Every designer's idea starts on paper, then transforms through software. Learn the essential steps for turning your sketch into digital art with this detailed guide.
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars. There are 22127. Move your mobile work into an industry standard desktop application. Layers (Premium Feature.
- There are a ton of drawing apps, art apps, painting apps, and sketch apps available now to creatives, each with their own USP. Some excel in vector drawings, others in graphic illustrations. There are dedicated apps for image manipulation, mimicking hand drawing, and 3d modeling.
- Skencil is a free interactive vector drawing application. It is an open source software and runs on Linux platform. It is a flexible and powerful tool for illustrations, diagrams, and other purposes. It is developed completely on Python a powerful object oriented language yet simple to use. You can draw Bezier Curves and transform text and images.
- Sketch with tools that behave like the real thing — pencils, pens, markers, erasers, and custom brushes. Use blend modes to draw on top of existing brush strokes and create natural color changes. Try out the watercolor brush on your iPad Air, mini, or Pro.
The sketching and ideating process is an essential step in every designer and illustrator's workflow. Whether you're designing a new font, a poster, or a simple illustration, it's crucial to get your ideas down on paper before bringing it onto your computer.
Read on to learn four essential tips to prepare your sketches for the computer, along with step-by-step instructions on how to digitize your sketches in three different creative programs: Illustrator, Photoshop, and Procreate.
Essential Tips to Know Before Digitizing
Before you begin the journey to digitizing your artwork, let's get into some essential steps to help guide you along the way. These four tips will ensure you always get a smooth transition from paper to software.
Tip 1: Always Use Clean White Paper
No matter what you're drawing, it's always crucial to start out with a clean white piece of paper. This ensures that your drawing will properly scan later on. Colored papers may impede on the digitizing process.
Tip 2: Refine Your Sketch
Many artists and designers prefer to loosely sketch ideas before refining them later on. Once you've got a solid drawing down, use a fine tip pen or marker to polish up those sketchy lines. Erasers are also your friend here, since smudges and excess lines can often obfuscate your scans and interfere with the digitizing process. Clean erasers are key, since dirty erasers can muddle your drawings even more by smearing pencil lead remnants.
Tip 3: Use Tracing Paper to Go Over Your Sketches
To take my drawings a step further, I like to use tracing paper and go over my original sketches. This type of paper is slightly translucent, giving you the ability to trace over your original sketches and polish up your designs even more. For designers who prefer to have a detailed sketch before moving onto the digitizing phase, this step is an absolute must.
Tip 4: Scan Your Paper at a High Resolution
Scanning your sketches is the last step before bringing them into design software. To ensure a seamless transition from paper to software, scan your sketches at 300 PPI (pixels per inch) or more. The higher the pixels per inch, the crisper the scan will be.
A scan with a higher PPI tends to be of higher quality due to its greater pixel density. The individual pixels in a 300 PPI image are drastically smaller than in a 72 PPI image. Smaller pixels allow for a smoother blend of color and shape. If you're turning your sketch into a vector image, then the pixel density is not as important; if you're digitizing your sketch in Photoshop, the pixel density is crucial.
Once you've scanned your drawing, transfer the scan onto a flash drive for easy transport to your computer.
Digitizing Your Sketch in Illustrator
Turning a sketch into a vector is one of my favorite techniques for bringing a drawing to life. Adobe Illustrator's vast library of tools, colors, and effects make digitizing a breeze. Not only that, but vectors hold a greater advantage when digitizing your artwork with its infinite scalabilities, smooth curves, and smaller file sizes.
Textures used from 50 Free Distressed Textures Pack.
Step 1: Bring Your Scanned Image into Illustrator
Once you've scanned your image and brought it onto your desktop, go ahead and create a new document within Adobe Illustrator with Command + N. Import the scan with Shift + Command + P, then hit Place and click on an artboard to see your drawing pop up within Illustrator.
Name the sketch layer by double-clicking Layer 1 within the Layers panel and typing in a word such as 'Scan,' then add another layer with the folded square icon. Do the same for the new layer and name it something along the lines of 'Vector.' This helps to differentiate the two layers and helps you track your outline progress later on. You can also toggle the lock icon to lock all elements of that layer, or toggle the eye icon to turn on and off the layer visibility.
Step 2: Use the Pen Tool to Outline Sketch
On the top layer, start drawing out the outline of your sketch with the handy Pen Tool (P). You can either edit the bezier curves as you move along the sketch, or map out the line and then go back and adjust the curves with the Anchor Point Tool (Shift + C). To manipulate individual bezier curves, hold down the Option key while moving the bezier arms.
