PaintTool SAI is a free, lightweight painting application, developed and published by Systemax Software. It's a high-quality program with full digitizer support, as well as pressure detection.

It gives you the ability to create detailed digital artwork through its powerful yet simple user interface. If this is your first rodeo with PaintTool SAI, here are some tips that can help you get started!

Creating Your First Canvas

To create a new canvas, the first thing you need to do is click on File > New or press Ctrl + N on your keyboard.

After doing that, another window will open where you can specify the details of your new canvas. You can give your canvas a name, as well as choose the size and resolution. Then, press OK, and your canvas will appear.

An Introduction to PaintTool SAI's Tools

On the left side of the program, you have two main columns. One of them is for the layers and opacity options, while the other one will have all the brush options. However, if you do not have these columns by default, you can bring them up manually.

Here's a rundown of PaintTool SAI's most important tools:

Color Wheel: your typical color wheel that lets you select different colors.

Navigator: shows you a small preview of your canvas on the left side. It also allows you to rotate your canvas easily.

Quick Bar: the bar on the top of the screen, where you have quick access to the undo/redo buttons, zoom tools, inversion options, and more.

View Selector: tells you which canvases you have open (in case you have more than one) and allows you to easily switch between them.

Cursor Show Brush Size: shows you the size of the brush you have selected.