Some comparison between computer-painting software

Hi everybody, I'm FHead.

The above sentence has nothing to do with this article.

Recently I'm interested in making computer graphics. I tried three so far....not enough to make advise or conclusion but figured I could as well jot them down here.

Corel Painter Essentials 3

+: Layer grouping, realistic air brush
-: There isn't an obvious way (if any) to me to mark and save some region selections of the canvas (ex. Adding shadow to the plates but not the table since the reflecting properties are different). There are the standard selection tools (rectangular, lasso, etc.), but you really don't want to reselect a complex shape to apply some small changes every time. Not optimal for my purpose....
=: Comes with Wacom tablet, so I have no idea how much this costs.


SAI

+: A lot of Japanese painter uses this program, and is proved to be capable of producing high quality graphics.
+: The "region-selecting" brush solves the selection problem.
-: Japanese-only interface
-: This program is currently free-ware, but once the developing group finishes the project, one need to buy it. It's in the $50 range, pretty acceptable. The problem is that it is under development. The distributed program is only valid for 30 days, and one has to download a newer version (or key?) from the official website every month. There is certain chance that the developers will drop the project, which means that within a month, all the program copies will become invalid. It's a potential threat to draw/paint using this program.


openCanvas 4.5 plus

+: One can lock (or protect) the transparent parts from change for each layer, so the problem of reselecting also goes away.
-: No layer grouping
=: About $75. (￥7800)
-: The interface is not perfectly tuned. For example, if you want to resize a window, the right side of the window won't let you drag. One has to use the top-right corner for horizontal rescaling. Not a big problem though.


Adobe OOOO:

=: I haven't had a chance to try it out. :p


Currently I'm using openCanvas 4.5 Plus.