Sharing with Writers and Readers

I wanted to try Corel Paint It! Photo (DVD-ROM)because I wanted something a little artier in the way of headshots to promote my poetry with. I was hoping it would be perfect for my little nontechy being because it is touted to be easy.

Paint It! did not fail me.

You can get Corel's Paint It! to turn a picture into a painting--anything from impressionistic (awful for a portrait) to modern (awful for marketing). My favorite for portraits is the "detailed watercolor."

It works on other kinds of photos, too. I got carried away and tried a little of everything.

I found some of the painting-style choices a bit slow. I found some met my needs (and taste!) better than others. But I never found working with this program hard. It is truly a pop-in-the-CD and use-with-no-instruction kind of deal. One that gets you (most times) a satisfactory painterly image.

If you're adept at photoshop, you can fool with fills, pixels, and brush techniques and do even better. That kind of toying may take a little more experience with photoshop type programs--or it may be necessary to read the instructions.

I was hoping for easy. Paint It! did not disappoint. And I think it is a product that authors may be able to use for promotion needs. I can see a "painting" used on a large poster to be set up behind the writer at book signings, as an example.

Once little non-techy me gets my Web site working again, I'll be putting a painterly headshot on my poetry page. I don't want anyone holding their breath until that happens, though!

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Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, novelist, poet and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books.
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and two how to books for writers, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. Her FRUGAL book for retailers is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about it: