I have to admit that I hate reviewing drawing programs. I know, some are really cool, with great effects that let you produce amazing drawings, but no amount of technological wizardry can help avoid the fact that I am really, really bad at art. That said, even the name of Manga Studio Debut gave me some hope. Debut - that must be for beginners, right? Unfortunately, all you have to do is open up the program to realize that despite the name, Manga Studio Debut isn't going to be a piece of cake…
The main Manga Studio Debut interface is a little reminiscent of Photoshop - it certainly has just as many mystifying buttons. In fact, having experience with Photoshop or similar programs will definitely help you, as some concepts - such as layers, a magic brush and the history window - are very similar. Of course, Manga Studio Debut is intended to help you draw your own characters and create manga strips, or stories, as Manga Studio Debut calls it. To that end, it has a huge selection of sketching, drawing and character tools that will allow you to put the characters in your head on the screen in front of you.
Like many complex programs, Manga Studio Debut is difficult to get the hang of. It has a feature called Dynamic Help which tells you what each of the options do, and a certain amount of documentation is available from the developer's website. Other than that, you'll have to look to the Internet for help taking your first steps in Manga creation. If you get the hang of it quickly, Manga Studio Debut is certainly a very complete program that should meet all your needs, but it will take patience. Don't expect miracles too quickly!
Manga Studio Debut is full of great creative features, but will take most people a while to grasp.
