Some of you might have read some comments or posts by me talking about a program called Artweaver, which was a “free” alternative to commercial programs like Painter and Photoshop. Well, I am not endorsing the software anymore. And that’s not because it has suddenly become a piece of crap or because of the developer quitting/discontinuing the project.

A few days ago, I visited the program’s website to check for updates or whatever interesting. Stunned, I could see that they had jumped from version 0.5.7 (freeware) directly to 1.0, in turn offered in 2 different versions: the “Freeware” version, which is basically the same thing as the previous freeware ones, and a commercial version called “Artweaver Plus” that costs $25 and offers some advanced features like compatibility with Photoshop filters and higher maximum image size, among others.

I am not saying that the developer (Boris Eyrich) doesn’t have the right to make such a move, but there is something about this that annoys me enough to stop using and recommending the program to other people. At first I thought it was OK, since the “free” version is itself a full featured app, and Boris does deserve to get some money for his creation. But then I went through the FAQ page and… well, everything changed for me. According to the site, “you can use Artweaver Free for private purposes without limitations. But it is not allowed to use Artweaver Free for commercial purposes. For that a Artweaver Plus license is required.” WTF??!! Who the hell releases a new version of a program and then tells you what you can or cannot use it for ??!! It’s like releasing, say, a word processor which license allows you to write a diary or a letter to a friend but not to write a book or an article for the press… And how are they going to prove that one has used the “free” version for a commercial illustration? What happens if you painted a series of drawings with previous versions of the program (which didn’t include that clause) that were intended for a commercial release? I think this move is simply stupid and doesn’t make any favours to the product or the developer. Doesn’t he trust the commercial version’s improvements enough that he needs to limit the use of the “free” one?
I’ve been wanting to switch to an actual FREE (no quotation marks here), open-source alternative for quite some time, but I kept using Artweaver because I got used it; it made it very easy to tweak photographs to look like paintings (which as you’ve all been able to see is very useful to create the backgrounds for my dinosaur illustrations), and works pretty good on LINUX using Wine. But there were also a few things that I didn’t like, such as the lack of a good blending/smudging tool and Boris's refusal to work on platforms other than Windows. But this… Well, this is the excuse I needed to make a drastic decision and switch to the GIMP. And hell, it IS INDEED a better choice for me. I was already using the GIMP for image editing and photo enhancement, but for creative works I remained loyal to Boris’s software. Not anymore. Now that I’ve had the time to try the GIMP for painting, I can see that I can get the same results faster and with a program that’s native to Linux and is actually free.
You will be able to judge by yourselves very soon, as my next deviation post (an Euoplocephalus) will be done completely using the GIMP. I don’t think there will be any noticeable differences.

From now on, I am using the GIMP and nothing but the GIMP, and I will deny having used Artweaver in the past for any single piece of work. Again, I am not saying that Boris has done anything bad or illicit, but I don’t think such a move is ethical at all. Just for you to know, this is what the FAQ of the previous Artweaver version (0.5.7) said about the program’s allowed use: “Artweaver is Freeware, i.e. you may use Artweaver both for private ones as well as for commercial purposes without limitations.” Funny how things change for money.
Please let me know what do you guys think about this. It won’t make me change my mind or regret my decision, but it is always interesting and stimulating to know about other people’s points of view.

PS 1: For those who don’t know what the GIMP is, take a look at this: [link]

PS 2: I am not updating the Wikipedia article on Artweaver (which by the way was created by me) anymore. Did it for the last time when version 1.0 was released. I am removing the screenshots soon, as I don’t want my art to be related with it. Check it out if you want to satisfy your curiosity ([link]).