Newsletter

As the price of wide format photo printers like the ones offered by Epson,
Canon, and HP continues to come down, more and more digital photo enthusiasts
are adding them to their digital darkrooms. For less than $400, you can now
print photo quality 11x14" images (actually, up to 13x19), saving money
and time without sending these prints out to a photo lab.

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Corel Corporation has kicked off the "Summer of Painter" with two announcements
regarding Corel Painter IX. The Corel Painter IX 9.1 update is now available as
a free download for all Painter IX customers. The update provides customers with
new features and enhancements including:



Dual Monitor Support for Windows Customers running Windows 2000 and Windows XP
can now also experience the same level of dual monitor support enjoyed by Mac
OS X customers. Palettes, toolbars, and the toolbox can now be moved outside the
application window and dialog boxes appear on the same monitor as the active canvas.




New Art Pen Brushes Following the introduction of the Corel Painter IX Art Pen
Brush Pack this spring, Corel has introduced five additional brushes to take advantage
of the powerful realism and control of the Wacom 6D Art Pen. Customers who download
the 9.1 update will receive 10 brushes in total, which include the five brushes
previously introduced in the Art Pen Brush Pack.



Enhanced Dab Type Support for 'Rotation' Expression In addition to adding new
brushes to take advantage of the Wacom 6D Art Pen, Corel Painter IX 9.1 offers
rotation expression with the following Dab types: Circular, Captured Dab, Artists'
Oils, Camel Hair, Flat, Liquid Ink Camel Hair, Liquid Ink Flat, Watercolor Camel
Hair, Watercolor Flat, Palette Knife, Liquid Ink Palette Knife, and Watercolor
Palette Knife.



Enhanced Support for Mac OS X Tiger Corel Painter IX 9.1 now provides even better
overall performance when running on Tiger. This enhancement complements the Corel
Painter IX Spotlight plugin introduced earlier this spring that enables customers
to take full advantage of Tiger's advanced searching capabilities with their Painter
files.



To download the Corel Painter IX 9.1 update and to access a full list of included
enhancements, please visit www.corel.com/painterix/91update.



Corel has also introduced the Corel Painter Open Upgrade Program for customers
in North America and the United Kingdom. Until August 31, 2005, the Corel Painter
IX upgrade policy has been broadened to include any graphics or imaging software
package from the following companies: Adobe, Macromedia, ACD Systems, Corel (including
Corel Painter Classic, Painter Essentials, and any previous version of Painter),
Microsoft, and Apple. For a limited time, Corel Painter IX is available through
Corel and participating resellers at the upgrade suggested retail price of $229
a savings of $200 off the full suggested retail price of $429. Resellers may sell
for less. For more details, please visit www.corel.com/painter/openupgrade.
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One of the main problem areas for many digital photographers is getting a print
that is reasonably close to what you see on screen. Assuming that you have a
calibrated display (and if you don't, stop reading this article and profile
your monitor!) the problem may lie in your printer settings. It's all
too common to find that someone having problems is actually managing the printer
settings twice - once in the print driver and once in their image editing software.

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Until recently, few digital camera owners were able to make true wide angle
images because a 38mm focal length was the shortest available in built-in zooms.
(All focal lengths are discussed in 35mm format equivalent.) Today, an increasing
number of digicams include zooms that start at 28mm or even 24mm. Many of the
high-end cameras also accept 0.7x adapters, ideal for ultra wide angle photography.
And SLR system lens manufacturers have also started making incredibly short
zooms, such as 12-24mm, for a very wide angle of view. All of this is great
news for creative shooters who want to expand their visual horizons.

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As recently as 18 months ago, a built-in image stabilizer was a rarity in digital
cameras. It was available only in a couple of Panasonic models and one Konica
Minolta DiMAGE camera. Today, an increasing number of digicams -- from four
manufacturers -- employ some form of camera shake compensating device. And there's
even a digital SLR with a built-in Anti-Shake mechanism, the Maxxum 7D. We expect
this trend to continue with other manufacturers jumping on the bandwagon. "Sounds
great if you're into high-tech gizmos," you may be thinking, "but
is this feature really necessary?"

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