"A Review of Corel’s Painter IX!"

Getting new software is always an exciting prospect and Painter IX was no exception. Having admired the wonderful work of several users of Painter here at DIC I knew that was a direction I wanted to go with some of my photographs. During the past couple of months I have been amazed at the potential I discovered in Painter IX. The first thing I would tell a potential user of Painter is that it is a very "ROBUST" program. There is as much potential in the box as there is potential inside a fully stocked art supply store.

Being familiar with real world artist’s media and tools and the kinds of looks one can produce with them will enhance and speed your learning process with this software. For those, like me, whose only experience with a paint brush has been brushing white latex onto the outside of our houses and who have not touched a crayon since we were in elementary school there is much to experiment with.

For those users who are familiar with Photoshop and with some of the other large photo editing programs the work area and menu layout are familiar, functional and comfortable. The nuts and bolts of Painter IX are in many ways very similar to Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro. One can make selections, use blending techniques, create layer masks, make vector based objects such as shapes, create text layers, and work with hue /saturation and other tonal control features. Therefore if you already have some experience with one of these other image editing programs your knowledge base will serve you well using Painter IX.

Within the first hour of working with Corel’s Painter IX I knew that I was going to be expanding my technical skills and creative abilities far beyond what I had envisioned. It was clear from the onset that this program possessed the tools I needed to take the enhancement of my photographs to another level, as well as open new possibilities for the creation of imaginative graphic art. This is a vast program with endless possibilities, so my first piece of advice is that if you decide to download the 30 day demo version download the manual also, and delve into it a bit before beginning your work with the program. A couple of hours of preparation reading will go a long way toward your feeling more comfortable with the program. This review could not possibly cover all of what this incredible program has to offer. Instead, I will attempt to show how I, as a beginner, familiarized myself with some of the program’s capabilities.

After acquainting myself with the basics of the tool menu, I opened a blank canvas, clicked on the brush tool, and began to draw some strokes across the page. I was particularly interested in watercolor so I began with that medium. I worked with a variety of brush variants and was immediately struck by the differences between those with a flat finish, and those with grain. Most impressive however were those where the paint ran down the page! Regardless of which brush or shade I used the colors blended together. NOTE: speaking of blending, be careful, just as you would expect using watercolor paints and just like real wet paint you can end up with a dirty gray mess if you don’t know when to stop.

I followed this same process with several other mediums including oil, acrylics, gouache, and several other types and was quite pleased with the different looks I obtained. As I read through the manual I was intrigued by a particular medium called Liquid Ink. It required its own special type of layer which was initiated by clicking on the black icon below the layer’s palette. While exploring this medium I found it had unique characteristics which enabled the user to create a flat “thin” form of ink, or with a click of the mouse, raise the volume of the ink and see the thickness increase in proportion to the amount of this increase. Liquid Ink also offers a series of “resist” brushes which removes ink. Unlike a typical eraser the resist brushes removed only parts of an ink layer leaving behind designs of its own. I realized that one way I might make good use of this particular medium was as a background for digital art and perhaps even for some of my photographs, using the various blending modes that Painter IX offers.

After this initial testing of various mediums and brushes I then had a closer look at the cloning feature within Painter IX which promised to create various types of paintings. This feature can be used in auto mode or by cloning stroke by stroke. Some of the clone brushes when set to auto produce better results than others. Often I found that auto clone was a good place to start but required follow up with strokes made by hand to provide the detail, shadow and highlights. I learned that almost any brush within the program has the capacity to clone, so you are not limited to only those brushes identified as Clones. In particular, I found the Impressionist brush (which is under the Artists Category) gave good results and was also easy to work with. There are a number of outstanding tutorials on line to guide you through the process of using the cloning features.

After applying a painterly look to a photo I found I could also add surface texture at the end. One can use a paper texture from the large variety offered, or different luminance, or 3D stroke settings to accomplish this; each offers a completely different look. If what you are seeking is to thicken the paint on your canvas I would suggest Image Luminance. This is achieved by clicking on a texture choice, setting the amount of texture you would like, and then using the fade control until you are satisfied. Although Painter IX opens with a basic paper as the default choice you can change this texture at any time. It should be noted that different combinations of paper textures and brushes interact differently. Sometimes the interaction is very noticeable and therefore you may want to consider changing the paper default settings before you begin, depending on the result you wish to achieve. I believe that is something one would learn over time through the process of using the program. I found I had more control over the final outcome when I applied paper textures at the end rather than at the beginning. Textures can also be added selectively to various parts of an image if you would like to highlight particular features.

