Fractal Design Painter 5
Fractal Design Painter 5 MAC CD design painting graphics tool trace image brush
Application
Mac
Fractal Design
1997
CD
$46.99
Share:
Fractal Design Painter 5
What is "natural painting?" It is what Painter 5 is all about. At least that is the core concept behind this outstanding program – now, with this version, there is a lot more. But the major thing which makes Painter 5 stand out is natural painting. What is natural painting? Look to the left. This graphic started out its life as a clipart drawing of a mortar and pestle from CorelDraw! Let me say that CorelDraw's clipart has saved my life a million times, but this time, we wanted something a little different, a little more artsy.
How did we do it? With Painter 5's brushes. Painter has a unique tool called tracing paper. You use it to trace an image with a different type of brush, then save the tracing and, behold, an entirely new image. And, thanks to an autoclone feature, you don't have to even do the actual tracing, the program does it for you. The person who wanted this mortar and pestle was just delighted. It gave his whole project a lot of spark. We were happy, too. Because it made him happy.
Brushes are so at the heart of Painter that version 5 has a whole window full of "new" ones. They have stuff like fire, twirls, glows and the like. These things are a lot different than the filters you might find in other programs because they are brushes. You can brush these effects into your artwork and get some really incredible stuff. In addition to the things you see here, there are scads of additional brushes on the Painter CD. You could probably work with the program for six months and never use the same brush twice. If this were not enough cool stuff, Painter 5 offers something called "nozzles." The drawing (yes, it is a drawing) on the left is done almost exclusively with these nozzles.
What's a nozzle?
Think of a hose nozzle filled with images. In the picture on the left, we filled one nozzle with clouds and "sprayed" them into the sky; we filled another with the houses and did the same (obliterating the sky). Then, for fun, we made the "doorway" with rocks with a third nozzle and added the ivy (ya' gotta' have ivy on rocks) with a fourth nozzle. Like the burshes, there are tons of nozzles on the CD and you can also make your own. The process is easy. Note for instance, that the houses are different sizes and shapes. Yes, we loaded different sizes and shapes into the nozzle so we got a random pattern. The best part: all this took about two hours to learn with the outstanding tutorial that accompanies the program. Needless to say, to become really proficient requires a lot more time, but we made the mortar and pestle illustration right after we finished the tutorial.
Painter 5 also does movies, which can be output to Quicktime or GIF animations.
It would be totally unfair were we to leave you with the impression that what Painter 5 does is lots of fancy stuff with nozzles, strange brushes and the like. As we said at the beginning of this review, the heart of the program is natural painting: with means the program comes with a whole host of natural-type brushes – pencils and chalk, markers and crayons – all of which can be varied by color, opacity, size, angle and a host of other things. These brushes can be painted on a huge variety of "paper" types and also come with pattern and weave variants.
There are masks, "floaters" to apply effects and scripts, which means you can repeat an effect on a variety of images. Had we scripted the mortar and pestle, for instance, we could have brought in all sorts of "smooth" artwork and applied the same effect to them. A totally outstanding program!
For Mac (Power Macintosh: OS 9 or Below) [*Please review compatibility/platform sections in 'What You Get']
What is "natural painting?" It is what Painter 5 is all about. At least that is the core concept behind this outstanding program – now, with this version, there is a lot more. But the major thing which makes Painter 5 stand out is natural painting. What is natural painting? Look to the left. This graphic started out its life as a clipart drawing of a mortar and pestle from CorelDraw! Let me say that CorelDraw's clipart has saved my life a million times, but this time, we wanted something a little different, a little more artsy.
How did we do it? With Painter 5's brushes. Painter has a unique tool called tracing paper. You use it to trace an image with a different type of brush, then save the tracing and, behold, an entirely new image. And, thanks to an autoclone feature, you don't have to even do the actual tracing, the program does it for you. The person who wanted this mortar and pestle was just delighted. It gave his whole project a lot of spark. We were happy, too. Because it made him happy.
Brushes are so at the heart of Painter that version 5 has a whole window full of "new" ones. They have stuff like fire, twirls, glows and the like. These things are a lot different than the filters you might find in other programs because they are brushes. You can brush these effects into your artwork and get some really incredible stuff. In addition to the things you see here, there are scads of additional brushes on the Painter CD. You could probably work with the program for six months and never use the same brush twice. If this were not enough cool stuff, Painter 5 offers something called "nozzles." The drawing (yes, it is a drawing) on the left is done almost exclusively with these nozzles.
