I had been waiting a long time for the new release of Deep Paint from Right Hemisphere. I had played with the Beta version for a while and, then, waited for the final release. I followed the same protocol any user would follow by downloading the demo version from the Right Hemisphere website and then activating it with the Serial Number/Order ID. This differentiates it from the demo version which is good for 30 days.

The prior version of Deep Paint did not require a special license. For those people using most other Right Hemisphere products, for example, Deep 3D or Deep UV, this will not be new. What must be borne in mind, however, if one is new to this type of licensing is that if one ever reformats the hard drive, the products must be unlicensed first. Also, it can only be used on one computer at a time.

The only file that was downloadable was the Deep Paint 2 .exe file. The manual is built into the help menu in the program itself. I do not particularly like the documentation the comes with this program. Right Hemisphere has produced much better manuals for some of its other programs I have reviewed. Reviews of some of their other current programs can be found on my websites. Once the program is installed it produces a readme.txt file which states that if one is upgrading from the prior versions of Deep Paint, one should uninstall it first. However, by the time you read the readme.txt file , the program will already have been installed.

Deep Paint is a stand-alone or plugin program for Photoshop (including Photoshop 7). Its strength lies in its ability to paint a new image or clone from another image for a realistic 3D look. One can print from Deep Paint 2 or the image can be saved in many formats including jpeg, bitmap, tiff, and psd. The system requirements are:

Microsoft® Windows™ 98, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, with IE 5.0 or later
Minimum resolution of 800X600 pixels
Graphics card capable of displaying 16-bit color
64MB of RAM
Pentium 200-MMX processor or better
CD-ROM drive for installation

Recommend:
Wacom® Intuos™ or similar pressure sensitive tablet
Graphics card capable of displaying 24-bit color
Pentium III 266 processor or better

The upgrade price is US $49. The new purchase price is US $199 until April 30th when it will revert to $249. If it is boxed, a shipping price is added. For more information, go to Right Hemisphere's website.

The best way I decided to start the review was to compare both versions of the program. See my review of Deep Paint 1. This is because I was initially confused as to the actual improvements in Deep paint 2. It can be said that version 2 definitely does more and has more options than version 1, but I do not believe the changes are intuitive nor documented in a descriptive manner.

While most of the tools are the same (version 1 did not have a Spline tool which I will explain later), cloning has been expanded. In Deep Paint 1, one could clone using cloning brushes or regular brushes and the cloner tool (the rubber stamp). Any brush in Deep Paint 1 could be turned into a cloner and all brushes could be manipulated. The same happens in Deep Paint 2 when using the Paint tab.

Deep Paint 2 has three tabs. One can work in Clone mode, Paint mode, or Print mode.

The Paint mode of Deep Paint 2 looks almost exactly like the one in Deep Paint 1 when the clone tool is selected from the tool bar. When the brush tool is selected, in Deep Paint 2, a preview of the brush is shown across the top of the bar. Brush presets from Deep Paint 1 can be merged and previews of these will, also, be visible.

DP 1 Clone Tool	DP 2 Clone Tool used in Brush Category

However, many more options have been added to the new version of Deep Paint 2 with the Cloning Category.

The Cloning Category (tab) offers a number of cloning variations through preset cloners. These cannot be modified themselves as can brushes, but they can be used in a variety of ways giving them unlimited settings.

If one went to the layer menu, accessed through the Paint Tab, one would see that in this mode there are three layers, initially. The top layer is an edge layer; the middle is the one being used; and the bottom is the source. Both the top and bottom layers can be manipulated by the two sliders under the picture. The Outline Slider refers to how much of an edge or outline of the image will appear in the final image. The Original Slider refers to how opaque the source layer will appear both while working and in the final image.

The Size Slider manipulates the size of the brush being used while the Strength Slider modifies the strength of the stoke.

The Abstract Color to Original Image Color Slider only works with the brush tool as does the Fuzziness Slider. Examples are pictured below.

4 Sample Strokes using the Brush Tool	Slider Position
	Full Abstract Color
	Full Original Image Color
	Fuzziness 0%
	Fuzziness 100%

While one can use the Clone Tool under the Clone Tab, one cannot manipulate to the extent that one can the Brush Tool.

However, one can go to the Paint Tab and use the Cloner Tool in the same manner as one did in Deep Paint 1. For those not familiar with Deep Paint 1, see the above screen capture that shows these tools in both versions.

I have spent time in this review describing these two categories because I found the titles confusing, but once I understood the differing functions of similar tools, I saw the strengths of this version of Deep Paint and really like it.

Before investigating the Print Tab which is another new addition to Deep Paint, I want to give examples of some of the Cloner presets (Paint Effects) in the Cloner Tab as well as the brushes in the Paint Tab.

The following are just a very few examples of the default settings for brushes and other tools in the Paint Tab.

The following are a few of the default presets in the Cloner Tab.

The Print Tab (category) is a new addition to Deep Paint 2. One of the offerings is borders. This psd file was just opened in Deep Paint 2 and a border put around it. It was then saved in its original generic state. Thus, borders can be used on images other than those worked on in Deep Paint 2; but they must be printed from Deep Paint 2.

Some of the other options in this tab can be seen from the below right screen capture. There are a number of preset borders in Deep Paint 2. As can be seen the thickness of all these borders can be manipulated. For the borders to be used, the image must be printed from Deep Paint 2. I did a trial print and was impressed with the color reproduction.

A series of new tools to Deep Paint 2 are the Spline Tools. These tools allow the user to create Curves or Splines; and then edit them and manipulate them. Also, one can have brush strokes snap-to a spline as well as select other options.

Pen Tools for Creating Splines	Spline Selection Tools	Right Click Options with Snap to Curve Selected

I really do like this new version of Deep Paint. I think both the new purchase price and upgrade are very reasonable for all the program has to offer. However, I wish the documentation could have been downloaded separately as well as could have been presented better.