Another stand out feature in Painter IX worth mentioning is the Brush Creator. You can access the Brush Creator on a PC by holding down Ctrl/ and B together. A window will pop up that will enable you to alter just about any feature of all the brushes you have loaded into Painter. The Brush Creator has three features: a Stroke Designer, a Transposer and a Randomizer. When you use the Stroke Designer you will be able to choose the angle, the size, the type of dab, how the paint flows, whether or not there is depth to the paint, and many more design features. You can then take the brush you have created and using the Transposer feature add a second brush inside the Brush Creator and then by clicking the icon which resembles two gear wheels you can combine the variants of each of the two brushes. For example, you may want to work with an Acrylic brush but would also like a touch of Impasto – go ahead. The Transposer on the Brush Creator will do the work for you. All you have to do is to bring up both of these brush categories, choose a variant for each, click on the Transposing wheel and Painter IX will combine the various features of each brush variant and create a choice of new brush effects. Inside the brush creator there is a small scratch pad and brush tool where you can try out these new combined brushes. You can keep clicking on the gear wheel icon and each time you do so a new series of possibilities will be shown to you. The Randomizer feature takes the current brush category and variant, and will randomize it repeatedly – each time giving you a series of new variants to choose from. As you might imagine the possibilities for designing are infinite. Any variant you create can, of course, be saved for future use.

Another feature which is most useful is the color mixer. Imagine having a palette in front of you were you can mix as many colors as you desire and then take the results and immediately use the color you have created by brushing it directly onto your canvas. The mixer comes complete with two eye dropper tools to sample individual and multiple colors, a palette knife to mix your colors, a zoom tool to get a closer look, and a hand tool to move around the colors you have created. Each time you work in Painter IX you can create a new Color Set from the colors you have used during that session. These sets can be saved for future use should you want to return to that particular piece of art and have the exact colors available to you.

In addition to the overall painting and texture tools there are a wide variety of special effects which can also be used when enhancing a photo or creating a piece of digital art. One I found particularly useful was the glass distortion effect which can be manipulated to give you various degrees of distortion. The lighting features, pop art, distress, woodcut and other effects can lend a special mood, offer a completely different look, or create an unusual image just for fun. Mosaics can be time consuming but worth the effort if there is a special piece of art you want to highlight in this manner. Painter IX also allows you to bring into the program a variety of plug-ins which will take these special effects to yet another level.

Painter IX also offers impressive libraries of gradients, patterns, weaves and image nozzles. Image nozzles are tiny photographs which can be added to an image by spraying them on like liquid from hose. The perspective, proportion and size can be altered. It should be noted that you do not have to settle for those which come with your program. You can either purchase additional ones quite inexpensively or create your own.

There are many support systems available to the Painter IX user. Make sure to sign up for the Painter Canvas, a monthly newsletter which can be accessed here: http://apps.corel.com/painterix/community/newsletter.html

This newsletter includes tutorials and free goodies such as brushes which are not available with the software. There are a number of on-line forums, but the one I would recommend can be found at In-Depth Arts. You can register for free and once a member you will have immediate access to the knowledge and support of some of the most talented Painter artists on line. You will be able to view galleries of outstanding artists, join in Painter challenges, enter contests, receive free brushes and paper textures from other members and, perhaps most importantly, ask questions of the experts. You can find the group here: http://www.indeptharts.com/

In summary, I can recommend Painter IX without hesitation to both the Fine Arts specialist and the creative photographer wanting to add that special touch. Although many view Painter as having a steep learning curve I would have to say that with Painter the learning is always fun! What you should not expect is a cookie cutter, one button transformation of your photograph into a painting. Painter IX is not that kind of a program. My learning is only beginning and already I know that in order to get the most from the program I will purchase a pen tablet. Much of what I have described can be done with your mouse, though the moves lack the finesse one can get with a pen and tablet. A pen tablet such as a the Wacom Intuos will allow you to get the most from this program. Though I have not yet used the pen tablet I suspect the difference between using the mouse and using the pen would be similar to the difference between using your finger or a fine camel hair brush to apply water color to paper. It can be done, it just won’t be the same.