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Painter IX also sports familiar functional editing features, like layers. In
fact, some brush selections (like the Photoshop Font tool) trigger their own
layer automatically. Although this layering may seem to be a complication, it
actually provides protection of the integrity of the image work already done,
allowing it to be elaborated non-destructively, and mimics, to an extent, the
analog process of creating painted images in progressive stages, one on top
of another.
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Although you need to do hand work to recreate a painted clone
with Painter IX, the photo image from which the cloning is done
actually suggests both what brush selections are most effective
and the direction and line of the brush strokes. Painting in hair
in a portrait, for example, is most effectively done with a brush
that forms a linear arrangement of the image values (a Camel or
Bristle brush) and is more effectively accomplished by following
the natural contours of the subject’s hair. Smooth complexion
tones, I found, can be gradually painted in with the Soft Cloner
brush with a low Opacity percentage setting, while details like
eyelashes can be sharply rendered with a small Straight Cloner
brush.
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Many of the other and very large selection of brushes in Painter IX can be
converted to use as a Clone brush by first selecting the brush and then, in
the Color Palette, manually selecting a color. You can also choose to add color
from the Color Palette and then brush this color in. In fact, if you use Painter
IX with a black and white photograph in RGB mode format, you can create an oil-paint
color rendition to digitally simulate the look of traditional oil-colored photographs.
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Painter IX has many parallel tools and functions similar to those
in image-editing applications, closely following the standards
established by Photoshop. The familiar toolbox includes selection
tools including a freehand lasso, which allows you to precisely
select a part of the underlying photo image. For instance, I found
after my first few images that it’s beneficial to select
the subject from the background, invert the selection protecting
the subject, and to then paint in the background.
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Another dimension can be added by selecting one of the Papers. This simulates
a natural medium upon which the “paint” is applied to a substrate,
like French Water Color paper. The painting actions interact with the paper
texture as the image information is applied, and it simulates how oil paint
really looks texturally when applied to canvas. In addition, the effect can
be modified with the KPT filters included with Painter IX or any other standard
plug-in filter you may have. Finally, with any color work you do in Painter
IX, once set up, the application fully supports either ICM or Colorsync color
management, so the color you see on screen you will be able to reproduce with
the same quality you would expect with another color-managed application
like Photoshop.
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This
image of some orchids has been in my files for ages, but something
caused the background portion to deteriorate. For some reason
I never discarded it because there was something I liked about
it. So I scanned the slide and began to play with it in Corel’s
Painter IX. I was able to obscure the background defects using
a Splattery Spray brush. Then I painted in the orchid petals with
a Smeary Camel Cloner brush, which further enhanced the soft,
creamy tones of the flowers. It still isn’t a “great”
picture, but that old slide in my files no longer frustrates me
when I come across it looking for images.
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Conclusion And Recommendation
My exploration of Corel’s Painter IX barely scratched the surface, yet
I was able to recreate several photographs with great satisfaction. And with
Painter IX now so much easier to use, I am sure I will return to it whenever
I have some free time and need to be playful, and I’ll be able to get
right into it and learn even more. I find it particularly satisfying and encouraging
because I have always wanted to draw and paint but was never able to master
the eye/hand skills well enough to do more than embarrass myself. With Painter
IX, working from an underlying photograph was just enough of a guide, a helping
hand to encourage me and keep my interest high. One small satisfaction led to
another, and another, and now I have the confidence and the curiosity to come
back as soon as I can to find out what more I can do with this now friendly
way to make new images from old photo files.
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Corel’s
Painter IX readily complements image-editing applications as well
as lends creative tools. This image was made by combining two
different clone images brushed in with Painter IX, and then saved
to TIFF files that were merged as layers by multiplication in
Photoshop. The possibilities are almost endless with all of the
different capabilities in Painter IX, like mosaics and tessellations,
in addition to the numerous painting modes.
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Corel’s Painter IX supports both PC Windows and Apple Macintosh users
at a moderate cost; it is currently available from the Corel website at $369
or $199 for an upgrade. You can save some money if you also need a pen/tablet
by getting a bundle of both, including a Wacom Graphire or Intuos combo package
from Corel. For more information about Corel’s Painter IX, contact Corel
Corporation, 1600 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1Z 8R7; (800) 772-6735,
(613) 728-8200; www.corel.com.
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