Tablet World.pdf

WINDOWS 8
Microsoft Fresh Paint
This fun, beautifully built app shows off the creative possibilities of Windows
on a tablet. Paint for Windows 8 this is not, however
● Price Free ● comPany microSoFT ● WeBSiTe microsoft.com
VERDICT
This fun app has a
serious side that can
be used to create
cool and interesting
artwork
OVERALL SCORE
REQUIREMENTS
Windows 8
Fresh Paint is very simple, and it really requires a touchscreen to be of any use.
But it is fun and beautifully built, and it shows off the creative possibilities of
the tablet format. If you’re looking for the equivalent of Paint, however, this is not
it. This is a much more sophisticated creative environment.
Fresh Paint is a painting simulator for Windows 8. It’s great for casual use, and
sophisticated enough for creating art. At the top of the painting screen is a range
of brushes, crayons, a pencil, a blender and an eraser. The palette is brilliant, with a
selection of swatches, a bowl of ‘water’ and a mixing area with which you can mix
up colour for use with the brushes.
Cleaning your brush is fun, as it turns the water the colour of the paint you
dumped in it. That’s the frivolous fun side of Fresh Paint.
A ribbon at the bottom of the screen allows you to dry or centre your
artwork, as well as offering Undo, Redo, New and Save As options. When you
click into the Fresh Paint canvas to paint, the options disappear, but you can
recall them by swiping from the top or bottom of the screen.
There’s a mixture of fun and serious artistic capabilities about Fresh Paint
that appeals. You can just pick up a brush and slap some paint about, or mix and
stain exactly the right shades. The ways in which colours interact is very realistic
– you’ll get a tiny thrill the first time two strokes run into each other and smear
together to produce a different shade.
Used by hand Fresh Paint is fun, but a stylus adds precision. Mouse use is
possible, but really this is an app for touchscreen devices. The way brush strokes
are rendered is very realistic, allowing talented artists to achieve precision in
their work, and useless hacks to have fun.
If you have a Windows 8 device with a touchscreen, give Fresh Paint a try.
It’s a fun app with a serious side that can be used to create cool and interesting
artwork. And it’s free.
Microsoft Fresh Paint REVIEWS
“You’ll get
a tiny thrill
the first time
two strokes
run into
each other
and smear
to produce
a different
shade”
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