Review by Caraleisa

I’m a Photoshop professional, and have been using Pshop for over 20 years. I am also a digital artist, and have been looking for plugins or applications which will give me greater latitude and capabilities for my work. Corel Paintshop 12 fits that bill very nicely.

It is laid out similarly to the layout of Photoshop, and complements it well. Yes, there is some duplication of capability, but there are also a lot of things that are either difficult to do in Photoshop and made easier here, or are simply not do-able in Photoshop. There are fun tools which can entertain and encourage you to ‘play’ - and as any artist knows, playing with your tools is absolutely necessary to the creative process. There are ample descriptions of what specific tools/capabilities are, so I’m addressing the general feeling when using the app.

That said, there is definitely a learning curve, which you would expect with a program that is this complex. There are tons of tutorials and forums which can answer any question quickly. I also like to simply google my question, and that saves me the time spent searching a forum and takes me right to the answer. Be prepared to move slowly at first, as you learn, but be prepared to be delighted as well.

I still feel that I am a beginner with Painter 12, but I already know a number of things that I will go directly to Painter to accomplish and am looking forward to discovering even more. I really like this application and recommend it to anyone willing to put the time into learning and enhancing their digital art with a new and professional tool.