows products. At the very least make a ruler compatible with all devices.
Is not that people consider it so, or wish it (Photoshop) to be the industry leader. It is the leader, as a fact. Is taught at every game art institute/career in the countries where they have this luxury. Is an absolute requirement to get even to start a job interview in so, so many game studios, high end large ones, middle size companies, or small ones. Concept art is a huge career possibility these days for illustrators. I'm currently a freelancer for printed illustration (mostly), but have worked often as a concept artist. There are TONS of professional (full time or those doing it as a side business) freelancers using Photoshop as their digital painting tool, and not using anything else for that. It _is_ the leader, by very massive numbers. Even if we don't like that it is. Certainly I don't like the situation, even if I've always painted comfortably (since the mid 90s) and professionally through decades at many companies (a thing a lot of the PS critics haven't done) with Photoshop. I dislike it but not for its adequacy or not for painting, but due to the monopoly of a brand is always bad for the users, particularly for freelancers, but also for artists staff at companies, as being the non-discussions-allowed main tool for digital painting at so many companies, we're having little to no variation allowance, and even me believing PS is fine for painting, no choice freedom is bad for art and for the individuals. Photoshop has its advantages and can be very useful for digital painting if used certain workflows. People who has not used it in their professional career, in (stressful, complex, critical) _production_ , at companies during years will not understand this. I have done so, but I currently prefer Rebelle 3, Expresii, Art rage and Clip Paint Studio. But that Photoshop is an (in numbers it is "the") industry leader in digital painting, I've no doubts, it's s fact.... So, I politely disagree about that aspect.... ;) But agree in that there are indeed superior tools for painting. That said, some of these apps, - and I even include for some very few things, Painter- don't have _some_ image editing tools that you end up needing in the specialized digital painting solution, and that it is very important to have in the painting app (ie, a complete (not a preview) real CMYK color mode and full PDF/X export with all the options, but there are many more). One of the main reasons why Photoshop is not seeing the crown removed. Corel Painter is one of those closing more gaps, but there are still some. It's the same type of issue when a lot of people claim that the iPad is replacing the desktop in the professional field. Is not, by far. And the reasons why is this not so would make this comment 10 times longer.
Is ADOBE likely to try to turn this into their own version of COREL PAINTER? My feeling is that Adobe got locked into Photoshop as a compromised Lightroom, Painter, Drawing program. Even some 3D and video. Which is kinda awkward. Because it started becoming a jack of many trades and a master of only one.
That's weird. When I tried it before it didn't work. Maybe I didn't hold long enough. This is why I wish Adobe's help guide for Fresco covered all of the features in detail.
What kills me is Corel has great creative product but if they would take as much time as they do advertising (including ads in their paid product) with supporting it, they would be the photshop killer.
Paintshop? You mean Photoshop... Paintshop Pro , from Corel, is nice, but has its remarkable issues (is a PS competitor but for solely image editing I'd prefer Affinity Photo or Photoline).... Corel Painter is really good as a digital paint tool, but lacks some image editing features that I know by experience are needed along an illustrator's project workflow (at list with clients' work) and a true CMYK mode. Other than that, is prolly the most featured paint app out there. I just have major passions about Rebelle and Expresii in how really well they mimic media, as I was before a traditional media only painter. And IMO these two are a step ahead in that regard.
This confuses me. It works on all those compatible machines listed(even though they're the same exact operating system) but not on a desktop machine? Why?
So bull that I cant use this on my Asus, it's a touchscreen there is no reason why it's not compatible. So fustrating being too poor for an ipad pro lol
Mate, I'd really like you to do a review of Procreate but I appreciate it means using an iPad and you seem to dislike Apple stuff, which I can also appreciate haha. I've seen Fresco be slated by other artists, especially on older iPads. Anyway, thanks for the video
Does anybody know when it's going to be available on other Wacom EMR tablets? Finally a good alternative to PS, and it's only working on like 10 Windows devices....bummer.
And I know there are other software that should work well with touch but unfortunately they either produced bugs or lacked certain features that I need. Leonardo came the closest so far, it's pretty awesome!
