Good paint program for Atari 800XL

[+David_P]

Believe the source for BBK Artist is available (ANALOG archive, if nowhere else) so a motivated individual could create a mouse enabled version.

[Gunstar]

It's not worth the trouble, BBK is good, but there are plenty as good or better that already support touch tablet or mouse. I think this thread has already shown that.

Edited July 7, 2019 by Gunstar

[+David_P]

1 hour ago, Gunstar said:

It's not worth the trouble, BBK is good, but there are plenty as good or better that already support touch tablet or mouse. I think this thread has already shown that.

I don't disagree, but most of what we do in this hobby isn't worth the trouble - but it's that trouble that's so much fun

 

[Mrarkus]

After spending a good deal of Sunday playing with the various programs, I think three stand out for me - Rembrant, XL Art, and Atari Artist - all for different reasons, but the sheer quality of a lot of these programs is amazing, and a testament to the power of our little Atari! I've sent my order in to Brad from Best Electronics to get the Atari Touch Tablet, excited to try it that way. 

[Mrarkus]

Quick update - got my package from Best today. The Atari Tablet is quite interesting! Admittedly I've only used Surface Pro for drawing with a stylus, and it's a different experience when you are not seeing what you are drawing underneath, and the resolution is a bit different

[Gunstar]

It takes getting used to, but great once you do, and you will rebuild hand-eye coordination in the process. I was coming from mouse use, and had to get use to lifting and moving the stylus instead of dragging it like a mouse across the screen. Both from habit and so I could keep track of the cursor. But it's second nature to me now, and I can do it just as easily as using a stylus directly on the screen now. Yes, of course it less sensitive (resolution) than modern screens and stylus, but you get used to that too, and it's better than the Koala Pad, as well as surface area, and button on the stylus.  

Edited July 11, 2019 by Gunstar

[Lastic]

Having just backed "Masters of Pixel Art Volume 3" and discovering that I missed Volume 2 , I ordered it and it arrived yesterday.

 

Interesting read and mentions a lot of the above programs being used, this is a really interesting thread.

[Gunstar]

The Graphics Magician by Penguin Software is another good one, it allows DLI's (96 on screen), 4 colors per DLI from 128 colors in 160x192 graphic mode E and saves in a low-memory format that "redraws" the image on the screen when loaded, exactly how the artist drew it to begin with, a recording of the movements and choices rather than of the image. It was used for artwork done in Penguin Software's graphic text adventures like Transylvania. Though the artists didn't seem to make use of the DLI's in those games. I don't recall if it supports anything other than a joystick, that all I had at the time. Of course since then I have found that an Atari track-ball in joystick mode is preferable to a joystick for art programs that don't support a mouse or touch-tablet or even a track-ball in true track-ball mode.

 

http://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-graphics-magician-_12990.html

Edited July 11, 2019 by Gunstar

[zzip]

I used to use RAMbrandt a lot.  It allows you to use the GTIA modes,  easy DLIs for extra colors and supports the touch tablets.  Not sure about ST mouse though. 

[Gunstar]

No, no ST mouse. I first got Rambrandt after I got my Super Rat mouse from Zobian Controls(the Super Rat is really just an after-market, ST compatible mouse), because their ads claimed there were new versions of Rambrandt and Atari Artist that supported a mouse-err...the Super Rat. I've never come across a version of Rambrandt that supports the mouse, or Atari Artist. But Rambrandt does support Koala and Atari touch tablets and Atari and Wico track-balls in authentic track-ball mode. Either of which are much better than using a joystick.

 

If anyone knows of mouse versions of Rambrandt or Atari Artist let me know. 

 

Accu-Draw that came with the Super Rat was actually a pretty decent mouse-driven graphic 8 program. I lost the Rat software years ago though, and don't know if Accu-Draw is available for download anywhere.

Edited July 11, 2019 by Gunstar

[+mytek]

Be really nice if someone could either modify one of the better paint programs, or create a new one that supports the ST mouse. With the 1088XEL and the soon to be released 1088XLD there will be many more systems out there that will support mouse driven programs.

