Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I have to preface that I was a beta tester for this release and I cannot discuss anything during that time. My review is for the final product. So please do not ask about the betas, I will disclose.
This may be a lengthy review so the tl;dr (Too Long Didn't Read Version) is up top - more thorough after.
Edit- August 18th 2011: - Corel released their first patch and it also helps with multicore and performance improvements. It also seems that they're listening to customers where they'd like to see more releases and updates to the program.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Painter gets an overhaul with its new release. While there are bugs that were present in past versions, along with new ones !boo! - The good does seem to outweigh the bad compared to past Painter releases that seemed more like patches to previous versions.
The Real Watercolors is a definite seller for me - to finally see watercolors that behave like watercolors for the most part. However, there is issues with lag.
The new interface and navigator window are definitely great. I also like the Brush category cleanup with some reservations. Like what happened with the Artist Oils?
The zooming has improved a lot in this version, and despite the bugs, thinking it over - I'd recommend this version because it's finally more of an update than a patch.
The New:
Overhauled GUI
Customization of your workspace including custom icons/jpegs for your entire workspace including brushes
Navigator Window
Windows 64 bit multicore support
Mirror Mode
Kaleidoscope Mode
Real Watercolor Brushes
Real Oil Brushes
Online Help with Video Tutorials
The longer review is below
------------------------------------------------------------------The last two Painter releases had left me a bit frustrated with the bugs, and I'll be honest this release is definitely not bug free. I will get into this later in the review. However, after thinking about how to review this product I felt it best to look at what this release does for Painter especially since the last two versions. I've been a long time Painter user and I also wanted to think if it helps newer users that are afraid of Painter's interface.
I am happy to see Corel finally working at listening to many complaints Painter users had.
Painter gets a brand new interface. I have to admit, I'm not completely warm to the icons - some of them seem silly or kiddie to me, but the new look is a welcome. The biggest reason is the vast amount of customization I can make to the workspace. Gone is the old Windows 2000 look. Now I have panels where I can group what I need together. I'll provide some screenshots to help users too (unless Corel updates product info and it's not necessary). Panels are collapsible and detachable. You can change the order of what panel you want up front.
Want a custom icon for a shortcut or brush you use because previous versions of Painter just used the same category icon? Now it's possible!
You can dock your panels on the top or bottom of the screen. You can even change the toolbox into a horizontal layout if you don't like the Photoshop vertical one. Double Row? Sure!
Brush Library gets an overhaul too, it's a lot easier to read instead of the previous scroll of doom. No more buggy thumbnails on how a stroke is supposed to look. The new interface puts that right down at the bottom of the Brush Selector. Have a brush category you like going into you can now drag it up to the top of your brush list. Want to hide ones you don't use without opening cumbersome dialog windows? That's also possible.
Another better feature. Finally a separate dynamic re-sizable Navigator Window. This makes workflow so much easier.
Remember that nasty jaggy zooming? That has also improved. Zooming is much more smoother - but you may need to update your graphics card.
Help Topics are now online along with a PDF file, so this means possibly better updates to topics when things aren't clear. Believe me, even in this release Painter does need it. There's still parts of the manual that need fleshing out. This now makes it easier to correct. Corel even has video tutorials for the uninitiated!
So, any new brushes? Yes, and in fact as the brush selector got an overhaul, so did the crazy amount of brushes. Gone are the Oils 30, 10 and other sizes. Categories got cleaned up. With the exception of how the Artist's Oils category was handled - it was a much needed revamp. Without the "Artist's Oil's" prefix, it's hard to know it was an artist Oil without looking at the Brush customization panels. You can however switch between the new library and Painter 11 to get it. Windows users will also have multicore support - sorry Mac users not this round.
So we have Brushes that now respond to blending modes just like Photoshop - a much requested feature. In addition we have the Real Oils and Watercolor brushes. If a brush seems slow - open up the Brush Panels and uncheck the multicore option.
I have to say, the Real Watercolors are a major seller for me along with the other goods Painter put into this product. However, after a while they tend to lag.
There are some complaints though. Painter needs to get with the program and make brush customization import and placement easier. Often times users are messing with hidden system files of their user data to import new brushes. Painter needs to make it easier for users and not have them go into those files.
Copy and Paste is still a pain. I don't understand why this is easy with other image editing programs (illustration ones are included) and this function is such hit and miss for Painter.
Painter is a bit slow to launch at times and is fussy. This program is not crash free. I was hoping for more stability this time but alas not so. Hopefully Corel will work faster at getting patches out for the bugs.
I also don't know why the color tools are somewhat broken. The color wheel no longer slides to a perfect white or black. Just look at the HSV/RGB sliders when moving to Black or White to see what I mean.
Mixer Palette seems to have taken a step back with lack of hotkeys and more confusing buttons. It wasn't that broken (other than a lack of undo/redo) so this "fix" made it more harder to work with.
Dual Monitor settings don't seem to set in as well and there are bugs with that setup.
There is an issue of getting random strokes. This is not limited to the intuos lines of tablets.
Transformation tools can still use some work. Although it is nice that Painter plays with well with Photoshop - I'd really like to be able to transform items with much more ease so that Photoshop is my image optimizer and final touchup program - than having to work between programs in the middle of a painting.
Some decisions are just bizarre. Why, for example does the Welcome Screen links launch in Internet Explorer instead of your default browser? The Online Help Topics launch in your default browser just fine - but slow for XP users.
While I was hand-wringing over the bugs. I do have to concede to this being a big overhaul that's worth an upgrade or purchase.
The new features are actually NEW features than "here's some minor update but let's throw in a bunch of new brushes you won't use to keep you distracted".
I do hope the bugs get fixed and I give a nod to Corel and its team for this release.
If you have any questions or need help with Painter feel free to leave a comment and I'll reply with more information on how to work certain features of Painter.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Corel Painter 12
The redesigned Corel Painter 12 user interface. View larger.
0 comments:
Post a Comment