Hey Aaron, have you tried the "Blender grease pencil"? Alot of concept artists has started using it due to the features it gives them being able to paint in 3D. ruclips.net/video/pKmSdY56VtY/видео.html This 2D animation movie was created with it when it first came out. A new version of blender is due to come out today, with improvements to the grease pencil.
@@aaronrutten That´s understandable. But if you should get to it at some point, i can tell you that you can use the grease pencil as its own tool without knowing anything about the 3D part of blender. So getting into the 3D part of blender isnt all that important. Though doing it would open great oportunities to combine 3 and 2D. Like Trent Kaniuga does in this tutorial ruclips.net/video/vLdLi6fPk8Q/видео.html
The info I've got is that Fresco is using a sort of library or code base (for the watercolor painting and stuff) made many (many) years ago by the Expresii's author. This got sold (or the rights to use/license it) in its day to Adobe, who it seems is using it now (was told so by the author). I'd rather just use the thing from the man who really invented it and has better grasp for this technology (he is going to implement oils and other media in his app), besides offer it in a purchase-only form, not a renting/subscription, Expresii. www.expresii.com
An important bit : Like Fresco, Expresii is quite good in performance, you can run it in lightweight Windows tablets. Its performance is much better than Rebelle's, just with a low end game card. To anyone who can connect the dots...
DISCLAIMER: This review is not sponsored, but at the time of recording this video Adobe did send me Fresco for free to review. Before and after that point, I have been paying for Creative Cloud.
The Wacom MobileStudio Pro was sent to me by Wacom for review purposes as well. I may earn revenue from purchases made through the affiliate links in this video. All opinions in this review are my own.
Get Fresco with Adobe CC: go.magik.ly/ml/1bn8f (Affiliate link)
For many reasons, I no longer use Adobe products. Not even acrobat. From day one, it never felt intuitive and always led to a headache, followed by spending more time googling confusing/inaccurate tutorials than actually getting anything done with my projects.
I switched to Affinity designer and photo (best alternatives in my opinion) and also use Corel painter for backgrounds and certain projects that require more in depth work.
For me, getting rid of everything Adobe was the right move as an artist. I now have a workflow that is stress free 👍
That is where I am going. Do you use Windows or Mac? Which do you recommend?
@@SingularForce I use both Windows and Mac but currently have Affinity installed on Windows. It works just fine with pretty much any project I throw at it.
I'm installing on Mac soon but haven't tried it yet to know if there's any difference between the two.
From what I know so far, I don't think there's any advantage one OS has over the other. Affinity was first released for Mac and was an exclusive for awhile before the windows version dropped. I'll let you know how it goes once I install on my Mac.
@@XBlackwoodX Thank you! I have both as well, and would like to have only one.
@@SingularForce You're welcome I'm glad to help. I do mostly gaming on PC and want to have a separate system for art. You're right about not needing to have two computers for it.
For $200 total, you can have both Affinity designer and photo ($50 per license) on two computers, whereas with Adobe you'll be paying out the ass for life.
Zero regrets about switching 😊
CORRECTIONS:
- You can move the Touch Shortcut. Just tap and hold for a second and drag it to where you want it.
I was so excited for this... Until i found out that it's not for desktop. Thanks for the review Aaron!
It would be cool if they made it compatible with any Windows 10 system, but that would make things complicated if those devices didn't have touch input. Committing to adding functionality for desktop means two diverging versions of Fresco. We'll have to see how it plays out.
You could probly find software that lets you paint in windows. There is several programs that lets you acess your phone on a pc, maybe for tablets too.
@@blendertutorialsandart4817 I was trying to use an emulator to try Fresco but that didn't work out -- I was hoping my Wacom would have made me eligible
Photoshop is far from dead and Fresco is a very good alternative to Procreate. It’s a good thing to have choices. If you prefer another program, use it. It’s that simple. One company can’t please everybody.
Watch what you say you’ll be ravaged by people on youtube.
So many people here seem quick to say bad things about adobe or photoshop, but many don’t realize how far in the game adobe really is. So many things from other sources that just slow down workflows or just take long to develop because of budget constraints or a lack of developers. Photoshop is just now adding AI features too which is amazing, but you wont hear a word about that go figure.
on an unrelated note, i love the graveyard painting you did for this video!
