The new Photo Painting palettes help convert your photos into painterly works of art.

 

Painter IX is the best painting app we've seen, but it may be intimidating for the casual graphic artist or dabbling amateur. For the rest of us, Corel offers the affordable Painter Essentials 3, an approachable painting app that's easy to use, yet potent enough for when you're ready to get serious.
Corel injects Painter Essentials with many of the higher-end customizing features found in Painter IX, just in smaller numbers and variations. The app includes a total of 18 different brush types (Artists' Oils, Crayons, Digital Watercolors, Pattern Pens, Tinting, and more) and multiple ways to modify brush behavior and surface textures. And while most pro Painter IX users work with a pen-and-tablet input device, Corel made sure that Essentials works well with a mouse - though if you do decide to get serious, you'll find that a pen and tablet give you far greater control.

 

Essentials' new Photo Painting palettes let you convert a photo into a painting without breaking a sweat, since Essentials essentially does it for you. Creating a photo painting takes three steps: First, you use the Underpainting palette to prep your image. Then, you select a Cloner brush type (there are 12 to choose from) and use the Autopainting palette to select the Brush Stroke, Pressure, Brush Size, Randomness (how the strokes are applied), and other painting attributes. After you've applied the Autopainting functions, you use the Restoration palette to bring back some of the detail from your original image. It's almost as simple as paint by numbers - you don't even have to don a smock - but be prepared for a bit of experimenting to get your desired results. Once you're finished, you can use your images for printed cards, a wall display, a Web gallery, or simply as your screen saver. You can also add borders using the included Pattern Pens or Image Hose.

 

For the artistically impaired, Essentials' online tutorials are helpful, and the installation disc includes well-done videos from lynda.com that show you how to use Essentials' tools. There's also a Quick Guide palette that gives further instruction on Essentials' advanced abilities, and the installation disc contains GeeGuides - animated training shorts aimed at kids.

 

Other new features: a Quick Clone tool, an Eraser tool, a Rubber Stamp tool, the ability to hide or display layers with a click and drag, and more.
Our one major problem with Essentials: There are only five levels of undo. Sure, five may be enough for most of us, but many modern apps let you undo an unlimited number of steps. It would've been nice if this one did, too, especially when you get particularly carried away with your creations.

 

The bottom line. Whether you're looking for an easy way to achieve the appearance of a painting or just looking to play around, Painter Essentials 3 is a great place to start. It's a serious app that harnesses a small part of Painter IX's power. It can grow with your abilities.

 

Create fancy borders with Essentials' Pattern Pens or Image Hose.

 

COMPANY: Corel
CONTACT: 800-772-6735, www.corel.com
PRICE: $99
REQUIREMENTS: G3, Mac OS 10.2.8 or later, 256MB RAM, 150MB disk space, 1,024-by-768-pixel or higher display resolution
Easy to use. Cool Photo Painting features make painting fun.
Limited undo.