Discount Software Deals

Corel Painter Essentials 3 is a complete home digital art studio that helps you turn photos into stunning paintings. Capture your special memories with beautiful, hand-made digital art keepsakes, perfect for sharing with friends and family, and for framing. The all-new ‘Photo Painting Palettes’ make transforming photos into paintings as easy as 1-2-3. Digital art is fun for everyone with ‘life-like’ art tools, such as the new Artists’ Oils brush that smears thick, bristly strokes on the canvas. It’s never been easier to learn how to draw and paint, and get started on your next art project, with help from the included video training and tutorials.

User Reviews about Corel Painter Essentials 3 Win Mac [Old Version]

I'd been waiting for the WACOM/Painter program for a long time. I don't know HOW I did without it. That having been stated, I liked Painter Essentials 2 and 3. But 3 glitched once in a while, and when I got a new Dell PC with Vista, Vista wouldn't "take" it. You need to go to Wacom co. to download a "patch" so Vista would accept 3. Don't bother. If you have Windows ME, XP or other OS, you won't need one and the software may or may not give you problems. Since then I've traded up to Painter X....SO much more control and more "brushes" to play with than Essentials, which was merely the bottom of the bucket at the time. Good for scribblers and beginning painters. (I began to turn out/edit the best art of my life, and I started art around 2-3 years.)
If you want to take the leap of faith, go for it. But if you want horse power and realistic "tools" such as Colored Pencil, Conte, Watercolor, Chalk, Crayon, Image Hoses and Oil Paint, don't go for Essentials. IMO, Essentials is the milk, Corel Painter series is the meat and potatoes. Both are good softwares, just don't say you weren't warned about 3's glitchiness/Vista's refusal. -- It was a good program for its time....

I've been using Painter Essentials 3 for most of a week, and find it excellent in every way. My four kids are having a ball with it, too. No glitches whatsoever. The [...] tutorial videos that came as part of the package are very effective, too. It takes a little practice and artistry to produce attractive results, but that's exactly as it should be.

I'm using this program on a G5 iMac. Perhaps the folks experiencing the glitches are running that other kind of computer :-(

All in all, a great program at a great price. -- Excellent Results, Stable as a Rock

I tried the download trial version from the Corel website. The direction are SPARSE, to say the least, and SUPPORT during the trial is non-existant, but eventually, I was able to use the product to produce some gorgeous "paintings." I used it in combination with effects from Adobe Photoshop Elements, and sometimes with Microsoft Photodraw. Just BEE-YOU-TEE-FULL! When I get a little extra spending money, I may invest in the full product purchase, but leaning toward going all out for the Painter software. I think instructions would have helped me get started sooner --you can check books out of the library-- but I liked the program and think it's worth working with. Yes, it was glitchy sometime, but not much, and certainly not more than AdobePE 3.0. I did reload the trial version once, but then it worked fine. I can't complain--it was a 30 day Free trial from Corel's website. Try it first--they give you that option with many of their programs. You don't like it--don't buy it. All you've wasted is a little time. -- Good program, great results; but can be glitchy.

I've not had the difficulties others have expressed with this program. My first experience was with version 2 which was bundled with my Wacom tablet. After using it for a while I was hooked and upgraded to version 3. With a tablet the program is very intuitive, unlike Photoshop CS2 and Illustrator CS2, and produces wonderful results. I've never liked working with digital media until now.

A tablet is essential to getting the most out of the program.
-- A different experience