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> 背景とかってどうやって描いてるのかすごく気になってたので絶対買います！ソフトはクリスタしかありませんが。

I'd like to understand this better. The context is an artist announced that he
is releasing a book about painting digital backgrounds and the above line is
one of the comments made by another user. From what I can understand, the
comment seems to mean:

> I'm very interested about how backgrounds are painted so I'm definitely
> buying (the book). I only have Clip Studio Paint（クリスタ）software though.

I'm confused because from my understanding, `ありません` means "does not
have/exist" and I'm wondering if the commenter wanted to write
`ソフトはクリスタしかありますが` instead. And if not, I'd like to understand why it is so.
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meaning particle-しか
Is using「ありませんが」correct here?
>   1. ソフトはクリスタしか **ありません** 。  
>  I'm confused because from my understanding, ありません means "does not
> have/exist"
>

  2. I only have this software. (or I have only this software.)
  3. I don't have any software but this one.

I know that sentece 2 and 3 have a same meaning in English, and we call 1 an
affirmative sentence and 2 a negative sentence.

The given sentece 1 is written in a negative sentence, so you got confused.

If you want to rewrite 1 into an affirmative sentence, it would become like:

> 4.1 ソフトはクリスタ **だけ** があります。  
>  4.2 ソフトはクリスタ **だけ** です。

4.2 is more commonly used than 4.1  
You can use 1 and 4.2 safely, and I prefer 1 to 4.2 for the meaning of 2 or 3.

# EDIT

> To clarify, the line I posted was from another person who commented on the
> artist's/seller's book announcement post. I edited my original post to
> reflect this.

OP edited the original post according to my answer, so I'll delete all the
following answer.

~~> The context is an artist announced that he is releasing a book about
painting digital backgrounds...~~

~~If your explanation is correct, don't you think the following sentence is
illogical, because the seller says "I'll buy it"?~~

~~> 背景とかってどうやって描いてるのかすごく気になってたので絶対買います！~~

~~If I read it logically, it may imply by supplementing the omitted part
like:~~  
~~> 背景とかってどうやって描いてるのかすごく気になってたので **もしあなたが私なら** 絶対買います！ _I'm very interested
about how backgrounds are painted so, **if I were you** , I'm definitely
buying (the book)_. ~~
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answer
Your translation is perfect. ～しか...ない is a very common pattern to express "not
... but ～" or "only ～".

  * [Learn JLPT N4 Grammar: しか～ない (shika~nai)](http://japanesetest4you.com/flashcard/learn-japanese-grammar-39/)
  * [しか～ない - JLPT N4 grammar](http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/skills/grammar/sentences/?grammarid=495)

Keep in mind that しか is always used with negative expressions. ソフトはクリスタしかあります
is ungrammatical. For more information, [see this
answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/16060/5010).
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This is a kind of the reversed word/phrase/clause order, 倒置法.

> 背景とかってどうやって描いてるのかすごく気になってたので絶対買います！ソフトはクリスタしかありませんが。

＝背景とかってどうやって描いてるのかすごく気になってたので、 **ソフトはクリスタしかありませんが** 、絶対買います！

＝背景とかってどうやって描いてるのかすごく気になってたので **絶対買います** ！ソフトはクリスタしかありませんが **絶対買います！** （This
is another interpretation, the abbreviation of the same expression coming
again.)

＝I will buy your software because I'm interested in your drawing technique!
Although only the software, "Crysta" is available here.

＝I will buy your software because I'm interested in your drawing technique,
although only the software, "Crysta" is available here!

～～しかない=nothing but ~~

Using the negative form is the rule for the ~~しかない expression. ～～しかある doesn't
make sense.
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answer