What's a nozzle?
Think of a hose nozzle filled with images. In the picture on the left, we filled one nozzle with clouds and "sprayed" them into the sky; we filled another with the houses and did the same (obliterating the sky). Then, for fun, we made the "doorway" with rocks with a third nozzle and added the ivy (ya' gotta' have ivy on rocks) with a fourth nozzle. Like the burshes, there are tons of nozzles on the CD and you can also make your own. The process is easy. Note for instance, that the houses are different sizes and shapes. Yes, we loaded different sizes and shapes into the nozzle so we got a random pattern. The best part: all this took about two hours to learn with the outstanding tutorial that accompanies the program. Needless to say, to become really proficient requires a lot more time, but we made the mortar and pestle illustration right after we finished the tutorial.
Painter 5 also does movies, which can be output to Quicktime or GIF animations.
It would be totally unfair were we to leave you with the impression that what Painter 5 does is lots of fancy stuff with nozzles, strange brushes and the like. As we said at the beginning of this review, the heart of the program is natural painting: with means the program comes with a whole host of natural-type brushes – pencils and chalk, markers and crayons – all of which can be varied by color, opacity, size, angle and a host of other things. These brushes can be painted on a huge variety of "paper" types and also come with pattern and weave variants.
There are masks, "floaters" to apply effects and scripts, which means you can repeat an effect on a variety of images. Had we scripted the mortar and pestle, for instance, we could have brought in all sorts of "smooth" artwork and applied the same effect to them. A totally outstanding program!
For Mac (Power Macintosh: OS 9 or Below) [*Please review compatibility/platform sections in 'What You Get']
WHAT YOU GET:
This item is for the original media, and includes only the media (ie. CD, floppy ...) UNLESS specifically stated above and/or in the title. If more than just the media is included, it will state which items are (ie. box, manual, etc ). Items that come in a sleeve refer to a generic CD sleeve (typically white) and will be sent with shipping protection to avoid damage during transit. If available, we will also send the front and/or back CD inserts if in stock. If these are important to you, please message us to verify we have them available to send. Please do not assume items are included other than what's stated. Again, ask questions PRIOR to purchasing if you have any concerns.
IMAGES:
All images/pictures are stock photos and are for reference only, mainly to show the type of game you will be getting. Please read "WHAT YOU GET" for what is included with the media. Screenshots may vary based on your own computer system, video card, monitor, etc.
COMPATIBILITY:
Computers are like people, each one is different. Unlike console games, a computer game may install and work flawlessly on one system but may need adjustments on another. This is due to a variety of factors, mainly the OS platform running, video card you have, drivers, protection software installed, etc. Many times manufacturers release updates to games to fix bugs and add enhancements. We would be happy to help get the game going on your computer, but ultimately compatibility issues are the responsibility of the buyer. We suggest going to Google and searching for the name of the game along with the words "system requirements" to determine if your system is suitable. Ultimately, we are not responsible for software compatibility problems or publisher's errors.
PLATFORM:
Stated within the auction is what platform the game will work on (ie. Windows, Mac, Linux...) This is a generic statement and specific platform versions (ie. XP, Vista...) will have to be researched by the buyer. Games that came out PRIOR to XP or higher will not specifically state they will work on that release, but only because they came out before those versions were made. Many, if not most, will work on XP or higher with a few quick adjustments. We provide instructions with all items purchased on how to do this adjustment using the Program Compatibility Wizard. If we find out that an item will definately not work on a specific version, we will state it. For DOS games, you may need to play it with a free DOSbox program if the Program Compatibility Wizard does not work.
64-Bit Windows OS Systems:
For 64-bit Operating Systems, older games most likely will NOT work due to 64-bit systems not being able to run 16-bit programming code (most games prior to 2000). For DOS games, you may need to play it with a free DOSbox program.
Macintosh Systems:
For Macintosh programs, most older games will need to be run in Classic Environment if you have a MAC OS X 10.0 - 10.4 version. Please research Google on how to do this, or send us a message for information prior to purchasing. If your MAC OS system doesn't support Classic Environment (ie. MAC OS X 10.5 or Higher OR Intel Macs), you will have to try running it using the free program called SheepShaver, but compatibility is not ensured. Please research prior to purchasing or ask questions.
