The market for graphics editors is especially abundant. We have options for all levels and budgets, covering from basic and casual edits to very advanced sessions. The Pixia editor presents itself as a kind of middle ground: carrying more than two decades of development on its shoulders, Pixia left its origins linked to anime and manga to become a multipurpose editor with frequent updates and excellent compatibility.
If you already have a favorite graphics editor, I imagine I can't do much to convince you to try something different. While there are comfort and muscle memory details that are hard to give up, the truth is that we not always find good reasons to abandon a program that already covers our needs. However, if you consider yourself a user “on the lookout” for new software to edit images and play with your graphics tablet, maybe you should return to a classic like Pixia.
Pixia: A good option for creating and editing digital art
Pixia is a creation of Isao Maruoka, and its first versions date back to the beginning of the century. Since then, Pixia maintains two editions, a 32-bit one and a 64-bit one that was recently updated. English is the only officially supported language besides Japanese, and its translation tends to be more complete in the 32-bit edition, so I recommend starting there. The installer will take care of adding any secondary dependencies (essentially, the Visual C++ redistributables), and in a few seconds, Pixia will be ready for its first run.
The lack of documentation and updated tutorials are definitely two weak points in Pixia, but its general interface is in line with other editors. On the left, its main functions appear, while at the top we find commands like text injection, magnifier, filters, and zoom control. The settings section has two important categories: the first is Paint, which includes adjustments for the secondary mouse button, and Tablet, with several parameters that require a good dose of trial and error.
Needless to say, comparisons between Pixia and programs like Krita are inevitable, and I dare say that Krita sits a couple of steps above, but if you need a direct alternative or something that works on older operating systems, Pixia is a good option.
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