Installation was painless. Once you open up Painter, you will notice that the tool choices and effects are staggering. Hundreds of digital artist tool choices such as oils, watercolors, crayons, pencils, felt pens, palette knives, sponges, etc. are at your fingertips. And many of these tools can be changed in size, quality, tilt, opacity, jitter, and other effects. Due to all of the available media tools, options, and effects Painter IX can be quite overwhelming. Like a kid in candy store, you may not know where to begin: lay down some gritty charcoal, add in some smeary flat oils, add in a shattered effect with the F-X tool, or use a pattern pen to create jungle vines. The 175 page hardcopy manual gives a good general overview along with some pretty nifty artist tutorials. The included softcopy help as expected is very detailed like the software.

Speed is not an issue in Painter IX — you get real-time brush stroke results. You don't have to wait for the software to play catch up to your pen strokes, an issue which I have seen plague other drawing packages. Some of the effects such as motion blur and distressing are also almost instantaneous. By the way, if you really want to get the most out of Painter, it is highly recommended that you invest in a graphics tablet.

The only minor nitpick I have with Painter IX is that sometimes when you drag a shape, drag marks are left behind, but they do eventually go away as (for instance) when you jump layers. Also, the Painter IX nine-fingered logo is kind of creepy.

All in all, Corel Painter IX is an outstanding package that will dizzy the digital artist with tool options, effects, and speed. It definitely deserves five out of five Apples.