The Design Doll Alternative: 7 Reasons why artists are switching to PoseMyArt

Looking for an alternative to Design Doll? You are not alone. While Design Doll has been a reliable tool for some time, its limitations are pushing professional artists toward superior and more modern solutions.

In this article we will go over 7 reasons why artists are switching from Design Doll to PoseMyArt.

I created PoseMyArt to provide a better, faster and a more complete workflow for artists, especially by prioritizing premade content (scenes, poses, props, animations) and cross-platform accessibility, two areas where Design Doll falls short.

Before we get to it, the reason PoseMyArt is the best model poser in the market today is that we are actively listening to feedback from artists all the time. If you have any feedback, please contact us.

So let’s get to it, 7 reasons why artists are switching from Design Doll to PoseMyArt.

1. True Cross-Platform Accessibility (No Installation Required)

Design Doll is a Windows-only desktop application that requires installation. This immediately limits mobile, tablet Mac and Linux users.

In contrast, ** PoseMyArt is 100% browser-based** and works on everything, desktop, mobile and tablets, no matter what Operating System. We made sure that the app works great on all devices and all screen sizes.

See our download page for instructions on how to create a shortcut (install the app) for the best experience.

2. Unmatched Premade Scenes Library (4800+ Scenes)

While Design Doll excels at letting you customize body proportions, you still have to manually create the full scene and composition. Posing the models and arranging scenes is the most time-consuming task in any 3D poser.

To solve this, we created a huge premade scenes library of over 4800+ scenes.

• Instant Inspiration: The library saves time for artists by providing inspiration and loading complex, premade scenes, avoiding the tedious task of manually posing multiple models and props.

• Fast Adjustability: You get 90% of the way there instantly, then you can open the scene to adjust the camera, edit the lighting, and fine-tune the poses to your exact needs.

The focus in Design Doll appears to be less about creating a full scene reference for your drawings. In contrast, the workflow in PoseMyArt is optimized to provide an easy way to build a complete scene and create the perfect reference for your drawings.

Here is an example of a scene I loaded form the premade scenes library, notice how it’s ready to use and didn’t require any manual posing. I haven’t seen any other model poser in the market with a library as good with such a big variety as ours.

3. PoseMyArt’s Premade Poses Library (5800+ Poses & Animations)

Design Doll relies on the user or its community (Doll-Atelier) to create and share poses, meaning the amount of poses and their quality might be is inconsistent.

PoseMyArt provides a professionally curated, massive premade library of poses right out of the box:

• 5800+ Premade Poses: Instantly load a any pose, skipping the tedious manual posing process entirely.

• 2400+ Motion Captured Animations: This is a key differentiator. You can stop any animation on a specific frame to find natural, dynamic, and realistic poses that are extremely difficult to create manually. (Design Doll doesn’t have an animations feature)

Here is an example of a pose I loaded from our premade poses library. I just scrolled the premade poses library, found a pose I like and with a click of a button got that pose instantly.

Here is an example of a pose I created by stopping a Thai Chi animation on a specific frame. It didn’t require any manual posing and the pose looks realistic and dynamic. This kind of natural and dynamic poses are very hard to create by only manually posing the models, giving PoseMyArt a massive advantage in speed and realism - which results in a better workflow for the artists.

4. More Intuitive Posing: Full IK and FK Control

Design Doll relies heavily on its unique proportional controllers and simplified bone controls. However, many users find it requires a significant learning curve to master the precise posing needed for complex illustrations.

PoseMyArt offers a simpler, more intuitive control system:

• Inverse Kinematics (IK): Drag the gray boxes to manipulate the limbs in an intuitive, natural way.

• Forward Kinematics (FK): Click on the rotation spheres to rotate each individual bone axis (great for wrists, ankles and subtle adjustments).

By offering both IK (for speed) and FK (for precision), PoseMyArt makes complex posing easier and faster to master than the unique controller system found in Design Doll.

5. Better Model Variety (Beyond the Anime Aesthetic)

While Design Doll is excellent for its manga/anime proportions, its default models can look “awkward” or overly stylized if you’re trying to achieve a more realistic style (or a different style than manga/anime).

• Wide Model Range: PoseMyArt offers a bigger variety of models that range from realistic, anime, animals, stylized, and basic shapes. This allows a wider range of artists to find the perfect reference without sacrificing quality.

• Basic Shapes Models: We include a unique feature to replace the current model with a basic shapes model to help you understand the major volumes of a pose. This is an invaluable tool for mastering figure drawing and gesture.

6. PoseMyArt’s Superior Props and Environment Library

Design Doll offers prop importing, but it requires you to source external .obj files and deal with complex file conversions and scaling issues.

PoseMyArt removes this friction by providing a Big, Built-in Props Library with instant loading and adjustment.

• Saves Hours: Our wide variety of props saves countless hours for artists looking to complete their pose reference with objects, furniture, and backgrounds.

• Storyboarding Boost: This prop library combined with our save camera positions feature drastically improves the workflow of users who storyboard (comics and manga artists), a core audience for Design Doll.

Like I said earlier, it seems that Design Doll is more about creating a single pose and less about providing a full scene reference for your drawings. PoseMyArt gives you the freedom to create a more complete reference for your drawings using our big props library.

7. Advanced Features for Professional Workflow

PoseMyArt provides professional tools designed to streamline workflows that are simply not available in more specialized, older software like Design Doll.

Key features include:

• Realistic Models
• Big Animations Library
• Advanced Export Options
• Huge Premade Scene Library
• Saving Camera Positions (Great for comics and camera creators)
• Quickly Copy and Pasting Poses (While both can save custom poses)
• Huge Props Library
• Basic Shapes Models (To understand the figures better)

These features demonstrate that PoseMyArt is a much more advanced and complete solution, designed for the modern artist’s entire creative process.

In Conclusion

In this post, I’ve shown why I believe PoseMyArt is the best, most accessible, and most feature-rich alternative to Design Doll. I might be biased since I’m the creator of PoseMyArt, but it’s that firsthand experience that makes me confident PoseMyArt is better suited for artists to improve their workflow.

Give the app a try to see for yourself - you shouldn’t just believe what I say. I think you’ll find the reasons I’ve shown here to be true and see why PoseMyArt is the best posing tool in the market right now.

I hope PoseMyArt will help you in your art journey! Roy (:

About the author

Roy K.

Creator of PoseMyArt. I've been an artist my whole life (ever since I was drawing on my parent's walls). I love figure drawing, mostly with charcoal, 3D modeling. I also love creating value for other artists.