Hot on the heels of the raw Painter X ( ) release come a all redesigned package for painting hobbyist : Painter Essentials 4 .
Sure , the folks at Corel could have strip out some feature from Painter X , slap on an “ requisite ” recording label , and called it a twenty-four hour period ( and to be honest , in previous versions that ’s just what happened ) . However , with Painter Essentials 4 , the company went back to the drawing board and designed a completely new user interface — it appear nothing like Painter X , though it packs much of its power .
gear toward arts and craftsmanship enthusiasts , scrapbookers , and digital picture taking hobbyists , Painter Essentials 4 is a shockingly friendly and affordable home art studio that make pick up the earthly concern of paint and brushes enjoyable .
Brand-new interface
To simplify the port , Corel researched how customers were using the software . Thus , the new interface sports two workspace push button : Drawing & Painting and Photo Painting . Depending on which workspace you ’re in , a unlike set of palette appear specific to those tasks . For example , the Drawing & Painting workspace include a newfangled Colors palette , full of easy - to - grab swatches , and a Modern Mixer pallet for create customs coloring material . Alternatively , the Photo Painting workspace include Source Image , Auto - Painting , and Restore Detail palette .
Upon launching , a Welcome screen offer to open a canvas tent or found 135 proceedings of video training ( you could access tutorial images from the File menu and follow along with the printed Guidebook ) . creature button and sliders are also swelled than in late versions , making them easy to select with a pen and tablet .
Brush Drawer
A friendly Brush Drawer now beautify the tool cabinet in both workspaces , displaying both the name of each brushwood and a preview of its diagonal . Brushes are categorize by type ( thick or slight pigment , pee , pencils and pens ) ; that ’s a skillful touch for starter to traditional picture . brushwood appear in a History list after use and frequently used skirmish can be save as favorites .
Of the many brushes gracing this version , a number are derived from the RealBristle Painting System stick in in Painter X. project to perfectly mimic the behavior of actual brushes , their bristles stoop and splay when pressed upon the canvas . They can also be loaded with multiple colors by using the Mixer palette .
From photo to painting
The Photo Painting System did n’t just get its own workspace ; it get a complete redevelopment . By default , brushing in the Photo Painting workspace are cloners , meaning they “ paint ” a picture onto the canvass in the style of a special brush . Just open a pic with the Source Image pallet , grab a thicket , and have at it .
Painter Essentials 4 can also paint the pic for you ; just pick a manner from the Auto - Painting palette and press the Start clit . Many styles make use of the raw SmartStroke Technology , wherein encounter stroke automatically change sizing and direction base on the photo . If you ’re painting pictures of citizenry , you ’ll probably need to use the new Restore Detail palette and enhance facial expression with the flaccid or Hard Edge Cloner thicket .
No matter which itinerary you pick out , the author range will be automatically save with the aboriginal Painter Essentials file , enable you to easily come back to a painting project later .
From painting to … bumper sticker?
Integrated on-line print Service are also new in Painter Essentials 4 . It fill just a few clicks to produce professional musical note cards , bumper stickers , posters , prints , and more . select from a variety show of media , customize your prowess with schoolbook , and click the Order clitoris to turn a digital masterpiece into something touchable .
Macworld’s buying advice
If you ’re the least bit creative , Painter Essentials 4 could be the most fun you ’ve had in front of a computer in class ( though you ’ll want to leap for a artwork tablet ) . It ’s low-priced and the new interface arrive at it an absolute delight to use .
[ Lesa Snider King , founder of GraphicReporter.com , is a freelance writer , principal evangelist ofiStockphoto.com , and coauthor of the forthcomingPhotoshop CS3 : The Missing Manual(Pogue Press , O’Reilly , Oct. 2007 ) . ]
