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Writing the First Corel Painter Manual
October 28, 2015 • Leave a Comment
Corel Painter celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2011. It debuted at Boston Macworld, August 6-9, 1991. I wrote the first Painter manual, and this blog is written in honor of the 20th anniversary. Above are the cover and the first page from the version 1.0 Painter manual, written by Karen Sperling.
In just about every Artistry webinar, Artistry online class or Artistry Retreat, where I teach photographers how to turn their photos into paintings in Corel Painter, the moment arrives when a student has a sudden realization. He or she will say, "Wait, if you wrote the first Painter manual, who taught YOU how to use Painter?"
The answer is, I got some help from the programmers and figured out a lot about the software on my own by painting with it at a time when I didn't consider myself to be an artist.
Before writing the Painter manual, I had been a reporter and an editor for many years for newspapers and magazines. My mother was an artist, and I drew and painted ever since I could remember, and even minored in art in college, so I had art knowledge and painting experience. But the message at my house was clear: art was something my mother did, not me, so I mostly dabbled with art and never finished paintings. Instead, I concentrated on being a writer.
Enter Painter.
I got the gig to write the first Painter manual because Painter inventors Mark Zimmer and Tom Hedges liked the job I did writing the Shapes manual for ColorStudio, an image-editing program they wrote prior to Painter and before the arrival of Photoshop. Shapes was the name of ColorStudio's vector tools that were later incorporated into Painter, and the writing I did for the Shapes manual was included in the Painter manual. So I've actually been writing about Painter since before it was Painter.
I was hired to write the Shapes manual by ColorStudio's product manager, Betsy January, whom I had met when she and I were volunteers for the Mac Street Journal, published by the New York Mac Users Group (NYMUG).
I joined NYMUG in 1988 when I decided to buy a Mac and become a freelance writer and publisher after several years of staff writing and editing jobs, thinking that volunteering for the computer group might be a good way to network and get clients. What an understatement that turned out to be!
The first time I met Mark Zimmer was in 1989 at ColorStudio's publisher Letraset's headquarters in New Jersey. Mark was in town from California and I was invited to talk to him firsthand for information to write the Shapes manual.
ColorStudio may not strike the same chord for you that it would if I said Photoshop, but actually, ColorStudio predated Photoshop and at the time, ColorStudio was very respected at high-end service bureaus for the way it handled color printing. In fact, the ColorStudio printing algorithms were incorporated into the early versions of Painter and, later on, I published my printed Painter how-to magazine, Artistry, using Painter for output. At the time, Painter produced much livelier color output than Photoshop.
So being at Letraset and working on a ColorStudio manual back then was a big deal. Letraset even sent a limo to pick me up at my apartment in Manhattan.
I arrived at Letraset and was ushered into a conference room where five or six Letraset employees were seated around a conference table and who, like me, were dressed corporately in conservative suits.
At the head of the table was a computer hooked up to what looked like a television monitor. This was 1989 and I had never seen such a large monitor. Next to the monitor was a guy who clearly wasn't from the east coast with a ponytail and sandals, Mark Zimmer.
I had notebook and pen ready (this was before laptops and iPads) and Mark started explaining Shapes. I didn't understand him, which could be a problem since I was supposed to be the manual writer.
As he continued, I saw the others sitting around the table nodding their heads like they knew exactly what he was talking about. Since these were product development and marketing people, and not other programmers, I had my doubts that they were grasping what he was saying.
Since I had to understand so that I could write the manual, I thought I'd better speak up.
After about 10 minutes, I interrupted and said I wasn't understanding and the others laughed and admitted they weren't, either. I was relieved that it wasn't just me. I asked some questions and Mark answered. I didn't completely understand, but took the information with me and after playing around with the software to understand it better, wrote up the steps for the manual.
So that's kind of the way it went throughout the writing of the Shapes manual and later, the Painter manuals.
Mark in California would explain a feature to me in New York by phone, but like that first meeting, I wouldn't completely understand him. I'd get the general idea of what he was saying, then I'd play around with the software, painting with Painter, till I got what the new feature was doing.
