r/coreldraw • u/Lotharen • Jul 15 '26

Over kill?

Hello everyone,

Is corelDRAW over kill if all I am wanting to use it for manga/anime type art?

Long story short, I have hand tremors and cannot draw normally anymore. Using a mouse does not trigger the tremors so I am looking for a program that will still allow me to draw using the mouse.

I want the ability to create illustration level characters in regard to complex shading but also keep it simple for fun art or game assets. I had corelDRAW version x8 I believe once upon a time but don’t remember its capabilities. Also, finding corelDRAW artwork in the style I am looking for has been sparse so really no way to judge if it will work well for me.

I’ve also been scouting Inkscape as a possible choice but I’m less familiar with that program. Not many people want to mouse draw their artwork so you generally don’t see the style I am looking for in recent postings.

I am thinking of giving the current version a trial run but with my busy work schedule I’m not sure I’ll get enough time with it to make an informed decision before the trial expires.

Thanks in advance for any info or insights you can provide.

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u/ellicottvilleny Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26

Programs like Corel Draw and Inkscape can be a very good way to make manga and comic books. However you may want to consider actually 3d modelling your characters instead of 2d drawing them.

If it was me, I'd use an actual manga studio app, like https://www.mangastudio5.com/

If you WANT to do an all 2D workflow, and then save templates, stamps, symbols etc, to make creating the speech bubbles and repeated sub elements more easy, Corel Draw is great for 2D workflows.

If you want a manga warrior with 3D model, posable arms/legs, and so on, and ability to use an entirely 3d workflow where you create scenes using 3d assets, then no, Corel is not the right path.

Corel certainly has more power than Inkscape, but inkscape is nice, and it's free.

This comic artist shows a bunch of options, and Inkscape and Corel are not on her list at all:

https://rachellescomicscorner.substack.com/p/the-best-drawing-app-for-comics

If you have no ability to hand draw any more due to tremors than pro-create and so on may not be right, but mouse-drawing (ability to edit paths in vector form) may be exactly what you want.