Which graphics editor should you choose if you can't draw?

Hello everyone, my name is Egor. I am currently developing games solo. And since I am not a professional artist, the question of what tool to use to create art is more relevant than ever for me. Of course, no one has canceled the Asset Store and the purchase of the necessary graphic assets there, but it is not always easy to find suitable art for a project on such platforms, and you have to create it yourself.

That's why I'm constantly searching for the most convenient editors for creating graphics. I'll warn you in advance that we'll be talking about creating 2D art, and we won't touch on the topic of neural networks, since I have no experience working with them.

In this article I will talk about my experience using editors for creating vector graphics, raster graphics and pixel art. My goal is to share my experience with other developers, so I hope this material will be useful.

Figma

Yes, first in line, unexpectedly, was the favorite tool of UX/UI designers — Figma. I used it to create both UI elements and all the art in my game. Since Figma is, first of all, a vector graphics editor, it can, in a sense, be called a replacement for Adobe Illustrator — the most popular tool for creating “vectors”.

So what are the pros and cons I noticed while using it?

The obvious advantage of Figma is that it is free. More precisely, the free version has limitations on the number of users with editing access (for teams, this is two users) and the number of pages created in one file (up to three pages), but this is more than enough if you work alone or in a small team.

You can work in the editor directly from the browser tab, which is generally convenient, but this immediately leads to two small disadvantages: the need for a stable Internet connection, which is solved either by using the Desktop application or by saving the project at the end of the work in the .fig format; the need to monitor the amount of RAM “consumed”. Here the advice is simple – do not create duplicates and keep your pages “clean”. From my experience, I can say that you need to try very hard to load the figma file to the maximum.

Figma has a very large community. Users of this tool have created a huge amount of training material, including in Russian, so there should be no problems with mastering the editor.

For me, the biggest advantage was the ability to work on UI elements and in-game art in parallel. No need to cut screens from the game and develop UI on them. Since all the art for the scene is already in Figma, you can immediately assemble any screen and continue creating UI elements on top of it. It is also easy to work with references here, because you can simply place them next to the frame you are working on.

*This image was created for educational purposes only, the author did not try to offend anyone or hurt anyone's feelings.*

In general, even with the help of circles and rectangles alone, you can create absolutely any art. The advice is simple: start with simple shapes, gradually complicating the geometry, and also be sure to make several iterations on the way to the desired result.

While working in Figma, I encountered a problem: my components were “breaking” when they were scaled.

Left - original object, right - example "breakdowns" object with unconfigured Constraints. — *On the left is the original object, on the right is an example of an object “breakdown” with unconfigured Constraints.*

As it turned out, it was necessary to set up Constraints for normal scaling of objects. This is a rather tedious process that took a lot of time. Therefore, at some point I decided to adapt and first determine the dimensions of the object, and only then work within the given limits.

Even with all its advantages, in my opinion, Figma is not a very suitable tool for creating vector graphics. However, I would recommend using it for small games with a small amount of art. For example, I created the information architecture, UI, and all the in-game art for my game that I am currently developing in it, and I share this and much more on my blog.

*Art, screens and information architecture drawn for the game.*

To sum it up, I can still advise you to study Figma at least at a basic level, even if you do not plan to create graphics in it. Many development teams use it now, so the skill of using this editor will definitely not be superfluous.

Aseprite

Searching for a visual style for my game took me a lot of time and effort. I wrote about this and my other fuckups in more detail in my previous article. But one day, in my search, I turned towards pixel art. Having tried several editors, I settled on Aseprite. Yes, in the end, I chose a different visual style, but I am still attracted to pixel art, so I continue to study it in my free time and hope that this skill will be useful to me in the future.

In the meantime, let's get back to the editor. I'll note right away that it's paid – about $20 on the official website, but I recommend checking its regional price on Steam, maybe you can save a couple of dollars. For this one-time payment, you get full access to all the functionality of the editor, no subscriptions or tariff plans (It turns out that this is possible, yes, Adobe, I'm looking at you).

Here you can create both individual sprites and entire tile maps, and even animations. You can work with both layers and groups of objects. You can export both the entire canvas and a specific selected object.

User guides can be easily googled, and in the editor itself, in the Help tab, you can find both documentation and a selection of tutorials directly on the official website.

When creating pixel art, I would recommend starting with objects with simple shapes and gradually moving on to sprites with more complex geometry. Also, for each element, use no more than three adjacent colors. In general, these are all typical recommendations, and they apply to any style you are starting to learn. It is best if you have never drawn before, just start redrawing simple sprites that you like to “get your hand in” and get used to the editor.

*Editor interface and my attempts at pixel art*

In the end, Aseprite is probably the most convenient tool for creating pixel art that I have tried. The only thing that might scare off a potential user is the visual design of the editor itself. Although it emphasizes the direction of its use, not everyone may like to peer into pixelated fonts. Then why are you going to create pixel art if you don’t like it?

Adobe Photoshop

There is no intrigue here: so far I have not found a more convenient editor for creating raster graphics than His Majesty Photoshop. In general, I have the same attitude towards it as towards a conventional banking application on a smartphone: in the modern world, everyone should be able to use it at least at a basic level.

I think it is pointless to talk about its capabilities. It is one of the most popular graphic editors in the world, and, accordingly, it has a huge community, and more than enough training materials. The only drawback, as a non-professional artist, I would call its subscription distribution model, considering that I do not use it that often (No, don't even think about it, I won't recommend you to use a “Caribbean VPN”).

I currently only use Photoshop for concept art and wanted to share a method I often use when rendering raster graphics, especially when it comes to human anatomy.

*An example of the simplest way to create art in Photoshop.*

In the example above, you can see that to draw the pose of a person I need, I find the necessary art or photo online, then I put it on a separate layer and reduce the transparency to about 90%. Now all that's left is to mentally go back to elementary school and outline the elements we need (and yes, this method is completely legitimate if you don't draw very well or don't know how to draw at all). This way, you can assemble entire scenes.

*Concept art of my retro shooter, which is at the prototype stage, was created using the algorithm described above.*

Personally, I wouldn't use assets drawn this way in a game. You should either learn to create quality art yourself over a long period of time and regularly, or change the visual style to the one that works best for you, or use the help of a professional. It all depends on your time and financial constraints.

Bonus

Finally, I would like to share two more auxiliary tools:

PureRef — is an application that allows you to conveniently work with references. You can simply sketch the necessary images on the scene in the window, adjust the window size to suit yourself, and then pin the tool on top of all windows on the desktop. The application is distributed free of charge, but on the official website when downloading there is an opportunity to thank the developers with a donation.

*An example of working on art using PureRef.*

Color schemes — they allow you to select complementary and adjacent colors to create more harmonious art. You can find a large number of sites with similar tools on the Internet. Personally, I use Paletton, I'm already used to it, although I don't always like the result: the algorithm often slips “dirty” colors, and you have to correct them manually.

*An example of a website for working with color schemes.*

In the end, I would like to just mention that everything described above is my personal experience, and I hope that it will be useful. In general, the tool for creating 2D art can be any (even Paint), the main thing is that you yourself are comfortable working with it.

Be sure to write your thoughts about all these editors, if you have worked with them, in the comments, and also suggest your options.