 

[800xl_1984]

On 7/6/2019 at 11:50 AM, Gunstar said:

Rambrandt  is one of the best, supporting most of the Atari's hardware graphic modes, including the GTIA modes, and it is compatible with both touch tablets and Atari's track-ball in true track-ball mode, and is compatible with Micro-Illiustrator too, with certain graphic modes that will let you save in M.I. format. It's the best there is as far as features, and even has a separate Solid Object Modeler program.

 

Are there routines (ML or otherwise) readily available to load RAMbrant images, with their custome DLIs, for use in your own applications?

[Gunstar]

15 hours ago, 800xl_1984 said:

 

Are there routines (ML or otherwise) readily available to load RAMbrant images, with their custome DLIs, for use in your own applications?

That I can't answer, since I'm not a programmer (until I started teaching myself this year and only about a dozen hours of learning so far). So I never used it for that or even looked into it. It's been 30+ years since I even looked at the manual, which is text-based on the disk. You can download both ATR's, one of which is documentaion, here: http://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-rambrandt-collection-_31097.html

[TheNightOwl]

I had no idea there were any other good paint programs beyond Atari Artist / Microillustrator but then I was a kid and just happy to be drawing pictures on a computer.

 

I was lucky though to try both a Koala Pad and Atari Touch Tablet and both are amazing but I'd prefer the Touch Tablet if I still had one. Its size and dimensions were much closer to 1:1 with your screen and for me that helped a lot.

[Mrarkus]

9 hours ago, TheNightOwl said:

I had no idea there were any other good paint programs beyond Atari Artist / Microillustrator but then I was a kid and just happy to be drawing pictures on a computer.

 

I was lucky though to try both a Koala Pad and Atari Touch Tablet and both are amazing but I'd prefer the Touch Tablet if I still had one. Its size and dimensions were much closer to 1:1 with your screen and for me that helped a lot.

Having gotten used to the Touch Tablet a bit, I'm a big fan now, and RAMbrant is pretty great. Spending way too much time with it!

[Nickolasgaspar]

On 7/6/2019 at 3:14 PM, Mrarkus said:

What's a good paint program to use on the Atari? Looking especially for GTIA extra modes. A bonus would be if it used Atari ST mouse!

I arrived late,  but if you are still interested in a painting program, Rambrandt is hands down the best 8bit program I have ever worked with!

It has amazing capabilities in colors. It provides access to a feature called "Display list Interrupts". This means that you can split your screen in horizontal"stripes" of any size  (i.e Sky/earth/body of water etc) and you can  introduce  up to 90 colors in addition to  your active palette of 4,9,16 colors (up to ~90 intercepts).

You can create random mixtures with all the colors of your active palette(not just two)! You can also apply transparency (color 0/backround...like a png!) and you can create small flicks in your painting!

 

The best part of all is that in the additional disk you will find a long  and comprehensive tutorial  where you can learn everything about the tricks and keyboard shortcuts of the program. IF you have extra ram (128)you can even  work on several pictures (up to 8.)  at one time and you can share elements.( you can use them as layers and combine them all in  one when you are done!).

 

I don't know why nobody talks about this old program (1985!). Its a showcase for Atari's palette!

 

 

[+MrFish]

39 minutes ago, Nickolasgaspar said:

I arrived late,  but if you are still interested in a painting program, Rambrandt is hands down the best 8bit program I have ever worked with!

 

I don't know why nobody talks about this old program (1985!). Its a showcase for Atari's palette!

 

"Nobody talks about..."? Did you even read through the thread you're posting in?

 

[Nickolasgaspar]

20 hours ago, MrFish said:

 

"Nobody talks about..."? Did you even read through the thread you're posting in?

 

I was not referring to this thread Mr Fish.....

[+MrFish]

1 minute ago, Nickolasgaspar said:

I was not referring to this thread Mr Fish.....

