Graphic software advice for a 12 year old

[dpemoore]

I have a daughter that really loves to draw. She has gotten quite good by hand and have wowed everybody she shows her drawings to. She is however just turned 12 and wants to know what anybody would recomend an affordable software she could use. Currently, she is using microsoft paint and a mouse. As limited as that software is she has done some phenominal drawings (color fadings to represent texture, shadows, reflections, etc) And I thought that software was a piece of crap and she likes it. After watching behind the scenes and the making of various pixar movies, she really wants to learn more. I was going to get a tablet perhaps a wacom or I saw a hanvon for less. I don't want to spend a lot of money either, because again she is not even a teenager yet. I was going to get perhaps an older version of illustrator (CS2 - student version) but didn't know if that would be too complicated and over her head. She is quite savy on a computer as well so that might help. Any suggestions?

[webmaster]

Hi there, I'm glad to hear that your daughter has such talent. When you've gotten that tablet, I suggest that you try Adobe Photoshop, you can get a trial of it here.

[peejah]

photoshop...put the brush at a low opacity and fill...and have her draw away...I would teach her layers, so she can draw linework in black on the top layer...and color on the bottom layer....

[Logic]

FYI, you can get a great price on photoshop (and all other adobe software) from campustech.com (I think thats it) because your daughter is a student. For example, I recently purchased the Adobe Creative Suite 3 which included photoshop, illustrator, dreamweaver, flash, acrobat, and in design for approximately $580.... this software typically goes for about $1,800.

So just a fyi, if you are truely interested in getting your daughter started, it is much more affordable because she is a student.

[peejah]

she's 12...photoshop 7 will do....

[Logic]

well from what I see the original poster does not yet own a copy of photoshop... from a quick google search photoshop 7 runs about 560 bucks... so ya go ahead and pay 20 bucks less, get older software, and get 1 program rather than 5.

I was just giving advice as far as the parent would be concerned. I do not know too many parents that want to invest that much money into a kids new hobby. However those parents I do know that are willing to do this, typically would like to save money if possible. I simply provided a cost effective way of doing so.

[peejah]

I retract that statement, GIMP $0.

[Logic]

well said, I guess I retract mine also =p

[Etheryte]

What software to get her does not matter on her age. You can try with multiple applications, most of the current ones on the market have free 30 day trial versions available.
For best results I suggest a high-end tablet and Corel Painter X. Both are very high cost solutions though.

[rachjm]

I think it's awesome that you're researching this and that you want to encourage your daughter in the areas in which she's talented.

If she is used to working with Paint then any kind of professional graphics software is going to be quite a stretch for her. (As you said, paint is super-basic). But what she'll be able to produce will be so much better than anything she could ever achieve in Paint.

Personally I would recommend Photoshop. It's what I started out in and it's still my favourite.

I'd also like to reiterate what Etheryte said: her age doesn't have to be a factor. Going from Paint to Photoshop is going to be a leap, no matter how old she is, but if she's got the determination to learn it then there's no reason why she can't.

I also agree that it would be smart to download a trial - it's a lot of money to spend on something that will take a bit of perseverance to master.

Good luck choosing!