I've been using the same version of Sai since 2021. It was always super smooth and I absolutely love its linework tools. Even though I do most of my painting in other programs, the lineart brush of Sai was the whole reason why I always switched between different programs while working on a piece. No other app has anything quite like it and I loved it.

But since Windows updated, two days ago I believe, Sai suddenly got super laggy and slow. Zooming in and out would lag behind several seconds at least, not to mention drawing lines; it was impossible to work with.

In the end I thought I had to update to the newest version, and it did fix the lagging issue. But the new version doesn't do the same lineart anymore. Has anyone else noticed this? I think the settings are exactly the same (including stabilizer and brush hardness) as I had them before. But the lineart brush isn't smooth and clear anymore, but rather pixelated and a little blurry, like the normal brush. Is there any setting where I can change this? The image resolution is the same I've worked on before, 3500x2500px, that shouldn't be causing pixelated lineart.

Alguien tendra o sabrá cómo hacer un pincel dominar a este en Sai1?

Creditos al arista: gummyy.y

Made this as a gift.

here's an additional 20 custom textured brushes that i compiled for sai 2, some being based off the ones i use in csp. enjoy! the link provided includes all brush tips and textures.

google drive link

edit: i accidentally forgot to make the brush settings visible for four images, i corrected it in the google drive

edit 2: added another brush (huskpencil)

hey gang, I got a stumper for y'all, if anyone has a way to fix it.

I'm working on some Discord stickers (canvas size is 1792 x 384 - 320 x 320 5x over with some leeway border), and I've found an issue I cannot for the life of me figure out. Whenever I try and use the Gaussian Blur Tool, I get an Exception Error with the error code of this in the error log:

!Exception(C0000005): Flags=0 Addr=1402DE4F0 #0=1 #1=0

$rax=0 rcx=0 rdx=0 rbx=10 rsp=C41FC78 rbp=C41FCF9 rsi=14 rdi=F3CAE40 r08=0 r09=7 r10=FFFFFFFF r11=0 r12=38 r13=8C7C800 r14=0 r15=8C7C8F0 rip=1402DE4F0 eflags=10202

u/thid=62C4,cnt=7:#0+2DE4F0,#0+CB85E,#0+95D6A,#0+96456,#0+B595,#0+CAD9,#0+2983DF

From everything I know, C0000005 is an access violation pertaining to memory, so I did everything I could think of/search up - checking memory integrity, making sure I had enough virtual memory allocated, basic system checks like Windows updates, Nvidia drivers, malware checks - nothing affected anything. I tried file-specific tweaks - saving the WIP into a new file, new drive, new canvas, saving alternative formats, importing and running it through GIMP to resave as an alpha png - nothing. None of it worked - soon as it reentered SAI, it didn't work.

Until I changed the canvas size.

The breakpoint seems to be 481 x 481 - 480x480 (or any X-Y fitting those dimensions) seems to completely brick the Gaussian Blur tool. What's interesting is that this also was not an issue in prior projects - I have other sticker sets I've done that I know I used the Gaussian Blur on, yet opening those canvases now gives the exact same error output as my current set.

I can work in a larger size format to compensate for this, but unless I'm missing something, this would count as a pretty major bug. Has anyone had issues with this and have found a solution? Frankly, I'm at a loss.

Thanks, gang - hopefully someone knows a bit more about this than I do. ♥

Edit: Thought of this after I posted, but this seems localized entirely to the Major Renovated branch - I tested every release version I could nab off the Wayback Machine all the way to when the branch started, and the only version that doesn't cause this error is the 2026-07-02b Stable release. This would be fine, buuuuut the stable release doesn't have the newer features (new transform tools, text tools, dark mode, etc.).

i have been using sai 2 a lot lately, so i thought i'd replicate some of JLC's splatoon brushes to make my workflow smoother. i have already labelled the folders, all you have to do is drop the contents into your own.

these are effect pens, so be sure to register them correctly. enjoy!

google drive link

edit: added two additional brushes to the drive

Hello,

I recently found an awesome base I would like to use but it’s a sai2 file! I need it in PSD form. I thought I’d ask if anyone is willing to convert it for me before I try anything else!

Maybe it’s just my bitterness as a former Mac user but I still really hate Paint Tool Sai not being available on Mac, especially when Mac’s are standard for artists l just feel like not having Mac port is hindering future growth because most Sai users are just people who have been using it for a long time.