Thanks!
This is surely the most complete and detailed review I have seen about Fresco to date. Others just mention some aspects, and wrap it fast, but not the real stuff that concerns a painter. Still, quite reassured on my preference for Expresii, Rebelle 3, or Art Rage, but is nice when reviewers reach these depths.
For example, the eyedropper issue that you mention, this can kill and an entire workflow for those who use glazing techniques picking colors on canvas very fast. You mention it while other reviewers haven't. One needs INSTANT speed there, what in desktop apps tends to be fast alt-picking.
The on screen shortcut button you can actually double tap it and release it and it will turn blue to blend or erase. You can move the shortcut button around by pressing and holding and dragging.
"Shopping" photos, lol, I love it.
No desktop?? Even with a Wacom? Good discussion overall
I was really excited about this application when I discovered it. But when I realized what it was lacking and what I did and did not have available to me on my Surface Pro 4, It totally killed my enthusiasm. My live brushes are not supported on my device, there is no ruler guide option for creating straight lines. I totally agree the instructions under help are vague and I wish there was a more comprehensive guide to my issues and it took me quite some time to dig and discover that the tools were not supported and not just hidden in a secret settings menu. I really hope in the next version that Adobe would make this more accessible for windows products. At the very least make a ruler compatible with all devices.
wooow thanks for sharing about this... i am happy and want to try this...thanks again
Is not that people consider it so, or wish it (Photoshop) to be the industry leader. It is the leader, as a fact. Is taught at every game art institute/career in the countries where they have this luxury. Is an absolute requirement to get even to start a job interview in so, so many game studios, high end large ones, middle size companies, or small ones. Concept art is a huge career possibility these days for illustrators. I'm currently a freelancer for printed illustration (mostly), but have worked often as a concept artist. There are TONS of professional (full time or those doing it as a side business) freelancers using Photoshop as their digital painting tool, and not using anything else for that. It _is_ the leader, by very massive numbers. Even if we don't like that it is. Certainly I don't like the situation, even if I've always painted comfortably (since the mid 90s) and professionally through decades at many companies (a thing a lot of the PS critics haven't done) with Photoshop. I dislike it but not for its adequacy or not for painting, but due to the monopoly of a brand is always bad for the users, particularly for freelancers, but also for artists staff at companies, as being the non-discussions-allowed main tool for digital painting at so many companies, we're having little to no variation allowance, and even me believing PS is fine for painting, no choice freedom is bad for art and for the individuals. Photoshop has its advantages and can be very useful for digital painting if used certain workflows. People who has not used it in their professional career, in (stressful, complex, critical) _production_ , at companies during years will not understand this. I have done so, but I currently prefer Rebelle 3, Expresii, Art rage and Clip Paint Studio. But that Photoshop is an (in numbers it is "the") industry leader in digital painting, I've no doubts, it's s fact....
So, I politely disagree about that aspect.... ;) But agree in that there are indeed superior tools for painting.
That said, some of these apps, - and I even include for some very few things, Painter- don't have _some_ image editing tools that you end up needing in the specialized digital painting solution, and that it is very important to have in the painting app (ie, a complete (not a preview) real CMYK color mode and full PDF/X export with all the options, but there are many more). One of the main reasons why Photoshop is not seeing the crown removed. Corel Painter is one of those closing more gaps, but there are still some.
It's the same type of issue when a lot of people claim that the iPad is replacing the desktop in the professional field. Is not, by far. And the reasons why is this not so would make this comment 10 times longer.
Another fantastic tutorial video, Aaron!
Is ADOBE likely to try to turn this into their own version of COREL PAINTER? My feeling is that Adobe got locked into Photoshop as a compromised Lightroom, Painter, Drawing program. Even some 3D and video. Which is kinda awkward. Because it started becoming a jack of many trades and a master of only one.
Photoshop dead? Not at any time in this world even when it's given free like Autodesk Sketchbook. Best free sketching app for all.
Krita is way better than Sketchbook. Sketchbook is a joke.
you can move the touch shortcut. Just hold on it then drag..
