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Thread: Some honest feedback for Ambient Design and a post-ArtRage recommendation for all ...

  1. #1

    Some honest feedback for Ambient Design and a post-ArtRage recommendation for all ...

    Hi to all. Two things. One, to Ambient Design - your decision to make ArtRage downloadable only from the Windows Store or the App Store (with all due respect) was not the best one. Yes, you have left ArtRage 6 up for anyone who wants to buy a downloadable product with its own executable file, but what about future iterations of ArtRage? Is Vitae it? Is it an "one-and-done" product, meant to be updated indefinitely with no additional purchases? Or will be there something after Vitae? Will that have to be also purchased (and only from the Windows or App Store, too, with no downloadable executable available)? For tech-savvy users who keep good documentation of serial numbers and so on, Ambient Design's reasoning for switching to a "store"-only format just because people kept losing their serial numbers hardly seems fair or reasonable, even, to those who exercise responsibility over their purchases. At least keep the option open for a fully downloadable product. But nope. (Why?) Two, as a parting recommendation for everyone here who may be turned off by Ambient Design's decision to exclude a fair portion of their potential (and existing) customer base by switching to a "store"-only format for current and future products (and unwillingness to at least include a downloadable option for Vitae), may I suggest that you switch to Krita? They released version 5.0, and I have to say it's pretty darn good. Granted, it does take adjustment and has a little learning curve, but it's free (open-source) and still a downloadable product. URL: https://krita.org/en/ Good luck to Ambient Design. Thank you.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Posts
    296
    I don't think an average artrage user will ever get accustomed to the krita user experience and its absolutely insane brush creator, but you have my best wishes with your painting journey.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    15
    I'm a huge fan of purchasing through the Windows store. Updates are automatic, I don't have to track serial #'s, I can easily install on any of my devices (same windows user account), etc.

    The move to the Windows store makes the purchase easier for most people and lessens support time that needs to be spent with users farking up Serial #'s, having activation issues, etc. It's just good business to make the software easy to install and less of hassle to upgrade.

    I'm one of those "Tech savvy" nerds you speak of and I much prefer having it on the windows store, rather than needing to always download/install each little update.

    For those who want to backup the executable, it's not hard to find.

    And yeah, Krita 5 is super nice for a free product, but not a patch on Artrage Vitae. Especially in the UI area.
    Attached Images Attached Images  
    Last edited by spyres; 01-10-2022 at 09:53 PM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Posts
    4
    ANY updates to Artrage Vitae yet? I'm still waiting for the glitter tool to be fixed!

    Will there be a notification of an update to AV here or just at MS store?

    I finally found my order and receipt for AV at the MS store, but it's not listed on my list of apps in my account! How can it get an update then?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Posts
    2,223
    Not sure I can really offer you much help here CAB as I’m on a Mac.
    But for what it's worth...
    The latest Mac version of ARV is v7.1.4 and I’m presuming that the MS and MAS versions get released around the same time.
    Andy has in the past posted in the Announcements section of these forums about updates and fixes.
    Though on Macs you can just set the OS & Mac App Store to just do their thing of keeping apps up to date in the background without any need of being told there are updates.

    The Glitter tool works as expected for me. In what way is it not working for you?

    As for the internal workings and mysteries of the Microsoft Store you may have to contact their support to fix your missing purchase history.
    Maker Of Replica Macoys

    Techie Stuff:
    ArtRage Vitae 7.1.4 ~ 15" Macbook Pro
    ~ macOS 10.15.7 ~ 4 Core i7 3.1GHz CPU ~ 16GB RAM ~ Wacom Intuos4 M
    My Animal Paintings In The Forum Gallery
    On Instagram

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    3,402
    Hi CAB, my MS version of ArtRageVitae is 7.1.4 and the glitter tool works as expected.
    June.

    Oh God of homeless things, look down
    And try to ease the way
    Of all the little weary paws
    That walk the world
    today.
    -
    Unknown.

    http://enug66.deviantart.com/gallery/

    [My setup: hp 15in laptop,11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz 2.70 GHz, 8.00 GB RAM, 24in Acer 2nd monitor, Huion Kamvas 20 Pro display tablet, Windows 11, ArtRage Vitae.
    My painting real-estate is extended across three monitors.]

