While having a good painting program isn’t a requirement for most photographers, it can come in handy for sketching out ideas for the “bones” of an image (thanks to John-Paul Caponigro for effectively demonstrating that point to me originally). My favorite when I’m on Windows (or Mac) is ArtRage. The company has just released a solid update to version 4.5. I’ve been using the beta for awhile now and have been quite pleased with the new features…

64-bit Support and Performance Improvements

For high-powered artists, or photographers with high-resolution images looking to add the finishing touches in a paint program, 64-bit support will be a welcome addition. It allows for much better performance in complex painting situations and with large canvases. If you’re just a doodler, it probably won’t seem all that different from version 4. Version 4.5 features performance improvements across the board, that will benefit all users.

Grids

I am a huge fan of grids. That’s not just because I am not the greatest freehand line-drawer, but because many times I am pre-visualizing objects or scenes and it is much quicker to have my lines stay on track automatically (I use graph paper a lot too). The new grids, complete with a “snap-to” capability are a welcome addition to ArtRage. I only wish they also supported a perspective mode, like the grids Adobe has added to its iPad-based drawing tools I reviewed earlier this year.

Interface Features

Power users will like the new capability to reorder swatches and toolbox items, resize the toolbox drawer, and the new font picker. The new Tilt feature allows faster and easier edge shading on systems where the stylus supports the feature.

I’ve been using ArtRage primarily on my Cintiq Companion (an all-in-one portable darkroom), but have also made use of it on my Surface Pro and on my desktop with a more traditional Wacom stylus. ArtRage 4.5 is a free upgrade for registered users of ArtRage 4 (just head to the member’s area to download), or can be purchased from ArtRage for $50.