Celsys releases Clip Studio Paint 5
Celsys has released Clip Studio Paint 5, the latest version of its digital drawing, painting and animation software.
The update adds a new stroke stabilization system, for smoothing jitters in freehand strokes, and a built-in 3D hand model to use as a pose reference when drawing hands.
(Full disclosure: version 5.0 was released in March, but we didn’t spot it at the time, so at the time of writing, the current release is Clip Studio Paint 5.0.4).
A digital drawing and painting tool for comics, illustrations and concept art
First released in Japan over two decades ago, and previously marketed as Manga Studio in the West, Clip Studio Paint is a digital painting app for both desktop and mobile systems.
Although best known as a tool for creating comics, for which it has a dedicated set of tools, it is also used to produce illustrations, concept art, and 2D animations.
New Smart Shape system smooths jitters in freehand strokes
New features in Clip Studio Paint 5.0 include stroke-stabilization system Smart Shape.
Like its equivalents in other CG tools, it smooths out jitters in freehand strokes without entirely losing their hand-drawn qualities.
However, unlike many other applications, smoothing isn’t applied as you draw: instead, you hold down the mouse or stylus at the end of a stroke to smooth it automatically.
Create reference poses for drawing hands with the new 3D hand model
The software’s 3D toolset, which enables users to import and manipulate 3D models for use as references or background elements within an image, has also been updated.
The new hand model provides a readymade reference for drawing hands, and comes with seven presets with different relative proportions.
Users can pose the hand model manually, using sliders or standard 3D gizmos, or automatically, by matching a reference image captured on a webcam.
Other changes to the 3D toolset include support for height-based fog in 3D layers, and the option to draw or paint directly on more types of 3D object.
Workflow and performance improvements
Workflow improvements include the option to apply color and tonal corrections to multiple layers within a document simultaneously.
A new sequential save recovery option means that Clip Studio Paint auto-saves changes to the canvas, so no progress is lost in the event of a crash.
There are also UI improvements, particularly to the Tool and Material palettes, and speed improvements to transforms on raster layers.
Price, system requirements and release date
Clip Studio Paint 5.0 is compatible with Windows 10+, macOS 14.0+, iOS/iPadOS 18.0+ and Android 13+.
New perpetual licenses of the Pro edition, which includes the core feature set, cost $63, up $4.50 since Clip Studio Paint 4.0.
New perpetual licenses of the Ex edition, which add advanced tools, including features for creating multi-page projects, cost $277, up $19.
Subscriptions are priced according to the number of devices you want to use the software on, but for desktops and laptops, rental starts at $4.49/month or $26.99/year for Pro and $8.99/month and $76.99/year for Ex.
Read an overview of new features in Clip Studio Paint on Celsys’s blog
(Also covers features added in the 4.x updates)
Read a full list of new features in Clip Studio Paint 5.x in the release notes
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