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While many graphics applications tend to concentrate on aspects such as image editing and the use of geometric shapes, Painter has always adopted a different approach. As its title indicates, Painter, from the Corel stable, aims to provide an environment that mimics that of the traditional artist’s studio. Drawing and painting tools are meant to be used as near as possible on the computer as they would if paper or canvas was the designated media.

This commitment to the traditional form of artistic creation was even more evident with earlier versions of this software. The media and manuals came packed in a paint tin. Unfortunately while it stood out from the competition, it did take up space on dealers’ shelves. Now Painter comes in the more standard style of packaging of a cardboard box. This change of packaging has not stopped Corel from trying to differentiate the software from other products. Instead of the more mundane version 9, we have the Roman numeral version with Painter IX.

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Painter IX can be run on either a Windows or Mac system. Windows users will require 2000 or XP (with the latest service pack) versions of the operating system while Mac users should be running Mac OS X (version 10.2.8 or higher). In both cases a 500 MHz processor with 128MB of RAM are the minimum requirements.

A major complaint that could have been levied at previous versions of Painter was the program’s complexity. It is all very well having realistic painting tools and creative techniques readily available but often users would struggle to get to grips with the intricacies of the interface and its underlying features. The good news is that Corel has put a great deal of effort into addressing this problem.

A new Welcome screen helps considerably by introducing the user to new features via tutorials. These tutorials are either Web-based or part of the provided manual. Integration with Photoshop has been improved although there are still one or two features that can not be transferred between these applications. Other improvements include working with masks and alpha channels.

Speed, or the lack of it, was another justifiable area for criticism with earlier versions of this title. With this latest version, Corel has given the product a tune-up. Increases of between two and ten times are promised. While it is difficult to quantify these speed improvements, there was better responsiveness especially when applying paint to the canvas.

Painter has always been known for its selection of natural brush effects and these have been enhanced with this latest version. Particularly impressive is the new ability of oil paint brushes to imitate more accurately the behaviour of the paint when being applied. With the first few strokes, the paint would appear thick but then the effect would become thinner as less paint was left on the brush

You can mix paints that are identified by the conventional names such as Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Yellow. The mixing can be carried out on a palette or direct on the canvas by over-painting colours. Brushes, along with their attributes, are automatically stored by a tracker feature.  This feature has a storage capacity of 20 brushes but you can now lock specified brushes so they are not discarded to make room for others. The tracker list and settings are saved between sessions.

Painter IX has a new Snap-To-Path option. With this feature you can create a vector path with the pen tool and then use it to control the movement of whatever brush is chosen. However the path created and subsequent brush strokes are not linked in any way. This means you will not be able to edit or move the line and have the effect duplicated by the paint element.

There is improved support for keyboard shortcuts. A Quick Clone command makes tracing a photograph easier. There is a new command to rotate images and you can set the program to automatically save numbered versions of a project.

Painter IX continues to expand the concept of digital painting. It is now faster and less complicated to use but is still more suitable for the professional or dedicated creative user rather than the occasional dabbler.

www.corel.com/painterix