In the intrest of others, I tought that I would try to re-post this.
The Software Shop (www.softwareshop.com.au), in Phillip, Canberra, has a great special on Painter6. You can pick up a full commercial copy for a cool $20.
You may think that this isn't so great as Painter8 is the latest version.
Well you have some nerve buddy.
The good news is that you can then use Painter6 as a base for an upgrade to the full version of Painter8. Ordinaraly Painter8 retails for $589. The upgrade is $319. Therefore, if you buy both Painter6 and the upgrade, it works out to be a lot less than $589.
I'm sure that The Software Shop will also deliver to most places, but postage may be a little expensive as Painter6 actually comes in a big freakin' paint can.
It is also worth noting that if you have bought a Wacom with the SW bundle, then Painter Classic is also an elegable upgrade.
[EDIT] Another thing I should mention. I bought Painter6 only to not be able to run it on my system. It keeps on saying that I don't have enough memory. I am running Win2k with 1gb RAM and about 4gb of virtual memory set up. I think it may be a problem with older programmes. I installed a card game for my parents and it wouldn't work for the same reason. The FAQ on their website said that if you have too much memory, it will say that you don't have enough. Odd. Fortunately Painter Classic works fine, and hopefully Painter8 should work as well.
Painter Classic is a watered down version. Basically a demo version that doesn't expire and you can save properly. From what I have read Painter7 seems to be the most popular, as they changed a few things in 8 and a lot of people miss those things. I have only used Calssic though, so I am not the best person to ask.
[Later] Here is a link to Corel's sites about Painter Classic
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel/Products/productI…
Painter8
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel/Products/productI…
Also worth a note that Corel will even allow you to use Photoshop as an upgrade package :)
My upgrade to Painter8 came in today :D (YAY!!). Unfortunately, I had to work :~( (Nooooo). I will be in there first thing tomorrow morn picking it up. I will then go straight home to install and test it out.
I can let you know then what the differences are Souri.
btw Souri. Cool new Avatar :D
Edit: er. Is your avatar set to random display? It just changed.
I have been messing around with Painter8 all afternoon, and it thoroughly kicks arse.
There is actually quite a bit of a difference between Classic and 8. 8 adds in the following
. Better layer support. Layer Blend modes (hooray), and Masking Layers (use them all the time in PS, but I don't know how much I would use it in this).
. Different Brush engine. Just as I was getting used to Classic engine, I use this and all the brushes are vastly different.
. About 20 new types of media. Charcol, Sponges, Calligraphy :D, Gouache, so on and so forth. Plus a shit load of brush types for all those media.
. The Brush Editor (MAJOR drooling). Makes PS brushes look like POS brushes (I was up until 2 this morning thinking up that one. you all better find it funny....). Change EVERY aspect of how a brush acts. Even change how much the bristles clump together. Save your changes to the brushes and share them with other Painter users.
. A Swatch Pallete. No more having 20+ dots of colour on the canvas. Just store them in the swatch, then save them.
They are the main things that I have found so far. There are probably other things, but I havent found them yet. Overall this little gem is awesome. I will post my first pic tomorrow morn some time.
Wow, what a bargain! :D