Painter: A program that's hard to categorize but fun to use

Corel acquired Painter from Macromedia several years ago. Through the years, Painter has built a loyal following among electronic artists who see the program as a tool that allows them to accomplish things they would otherwise be unable to do with a computer. And although that's exactly right, it also doesn't begin to tell what Painter can do.

The program is also perceived as an one with a quirky interface that's hard to learn. The latest version of Painter looks much more like a Corel application and it's a lot less confusing to figure out. But it's still not an application most people could pick up and start using. But that's OK. It takes a special kind of person to need what Painter does.

Sharon George, a San Diego artist who specializes in fantasy art is one of the people who use Painter for some of the things she does. I've placed a sample at the right. Click it for a larger view. Or visit Sharon's website. She uses Painter, Corel PhotoPaint, and other applications (on a Windows PC, I might add) to create some astonishingly beautiful work. This is one of the tasks Painter can help with.

Later, I'll show you some of my work. If you'd like to save time, just poke yourself in the eye right now. I am not an artist.

How different is Corel Painter IX from other programs? Consider:

• Getting my hands on a copy of the application requires passing an essay exam. (Oh, all right. It wasn't really an exam, but I was asked several pointed questions that essentially came down to, "Do you have a clue how this application works, what it's supposed to do, or how to use it?")
• The first three sections (43 pages) of the 175-page manual are dedicated to the application's history.
• Painter no longer arrives in a paint can (the history section explained that the paint can was simultaneously more dramatic than standard software packaging of the day and less expensive), but it's in a 2-part fold-apart book that appears to have been drawn by hand. The illustration on the box shows a hand with 9 fingers and a thumb.
• Section 5 of the manual pages 81 through 175 consists of 9 "tutorials" by users of Painter who explain how they use the application to produce art.
• If you've kept up with the math, that leaves 30 pages (47 through 77) for the basic "reference" section of the manual.

That's different. But it's not different just to be different. It's different because Painter is a different kind of program. Always has been. It was the first "natural media" application and it's still the best.

Programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Corel PhotoPaint have added natural media brushes over the years, but Painter continues to the the application with natural media brushes that are also highly realistic. Add to this the ability to generate computer versions of natural art surfaces (paper, canvas to name two) and you have a program with the potential to create (in the hands of someone who has a clue how to use it) some astonishingly realistic ("painterly") illustrations.

Natural media include ink, chalk, paint, watercolor -- all the usual artistic suspects. But that's not all. In addition to the natural media brushes, there are some unnatural media brushes. Some of these are so odd that they might be arrested in Texas. One I've named the "cat tail" sprays a multi-color pattern that looks a lot like a cat's tail, except that it includes touches of green and blue.

If you're not satisfied with the brushes Corel includes with Painter, you can design your own. Maybe you'd like an airbrush that sprays asphalt and the asphalt is thick (like a heavy oil paint) but runs a bit (like watercolors). "This is physically impossible!" is what you're thinking (or muttering at the screen) now. True. But physical impossibility isn't an impediment for Painter. Use the brush design tool and see what you can develop, even if it's not "natural".

Some samples from a non-artist

What can a bozo with no art training do? When I say "no art training" I mean that I've never attended art school and that I would have flunked art in grade school (if I had gone to a school that offered art in grade school.) In the intervening years, I've learned a few design principles and can usually create logos or layout that don't cause people to run from the room, retching. But I'm still not able to do more than draw a straight line if I have a ruler.

	<<< Using the pen tool (and a Wacom digitizing tablet) I wrote "Hello, comrade!" I should remind you here that I am not a Russian spy.
	At the right is my attempt at abstract art. I should remind you here that I am also not an artist. >>>
	<<< Here's another abstract thing. Pretty sad, isn't it? Just imagine what I could do if I had even 17% of Sharon George's talent.
	As far as I know, there aren't any cats with that particular shade of blue in their tails. >>>

Instead of showing you my painfully bad creations, let's take a look at what some people with artistic talent can do. You can see full-size copies of these images and more samples on the Corel Painter website. I have place the name of the artist at the right of each image, along with a link that will take you to the artist's website.

		Chet Phillips
		Fay Sirkis
		Helen Yancy
		Taylon Dismukes
		Karen Carr
		Philip Straub
		Wonman Kim

Have a party with Painter: You bring the talent and Painter will bring the tools.

Technology corner rating for COREL PAINTER

10 CATS: Even though I reach my level of incompetence almost immediately after opening the box, I still understand the power that this application puts in the hands of anyone who has artistic talent and a digitizing tablet. See more at the Corel website.

How the Technology Corner rating system works.

Feeling a little insecure these days?