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Rochester, New York
    Posts
    523
    Krita is a very good program, especially for situations where you have a Linux operating system. With a little trial and error you can get the right version to use with a graphic tablet that has pressure sensitivity, yet that might take some trying different versions to get the sensitivity feature.
    For me personally, I have been using Art Rage since their very first free version back around 2004-2005. The only way they made any money for their product back then was donations. Compared to the very first version Art Rage has come a long way with excellent results. I have painted many images with this program and have formed a habit of familiarity. I feel comfortable using this digital painting program and constantly find new ways to use the features. If you really dig into Art Rage you will find all kinds of interesting features and ways to use this digital painting program.
    I have a personally designed artwork gallery website at: www.stephenlopiano.com
    There is one section full of pages there under the Digital Artwork category that is devoted entirely to paintings I have created with Art Rage.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2021
    Posts
    8
    Quote Originally Posted by spyres View Post
    I'm a huge fan of purchasing through the Windows store. Updates are automatic, I don't have to track serial #'s, I can easily install on any of my devices (same windows user account), etc.

    The move to the Windows store makes the purchase easier for most people and lessens support time that needs to be spent with users farking up Serial #'s, having activation issues, etc. It's just good business to make the software easy to install and less of hassle to upgrade.

    I'm one of those "Tech savvy" nerds you speak of and I much prefer having it on the windows store, rather than needing to always download/install each little update.

    For those who want to backup the executable, it's not hard to find.

    And yeah, Krita 5 is super nice for a free product, but not a patch on Artrage Vitae. Especially in the UI area.
    That doesn't actually work for backing it up, it simply won't run on its own and I've tried to be sure. Most Windows software has additional libraries and stuff it needs and the app store spreads those files in hidden locations across your system. So, say you want to run it on an offline work computer? No dice at all, even if you try to put everything (if you can find it all) in the exact locations the other system says it needs them it just errors out because of details about how the app store works. So, no backups and no recourse if the product is ever pulled from the store. This is also means Linux users don't have even an unsupported option anymore, which isn't a huge complaint since it's amazing it ever worked as good as it did, but it still sucks.

    I also have never experienced the app store being less hassle. For me it doesn't even work half the time and I have to restart my whole computer to fix it and both support and refunds through the store are a nightmare to even find and haven't even been great experiences when I have. So, I stopped putting money in it awhile ago. The app store issues still happened when I tried the Vitae demo recently so there was no reason to change that habit just for one program. If they want things to be easier for everyone, keep customers, and reduce support tickets then the app store should be a primary option for people, but not the only option because a lot of people will either constantly have support needs that AD can't actually solve themselves or people will just never use it because it's given them nothing but trouble.

    Have it be a tiny link with a warning, have a limited support agreement that excludes past trouble items, but at least something? There's tons of ways to handle the issue without incurring the previous problems and almost nothing else other than this and Sketch Book Pro has left it as the only option.

    ---

    If people are looking for a natural media alternative Rebelle is great and it's around the same price for the basic version, unless Vitae is on sale. Krita is very good, but yeah, it's dense to learn and way beyond what a lot of users need. Paintstorm is great, it's cheap, and even has a Linux version, but it's also kind of a bear to learn even though it's not as overwhelming as Krita. MyPaint is good, dead simple, and free, but much more limited. I still would rather use ArtRage cause it's snappy, I love the simple UI, and it feels good to work in but this just isn't a reasonable user experience to suddenly put up with after years of 0 problems or hassle using their software that required any sort of support, that was part of what I liked about it.
    Last edited by snout; 02-12-2022 at 03:44 PM.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by snout View Post
    ---

    If people are looking for a natural media alternative Rebelle is great and it's around the same price for the basic version, unless Vitae is on sale. Krita is very good, but yeah, it's dense to learn and way beyond what a lot of users need. Paintstorm is great, it's cheap, and even has a Linux version, but it's also kind of a bear to learn even though it's not as overwhelming as Krita.
    I have Rebelle and Vitae. Rebelle has possibly the most sophisticated brush engine, but requires much more computing power and ram. In my experience, this tips the balance in favor of Vitae for portable devices, and most consumer desktops. If you have a true workstation, Rebelle is worth a look.

    Artrage has the 2nd-most sophisticated brush engine. Krita and Sketchbook are fine for professional illustration, but do not offer the same simulation of fine-art painting.

    I do wish Vitae did not use the Microsoft store.

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