Rinse and repeat until you've covered the entirety of your sketch. If some of your drawing contains geometric shapes, speed up your workflow by using the Shapes Toolto quickly map out sketches. Now that we've outlined the entire sketch, it's now time to add in some color.
Step 3: Fill in Color
Before assigning color to your shapes, think about what type of color scheme you're going for. For my plants below, I took on a muted palette to give my design that retro feel. Color is especially important in a design, so take some time and find a few color palettes that work best for your composition.
Need some color inspiration? Check out these free 25 retro palettes, 101 color combinations, or these 20 seasonal-themed palettes.
Once you've settled on a color scheme, import each hue into your Swatches panel to make color integration a breeze. With the Selection Tool (V), click on a shape and then choose from your color swatches to bring it into your design. Toggle the Fill and Stroke colors as needed with X. To switch a stroke color to a fill, hit Shift + X. Continue assigning colors until you've filled out your design.
Take your illustration a step further by experimenting with blend modes or by incorporating gradients, textures, brushes, or grain.
Digitizing Your Sketch in Photoshop
Vector Drawing 3d
While the process of digitizing illustrations in Photoshop appears similar to Illustrator, it's drastically different. Working in a raster-based program means your illustration will feature pixels and have limits to scalability. Rather than outlining your sketch with bezier curves, you can go over your sketch with brushes if you've got a tablet, or fill in those outlines with the Color Range menu.
Step 1: Bring Your Scanned Image into Photoshop
Begin by dragging your sketch image into the Photoshop program. You can either right-click on the image and select Open With > Adobe Photoshop, or drag the image on top of the Photoshop icon on your desktop or toolbar. This will open up a new document with your scanned image.
You can resize or rotate your scan as needed with the Free Transform command (Command + T). Click and drag the corners to resize or place your cursor outside the corners to rotate.
Step 2: Adjust Contrast and Levels
Since many sketches will appear a little light on screen, it's important to increase the contrast and play around with the Levels and Curves. In the Layers panel, you can bring up these adjustment layers by clicking on the half-filled circle iconand clicking Levels or Curves. Move the sliders to increase the intensity of white and blacks in your sketch.
I suggest playing around with these nondestructive adjustments to see which ones work best for your sketch. If you're not satisfied with an adjustment, simply click the layer and hit the Delete key.
Once you've adjusted the sketch to your liking, condense the layers down by Shift-clicking Layer 1 and each adjustment layer then hitting Command + E. Folx pro 5 7.
Step 3: Add Color to Lines
Now, let's spruce up your sketch with some colors. This technique can be done two ways: with the help of Color Range to highlight the outlines in your sketch, or with the help of Photoshop's brushes. If you own a tablet, you can easily go over your original sketch with raster brushes.
Before we add some color into your illustration, add a new layer by hitting the folded square icon in the Layers panel. From here, you can choose to activate the Brush Tool (B) and fine tune your brush's appearance within the Brush Settings (F5) menu.
To go with the Color Range route, click back to your original sketch layer, then head to Select > Color Range and click on the white background with the eyedropper. This selects all areas of your design with white. Keep your Fuzziness down to around 12, then hit OK.
Inverse the active selection with Shift + Command + I, then activate the new layer you just created. With the Brush Tool (B), brush over the outline with the colors of your choice. Change the brush size as needed with [/].
Continue filling in the outlines until you've colored all aspects of your illustration. Once you've finished, hit Command + D to remove the marching ants selection.
Step 4: Fill in Rest of Color
Head back to the original sketch layer and activate the Magic Wand Tool (W). Click within the remaining portions of your sketch and fill it in with the Brush Tool (B) on the layer above your original sketch layer. This makes sure you're not coloring directly on the original sketch; instead, you're adding color to a separate layer. Continue adding color until you've filled out the entire sketch. Icon slate 4 4 7.
Selection Tip: When making multiple selections at a time, hold down the Shift key; to remove selections, hold down the Option key.
Working with Sketches in Procreate*
Websnapperpro 1 3 2 – professional webpage captures tool. The Procreate app is a powerful application designed for sketching, illustrating, and prototyping artwork. It closely resembles the setup of Photoshop in regards to its brush library, layer modes, various effects, and raster profile. But with its endless features, tools, and brushes, this digital illustration app is in a league of its own.
Procreate makes the digitizing process feel natural; with the stylus, it tracks the amounts of pressure applied and the angle it's used at, mimicking the feel of true pen and paper.
