ArtRage 2.5
© 2007 Ambient Design
Note: See ArtRage for iPad. One of the best things about the Internet is that it doesn't really matter where a smart programmer lives. Take ArtRage, a painting program that you can download as an 18 MB file from New Zealand, from Ambient Design (www.artrage.com). First released as a free download in 2004, version 2.5 (now sold for $25) runs on the latest Windows or Macintosh computers. After installation, you see a blank screen, surrounded by pop-up virtual art drawers that simulate every tool an artist could ever dream of. You start by choosing your canvas size and paper grains. Next, you can use your mouse or, better yet, a pressure-sensitive digital tablet, to experiment with oils, pencils, crayons, an airbrush, chalk or markers, that can be blended with the palette knife tool. You can use either a pre-set color pallet or customize one for your own particular projects. Other features include transparent layers that the publisher claims are Photoshop compatible, a template feature that makes tracing easy, a color editor, as well as all the standard creativity tools such as paint and fill. You can easily import images if you want to modify them, or pull in a stencil to lay down. Photoshop users will note that it is not easy to convert an image in either RGB or CMYK format, or to change resolution for use on the Internet. But that's not the point of this creativity tool. Two new tools have been added: the Precise Pencil works like a mechanical pencil for a precise clean line and the Smooth Blender gives soft-edge subtle blending. Installation takes 18.2 MB of space and typing in a long registration key. Work can be exported in all popular formats, including JPEG, TIFF, PNG, TGA and PSD (Photoshop), and it is easy to import image in the same formats. If computers were around in the 1600's, you can bet that Rembrandt would have been using software like this.
$2540, Windows, Mac OSX
Teaches: art, creativity
CTR Rating: 94%