A Lights Out mode for both layouts lets you choose a dark menu interface, which has become fashionable in recent years.

Specialized panels like the Brush Designer must float, and cannot be docked. You can dock certain favorite panels on the side of the window. That proved more convenient and less disorienting than moving my arm around a tablet and depending on my iffy hand-eye coordination to tap the canvas at exactly the right spot. That interface may come naturally to some users, especially if they are using a pen tablet to draw by hand, though drawing with the mouse works well too.įor digital painters accustomed to a more traditional software layout featuring panels and tool windows positioned on either side of the canvas, ArtRage now has a new docking mode that lets you choose commands from a familiar pulldown menu descending from a menu bar, and allows you to float or dock the panels at the side of the window, where you can hide and show their contents.

Select from a variety of tools on the tool picker at the bottom left side of the canvas and then mix colors from the color picker on the right side. Docking modeĪrtRage’s default interface is non-traditional, set up as a modified artist easel, where you can view and select all the available tools and colors, punctuated by independent pods that offer a diverse array of features like stickers, stencils, tracing, references, and color samples.

Version 5 promotes increased flexibility and encourages greater skills, but doesn’t force them on anyone who just wants to noodle around and have fun drawing and painting. ArtRage concentrated on all the right things for the version 5 upgrade: workflow, layers, multiple documents, improvements in rotating and transforming canvases, sleek tools, and added options for creating and tweaking brushes and integrating perspective.

Art rage 5