OpenCanvas : free software for digital art
By Kelly | January 7, 2008
OpenCanvas : Intro
“OpenCanvas” is digital art software by PortalGraphics. You can buy the latest version from their website, but the v1.1 beta is freeware. It’s immensely helpful if you’ve got a graphics tablet for drawing, but otherwise getting into digital art has never been cheaper!
OC v1.1 beta features:
1. Free!
2. Use layers with different modes
3. Various customizable tools
4. Connect online and draw with friends
5. Save and share animations of drawings
The downsides are that it’s pretty limited compared to a big software package like Photoshop, it has a few quirks and bugs, and requires Windows in order to run.
Using OC
First, download the program file here.
After opening the program, don’t freak out! It defaults to Japanese language and may look like gibberish. Choose the last option on the top bar, and select ‘English’.
Now things will become clearer, and you can start painting!
For a detailed explanation of all the tools and features, check this tutorial.
To see some examples of art made in OC 1.1, check the videos anthro horse demo and cute vixen demo.
Good luck and happy drawing! 
Topics: Resources | 25 Comments »
January 12th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Hey thanks a lot! Now I can experiment with digital art without having to buy photoshop or steal it from school!
January 26th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
hey thanks alot, this will help me alot ^_^
February 1st, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Hey you might also check out Gimp. It’s Gnu’s Image Manipulation Program, and it’s freeware. :)
February 18th, 2008 at 7:22 am
I don’t get the program forever… if I close it I lose the program.
February 18th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
BJ, you should make sure you’re saving the .exe file instead of just opening the link. Right click and choose ’save link as’ to make sure you’re downloading the program to a permanent location.
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Hey BJ, I was having exactly the same problem =) thanks so0o so0o much kelly! tis an awesome program !!!
March 15th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Hey thanks a lot!
March 29th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Is it possible to draw an ellipse?
June 8th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Thanks a lot! This really helped me…
July 6th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Love your work!
But, how did you get the openCanvas wpe file to export so you could make your videos? It looks like your videos are flash files.
Thanks.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:40 am
I love free stuff. Thanks i totally forgot about Open Canvas
December 8th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
I downloaded it from here but it doesnt work. I mean the tool bar and all the stuffs are on, but they wont work. Where is the problem???
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:14 am
Thank you so much for this!!! I’ve been looking for a free download of opencanvas, THANX SO MUCH!!!!
May 25th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Is this not compatible with OSX?
June 19th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I LOVE THIS!!!
August 28th, 2009 at 9:58 am
OHMUHGOSH You are extremely helpful. I’ve been commisioned so much and I had to do it on MSPaint forever! I couldn’t afford any fancy programs at all. THANK YOU!!!
September 29th, 2009 at 2:19 am
^_^ sweet thankies
i have photoshop cs4 however don’t know how to access the tablet features.
anyhow i have seen a lot of good digital artist use this and was recommended once i got my tab.
think i’ll use this for line art, and do coloring and such in photoshop (cause OC only spits out its format or jpg, which isn’t helpful in PS)
annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnny how appreciate the upload
December 9th, 2009 at 11:37 am
hey, This program is awesome! It works great for a free program, but I can’t get it to save my files! I worked for an hour on a drawing, but after I saved it, I can’t find it now. Does anyone know why this keeps happening to me?
January 16th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Awesome program! I really love it. Much better than the program I had before. ^_^ Thank you for the download!
(The program I had before was Corel Painter Sketch Pad, btw. :/ It’s really not so great. I mean, it’s cool, but not the best for certain stuff.)
January 25th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
@mikamaru,
YOu should try Gimp, it’s another free program that is kinda like photoshop. It has a few tablet preferences, but the real power is the layers and a few of the filters.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:37 am
thank you this was perfect
February 15th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
PLease ,allow me to use this program to do artwork.thank you very much
April 14th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
This is a big help to me thanks a mill
July 3rd, 2010 at 12:37 pm
MY NEW DOWNLOAD!
July 5th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
thanks this will help me a lot