Corel Painter
| Corel Painter 2018 | |
|---|---|
| Basic data
|
|
| developer | Corel |
| Current version | Painter 2019 (June 26, 2018) |
| operating system | from Windows 7, Mac OS X 10.11 |
| category | Painting program |
| License | Proprietary |
| German speaking | Yes |
| Website | |
Corel Painter is a pixel- based painting program that allows you to use your PC to simulate natural painting tools such as oil, acrylic, watercolor or charcoal on various materials. The software is considered to be the successor to the Sketcher program from the early 1990s.
development
Painter's predecessor is the Mac software Sketcher from the early 1990s, by Mark Zimmer . Sketcher worked exclusively in grayscale and already offered various brush simulations and paper structures. The program was further developed as a painter by Zimmer in the 1990s, initially exclusively for Macintosh computers. A Microsoft Windows version was released much later.
Painter originally comes from the software company Fractal Design, founded by Mark Zimmer . In 1997, Fractal Design merged with other software companies as part of MetaCreations . Two years later, Metacreations separated from the graphics software division. The Painter program was bought by Corel. After Corel released version 6 of the software, version 7 was branded “ProCreate”, a department of Corel specially created for Painter. The new brand met with little acceptance. Starting with version 8 from 2003, Corel operates again as manufacturer and name. At the end of June 2018, Corel Painter 2019 was released as a 64-bit variant for the Windows (version 7 or higher) and MacOS X (version 10.11 or higher) operating systems.
In contrast to Adobe Photoshop , which was developed for image processing, Painter is primarily aimed at artists and illustrators. The image editing tools are there, but their functionality is rudimentary. For example, Painter does not support files in CMYK color mode or spot colors. Painter's emphasis is on the painting tools, which allow the most faithful simulation of natural painting media. In contrast to the “art filters” on the market, Painter offers relatively few automatic functions and requires the user to be familiar with painting and drawing techniques.
Input devices
The program can only be used meaningfully with a graphics tablet . Operation with the mouse is possible, but does not allow the software to even come close to exhausting its potential. Painter supports all functions of modern graphics tablets including tilting and rotating the stylus. The response characteristics of the software to the tablet inputs can be set extensively.
File formats
Painter saves its files in the proprietary Raster Image File Format (RIFF), which is the only one that retains all of the software's editing aspects. Despite the identical abbreviations, Painter's RIFF format should not be confused with the Resource Interchange File Format . Saving in other formats, both proprietary and open, is possible, but will result in the loss of some editing functionality. The Adobe Photoshop format with layers and layer masks is supported, whereby Painter often misinterprets individual elements of the Photoshop files. Painter opens TIFF, JPEG, PNG, Photoshop RGB files, among others. Placement of EPS vector files is supported.
Painter supports the plug-in interface established by Adobe.
Video and animation
Painter can open and edit video files in the QuickTime container and is therefore often used for rotoscopy .
A special feature of Painter is the inclusion of workflows in the form of scripts. Scripting is activated by default and logs the work in the background. Recorded scripts can be played back at a later point in time, for example to recreate a picture with other tools or in a higher resolution. In addition, Painter's scripting function can be used to create simple animations.
particularities
Even before layers became standard in image processing, Painter supported storable and changeable superimpositions of image elements with “floating objects”. Painter 5 offered a few painting tools that appeared as floating objects in their own right. However, the concept of floating objects turned out to be cumbersome to use and met with little acceptance from users. In version 6.0 of Painter (1999), the layers known from other image editors were introduced. Certain painting tools, such as watercolor and ink, require their own, dedicated layers in Painter that no other tools can manipulate.
When painting with watercolor brushes, the color and possibly the paper remain “wet” with the corresponding behavior of colors even after saving in the RIFF format and later opening. "Drying" must be activated consciously by the user.
Painter makes it possible to develop ways of working that are technically inconceivable in the real world. For example, oil paints can be smeared with water.
Up to and including version 5, the software was sold in series in a tin can of paint. From version X, Painter is offered as a limited version in the paint bucket packaging.
It is possible to create your own tools and materials. Additional brushes, papers or structures are offered both freely and commercially.
Trivia
In the mid-1990s, the Painter team developed the vector painting software Expression. Similar to Painter, the software simulated natural painting tools, but not pixel-based, but vector-based. This made resolution-independent work possible. However, the hardware available at the time was not powerful enough for real-time processing of such complex graphics. The program was not developed further. Expression was acquired by Microsoft in 2004 and is marketed as Microsoft Expression .
variants
Dabbler (Fractal Design) - greatly simplified, playful variant of Painter. The user interface used the metaphor of a drawing workshop: the tools and materials were stored in lifelike drawers, the drawing surface was reminiscent of a block of paper. The painting was accompanied by tool-specific sounds.
Painter X (Metacreations) - an intermediate version of Painter with additional modules, etc. a. for floating objects. Was only offered briefly and not developed further.
Painter 3D (Metacreations) - for painting on three-dimensional models that have been created with appropriate third-party software. Not further developed.
Art Dabbler (Metacreations) - Version 2 of Dabbler after the Metacreations merger.
Painter Classic (Metacreations) - an inexpensive version of Painter with limited functionality.
Corel Painter Essentials - an updated, affordable version of Painter. Often offered in a bundle with graphics tablets.
Painter Sketch Pad (Corel) - simplified software for sketching based on the Painter engine. The program starts quickly and uses the workshop metaphor, similar to the dabbler, but dispenses with the playful component in favor of clarity. Sketch Pad supports layers. The software is often supplied in a bundle with graphics tablets.
Web links
- Corel Official Website
- Interview with Painter inventor Mark Zimmer for Deutschlandfunk, April 1996
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Corel press release (English)
- ↑ Corel Painter 2019, system requirements (German)
- ↑ Netzwelt: Corel Painter 11: The Artist for Windows and Mac OS X , accessed July 22, 2011