Start by defining the vanishing points. This is done by rotating a set of cubes to find the desired point of view. More than one set of vanishing points can be used to represent different rotations.

The 3D cursor keeps you aware of the perspective by showing the lines eminating from the vanishing points. Brush strokes can be locked to any of the vanishing points. When you draw, the brush is scaled by the distance to the vanishing point creating an instant depth effect.

Besides straight lines in perspective, you can also draw freehand. To draw freehand in perspective, select two vanishing points at once. The brush will be scaled automatically making your brush strokes merge with the scene. Without perspective scaling strokes define invisible billboards facing the viewer head on, often destroying the sense of depth in the image.

Getting the brush color right has traditionally been a process of trial and failure. Digital Artist solves this problem by showing a preview of the color on the image:

When you change the color in the color dialog, the preview on the image changes accordingly. This allows you to see what the color will look like in the place you intend to use it.

Each brush contains tags that hint at its possible uses. A brush suitable for painting clouds has the tag "Clouds" and by clicking the tag in the selector you see all brushes with the specified tag:

After using a brush in your painting, you can quickly find the brush again from the "used brushes" tab in the brush selector.

Shortcuts for commonly used tags can be added to the sidebar of the brush selector. This lets you access your favourite brushes with just a few clicks.

When you save your work, the used brushes will be saved in the image. This enables you to take your work with you, without having to worry about not having the used brushes available.

Custom brushes enable you to easily texture things, add detail and expressiveness to your works. With the included brush editor you can create your own brushes:

Brushes consist of bitmaps and frames. Bitmaps provide the images, and frames specify how the bitmaps are drawn. A frame contains parameters such as scale, rotation, opacity and spacing. By building a sequence of frames you can get astonishing brush strokes with just a single bitmap - imagine what you could do with two!

The vanishing points of your image can also be used to create masks.

Combine masks with some brushwork and gradients and you have a very powerful tool at your disposal:

Additionally you can save the masks for later use. Shown below is the mask dialog:

All commonly used tool windows, such as the color and brush selectors, are only shown when you need them. Bringing up one of the dialogs is only a matter of hitting one of the function keys (F1-F8). Another press of the same key makes the dialog go away again.

The user interface lets you focus on your work and thus makes you more productive. Digital Artist maximizes your workspace and minimizes the time spent accessing common functions. To maximize your focus on painting, hit F11 for full-screen editing.

The gradient tool allows you to draw color gradients on your image. Gradients can be straight or triangular, with the tip at one of the vanishing points of your image.

The easy to use gradient editor allows you to make new gradients and to edit existing ones:

The proportions of the image affect a lot what the final piece will look like. Start by selecting the right proportions, don't do it as an afterthought. The "Create New Image" dialog provides visual feedback as you adjust the proportions before image creation.

The mask tools have their own undo stack - used only when one of the mask tools is selected. You can revert to an earlier mask using undo even after a long period of painting.