MEDIA FORMAT:
Please verify you have the required hardware in order to use the specified media (ie. CD, DVD, floppy drives, etc.) If the item comes as a floppy disc, make sure you have either the needed 3.5" floppy drive or the bigger and older 5.25" floppy drive.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A SMOOTH PURCHASE:
Ask questions PRIOR to purchasing an order to avoid any confusion.
Be patient if there are problems during installation or gameplay. Typically someone else has
already ran into that problem and has listed a solution online. Contact us and we will do our best to help.
Be sure to update your video card drivers and search for updates to the game from the manufacturer.
This item is for the original media, and includes only the media (ie. CD, floppy ...) UNLESS specifically stated above and/or in the title. If more than just the media is included, it will state which items are (ie. box, manual, etc ). Items that come in a sleeve refer to a generic CD sleeve (typically white) and will be sent with shipping protection to avoid damage during transit. If available, we will also send the front and/or back CD inserts if in stock. If these are important to you, please message us to verify we have them available to send. Please do not assume items are included other than what's stated. Again, ask questions PRIOR to purchasing if you have any concerns.
IMAGES:
All images/pictures are stock photos and are for reference only, mainly to show the type of game you will be getting. Please read "WHAT YOU GET" for what is included with the media. Screenshots may vary based on your own computer system, video card, monitor, etc.
COMPATIBILITY:
Computers are like people, each one is different. Unlike console games, a computer game may install and work flawlessly on one system but may need adjustments on another. This is due to a variety of factors, mainly the OS platform running, video card you have, drivers, protection software installed, etc. Many times manufacturers release updates to games to fix bugs and add enhancements. We would be happy to help get the game going on your computer, but ultimately compatibility issues are the responsibility of the buyer. We suggest going to Google and searching for the name of the game along with the words "system requirements" to determine if your system is suitable. Ultimately, we are not responsible for software compatibility problems or publisher's errors.
PLATFORM:
Stated within the auction is what platform the game will work on (ie. Windows, Mac, Linux...) This is a generic statement and specific platform versions (ie. XP, Vista...) will have to be researched by the buyer. Games that came out PRIOR to XP or higher will not specifically state they will work on that release, but only because they came out before those versions were made. Many, if not most, will work on XP or higher with a few quick adjustments. We provide instructions with all items purchased on how to do this adjustment using the Program Compatibility Wizard. If we find out that an item will definately not work on a specific version, we will state it. For DOS games, you may need to play it with a free DOSbox program if the Program Compatibility Wizard does not work.
64-Bit Windows OS Systems:
For 64-bit Operating Systems, older games most likely will NOT work due to 64-bit systems not being able to run 16-bit programming code (most games prior to 2000). For DOS games, you may need to play it with a free DOSbox program.
Macintosh Systems:
For Macintosh programs, most older games will need to be run in Classic Environment if you have a MAC OS X 10.0 - 10.4 version. Please research Google on how to do this, or send us a message for information prior to purchasing. If your MAC OS system doesn't support Classic Environment (ie. MAC OS X 10.5 or Higher OR Intel Macs), you will have to try running it using the free program called SheepShaver, but compatibility is not ensured. Please research prior to purchasing or ask questions.
MEDIA FORMAT:
Please verify you have the required hardware in order to use the specified media (ie. CD, DVD, floppy drives, etc.) If the item comes as a floppy disc, make sure you have either the needed 3.5" floppy drive or the bigger and older 5.25" floppy drive.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A SMOOTH PURCHASE:
SHIPPING:
We typically ship all items out within 1-2 business days after payment is received. In regards to the stated shipping and handling, remember that these costs include more than just postage.
International buyers please email/chat with us to determine if you are eligible for shipping of a specific product. If you are, then international buyers not shipping to an address within the U.S. can expect their orders to take anywhere from 5 days to 4 weeks to be received, depending on how fast/well USPS is moving. Additionally, international orders typically have to go through governmental customs, which can delay the arrival process. Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to buying. Customs fees are normally charged by the shipping company or collected when you pick the item up. These fees are not additional shipping charges.
We typically ship all items out within 1-2 business days after payment is received. In regards to the stated shipping and handling, remember that these costs include more than just postage.
International buyers please email/chat with us to determine if you are eligible for shipping of a specific product. If you are, then international buyers not shipping to an address within the U.S. can expect their orders to take anywhere from 5 days to 4 weeks to be received, depending on how fast/well USPS is moving. Additionally, international orders typically have to go through governmental customs, which can delay the arrival process. Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to buying. Customs fees are normally charged by the shipping company or collected when you pick the item up. These fees are not additional shipping charges.
