Increasing the overall speed, performance and stability of Corel Painter IX was Corel's top priority. Working closely with Apple, Intel and AMD, Corel engineers created improvements wherever possible. The result: Corel Painter has never been a more efficient and powerful application. This is the fastest version of Corel Painter yet. Some brushes perform up to 10 times faster than in previous versions, and all brushes work, on average, twice as fast. In addition, you can now change the default scratch disk location in the Preference settings.

The Artists' Oils Painting System is a milestone in the evolution of digital art. This new painting system enables you to apply paint blends created in the Mixer palette directly onto images in the document window. Each brush dab loads the brush variant with a finite amount of oil. As the oil runs out, the brush stroke becomes fainter. Brush strokes interact with any paint already on the canvas just as they would with natural media.

Brush Control palettes provide easy access to all brush settings and controls. Making on-the-fly changes to brush settings and variables is as simple as dragging a slider—without any disruption to workflow. For example, the new Boost slider, found in the General palette of the Brush Controls, instantly enhances brush speed. Just drag the slider and see brush performance accelerate.

When you need to create a perfect curve or shape, Snap-to-Path Painting is a great time-saver. Snap-to-Path Painting makes it possible to constrain a brush stroke along a path or a shape by clicking a button or using a keyboard shortcut. With a simple click, you can now create a precise brush stroke that reflects the attributes typically found in a Corel Painter stroke, such as pressure, tilt and bearing.

Digital Watercolor has been significantly enhanced in Corel Painter IX. Paint stays wet between sessions, allowing you to start one session where the last one ended. The wet fringe of digital watercolor brush strokes can now be changed dynamically, enabling experimentation after the brush stroke has been applied.

Quick Clone is ideal if you're a photographer because it enables you to transform your photos into paintings. This new feature speeds up the image-cloning workflow and reduces five steps to one. Quick Clone settings can be defined on the General page of the Preferences dialog box.

Getting down to the job at hand has never been easier, thanks to the Corel Painter IX Welcome screen, which launches at startup. Divided into four sections, the Welcome screen gives quick access to recently used files, tutorials, brush and color-management settings, and artwork from renowned Corel Painter masters.

Corel Painter IX includes access to a selection of training videos created by lynda.com梠ne of the world's most renowned graphics training companies梩o guide you through the Corel Painter workspace, tools, features and techniques.