Corel to update Painter

Software maker Corel announced plans Thursday for the next version of Painter, the company's digital drawing and painting application. Painter 8 will include new tools for mixing colors, more brush choices, tools for converting photographs to line drawings, and enhanced support for opening and saving files created with Adobe Systems' Photoshop image editing software.

Painter 8 will go on sale in early May, with a Macintosh version supporting OS 9 and OS X and a Windows version for Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The full version of the software will sell for $299; an upgrade for those with a previous version of Painter or a competitive product will sell for $149. The new Painter will also mark the retirement of Corel's Procreate brand for professional graphics products. Painter and other Procreate products will now be sold under the Corel name.