Corel today announced the upcoming availability of Corel Painter 8, a new version of its natural-media painting software. “With 30 mediums and over 400 new brushes, no other software replicates the traditional painting experience like Corel Painter 8. It unleashes your creative power, increases your productivity and enhances your compatibility with Adobe Photoshop, giving you digital tools that capture the subtleties of your artistic style. Interactively blend paint colors using the new Mixer and design custom brushes with the Brush Creator. Experiment with true-to-life media such as Digital Watercolor, and create original sketches from photographs. With a redesigned interface, customizable palettes, and industry-standard layer masks and channels, you’ll work more efficiently, leaving more time to be creative.” Scheduled for availability in early May, Corel Painter 8 will be offered in upgrade (US$149) and full versions ($299) for Mac OS 9.2.2 or higher and Mac OS X 10.2 or higher.