Fractal Design later merged with RayDream, then with MetaTools to become MetaCreations.

Derry had gained previous paint software expertise at Time Arts, a developer of the early desktop-based paint applications Lumena and Oasis.

John Derry joined Zimmer and Hedges during the release cycle of Painter 1.2. Zimmer and Hedges had previously developed ImageStudio and ColorStudio, both image-editing applications, for Letraset. Painter was initially published in 1991 for the Macintosh system by Mark Zimmer and Tom Hedges, founders of the Fractal Design Corporation. Over time, Painter's user interface(UI) has been transformed to match Photoshop's UI. For example, 'Floaters' were released with Painter 2.5, around the time that Photoshop released 'composite elements'. The two products have developed as contemporaries, introducing innovations that are now considered standard in bitmap image editing software. Painter and Photoshop have many similarities, such as layered editing. For instance, the airbrush tool in Painter responds to pressure as well as tilt, velocity and rotation.

Many of these emulated media types work with the advanced features of Wacom tablets. Painter emulates the visual characteristics of traditional media, such as oil paint, pastel sticks, air brush, charcoal, felt pens, and other traditional artists' materials on various textured surfaces. There are also a few non-traditional items, such as the Image Hose, pattern pens, F/X, Distortion and Artist tools for allowing artists to apply less conventional elements on an image. With the aid of a graphics tablet or computer mouse, the user is able to reproduce the effect of physical painting and drawing media such as watercolor, oil, chalk, charcoal and color pencil. The application offers a wide range of traditional artists' materials and tools. It is intended to be used in real-time by professional digital artists as a functional creative tool. Corel Painter is a raster-based digital art application created to simulate as accurately as possible the appearance and behavior of traditional media associated with drawing, painting, and printmaking.

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