Free Storyboard Software

I have spent a lot of time trying out free storyboard software. I have actually become rather obsessed with it. I’m always on the lookout for quality open-sourced software, whenever possible. What follows isn’t so much a full on review but my personal take on what works or not. Hmm, I guess that qualifies as a review. Moving on!

The gorilla in the room is, of course, Storyboard Pro. I’ve worked in it. It’s an industry standard. At least, certainly, in TV. It’s amazing. It is also way too expensive, in this person’s opinion. Especially for individual artists or students. Hopefully, this brief overview of free storyboard software will help those who want to make professional boards without spending anything. And isn’t this what the internet once promised us all? Parenthetically, I really detest the whole “cloud-based” cabal that has taken over. We should be able to buy and own the software we spend our money on. Renting software? When did that become part of the accepted deal? Clearly, I’m not a fan of Adobe or ToonBoom’s policy on this.

Krita is a great free software that offers a storyboard feature. While the UI is not ideal. It separates the panels off to the side in a vertical orientation, so not very intuitive. I’m assuming they were working around the interface that was already there as opposed to creating an entirely new one for boards. IThat said, I think this is a great option since the Krita drawing software is really robust and provides Photoshop level of image manipulation. As with all of these, they have their pros and cons but I think they are all worth trying out to see what best matches your needs and preferences.