I like this one a LOT so I decided to start with this online art program/tool: 'mathsisfun's Symmetry Artist
Below the read more is my review of its features, accessibility, ease of use, art examples and etc!
- How easy is it to run?
Very, it's a lightweight drawing tool that runs in a webpage. I've tested it on mac through safari, pc through chrome, on android phone through chrome and all ran laglessly. The only thing to keep in mind is that zoom and scroll touchscreen controls must be done outside the bounds of the drawing canvas to work.
-Can you run it in-browser?
Yes! It is hosted online, is written in html (I think), and it runs on many different browsers. It also has a button for an optional flash-based version if needed/wanted.
- How easy is it to draw in?
Fairly! It has two brush types (in six sizes and five transparencies), a bucket tool, polygon/shape tools, unlimited undos, clear-all, nudge, several forms of symmetry, a toggle-able grid and snap to grid tools. Two possible limitations to your drawing experience are a lack of layers and a palette limited to 31 colours, not including blending them via transparency. Erasing is also not it's own tool, but you can paint over in white, for example.
- Is it tablet compatible?
Somewhat. It lacks pressure sensitivity but does detect pen/mouse/touch stroke speed, which visually affects at least one brush.
- Does it contain features that adobe would charge you money for?
Considering that symmetry is something that can only be accessed through pay-for first or 3rd party plugins in most forms of photoshop, arguably yes!
- Does it do something adobe software CANNOT do (as standard)?
Live updating symmetry- not just mirror-image symmetry, but a total of 13 modes of symmetry, 14 if you include the ability to turn symmetry off.
- Can it save out images or do you need to screen-grab?
It can save out to .png format! As an added bonus, if you leave the default white canvas areas as-is, those areas are saved as transparency in your png. It also can connect to a printer, if you like that sort of thing.
...All in all, If you need to quickly create a symmetrical design, make a standing reference for a character or are used to working without layers, I consider this an excellent online artists resource that could probably be used to make excellent pieces of artwork. As an added bonus, while most of the mathsisfun site is dedicated to teaching math principles, there are other tools to be found, including one that produces tessellating patterns that runs in a very similar fashion.
