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Adobe Photoshop vs Procreate (best drawing apps for mac)

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Winner
User Interface
Tools and Resources
Stability and Performance
Compatibility
Learning Curve
Support and Community
Pricing
Versatility
Customization
Output Quality
FREE / PAID
Procreate monetizes through a one-time payment. The app cost is $9.99.
Adobe Photoshop monetizes through a subscription model, costing at $20.99 per month.
Conclusion

Procreate dominates with a user-friendly platform 👩‍💻 and affordable 🎉 price, however, is only available for iOS 📱.

👨‍🎨 Adobe Photoshop excels in vast design tools 🛠️, but falls short in pricing 💰 and user interface 🖥️.

Procreate Pros & Cons

Top Pros
  • 🖌️ Intuitive design tools

  • 🚀 Outstanding performance

  • 🔄 Excellent for sketches and quick ideas

  • 💎 High-quality brushes

  • 💲 One-time payment

Adobe Photoshop Pros & Cons

Top Pros
  • ⚙️ Mastery of advanced tools

  • ↔️ Cross-platform compatibility

  • 🔴 High resolution output

  • 🎛️ Customizable workspace

  • 🌐 Strong global community

  • 💼 Used in professional industries

Top Cons
  • 🌐 Limited to iOS

  • 🔧 Fewer advanced features

  • 🔎 Not ideal for large format printing

  • 👬 Limited community support

  • 💾 Limited storage options

  • 🎟 No free trial

Top Cons
  • 💰 High monthly cost

  • 🎓 Steeper learning curve

  • 🚧 Complex interface

  • 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Limited to one user per subscription

  • 🧐 Requires powerful hardware

Other best drawing apps for mac

3

💻 Autodesk SketchBook boasts decent tools 🖌️ and free use 🎊, but it lacks advanced options 🔄.

4

Affinity Designer stands out with a robust feature set 🌈 and reasonable price tag 💸, without compromising on performance 🚀.

5

📺 CorelDRAW shines in versatility 🔄 and strong output 🏅, hampered by a steep learning curve ⛰️ and high cost 💶.

FAQ

For Mac users, several great drawing apps ease the creative process. While Adobe Photoshop is a universal favorite, other commendable options include Procreate, Corel Painter, Autodesk SketchBook and Pixelmator Pro. Each comes with its particular set of strengths, suiting different creative styles.

Adobe Photoshop is a powerhouse for all kinds of graphic design projects that includes an extensive set of drawing tools. With Photoshop, users can leverage various brushes, layers, color profiles, and blending modes. The software also supports 3D modelling, texturing, and detailed graphic editing.

Procreate holds its own as a leading drawing app for iPad, but unfortunately, it’s not available for Mac. Nevertheless, its streamlined interface, high-end graphic capabilities, and extensive brush selection make it a popular choice for digital artists who use iPad.

For Adobe Photoshop to run smoothly on your Mac, you will need macOS version 10.14 (Mojave) or later, a multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support or Apple M1 processor, a minimum of 8GB RAM (16GB recommended), and at least 4GB of available hard-disk space for installation.

Currently, Procreate is an iOS exclusive app, designed specifically for iPads. Therefore, it isn’t available for Mac. However, other fantastic alternatives cater to Mac users, like Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, and Autodesk SketchBook.

Adobe Photoshop is distinguished by its comprehensive set of tools and features, ranging from basic sketching and shaping to complex graphic design and 3D rendering. Paired with the additional benefit of Adobe’s Creative Cloud integration for workflow optimization, Photoshop stands out in the competitive drawing app market.

Yes, Procreate does offer several tutorial videos on their official YouTube channel. These tutorials range from simple ‘getting started’ guides to comprehensive walkthroughs of advanced features. It’s a perfect resource for beginners and experienced users alike.

No, Adobe Photoshop is not offered for free. It is a part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite, which comes with a monthly subscription fee. Adobe does, however, offer a brief free trial for first-time users to explore and evaluate its offering.

One noticeable drawback of Procreate is its exclusivity to iOS, specifically iPads. This limitation leaves out a vast number of potential users. Furthermore, while it has a relatively user-friendly interface, Procreate does require some learning, especially for complex creations.

Yes, Adobe Photoshop offers numerous features to aid digital painting. It includes a wide range of customizable brushes, compatibility with styluses and drawing tablets, layering capabilities, color blending modes, and a variety of texturing options.

While there aren’t many free alternatives that match Procreate‘s level of sophistication, Autodesk SketchBook is a credible option that also offers professional-grade drawing tools and is available for free. Another tool to consider, is Krita, which is an open-source drawing and painting program.

While Adobe Photoshop runs best on a high-end device, it’s not strictly necessary. The software requires a multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support or Apple M1 processor and a minimum of 8GB of memory, which is manageable for most computers nowadays. However, for extensive tasks or handling large files, a more robust system would be ideal.

Procreate is generally lauded for its intuitive interface and observed as quite beginner-friendly. The app offers an easy-to-understand interface and a host of tutorials to get new users up to speed. It also provides the flexibility of customizing the interface as per individual workflows.

