[AnnaVictory]

I like both programs! Photoshop is realy good for correction and for more technical design (my personal opinion). Recently discovered Painter and now I LOVE IT!!!

[bthompson]

I think the debate is like the photoshop or illustrator debate. I think it's apples and oranges. They are both very good in their own right.

I use both. like photoshop for photo enhancement, but it's difficult to draw with. Painter is great for drawing and art, but is limited for photo enhancement. I say get them both if you can.

[devikapathare]

I prefer photoshop as I am well versed in that

[SusanGray]

I suggested Painter 11 all the way. In my view it has the most natural feel to it that permits you to search your own way of drawing. Though its good to have Photoshop as well for some of the things Painter will lack in (like merging layers) I've heard that there's a new Painter 12 that's supposed solve all these though.

I can throw out this nice tip: try setting the tablets active drawing area on the screen to the exact size of your tablet. You'll have to watch to not 'hit the walls', but it will allow you to use your natural hand moments to put more true expression into the drawing.

[Blindrat]

I use both really.

Specifically painter 12 and Photoshop cs5(i use 6 when I'm at work though). To me they're both good at some things and not so good at others. When it comes to actually painting and drawing the tools in painter 12 just out do Photoshop as a baseline. However Photoshop is more than capable of mimicking or coming close to the look and feel you want from painter, but the way you go about it may be harder or a longer process than painter. This is not to say that one is better than the other, it's really a matter of learning how each program functions and what they're good at doing. Once you know what you're looking for and become familiar it comes down to the user them self.

Personally I'll just start a picture in whichever I just happen to have open or accidentally click. Though usually I'll start my sketches in Photoshop then paint on top with painter. Lately though I've just been doing the entire thing in painter and doing color correction and adjustments in Photoshop, which i find to work out a lot better for me.

The only thing that tends to annoy me about Painter is that unlike Photoshop I can't have 2 windows of the same image that dynamically update, but theres a few work-arounds for that.

@SusanGray - You can most definitely merge layers in Painter 12.

[maxxbiff]

If I could go back and choose I would def go with Photoshop. Painter 12 is ok but man does it bug out often. also the files are massive! I work on a 4000x2000 canvas and once i get past two layers with some detail it begins to chug and delay like crazy! I got painter because I wanted that "painterly feel" in the digital realm. sigh . . . what a fool i was. No more thinking or second guessing just get Photoshop it is most used in industry and if you subscribe to imagine FX you can actually use the tool tips offered in the mag! Hope this helps. If you want to check out what painter images look like I have a gallery (not impressive by a long shot but its something)

[pericusmaximus]

I think Photoshop has many more options than Painter but they are not so "painterly" at first. Painter gives the added value to provide painting and drawing options from every menu, while Photoshop needs more work at the beginning. Even the blending options that look great in Painter can be customized in Photoshop using specific smudge brushes and some settings that are not default.
I prefer Photoshop.

[pericusmaximus]

by the way, I realized that the nice color wheel picker from Painter can be also implemented in Photoshop! it is needed an external plug in but it shines

[Milish]

To be fair, if Photoshop had Painter brushes (say, 2 sets: default PS brush behaviour, and 2nd set: Painter-like one) then Painter would pretty much become obsolete.

I'm guessing most people (myself included) use painter becasue of that fantastic brush feeling and how closely it immitates traditional media- at least I have not seen any other software that would come anywhere near what Painter offers in that matter.

However everything else - and most of all program stability - Photoshop takes the crown. Working on high resolution and with multiple layers in Painter is pretty much impossible.

Then again there are fantastic artists who work with Painter just fine (maybe they don't get paranoid about adding something to the canvas and therefore don't have the need to add every single detail on a new layer xD ).

Personally I work with both (I am fairly fresh to digital medium still though) and I keep hoping that one day Adobe will buy Corel and put painter brushes in PS xD

[QTMelon]

I find Photoshop more stable than Painter, but the latest Painter I have received less crashes than Photoshop CS6. I even have more problems, even after adjusting the GPU settings in CS6 - with lag.

That being said I know many that will swear by Painter for better brushes and others that swear by Photoshop.

Painter uses the Wacom drivers better and more than Photoshop, but it comes at a price with certain issues that look like stability problems on Painter's part. One frequent error was that Painter would crash when trying to close the program due to how the Wacom driver would behave.

On the other hand I still find the pressure curve in Photoshop rather troublesome to deal with. The shoelace bug is present in each version of CS I have used. Fat beginning strokes are present in Photoshop.

I had to create a guide on how to correct this using the Wacom Pressure curve tool.



Image editing, layer masks, transformations, stability. Photoshop - hands down

However, It's still too much tweaking and poor brush categorization - that I find myself using Painter or even Paint Tool Sai.

Painter 12 has made it easier to categorize my most used brushes, and nice customizable icons. Photoshop still is a bit cumbersome in that department.

My painting method with blending is still done faster in Painter than Photoshop.