Paint Tool SAI
SYSTEMAX Software Development
~$54 (5400 JPY)
Current version: 2.0 (Technical preview)
http://systemax.jp/en/sai/devdept.html
Features:
· 100000x100000px canvas
· Max layers up to 8190
· Layer properties (Blending mode, Opacity, Protections, Clipping group, etc.)
· Rulers (straight, ellipse, perspective)
· Brush tools
· Linework tools
· Stabilization
· PSD support
Observations:
Paint Tool SAI 1.x developed a large loyal following of manga artists over the years due to its outstanding brush engine, but its glacial development since the release of Clip Studio Paint has almost relegated it to has-been status.
Most recently the release of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update changed the way the OS handles UI scaling and loading SAI 1.x on a UHD tablet like the Surface Pro 4 yields eye-straining results.
Although Paint Tool SAI 2.0 is not yet available for sale officially, the lone developer Koji Komatsu has decided to “(give) up solving the problem about DPI scaling on Ver.1. From now on, I will recommend the use of the preview version of SAI Ver.2 on Windows 10.”
Users of the original version should feel right at home in 2.0, but it sadly lacks any of the tablet friendly features I expect in an application published in 2016. And though reasonably priced at about $54, it faces an uphill battle winning over users of free software.