That's weird. When I tried it before it didn't work. Maybe I didn't hold long enough. This is why I wish Adobe's help guide for Fresco covered all of the features in detail.
Got the surface pro 3!!! Will it work on my pro 3.
What kills me is Corel has great creative product but if they would take as much time as they do advertising (including ads in their paid product) with supporting it, they would be the photshop killer.
Paintshop? You mean Photoshop... Paintshop Pro , from Corel, is nice, but has its remarkable issues (is a PS competitor but for solely image editing I'd prefer Affinity Photo or Photoline).... Corel Painter is really good as a digital paint tool, but lacks some image editing features that I know by experience are needed along an illustrator's project workflow (at list with clients' work) and a true CMYK mode. Other than that, is prolly the most featured paint app out there. I just have major passions about Rebelle and Expresii in how really well they mimic media, as I was before a traditional media only painter. And IMO these two are a step ahead in that regard.
@@3polygons Oops yes Photoshop.
This confuses me. It works on all those compatible machines listed(even though they're the same exact operating system) but not on a desktop machine? Why?
No sir Photoshop there re many better ones in my opinion and sorry if im late though awesome tutorial.
So bull that I cant use this on my Asus, it's a touchscreen there is no reason why it's not compatible. So fustrating being too poor for an ipad pro lol
Art Rage, Expresii , Medibang, Krita ...use those . :) (I indeed like 'em better)
Mate, I'd really like you to do a review of Procreate but I appreciate it means using an iPad and you seem to dislike Apple stuff, which I can also appreciate haha. I've seen Fresco be slated by other artists, especially on older iPads. Anyway, thanks for the video
I can see Proko's Skelly skull back there
Does anybody know when it's going to be available on other Wacom EMR tablets? Finally a good alternative to PS, and it's only working on like 10 Windows devices....bummer.
You have Art Rage, Krita and Expresii (video of Expresii over a tablet)... ruclips.net/video/Tu3O5qvVVHo/видео.html
And I know there are other software that should work well with touch but unfortunately they either produced bugs or lacked certain features that I need. Leonardo came the closest so far, it's pretty awesome!
@@3polygons Haven't heard of Expresii yet, I'll check it out! Thanks!
Krita have been doing that for a while now and is for pc/mac and moreover is free.
Michael Falcony And has a crappy interface.
Hey Aaron, have you tried the "Blender grease pencil"? Alot of concept artists has started using it due to the features it gives them being able to paint in 3D. ruclips.net/video/pKmSdY56VtY/видео.html This 2D animation movie was created with it when it first came out. A new version of blender is due to come out today, with improvements to the grease pencil.
It's on my list, but difficult to get to because I know nothing about using Blender.
@@aaronrutten That´s understandable. But if you should get to it at some point, i can tell you that you can use the grease pencil as its own tool without knowing anything about the 3D part of blender. So getting into the 3D part of blender isnt all that important. Though doing it would open great oportunities to combine 3 and 2D. Like Trent Kaniuga does in this tutorial ruclips.net/video/vLdLi6fPk8Q/видео.html
I just remembered I need to cancel my creative cloud subscription because it's just a waste of money for someone like me who can't draw or edit photos
The info I've got is that Fresco is using a sort of library or code base (for the watercolor painting and stuff) made many (many) years ago by the Expresii's author. This got sold (or the rights to use/license it) in its day to Adobe, who it seems is using it now (was told so by the author). I'd rather just use the thing from the man who really invented it and has better grasp for this technology (he is going to implement oils and other media in his app), besides offer it in a purchase-only form, not a renting/subscription, Expresii. www.expresii.com
An important bit : Like Fresco, Expresii is quite good in performance, you can run it in lightweight Windows tablets. Its performance is much better than Rebelle's, just with a low end game card. To anyone who can connect the dots...
Just watch the youtube video (at main page) in the Expresii's site and compare it to Fresco's...
lag = unconfortable, when i see Adobe i hit dislike button. adobe is a monopoly but with lag, so there.
short answer: yes.
long answer: hell yes it's dead, has been for years, these are it's death rattle.