*For an in-depth breakdown on the Procreate app, look through this handy guide.
Step 1: Import Sketch into Procreate
Begin by importing your sketch into the Procreate program. The sketch image can be made by taking a photo of the illustration, or can be transferred to your iPad from an email. I simply took a photo of the sketch, since the quality of the image doesn't matter when drawing over the original sketch. In Procreate's main menu, select Photo and then choose your sketch image from the Camera Roll. Procreate will automatically create a new document containing your image.
Once you've imported your image, resize or rotate the image as needed by selecting the arrow icon at the top toolbar. Select Uniform, then drag the blue corners as necessary to resize the image. Hit Rotate 45 degrees to rotate your image within the document.
Step 2: Use Brushes to Outline
This is where all the fun begins; the Brushes menu is inarguably one of the best aspects of Procreate. Select the paint brush icon at the top of the program to open the brush library. There are tons of default brushes at your finger tips, from pencils to textured brushes.
Before tracing over your original sketch, create a new layer by clicking the plus sign in the Layers tab. Keeping your layers consistent and organized is crucial here; for each different shape, create a new layer and rename that layer accordingly. To name your layer, click on the layer thumbnail and select Rename.
To create a simple outline, I opted for the Monoline Brush in the Calligraphy section. Experiment with different brush types to see what works best for your illustration. You can fine tune the brush settings by clicking on the brush name.
Click on the circle shape at the top of the program to access your colors. There are various ways to alter colors within the Procreate app. You can browse through hues within the Disc, Classic, Value, and Palettes tabs.
Step 3: Fill in Rest of Color
Procreate's way of filling in color is through the ColorDrop technique. Simply activate the layer you'd like to apply the active color to, then click and drag the circle to the enclosed space. If the outline is enclosed, the color drop will fill the space; if the outline is partially open, the color fill will spread to the entire layer.
Rinse and repeat for the remaining shapes. To bring in some textural elements, activate the Alpha Lock command within the layer thumbnail and draw with a Charcoal or other textured brush.
Cover image via 32 pixels.
Interesting in learning more essential design tips and tricks? Check out these articles:
Paying $500+ for a new CorelDRAW Suite may not be the best investment for a graphic designer, especially a beginner. The same goes for Adobe's stingy subscriptions. Give or take, most graphic design tools are built on the same principles. And more often than not, we need to create something simple and effective – an icon for our website, a logo, or just have some fun with vector art. Even for serious vector art, we probably never use all the fancy features big companies throw at us.
Thankfully, there is a free vector software that allows us to do what we want. In this article, we will cover the most popular and effective of ones.
Lunacy
Platform: Windows
Download link:icons8.com/lunacy
At first, Lunacy was developed as a Sketch viewer for Windows, because the problem of opening .sketch files was always a nightmare for people who didn't own Mac. But it's quickly becoming a powerful tool on its own. With Lunacy, you can not only open .sketch files, but also perform multiple editing functions: organize pages and artboards, draw, join & align objects, and use typography.
Add to that export in PNG and SVG, support of CSS & XAML code and you'll get a powerful vector editing tool without having to employ a bunch of crutches to make .sketch files work on Windows. A portable version comes as a bonus.
Pros:
- First fully-featured .sketch editor for Windows
- Constant updates
- Portable version
- Active development & support
Cons:
- Minor performance bugs
- Advanced features are yet to come
Inkscape
Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux
Download link:inkscape.org
Inkscape is often called the GIMP of vector apps. It's an open-source program with plenty of features that make you wonder why people aren't selling it. And yet, it's completely free. The app was released in 2003, and since then has become one of the most popular vector graphics software programs in the world. It's available in 90 languages and across many platforms, including OS X and Linux.
The node workflow in Inkscape is similar to that of Adobe Illustrator and allows adding new nodes, as well as moving and editing them.
Helpful features like node aligning and symmetry are also available to use. Bezier curves and pencil tools work smoothly with graphic tablets, allowing users to create hand-drawn vector images of any complexity.
Inkscape also has image bitmap tracing, which is for converting rasterized images into vector paths. However, the feature is not as advanced as the one in Adobe Illustrator, and you may need some extra manipulations to make it work, or you'll have to trace it manually.
Inkscape supports all popular formats, including SVG, EPS, JPG, PNG, PostScript and others.
The list of features the app has is beyond listing, and chances are it can do pretty much everything paid programs like Adobe Illustrator can do.
