ArtRage 2.5 was just released, and it has some great new features. It is a free upgrade for all registered users of 2.2. For new purchasers, there has been a slight price increase from $20 to $25 USD. There is no free version of 2.5 at this time.
Major feature enhancements:
- Stencils & Rulers
- Layer Content Transformation
- Copy & Paste
- Layer Groups & Layer Names
- Resolution Support
- Smooth Blender
- Precise Pencil
- Mousewheel Zoom
- Recent Files List
- More Image Formats
- Internal Updater
- Toolbox Panel
- Layers Panel
- Color Samples Panel
- Languages
- OSX Application Bundle
- OSX Window Resizing
- Crash Recovery
- Import To Layer
- Bump Blend Modes
- Canvas Zoom Shortcut
- User Content Support Shifted
- Reference Image Persistency
- Improved Vista Support
Unofficial Technical Features.
- Light Switch
- Export of Channels
- Toggle stencil display
I will cover just a few of the new features right now. I hope to cover a few more as I get more time to explore them.
Stencils and RulersThis is the most obvious new feature. You can now overlay stencils and rulers on your drawings to make straight lines, curves, shapes, etc. When you put down a stencil, you can of course move it around, rotate it, and scale it as needed. Also, you can overlap stencils to get cool effects.
For each stencil, you can use it in stencil, ruler, or guide mode. Stencil mode acts as you would expect. In ruler and guide mode, your tool sticks to the edge of the object so you can trace along the side. In ruler, no marks are made under the object. In guide, your stroke will follow
the object and the mark will appear under the edge of the guide. It's hard to explain, so just try it out.
Transform layers independentlyNow you can rotate, scale, and move layers independently of each other. This has many uses. For example, if you duplicate layers, then transform each one, you can rapidly populate a scene.
Group layersYou can create groups for your layers and manipulate opacity, blending, show/hide, etc on all of the layers in the group at one time. You can move layers in and out of the groups at will.
Smooth blendingThe palette knife now has a smooth blending mode that gently smudges your image.
Mechanical pencilThe "Precise" mode of the pencil tool lets you make smooth lines that aren't effected by the grain as much as the regular pencil. All of the writing on my screen shots was done with this mode.
A minor quibble...In version 2.2, any user generated content such as paper presets, custom color pickers, etc were stored in the application's directory. In version 2.5, all of that is stored in the Application Data folder under your user name (in XP, that's SystemDrive:/Documents and Settings/User name/Application Data/Ambient Design/).
The developer says that this is to "guarantee that regardless of the access rights your login has, you can still create and use presets. ArtRage stores its own default files in its own folder, but any Stencils, Canvas Presets, Size Presets, or Custom Color Pickers you create will be stored by default in your own login's application support location" (
http://www2.ambientd...viewtopic.php?t=7624).
I understand the reasoning, but I would like the option of storing that content in the old location. The biggest reason is that it allows all user names on the computer to access the content. In my case, it also allows me to retain the data over reboots as my computer
reverts the system drive to a saved state whenever windows starts. With version 2.2, I just installed the program to a secondary partition, and all of the generated content was retained.
Final thoughtsThis is an amazing update. As I look down the list of changes, I see so many things that were suggested by users in the ArtRage forums. It is great to see a developer that really listens to what their customers want. Aside from my one minor issue, I haven't come across anything else to make me hesitate in recommending that all current customers upgrade immediately. For new customers, even with the $5 rise in price, this program is amazing and worth every cent.
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