Autodesk announces Next Evolution of SketchBook Pro in Version 7 for Mac and Windows

Autodesk today has introduced what they are calling the “next evolution” of their popular digital drawing application, SketchBook Pro in version 7 for Mac and Windows. There is also a new membership offering for Autodesk SketchBook, a family of digital painting and sketching apps with more than 25 million users worldwide.

SketchBook Pro 7

SketchBook Pro 7 includes a brand new drawing engine, new community-requested Perspective Guides with 1-point, 2-point and 3-point and Fisheye modes, plus Flipbook mode with an animation timeline. Additional major features include workflow improvements with Distort Transform, Gradient Flood Fills, improved Selectdion, layer grouping, multi-layer selection, and Blending modes.

“SketchBook Pro is the perfect mix of digital drawing platform, useful tools, and the informality of plain, no stress sketching,” said Dave Gibbons, comic book artist. “Drawing comics means lots of backgrounds, quite often buildings, and I’ve spent years of my life setting up guidelines! With SketchBook Pro 7, I can stay loose in the application for longer and find that the perspective tools are easier and more instinctive to use for rough out out sketches.”

01 – Autodesk SketchBook Pro 7 has been announced, featuring a brand new Perspectives Guides tool set. This image, a screen capture from a YouTube demo video, shows layer grouping as well.

Users also have new membership options. You can decide to purchase a standalone license of SketchBook Pro 7 or selectively opt for monthly or annual SketchBook membership options.  And new for 2014, anyone can start using SketchBook for desktop completely free. This starter edition provides the core tools to create basic drawings and enables artists to become familiar with the natural drawing experience and power of SketchBook.

Creating a free SketchBook membership account unlocks SketchBook Essentials, a more robust suite of tools to enhance the digital artist’s workflow. Layer management, a full color palette, brush customization, dynamic symmetry, and ruler tools are added to the toolbox to give artists more precise control over their art.

A paid membership of either 24.99.USD per year or 2.99.USD per month unlocks the latest SketchBook Pro 7, the complete digital artist’s toolkit. Included are all the new tools that are available with SketchBook Pro 7, including the new Flipbook mode, Perspective Guides, and Distort Transform features and enhanced tools such as the layer editor with blending modes, layer grouping and selection tools.

Also, a paid SketchBook membership unlocks SketchBook for all desktop platforms, including Windows, Mac and will unlock features in future versions of the SketchBook app for Apple iOS and Android users.

“By introducing membership options, we’re enabling all digital artists, regardless of skill-level, to choose their level of access to the award-winning, industry-standard tools that SketchBook offers,” said Samir Hanna, vice president of consumer products at Autodesk. “Artists now have more options with how they interact with the software and unlock their creativity.”

To learn more visit Autodesk’s SketchBook Pro website here. 

Architosh Analysis

The new Perspective Guides tools make this desktop app an interesting option perhaps for architectural and urban designers? Watching the demo videos and cityscapes created as backgrounds for comics makes me think. With so many digital drawing options now out there to rival analog, one can’t help but think that analog sketching’s days may be numbered sooner than we think. Architosh will have more to say about this whole topic later this summer but now the new Autodesk SketchBook Pro 7 looks quite interesting.