Others say...

"Painter isn't quite "there" yet."
I was very disappointed in Painter X. After struggling with how slow Painter IX was, Corel boasted that this new release was the "fastest Painter ever!" It may be a tiny bit faster, but it's not noticeable! It still lags a LOT if you're using higher resolution images. Be prepared to work in 800 X 600 at 72 dpi if you want speed from the advanced brushes. I'm using a VERY fast system which is running very large Photoshop files at lightning speed. I find myself constantly struggling to keep my brush sizes low in Painter, just to avoid major lagtime.

Another problem I have with Painter is the interface. It is too clumsy to scale and rotate images when you can't see what you're resizing! I know, right? Not from $400+ software?! Yep.

Also, right out of the box, most brushes look pretty bad. I'm able to take some time and make custom brushes that look better, but most new users will have a hard time with this. WHY NOT MAKE BETTER PRESETS, COREL!?! Also, the textured paper looks like a cheap embossing effect, unless you really work with the lighting, etc.

So, the ability for Corel to perform is there, but it's slow, has a terrible interface, and takes a good bit of work to get the tools looking good. I keep hoping for them to address these issues, but they focus on making the paint effects look better. I would DEFINITELY have preferred ease-of-use to "real brisles" (a feature that you can't really use on bigger brushes without to major lagging)! It's too bad, because I LOVE what it CAN do, and how it looks, but getting there can be a real trial, especially compared to Photoshop.

So, I guess I'll just wait for Adobe to buy them, and take care of some of these issues.


"Working with it "
I was a lucky Person and went to California to Fay Sirkis class for Corel Painter X . I am now trying to get better at using it. Oh yes very Happy.

"Too Many Bugs for a Stable Release"
I am a Painter fan, but I think one should review the product with some honesty.

Painter's Brush engine is rather unmatched in terms of digital painting and graphics. This is one feature that overrides many of the other industry standard programs when it comes to illustrating and painting with digital applications. Painter's brush tracking also helps when one uses a tablet making it a very powerful application. The multitude of brushes that act like their traditional counterparts is one of the reasons a person could experiment without the fear of running out of paint, wasting paper, or supplies.

New Enhanced Brush Ghosting makes it a lot more easier to see the bearing and direction of your brush, especially making effects and strokes. Divine proportions help you with composition. I even like the fact that scripts even allow you to playback your drawing progress, similar to PortalGraphics Open Canvas. You can even create movies and animations. With the combination of Photoshop this is indeed a powerful program.

However, and granted I don't expect every program to be perfect upon release, the GUI (Graphical User Interface) has some major bugs. Scrollbars will disappear, going into the Brush creator will undock your palettes or mess with settings you previously had. Workspaces weren't able to save. Your brush would disappear at times too.

Now there is a current patch for this software at Corel's site, but if you were new to the program and saw such bad interface errors, wouldn't you be upset, given the cost of the software?

I can't honestly give this product 5 stars since you're met with such errors right out of the box.

"Get it, but less expensively. ;-)"
This is a great product and I have no complaints with it. However, just FYI I found it for under $40.00 on buy-it-now Ebay. The registration number was included, but there was no handbook. However, you don't need the handbook, because all the same info is on the DVD.

"Missing Jeremy Sutton Tutorials"
This is not so much a review of Painter X as it is of Corel's inability to deliver what it promises in its advertising.

What I am referring to are the Jeremy Sutton video tutorials that are promised as part of the Painter X package. These are clearly mentioned on Amazon's Painter X page as seen as Reason 10 under 'Top 10 Reasons to Buy Corel Painter X'.

In addition, page five (5) of the Painter X manual clearly states that '... Painter X includes a new collection of step-by-step training videos by Corel Master Painter Jeremy Sutton.' My Painter X DVD does not include these tutorials, nor does it include a link to any video tutorials.

I have been working with Amazon in an attempt to get this straightened out. My problem should not be construed as any criticism of the program itself, but only on non-delivery of items promised by Corel. This is my first purchase of any vesion of Painter. Hopefully this will be resolved in the near future.

9/24/07 Update
Today my issue with the Jeremy Sutton videos was resolved.

The problem was that something went wrong with the registration of my copy. This is an automated process other than the user having to enter the correct serial number. I did all of that correctly, but was never given the Corel link to these very good, downloadable videos. Today, a Corel Tech corrected this and my issue has been resolved.

I am extremely pleased with my purchase and the support that I have received from Corel, especially that of Mr. John Derry of Corel, who pin-pointed my problem via email.