Painter Essentials 7

Convert photos into convincing works of art using brush-based techniques

- GEORGE CAIRNS

£34.99 FROM painterartist.com NEEDS macOS 10.13 or later

Although Painter Essentials 7 is a cut-down version of Painter 2020, it packs more than enough tools to enable you to mimic a range of natural media such as oil paintings or watercolors. The Essentials software is considerably cheaper than the full version’s £251.99 price tag, but it can still produce convincing results.

A bonus of using Painter Essentials 7 is that it’s faster to master than the more complex full version, and you can convert a picture’s pixels into paint-like strokes within minutes. If you’ve used older versions of Painter Essentials then you’ll notice that tool icons have been revamped to make them easier to identify. For example, a purple highlight helps you clearly see which tool is active. The revamped Magnifier tool lets you scrub to zoom in and out of your image, enabling you to fine-tune delicate detail or work on the big picture.