While Adobe dominates the graphics and publishing sector, there are two graphical areas in which it is somewhat surprisingly absent—3D and natural media. There are many providers of 3D applications but when it comes to natural media, Corel's Painter stands alone as a professional-grade tool. It has found favor with a wide spectrum of illustrators and concept artists but recently has also become attractive to digital photographers, with the addition of photo transformation functionality to version IX.5.

The new version sports quite a list of additions and improvements, notably the RealBristle Painting System that's said to faithfully replicate traditional art media via individual bristles that respond similarly to their real-world counterparts. New composition tools include the Divine Proportion composition tool, which provides guidelines that follow the Divine Proportion, or (Golden Ratio). A new Layout Grid composition tool provides guidelines that follow photography’s Rule of Thirds, and can be customized to other grid patterns.

The Photo-Painting System has been enhanced to allow photographers to more easily transform their photos, thanks to such features as a new Smart Stroke Painting option that applies brush strokes that follow the forms of the original photo, via matching changes to brush size, stroke length and pressure, based on the detail and focal areas of the original image. Other new functionality includes a Match Palette effect, a Universal Mixer palette, a Workspace Manager, Dodge and Burn tools, enhanced Photoshop support, enhanced color management and versions for both Intel-based Mac and Windows Vista systems.

Corel Painter X is currently available for pre-order for $429 on the Corel site. A Limited Edition version supplied in the Classic Painter can, which also includes the complete Learning Corel Painter X with Jeremy Sutton DVD-ROM, the Corel Painter X collectors poster and the Corel Painter X Composition tool, is available for $499. Trial versions are also available for download.