Customer Reviews

Corel Painter Essentials 3 Win/Mac [Old Version]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

I purchased this product to use as a drawing instrument. It worked great for the first 3 times I used it. After that it started to crash every time I clicked on something/anything. I was told it was the result of a corrupt user profile. I created a new user profile and it worked great...for three times and bam! It started crashing again. Corel will not refund money for a product not purchased directly from them and I had the product just long enough so that I can't get a refund from the place I purchased it. BEWARE and do not get this software. Don't make the same mistake I made. I wasted money I could have used on a program that could have worked.

This software is entirely unstable and not worth buying as my experience with it was identical to a previous review and crashes whenever a photo is opened into it. This is what it was intended for, so if it can't handle files it's supposed to function with, of what use would it be?

Fortunately Painter Essentials 3 came bundled free with a Wacom tablet and cost nothing more, but this reflects on them inasmuch as they purchased license to use it as bait to sell their own merchandise without concern for software stability or customer satisfaction. Beyond this, to compensate I purchased Painter IX as OEM to find Corel not in the least helpful or supportive of their software which is not paid an exorbitant amount for. It's a shame because they could make a good product and actually do with Painter IX, but not if the consumer cannot make the software remain open on their system. Perhaps it's a bug with Windows XP, but I'll never know being as Corel refuses to answer...

In retrospect I felt a need to edit this review being as I've discovered the problem I experienced with this program had a good deal to do with file naming conventions which it is apparently fussy about, not that I'd opened files first edited and saved with Adobe Photoshop Elements as previously suspected. Do not use any operand or bracket, only upper and lower case letters or numbers as for me this made a difference. Refuses to open bitmap files, so using correct extensions is of value. Hope this helps others who might have experienced this same issue! Sometimes the solution is simple, others not, but see if it's not the file causing a problem first, not that this should excuse Corel from responsibility in not providing a patch to prevent this.

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.

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.

Who ever wrote the product discription never try to use it.

There is a long learning curve and not a lot of help out there for you to get through it.

My advice is buy Photoshop at least they publish books to help you get familure with the program.

I got version 2 "free" with my Wacom tablet. After reading another review here of version 3 it seems not much has changed.

Almost every time I try to use this on a Mac it crashes. Not an elegant crash, the app just disappears and the OS tells me "the application has unexpectedly quit". Of course my work disappears with it.

Not very impressive. A piece of software with 5 million features that crashes is useless. Period.

If it actually worked, this would probably be a good piece of software.