At the very least Inkscape is nearly as good as Adobe Illustrator. Both programs share a very similar workflow and if you're used to one of them, it makes it easier to make the switch. For logo designs and creating vector graphics, there won't be much difference in whichever one of you use, apart from having an extra buck to spend on something else.
Tutorials: Inkscape's website offers a wide variety of tutorials from beginner to advanced here. We also recommend Logos by Nick's Youtube channel – it offers many excellent tips and workflows from a practicing designer.
Pros:
- Many features, solid AI alternative
- Works smoothly with tablets
- Multiple platforms (Linux included)
- Extensions
Sketch 3 4 4 – Vector Drawing Applications
Cons:
- Rare performance issues with big files
- Some features are not intuitive – tutorials are needed
Vectr
Platform: Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Chrome OS, Web
Download link:vectr.com
Unlike Inkscape, Vectr is fresh blood in the yard. Which is good, because it means the development is shifted by industry demands, and not by the curse of bloatware.
This free vector art program was released just two years ago, but the pace of its development is truly magnificent. With all the features added recently, it's hard to imagine what this product could be capable of in the future. However, developers are pressing that one thing stays unchanged – it will be forever free.
To compare Vectr and Inkscape is to make a great mistake – these two products are both in a league of their own. What Vectr lacks in features, it compensates for in intuitiveness. The learning curve on the program is non-existent: if you're just starting in the design industry, you may be able to create your very first logo in five minutes after you start the program without having to skim through pages of tutorials.
Another advantage of the app is ubiquity – not only is it available on all popular platforms, but it also has a browser version with the same functionality as its desktop counterpart. That means you can work on your designs on your PC and then finish them in an internet cafe in the middle of nowhere.
From Vectr official website
The app allows all standard vector operations – creating and editing geometry shapes, curves, and paths. It supports multiple layers and pages, letting you organize your project. Vectr allows imports in AI, EPS, SVG, PNG, and JPEG file formats.
Another useful feature is the ability to share your projects simply by sending a URL to your colleagues, letting them view and edit it in a workflow similar to Google Docs. The development of full-scale collaboration with multiple people working on the same project simultaneously is currently underway, along with Marketplace and Versioning. You can literally watch the Vectr team's backlog in the Open Roadmap.
Tutorials:vectr.com/tutorials
Pros:
- Cross-platform and browser versions
- Intuitive, easy to use interface
- Easy sharing of projects
- Integration with WordPress
Cons:
- Need to create an account
- Some people report crashes – the new features may be unstable
- Lacks advanced features
Gravit Designer
Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, Chrome OS, Web
Download link:designer.io
We might be a bit subjective here. After all, Gravit used our icons. However, Gravit's developers have much more to offer than having good taste.
Inkscape supports all popular formats, including SVG, EPS, JPG, PNG, PostScript and others.
The list of features the app has is beyond listing, and chances are it can do pretty much everything paid programs like Adobe Illustrator can do.
At the very least Inkscape is nearly as good as Adobe Illustrator. Both programs share a very similar workflow and if you're used to one of them, it makes it easier to make the switch. For logo designs and creating vector graphics, there won't be much difference in whichever one of you use, apart from having an extra buck to spend on something else.
Tutorials: Inkscape's website offers a wide variety of tutorials from beginner to advanced here. We also recommend Logos by Nick's Youtube channel – it offers many excellent tips and workflows from a practicing designer.
Pros:
- Many features, solid AI alternative
- Works smoothly with tablets
- Multiple platforms (Linux included)
- Extensions
Sketch 3 4 4 – Vector Drawing Applications
Cons:
- Rare performance issues with big files
- Some features are not intuitive – tutorials are needed
Vectr
Platform: Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Chrome OS, Web
Download link:vectr.com
Unlike Inkscape, Vectr is fresh blood in the yard. Which is good, because it means the development is shifted by industry demands, and not by the curse of bloatware.
This free vector art program was released just two years ago, but the pace of its development is truly magnificent. With all the features added recently, it's hard to imagine what this product could be capable of in the future. However, developers are pressing that one thing stays unchanged – it will be forever free.
To compare Vectr and Inkscape is to make a great mistake – these two products are both in a league of their own. What Vectr lacks in features, it compensates for in intuitiveness. The learning curve on the program is non-existent: if you're just starting in the design industry, you may be able to create your very first logo in five minutes after you start the program without having to skim through pages of tutorials.
Another advantage of the app is ubiquity – not only is it available on all popular platforms, but it also has a browser version with the same functionality as its desktop counterpart. That means you can work on your designs on your PC and then finish them in an internet cafe in the middle of nowhere.