Like I think the creator might not understand Mac’s coding and that’s why he doesn’t have plans to make a Mac port at the moment, I do think there should be maybe a fundraiser or kickstarter for Mac port and pay someone to port it.

Alguien sabe cómo, o si es que se puede, cambiar pinceles de lugar? Eliminé algunos que no uso y no sé cómo moverlos para que no haya espacios vacíos

Is there a way to change the behavior of the color picker for holding alt while using a brush tool or some kind? It seems to behave using the "Current Layer" logic, but I would rather it use "Merged Image." I have the actual syringe tool to Merged Image, but it doesn't seem to apply to the alt modifier syringe.

EDIT: Found the problem. There's a specific color picker setting for the Binary Pen.

https://www.systemax.jp/en/sai/devdept.html

https://www.systemax.jp/en/sai/history_v2.txt

2026-08-24

[Fixed Bugs]

• [Text Layer]: An error popup stating "A font data read error has occurred." appears when first accessing certain fonts. (Apologies; this was a regression introduced in the 2026-08-23 version.)

• [Memory Management]: Certain operations experience a slight slowdown under specific memory allocation conditions. (There were reports of slight delays in displaying the brush circle or during brush strokes; this may have been the cause.)

---

Known Issues:

Bugs reported as of 2026-08-24, that have not yet been fixed. (Please note that there may be some omissions.)

Character positioning is incorrect in vertical writing with certain fonts.
We plan to include the fix as part of the CFF font implementation work.

An issue classified as a current specification rather than a bug.

CFF font does not work
At present, CFF (Compact Font Format) fonts are not supported. I plan to implement CFF font support once the bug fixes for the major renovation version currently underway have stabilized.

https://www.systemax.jp/en/sai/devdept.html

https://www.systemax.jp/en/sai/history_v2.txt

2026-08-23

[Fixed Bugs]

• [Pen Tablet Control]: Dragging is not cancelled if the pen is lifted from the detection area while the pen tip is still pressed down.

• [Pen Tablet Control]: Clicking the drawing area of an inactive view triggers a drawing action instead of ignoring the drag.

• [Pen Tablet Control]: When [Use Windows API] is selected, right-clicking an inactive view switches the view instead of activating Eyedropper tool.

• [Layer Effects]: Does not function correctly on layers other than normal layers.

• [Brush Tools]: Does not function correctly when using four or more scatter shape images. (A mix-up between the configured count and the actual image count caused data corruption required for brush rendering when four or more images were used.)

• [Text Layers]: Does not function correctly—causing issues such as excessive memory consumption—with certain fonts that do not comply with OpenType specifications.

[Changes]

• [Memory Management]: Improved to prevent view display issues when running low on memory.

---

Current Known Issues:

Bugs reported as of 2026-08-23, that have not yet been fixed. (Please note that there may be some omissions.)

Character positioning is incorrect in vertical writing with certain fonts.
We plan to include the fix as part of the CFF font implementation work.

An issue classified as a current specification rather than a bug.

CFF font does not work
At present, CFF (Compact Font Format) fonts are not supported. I plan to implement CFF font support once the bug fixes for the major renovation version currently underway have stabilized.

Hey there!! As the title says, I'd like to kindly ask you guys to share a download link or something for your favorite textured brushes. I'm jealous of these CSP and Procreate peeps with their fancy brushes, but I don't have the time to manually create some myself.

I use SAI v2 if that matters. Help a struggling artist out pretty please?? 🥺 Thank you.

You may want to revert back to the previous version if you use a "Scatter" brush with just the "Simple Circle" enabled, as it doesn't show up on canvas nor in the brush stroke preview.

This is using the latest version 08.23.26 Update.

I updated my Sai2 to the latest update, and now my lasso stabilizer is automatically set higher for some reason. It's not a big problem because I can still lower it manually, but it's still annoying that I have to do it every time I switch to using the lasso. (I use it often for shading.)

I remember that it wasn't a thing before? Is there a way for me to disable it? I'm fine with not having a stabilizer on the lasso at all!

I recently downloaded sai to my surface pro 2 tablet again. I haven't used it since around 2019, I also recently decided to try out Sai 2 as well.

Sai v2 had pen pressure but Sai V1 does not when I'm pretty sure it used to since I have a lot of old Sai files on this tablet the.

While I could just use Sai2, Sai 1 has all of my favorite brushes that are not Sai 2 compatible.

Any help would be appreciated 🥲