Posts Tagged ‘tools of the trade’

Painter 2015 is the New Hotness

Thursday, August 14th, 2014

yes I know it’s just a commercial and not so much a tech demo, I needed post dressing! Also that music is CATCHY. :P

The new version of Corel Painter is out and, people, it is GLORIOUS. To name a couple things: Particle Brushes (awesome if you like adding magical sparkles and the FX subtools were JUST NOT ENOUGH) and Enhanced Brush Controls (awesome if you’re a hardcore control freak and want to fine-tune the ever-loving crap out of your brushes… or if you’re a Photoshop user, because NUMBERS). There are many others, but those are the big two for me. The latter is sort of a double-edged sword at first because if you’re like me and have a custom toolbox of hotkeyed brushes from a previous version, you’re going to have to spend a little time out of the gate “fixing” them by playing with the settings to get them back to the way you’re used to. Also, expect to press down a LOT harder on that stylus because of increased tablet sensitivity. Other than that, Painter 2015 is just MADE. OF. AWESOME.

(Seriously. I used to push 12 as the best version– I never used X3– but I wholeheartedly endorse 2015, even if you have to do a lot of fine-tuning out of the box. It’s worth it.)

BUT WAIT. There is MORE?!

Okay, remember how for the longest time I bitched about how aside from Sketchbook Pro, there aren’t any drawing apps for Android (specifically, the ones that have Wacom digitizers) that could hold a candle to Painter? That Corel needed to step the hell up and make Painter for Android? GUESS WHAT THEY JUST DID.

Yes. That’s right. Painter Mobile for Android. It is officially a Thing.

Mind you, it’s not a full-blown replica of the “big” Painter experience, but in terms of being able to start a piece in Something Painter-Like and being able to literally Send To Painter (after configuring a service in Painter itself to allow transferring) for the meat-and-potatoes detail work, this app certainly delivers. The app is free and competent for low/medium-resolution starter work, but really, just plunk down the $5 to unlock everything– increased resolution, a lot more brushes and PSD export support. While Send To Painter is awesomepants in and of itself, I would still like to see Dropbox support (both saving to AND loading from) and a “frequently used brushes” toolbar in future updates.

You’re already heroes, Corel. Just keep going in this direction and you’ll be freaking titans.