If it seems to you that there's a new security disaster just about every week, you're not alone. It seems that way to me, too. Identity theft is a huge and growing problem, yet big companies sell data to crooks, allow thieves to plant worms and viruses on their networks, and sometimes just flat out lose the information. Consider:

• Citigroup thought it would be a good idea to send unencrypted tapes with sensitive financial information about 3,900,000 people via UPS. The package disappeared without a trace.
• ChoicePoint unknowingly sold names, addresses, and Social Security numbers belonging to nearly 150,000 people to thieves who were using stolen identities and had created 50 dummy businesses.
• LexisNexis announced that hackers gained access to the personal files of 32,000 people, then later said that was wrong -- the actual number was 310,000 people. But the thieves got only the victims' names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and driver's license numbers. The company happily added that the thieves didn't get any credit history information, medical records, or financial information.
• A computer hacker who gained access to CardSystems Solutions computers may have made off with information about more than 40,000,000 credit card accounts. CardSystems processes information for all brands of credit cards -- MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, and others.

The innocent suffer while the careless apologize

When somebody steals you identity, what happens? I hope that I never find out, but those who have had the experience say that it's not enjoyable. The process of rebuilding credit histories and trust takes years and costs both money and time.

What happens to the company that loses your financial information or accidentally sells it to a crook? So far, nothing. It's an embarrassment for the company. The usual response is usually along the lines of, "Oops. We made a boo-boo, but we'll try not to do it again."

This isn't good enough. Until California's legislature passed a law mandating that companies must notify its customers when there's a security breach, companies didn't even have to admit the existence of a problem. There's an effort to create a similar law on the federal level.

But even if such a law goes into effect, nothing else changes: The innocent victims are still left to pick up the pieces and the companies just walk away. Security is tough -- there's no question about that. But isn't it about time for the companies that lose your information or sell it to thieves or design their systems so that it's easy for somebody to make off with hundreds of thousands of records to be held financially accountable? If a company's inefficiency or incompetence costs you $1000 through no fault of your own, shouldn't that company be liable for picking up the cost?

I'm not a big fan of class-action lawsuits, but it seems to me that this is a situation in which some smart attorneys could make a lot of money for themselves, get a little justice for victims, and -- in the process -- force some big companies to pay closer attention to security concerns.

How wired are libraries?

We've talked about libraries in central Ohio and about some of the electronic features they're offering. The good news is that we're not alone. Most libraries offer free public Internet access. Increasingly, they're offering wireless connections.

A study by the American Library Association says 98.9% of libraries offer free public Internet access. Ten years ago, that was about 20%. Wireless connections are available in 18% of libraries and an additional 21% plan to add it within a year.

Not surprisingly, the study says rural areas were more likely to have slower connections and fewer workstations while urban areas have higher speed connections. At the low end of the scale -- Arkansas, California, Idaho, New Hampshire, Virginia, and West Virginia. Yes, California is on the list at the low end.

California has cut funding for libraries. Ohio's legislators are trying to, but enough people made enough noise that they're safe -- for now.

The American Library Association's study was sent to 6,865 libraries -- about half of the libraries in the country. Responses were received from 5,023 libraries in 34 states. The study says that about 40% of public libraries filter public Internet access on computers used by minors. The state library systems in Georgia and West Virginia have installed filters on all computers.

Nerdly News

Welcome to the third world

If you thought the United States was the world leader in Internet technology, you were right. (Note to the careful reader: Note the judicious use of past tense. This is intentional.) We invented the Internet, after all. According to an article in Foreign Affairs magazine, that's no longer the case. In an article called "Down to the Wire", Thomas Bleha writes that Japan is using what used to be called an "industrial policy" to create incentives for expanding broadband and wireless technology throughout the country. The US has done nothing.

As a result, Japan now has a higher percentage of homes wired with broadband, the system is more than a dozen times faster than what most of us see in the United States, and the price is about half what we pay.

In the near future, writes Bleha, Japan, South Korea, and other countries in Asia will push ahead of the United States in teleconferencing, telecommuting, remote medical services, distance education, and multimedia entertainment just to name a few. Now might be a good time to learn Japanese. Or Chinese.

The entire article is available here.

RSS in Longhorn

Microsoft says it's next version of Windows will have built-in support for Internet data feeds. The technology is called Really Simple Syndication (RSS) and is increasingly popular among those who want news headlines and other information constantly.

On the Mac side, OS X 10.4 (Tiger) includes support for RSS in its Safari browser. Browsers such as Firefox include support for RSS with extensions. For Microsoft, RSS will be a part of Internet Explorer when Longhorn ships. Whenever that is.

Microsoft says Longhorn will store all data downloaded by RSS in one location and will maintain a central list feeds for each of the computer user's.

50 million for Itunes in Europe

Apple says it has sold 50 million songs from its European stores in its first year of operation in Europe. Country-specific stores began operating in the UK, France, and Germany in June of last year and opened in 14 other countries between then and now. Each of the European stores has a catalog of more than 1,000,000 songs.

Itunes has been around for just 2 years and Apple says that 70% of the global music market can now order from the service. Itunes is in the US and Canada, along with 17 other countries. Worldwide downloads have hit 430 million songs. That's $425,700,000 paid to Apple for music.

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