From Vectr official website
The app allows all standard vector operations – creating and editing geometry shapes, curves, and paths. It supports multiple layers and pages, letting you organize your project. Vectr allows imports in AI, EPS, SVG, PNG, and JPEG file formats.
Another useful feature is the ability to share your projects simply by sending a URL to your colleagues, letting them view and edit it in a workflow similar to Google Docs. The development of full-scale collaboration with multiple people working on the same project simultaneously is currently underway, along with Marketplace and Versioning. You can literally watch the Vectr team's backlog in the Open Roadmap.
Tutorials:vectr.com/tutorials
Pros:
- Cross-platform and browser versions
- Intuitive, easy to use interface
- Easy sharing of projects
- Integration with WordPress
Cons:
- Need to create an account
- Some people report crashes – the new features may be unstable
- Lacks advanced features
Gravit Designer
Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, Chrome OS, Web
Download link:designer.io
We might be a bit subjective here. After all, Gravit used our icons. However, Gravit's developers have much more to offer than having good taste.
On a feature-wise specter, Gravit falls precisely between Inkscape and Vectr. It has more features than the latter while staying as intuitive as the former. And, like all the apps mentioned in this article, it comes with no price attached. Talk about balance.
The app allows you to do everything you would expect from a vector software program: Create curves, edit paths, manage layers and use the knife function. It supports SVG, PDF, JPEG,.SKETCH and recently, EPS (finally!) formats for import and export. In addition, you can work on your projects across different platforms; Gravit Cloud allows seamless transition of files between desktop and online versions. A portable version is also available.
Among the other handy things that Gravit features, there are vector assets that are available within the app. Gravit Designer's library of assets includes icons, shapes, emojis, and illustrations – all of which can be combined and modified for commercial and non-commercial use.
Even though the tool is free (according to developers, 'there will definitely be areas in Gravit Designer in the foreseeable future, or areas surrounding Gravit Designer, that are subject to a charge'), bugs are being fixed and the most voted for features are being developed. You can see a full description of the new features in the Gravit Designer developers' blog, along with a bunch of cool tutorials.
Tutorials: Youtube Playlist
Pros:
- Huge library of vector assets out-of-box
- Intuitive UI and workflow
- Browser and cross-platform versions, all connected with cloud
Cons:
- Not yet clear what features will stay free in the future
- No advanced features like the ones that can be found in AE or Inkscape
SVG-edit
Platform: Web
Download link:https://github.com/SVG-Edit/svgedit
SVG-edit is one of those tools that does exactly what their name suggests: It allows you to edit SVG's, and create your own. It's an online, free vector program that is available in most popular browsers.
The feature set is standard: Create shapes, draw with a pencil, convert lines to paths, colorize and add images. The result can be exported into popular web formats: WMP, JPG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and of course SVG itself. The interface is pretty straightforward and reminds you of painting programs from the early 2000's – nothing fancy here.
One of the advantages of SVG-edit is that this open-source program can be easily embedded into your website, allowing your users to create and edit SVG's of their own. The tool also allows you to quickly export results as HTML-code.
Even though SVG-edit lacks features in comparison to apps mentioned earlier in this article, it still can be useful in some cases – especially for web developers. Freely available Github repository allows modifying the source code to your needs. Another plus would be that the tool is constantly being updated.
Tutorials:Github
Pros:
- Simple, quick to use
- Open-source web code
Cons:
- Lacks advanced features
- Node-management is not perfect
Honorable mentions
RollApp
Not a vector drawing software itself, but RollApp allows you to run some popular desktop apps online, in your browser. One, in particular, is Inkscape. So if Inkscape being only desktop was the only thing stopping you from using it, RollApp will seal the deal.
FatPaint
This web tool really has some 90's vibes to it. But if you're a fan, give it a try. It's available for free and there are enough features to make logos or other fancy web graphics. However, if you consider using FatPaint for commercial purposes, developers kindly ask to support them with a Pro subscription.
PrimarDraw
A free web vector editor to create vector images. It allows export in SVG, PNG and JPEG. The clean UI is a bonus. It features everything you need to create a logo or an icon inside your browser.
LaTeXDraw
Vector Art Drawing
A graphics editor available for Windows, macOS and Linux. It's primarily used for building math graphs and illustrations (the ones you often see in school math books). But if you feel like life is not hard enough yet, you can try drawing vector art using this tool.
If you're interested in free raster drawing software, check out our Best Free Drawing Software: Five Candidates article
Try tools for creators by the Icons8 team