Yes, indeed. Adobe Photoshop does provide tools for 3D drawing, modeling and texturing. Users can create basic 3D shapes from layers or imported 3D files, paint directly on 3D models, and even apply their 2D images onto 3D structures.

Unfortunately, Procreate doesn’t currently provide any trial version for users. However, it’s worth noting that their one-time purchase fee is relatively modest compared to many other professional graphic software subscriptions.

Adobe Photoshop offers robust support options to its users. These include online tutorials, user guides, community forums, and the option to contact Adobe support directly. It also provides regular software updates featuring improved performance and additional features.

While Procreate is primarily a raster-based drawing and painting app, it does provide some support for creating vector-like artwork with its QuickShape feature. However, it isn’t a dedicated vector graphics app like Adobe Illustrator.

Yes, Adobe Photoshop fully supports and integrates with graphic drawing tablets. Compatibility with tablets and styluses allows artists to work more naturally, offering pressure sensitivity and tilt functionality to mimic a real drawing experience.

Procreate adopts a one-time purchase model. It’s currently available on the App Store for $9.99. It’s a relatively affordable professional-level drawing app compared to monthly subscription alternatives.

Yes, Adobe does offer a significant discount to students and teachers through the Adobe Creative Cloud for Education program. The discount includes a collection of Adobe’s leading creative apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, and more. Detailed conditions and pricing can be found on the Adobe website.

There are several efficient drawing apps for Mac, including Adobe Photoshop, Procreate, Autodesk SketchBook, Corel Painter, and Affinity Designer. The choice depends on your specific requirements like complexity of the artwork, professional level, and budget.

Yes, Adobe Photoshop performs exceptionally well on Mac. It’s equipped with versatile features for both photo editing and graphic designing. It also offers excellent compatibility with Apple hardware and seamless integration with other Adobe apps.

No, as of now, Procreate is exclusively available for iPad. However, they have a lighter version called Procreate Pocket for iPhone. For similar experience on Mac, apps like Adobe Photoshop or Affinity Designer can be chosen.

Adobe Photoshop on Mac offers a variety of features designed for drawing. These include a range of brushes, layers, gradients, color and pattern options, graphic design tools, and advanced photo editing capabilities.

To install Adobe Photoshop on Mac, you need to have a Creative Cloud Membership. Go to the Adobe website, sign in, and then select the Apps tab. Find Photoshop and select Download. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Procreate is highly intuitive and user-friendly, making it a preferred choice for beginners. It provides a minimalistic interface, easy-to-use tools, and customizable gesture controls. Tutorials are also available to assist newcomers.

Adobe Photoshop is a favorite among professionals due to its comprehensive features, from basic editing tools to advanced graphic design elements. It also integrates efficiently with other Adobe products, allowing a more cohesive workflow across multiple platforms.

Yes, Procreate is widely used by professional artists due to its powerful capabilities, including high-resolution canvases, advanced layering system, wide variety of brushes, and ability to export work in PSD format for further refining on Photoshop.

No, Adobe Photoshop isn’t free. It requires a Creative Cloud subscription, which comes at a monthly fee. However, Adobe offers a limited-time free trial accessible from their website.

Yes, free alternatives to Procreate for Mac include Krita and Autodesk SketchBook. Both are powerful drawing apps offering a range of tools comparable to Procreate.

For Mac users, Adobe Photoshop best operates with a mouse or a graphics tablet, unlike Windows version that supports touch-sensitive drawing on a touchscreen laptop or tablet.

Procreate requires iOS 13.2 or newer and is compatible with all models of iPad Pro, 5th generation iPad or newer, iPad mini 2 or newer, and iPad Air or newer. It also demands simultaneous Apple Pencil compatibility for ideal functioning.

What sets Adobe Photoshop apart is its unparalleled feature set, industry-standard status, and deep integration with the Adobe Creative Suite. This includes support for vector graphics, ability to edit 3D images, robust layers system, and a wide set of tools for photo manipulation and graphic design.

Procreate has built-in sharing tools that allow you to post your artwork directly to social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Additionally, you may export your work in various formats like JPEG, PNG, and PSD to share later.

Yes, Adobe Photoshop offers a highly efficient layering system. You can create multiple layers, adjust their opacity, change their blending mode, and apply numerous effects, giving you superior control over your design.

Yes, Procreate and Adobe Photoshop can be used together on a project. Artwork created on Procreate can be exported in PSD format, which is compatible with Photoshop. This lets you start your work in Procreate and then fine-tune it on Photoshop.

Yes, Adobe Photoshop on Mac allows the use of custom brushes. Not only can you create your own brushes, but you can also import brush presets created by other users, providing a wider creative scope.

Yes, Procreate does offer extensive tutorials on their official website and inside the application itself. They guide on various aspects like gesture controls, brush creation, and other features.

Yes, most leading drawing apps on Mac, including Affinity Photo and GIMP, support opening and editing Adobe Photoshop PSD files. This gives artists the flexibility to work across different apps.

Procreate users have access to different support channels. This includes their official website that hosts an in-depth FAQ section, a community forum for general discussions and idea sharing, and direct customer support via email for specific issues.