Corel Painter Essentials 8 | Beginner Digital Painting Software | Drawing & Photo Art [PC/Mac Key Card]

Im not a graphic designer or animator, or anything like that, but I do like to dabble with trying to draw on my computer, as well as take certain photographs that I have taken, and give them a little bit of an artistic touch. I will say that I am often stubborn and like to try to figure out how to use programs like this on my own, but I think with this type of program, it behooves you to watch a tutorial or two to get up to speed. After watching a tutorial introducing me to some of the basic features of the program, I was able to go ahead and sort of re-stylize a lot of pictures that I had intended to try to do that with. In many cases there really are quite a few templates that you could simply apply that make it quick work. I do have a Wacom tablet that I can use with this program, but I havent had the opportunity to really give it that much of a try yet. I do have a friend who is an animator at Disney, or at least was before she went independent, and asked her opinion about this program for a beginner like myself. She said that it was actually pretty decent, and for somebody whos just learning is a great place to start. After getting familiar with some of the aspects of the program it was fairly intuitive to try and stylize some of my pictures with a couple of quick clicks, and give them a whole different type of look. I really do hope to have the opportunity to spend more time learning about this program, and possibly getting more creative by using my tablet. All in all as a beginner, I would say that this program provides more than I could even imagine Id use. I think to be honest, if you are mid level to even an expert level type artist, youd really enjoy tinkering around with this software.

If youre unsure about whether this software is for you or will run on your hardware/OS, you can download a 16 day free trial from the Painter website which has the exact same software so you can try it out before you buy. I strongly recommend doing this because it allows you to get a good sense of this software before buying. This listing simply provides a box which contains a serial number to activate the software beyond the trial period.

De alguna manera algo falló, No se puede contactar a Corel. Tengo dos claves activadores pagados y ninguno sirve.

Well ... my mistake. I chose this, thinking it was for a MAC and would work for me. You need Sidecar to be able to operate it. Sidecar is only available on the 5K 2015 models and later. I did not realize mine was so ancient lol. I have a retina 4K 21.5 late 2015. I am getting ready to upgrade my computer this year, but that does not help me now. Installs fine direct from the website. A little finicky, but ultimately was ok. Check your model before purchasing. Will update this when I get it working fully.

Corel Painter Essentials 8 | Beginner Digital Painting Software | Drawing & Photo Art [PC/Mac Key Card]

I am a Mac user, and of course Macs do not have touchscreens. So in order to use this software, you need to connect an iPad that supports the Apple Pencil to your Mac using Sidecar (That is the software that Apple created that allows you to use your iPad as a second monitor for your computer). Although I do have a Mac and an iPad that should be compatible, I have had trouble getting this software to work. I believe that it has a lot of bugs that will hopefully be fixed in future updates, but until that happens and I can get it to work correctly with my hardware, I cant say much about the features of the program. From what I have read online, this program seems to work more reliably with a touchscreen Windows computer, such as a Microsoft Surface Pro. Its not unusual for companies to perfect the Windows version of a program before they fix all of the issues with the Mac version, since there are generally more Windows users in the world. But it is still frustrating for us Mac users.

Painter Essentials is a sophisticated program with some clever features for manipulating images. What you get with your order is basically an empty box, a link, and a serial number. Personally I think its easier to go to the Corel website and download a trial copy or buy a permanent copy. If you have not used Painter before, start with a trial copy. Try it out before you buy.

This is a very nice program. It takes a bit to learn how to use it, but thats typical of any program like this. It is not my favorite to use, however. Its missing some things Im used to in my normal program and is set up differently enough that its not easy for me to use.

well I thought Id be able to use this on my chromebook pro and I may not be able to.... but nonetheless, I feel like it was a total waste of time even sending me this.... I opened up the box to LITERALLY find a piece of paper directing me to a website to download the program.... the box looks exactly like the boxes that windows 10 updates or whatever are sold in.... quick books or something... and the ONLY thing inside of the whole empty box was a website address. I clicked on the download and it didnt even ask for the registration number... I would assume if I ever got the program properly working that it would ask for it at start up but Im just a little confused why this company is doing things the way theyre doing them.... if I ever get Into the program, Ill have to update this review then.... or if I can find a computer that supports the operating system required...

Have used Painter Essentials 6, 7 and now 8. For the money, its a good product for what I do. My on-going complaint is the product is just so darn FLAKY. My moves from 6 to 7, now 7 to 8 have been to simply give up when things stop working and buy the newest (which I suspect is part of the plan). The move to 8 meant one of my favorite brushes stopped working as before; other brush packs just dont work .. period. Have found that lately after using PE 8 I sometimes actually have to restart my computer to get my mouse working again; its like PE 8 has taken hold of the mouse and wont let go even when its closed. Im glad PE stopped with the AI nonsense they began in 7. There is one new auto-painting feature I really do enjoy; most are a re-hash of previous ones, but the palette-knife is wonderful. PE 8 decided to rename some of the brushes .. if it aint broke, dont fix it, its just confusing to the user. When you buy a brush pack of say 10, expect that youll get maybe one or two that actually are any good, the rest are re-hashes of what you already have. I wish COREL would allow you to buy individual brushes; beyond just the price its a matter of all the unwanted brush pack clutter that builds up in your UI (some of which just dont even work .. did I mention that?) Corel phone support is useless. Mail support or chat seems to be a better option. Buying brush packs is hit or miss; depending on HOW you buy them re-installing changes (always buy from the app via NEW BRUSHES ADDED; this allows HELP>RESTORE PURCHASES to work. Always use the same e-mail!) So, I keep using it because a) Ive learned how to use it b) its cheap. Still, I curse it daily.