I am too. There's plenty said in this thread about Rambrandt, before your post. So, it's unclear to me why you're saying nobody talks about it.

 

[Nickolasgaspar]

On 4/13/2021 at 10:04 PM, MrFish said:

I am too. There's plenty said in this thread about Rambrandt, before your post. So, it's unclear to me why you're saying nobody talks about it.

 

Again I was not referring to what is said in this thread. I am an Atari user the time the 800xl hit the European market. I started creating graphics with that computer and I still do that for a living. I never heard of that program and even now I can not find anything about it on google (just a page in Czech language I believe).

This is really strange for a program so capable...I guess most people just used their computers for  playing games.

[+MrFish]

On 4/13/2021 at 3:02 PM, Nickolasgaspar said:

I was not referring to this thread Mr Fish.....

 

1 hour ago, Nickolasgaspar said:

Again I was not referring to what is said in this thread. I am an Atari user the time the 800xl hit the European market. I started creating graphics with that computer and I still do that for a living. I never heard of that program and even now I can not find anything about it on google (just a page in Czech language I believe).

This is really strange for a program so capable...I guess most people just used their computers for  playing games.

 

Ah, my mistake. I misread what you posted. I thought you said you were talking about this thread. Although, I'm not sure why the thread you're posting your comment in doesn't count when it comes to evaluating whether people talk about Rambrandt or not.

 

Anyway, my main point is that it certainly is talked about among Atari 8-bit enthusiast here on Atariage; you can find it mentioned in many threads here; and I would suggest that it's talked about on any of the other Atari forums worth their salt.

 

BTW, if you're interested, the author was interviewed on the Antic Podcast, which also resulted in the source code for Rambrandt being gifted to the public.

RAMBrandt source code & more from Bard Ermentrout

 

[Nickolasgaspar]

13 hours ago, MrFish said:

 

 

Ah, my mistake. I misread what you posted. I thought you said you were talking about this thread. Although, I'm not sure why the thread you're posting your comment in doesn't count when it comes to evaluating whether people talk about Rambrandt or not.

 

Anyway, my main point is that it certainly is talked about among Atari 8-bit enthusiast here on Atariage; you can find it mentioned in many threads here; and I would suggest that it's talked about on any of the other Atari forums worth their salt.

 

BTW, if you're interested, the author was interviewed on the Antic Podcast, which also resulted in the source code for Rambrandt being gifted to the public.

RAMBrandt source code & more from Bard Ermentrout

 

Thanks for the link! Sure no problem. I should've been more clear about my frustration googling details and video tutorials about this program. i.e. You can find videos on Koala paint

[Irgendwer]

An also very capable program is "Graphic Arts Department". Supports also DLIs and has a good UI. Contrary to most other programs mentioned here, this is mode D only.

When going for mode F, there is IMHO no alternative to "Design Master".

 

And just to mention it: Of course you can use a mouse in e.g. Rembrandt. With the Touch Tablet mode of the CMI08... ?

[+Cafeman]

I have been perusing this thread to get some ideas for a future project or two.  I downloaded RAMBRANDT and played with it in Altirra a little, enough to know I'm not going to be making good art myself.   What is the best way to convert or digitize an existing BMP or PNG or JPG into an Atari ANTIC graphics format, if such a thing even exists?  I've seen the old COMPUTEREYES program/camera in some articles for example but it doesn't look like what I'm looking for.  So basically I want to do digitized picture conversion  (and possibly manipulation) and use it in an A8 / 5200 game as Antic D, or E, or a GTIA mode if need be. 

[+MrFish]

5 hours ago, Nickolasgaspar said:

Thanks for the link! Sure no problem. I should've been more clear about my frustration googling details and video tutorials about this program. i.e. You can find videos on Koala paint

Yeah, Koala was pretty popular. Rambrandt was a little later in the game than Micro-Painter, AtariArtist, and KoalaPainter. So, I imagine that could have had some effect on its popularity. Although, proliferation of information about a piece of productivity software from the 1980's on the internet is probably not the best gauge for assessing popularity.