So… my 60 day conclusion. I am very glad I did this. Painter’s come a long way since I tried it back in version 5. There are times that the brushes really give me the feeling of pushing around paint… with the lovely ability to undo several steps. It has layers similar to Photoshop as well as the ability to save in a Photoshop format, so those failings I do find in the program – and there are a few – I can remedy in Photoshop as needed. I don’t feel Painter X is going to replace Photoshop any time soon, but Painter has become an essential part of my toolkit already.
What I love: The brushes, obviously. The beginning of a stroke orients itself to the path very well and varies in texture enough that it often feels like a real paint stroke. There’s quite a variety. For my own preference, I found myself returning to the Artist’s Oils and the Blenders set. I do so love the selection of blending brushes that make Photoshop’s smudge tool look like a hack job.
Painter seems to manage my memory better for larger brush sizes, and canvas, which surprised me since when I think of Corel I usually think of bloated software code. With four GB of RAM, I was able to manage some pretty large brushes without getting the jagged strokes or waiting forever for my stroke to catch up to my action.
Color picking is good, and the color palette is great for smearing colors together before hitting the canvas. On the canvas, there is the lovely ability to pick up the surrounding colors as if painting wet-on-wet. If you wish it wouldn’t, just make sure you’re working on a new layer with the option turned off.
Now the not-so-good bits that I hope they have or will have improved upon from version X: The menus and shortcuts are not intuitive. I’m not saying they should ape Photoshop, but they could certainly take some cues.
The more heavily textured brushes like impasto could use some work lighting the strokes, as they come down too harsh to appear real. They quickly create a harsh and confused lighting that declares that it is computer generated. After my first few attempts to adjust the settings, I just didn’t use them much out of frustration. I’ll keep trying when I have more time.
Some basic features that are easy to use in Photoshop are still a nightmare of clicking through menus in Painter. Resizing a layer is an awful nuisance. Contrast/Balance, and the various color management tools need work.
Pen sensitivity is so-so, even after playing with the tool set to calibrate it. Some brushes end up coming out little better than off/on switch, either too sensitive or not enough, despite my own efforts to adjust. I’m still adapting to these things, and I expect some long-term Painter users don’t even notice a problem, since they’ve altered how they work.
Anyhow, a very solid piece of software that I’ll be using every time I paint. For artists who are looking for better brushes and a more natural painting experience than Photoshop can offer, I highly recommend Painter. For those who’re new to art, I wouldn’t say this is an easy program, nor will it make art look better just for using it. It can’t replace technique and practice, but it does do a better job at being a digital version of real tools than some other programs out there. Less frustration means more time to focus on the art instead of the tools.
As a final note, if anyone’s choking on the price of Painter as I did and don’t have the excuse of it being a business expense, I recommend Art Rage for dabbling with to start. It is inexpensive and there is a direct connection between the quality of its brushes and Painter. It also compatible with taking layered files over to Photoshop.
Whew. Sorry if this sounds like a sales pitch! No one gave me free software and for the most part, I just hope all my blathering will help other artists in deciding if it is worth their time (and money).
