Corel Painter

What: Painting and illustration software

By: Corel Corporation

Cost: $399 download; $429 box

Download: www.corel.com

Corel Painter helps you create digital paintings that look like they've been made using real-world media. More than 30 customizable brushes simulate the look of artists' oils, watercolor, acrylics, pastels, crayons, and more. Painter allows you to control the texture of the painting surface, and brushes interact with the grain, just as they would in real life. You can also mix custom colors on a palette, just as an artist can do with real paint.

Painter offers a host of animation features and supports scripting to automate repetitive operations. It can import from and export to most popular file formats, including PSD, TIFF, BMP, TARGA, JPEG, PICT, AI, MOV, and AVI.

The figure shows a painting that painter and Peachpit author Cher Threinen-Pendarvis created in Painter, along with the Artists' Oils control, Mixer palette, and Color Sets window.

Why I like it: With Corel Painter, you can explore your inner Van Gogh right on your Mac mini.