Painter 2015
Create Realistic and Abstract Filters and Effects
Corel Painter 2015 adds new features to this already feature-crammed application. Included are such features as the Reference Image Panel; inspirational Mixer pads; more realistic brushes with jitter smoothing for more dramatic results; perspective guides; enhanced cloning; and above all, Particle Brushes.
The most appealing and spectacular new feature is the introduction of a range of Particle Brushes that are unlike anything you've seen in a painting application. There are three types: Gravity, Flow, and Springs, each with their own set of behaviors. Better yet, these brushes allow for the creation of effects that were impossible previously, such as subtle smoke or fur. With the Particle Brushes, Corel has added a painting tool that isn't an emulation of a real-world brush.
The perspective system is also a great new feature. In previous versions of Painter, we had perspective grids, which helped with drawing in perspective. With perspective guides, however, your brush movements are actually constrained to running parallel with any of these guides, resulting in straight lines that neatly follow the lines toward the vanishing point. Although this results in somewhat unnatural straight and aligned lines, it's vastly better for those who don't have a steady hand.
Painter has always come with a nice library of papers, images, textures, and more. Corel has updated these libraries with more of these preset tools and img. For example, there are now more subtle watercolor papers from which to choose, and when combined with better cloning and SmartStroke brush technology, you can easily convert a photo into an aquarelle painting.
Stroke preview, an enhanced new feature, now shows all visual parameters so you can really see what a brush stroke will look like before using it. The Mac version has more OS X-like palettes that can be docked together, and you can save palette layouts.
Company: Corel Corporation
Price: $379 (Upgrade: $229)
Web: www.painterartist.com
Rating: 4.5
Hot: Perspective Guides; Particle Brushes; new content; photo cloning
Not: Inspirational Mixer pads are marketing gimmick