Corel Painter
| Company type | Software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Digital art software |
| Predecessor | Fractal Design Corporation |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Founder | Mark Zimmer, Tom Hedges |
| Fate | Acquired by Corel Corporation in July 2013 |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Mark Zimmer, Tom Hedges, John Derry |
| Products | Corel Painter, Painter Essentials, Painter Sketch Pad |
| Owner | Corel Corporation |
| Parent | Corel Corporation |
| Website | www |
Corel Painter is a raster-based digital art program created to authentically replicate the look and feel of traditional artistic mediums used in drawing, painting, and printmaking. It functions as an interactive digital platform tailored for professional digital artists.
Materials and tools
This application provides an extensive selection of materials and implements commonly used by traditional artists. Utilizing a graphics tablet or mouse, creators can mimic the textures and effects of physical media such as watercolor, oil paint, chalk, charcoal, and colored pencils. Additionally, it incorporates unique instruments like Image Hose, pattern pens, F/X, Distortion, and Artist tools that enable the introduction of unconventional visual effects.
Painter reproduces the visual qualities of various media including oil paints, pastels, airbrushes, charcoal, and felt-tip pens on textured canvases. Numerous media options take advantage of advanced capabilities available on Wacom tablets; for instance, the airbrush tool adjusts dynamically according to pressure, tilt, speed, and rotation.
Sharing many functionalities with Photoshop, Painter supports layered image editing. Both software packages developed in parallel, pioneering features that have become standard in bitmap image manipulation. Painter 2.5 debuted "Floaters" around the same period Photoshop introduced "composite elements." Over time, Painter's interface has been refined to more closely resemble Photoshop’s user experience.
History
Originally launched in 1991 for the Macintosh, Painter was created by founders Mark Zimmer and Tom Hedges from Fractal Design Corporation. Prior to this, they had developed image-editing programs ImageStudio and ColorStudio for Letraset. John Derry joined the team during the release of Painter 1.2, bringing expertise from Time Arts, recognized for their Lumena and Oasis painting applications. Fractal Design later merged with RayDream, followed by a merger with MetaTools, resulting in the formation of MetaCreations. In July 2013, MetaCreations sold its creative software assets, leading to Painter’s acquisition by Corel Corporation. During its integration into Corel’s graphic software lineup, it was briefly renamed "Procreate" Painter. Currently, Corel fully owns and markets the product.
Painter Series
Painter was once accompanied by three related programs: the vector-based natural media application Expression; a beginner-oriented simplified edition called Dabbler (renamed Art Dabbler after MetaCreations’ acquisition); and a grayscale-only variant known as Sketcher. After Corel acquired the brand, Art Dabbler 2 was reintroduced as Corel Painter Essentials, now available in its sixth iteration.
In 2007, Corel launched Painter X, which was initially distributed in a limited edition paint can package—a nod to early software packaging styles.
Painter Essentials
Corel Painter Essentials is designed for casual users featuring an intuitive interface, multimedia instructional content, automated processes, and photo editing capabilities. While it shares much of its underlying architecture and toolset with Painter, it offers fewer customization options and less precision control suited for professional artists. The most recent release as of 2021 is Version 8.
Painter Sketch Pad
Introduced in January 2009, Corel Painter Sketch Pad is designed for initial concept creation in digital art. It offers a selection of 13 drawing tools—significantly fewer than Painter’s extensive collection of nearly 900 brushes—and presents a simplified user interface tailored for pen and tablet devices, enabling swift idea development.
Reception
In 2014, PC World honored Painter as "the top natural-media painting application." The following year, PC Magazine described it as "the premier software for emulating painting and handling artistic media." By 2017, ZDNet praised it as "among the finest digital painting solutions for artists proficient in traditional painting techniques applied digitally."
Notable Artists
- Rhoda Grossman
- Cher Pendarvis
- Jeremy Sutton
See also
External links
- Corel Painter Official Site
- Corel Official Website
- Corel Painter 2015 Support
- Interview with Mark Zimmer, German public radio, 1996
- Painter at the Open Directory Project
- Official Corel Painter Magazine
- Corel Painter X Master's Gallery
- Apple's resolution-independent interface – subsequent developments by Zimmer