Bleank releases Black Ink 2023
Bleank has released Black Ink 2023, a major update to its innovative GPU-accelerated digital painting software, overhauling the UI, rendering engine and brush management.
The update also adds Photoshop-style Magic Wand and Paint Bucket tools, adds initial support for PSD files, and improves user control over pressure sensitivity when drawing.
An established digital painting tool with a number of innovative features
First released in alpha a decade ago, Black Ink is a GPU-accelerated digital painting app.
It is capable of creating professional-quality illustrations and concept art, supporting 64-bit linear rendering, and a maximum layer resolution of 64,000px.
It also has a number of unusual features, including a brush shader language for creating custom brushes, and a node-based system to control how layers are composited.
Black Ink 2023: a significant overhaul of performance and workflow
The first major update to the software for four years, Black Ink 2023 is a significant release, overhauling the rendering engine and user interface.
The UI now has a more standard Photoshop-style configuration, with key tools accessible from a vertical toolbar to the side of the image canvas.
New image-editing tools and updates to existing features
Black Ink 2023 also updates brush-management workflow, with a redesigned Brush Manager, and the option to preview brushes in the Windows File Explorer.
Color selection has also been overhauled, with a Global Colors panel separating foreground and background colors, and the option to define presets for favorite colors.
The update also fleshes out Black Ink’s selection and image-editing features, with standard Magic Wand and Paint Bucket tools, and a Tiling operator for creating repeating patterns.
Initial support for PSD files and better support for non-Wacom devices
In addition, the release introduces initial support for the PSD file format, making it possible to exchange files with Photoshop and other digital painting software.
Although the import process preserves layers and masks, layer effects and groups are currently not supported.
Black Ink also now supports Windows Ink as well as Wacom’s WinTab API, which should improve drawing performance on non-Wacom devices, and provides an editable pressure curve, letting users customize the way that brush strokes respond to stylus pressure.
Price and system requirements
Black Ink 2023 is available for Windows 7+. New Personal licenses now have a MSRP of €59 (around $65); Enterprise licenses cost €99 ($110).
For existing users, Black Ink 2023 is the first paid update to the software since the initial release: an issue that Bleank discusses in this blog post.
Read a full list of new features in Black Ink 2023 in the online changelog
Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.