During 1990 and part of 1991, leading up to Painter's debut at the August 1991 Boston Macworld, I would receive a fed ex package in New York from California practically daily containing floppy disks with the latest version of Painter and its new features for me to write about for the manual. This was before email, web sites, CDs or external drives.
It was amazing to see for the very first time Painter's tools like Apply Surface Texture, or Glass Distortion, or the Chalk, or the Felt Tip Pens, and to be paid to figure it all out to be able to write clear explanations about it, which I would write in Word and send on a floppy disk to Steve Manousos at Fractal Design, the company that Mark, Tom, Steve and 2 others formed to publish Painter.
Painter was an extraordinary technological achievement, and in those early days, I felt my participation was what it would have been like to be there for the invention of the light bulb or the telephone.
I found writing the Painter manual fascinating and challenging. I liked playing detective, discovering clues to how Painter worked, and then recording the results. In fact, I liked writing about Painter so much that I went on to do it non-stop for the next 20 years, filling the manuals for the first several versions of Painter, several published Painter books and Kindles and creating videos and classes.
The reason I had trouble understanding Mark was that he was speaking what I'll call algorithm-ese, or computer programming jargon. After awhile, Mark's algorithm-ese began to sound familiar to me, even though I didn't understand it, in the way that one can tell if one is hearing French or Spanish without actually knowing the language.
I'll never forget when Apply Lighting was introduced and Mark told me how it worked. I wasn't hearing the familiar algorithm-ese and I asked him what realm of knowledge we were in, and he said physics, another one of those subjects that this English major somehow missed.
It turned out that my journalism experience and my art background were a perfect fit for writing the Painter manuals. I was able to interview Mark, combine what I could pick up from our conversations with what I could discover by painting with the software and write it all up in easy-to-understand steps.
Painting with Painter changed my life.
Since it was art software, playing around with Painter to see how it worked meant painting day and night, every day, for almost a year, which was the most painting I had ever done up until then.
Painting digitally gave me confidence to paint that I never had and that I was able to carry over to painting with traditional media. And the more I painted, the better I got at it. It was kind of shocking since I had never thought of myself as an artist.
After I wrote the first Painter manual, I was invited to demo Painter at its debut at the August 1991 Boston Macworld.
I had never demo'd software before, but figured I could do it because having written the manual, I knew the software inside and out, or so I thought.
I got to the Wacom booth, where Mark was demo'ing Painter, and I was up next. I thought I'd watch him for ideas for when it was my turn. But what was this? He was showing something I had never seen before, but I had just spent every day with Painter for close to a year!
Mark had written Tracing Paper into Painter the night before in his hotel room and I saw it for the first time in that demo the next day. It was just an example of how amazing those days were, to say the least. Software companies today have teams of programmers and development cycles that take years, and here was someone writing a program in his hotel room the night before the software's debut.
I got a lot of great feedback about the Painter 1.0 manual and the guys at Fractal liked it so much that they had me write the manuals for the next several versions.
One night that stands out is a few years after Painter's debut, I attended a talk by children's book authors and illustrators Don and Audrey Wood. They discussed the change from creating children's books traditionally to moving over to the computer. They went into detail about using Painter version 1.0 for all their illustrations. Don created storyboards for his talk, illustrating his experiences learning Painter. They were great drawings showing how the Woods worked around the clock to master the transition to digital, and one storyboard that I remember projected on the screen was a drawing of Don Wood with the computer and the 1.0 Painter manual that was in the form of a sketchbook open next to him, and he described his fascination with Painter and how much he loved the manual.
I told the Woods after their talk that I wrote the manual. What they did upon hearing the news really surprised me. They started bowing down to me, literally. That was pretty cool and it was a testament to how Painter touched artists' lives then and continues to do so today, and I was honored to be a part of it from the beginning.
In the 20 years since Painter's debut, many artists and photographers have discovered the joys of using Painter and have created amazing art with it, and I'm happy to have been involved with helping them get the most out of the software.
I'm not surprised to still be writing about how to use Painter 20 years later. I decided in college to be a journalist and using my writing to help people to learn Painter is a logical and fun field for me to be in.
What is surprising is that in the past few years, I have become an artist myself, creating commissioned painted portraits, and abstract and figurative paintings that have been exhibited in Los Angeles, New York's prestigious Chelsea art section and during Art Basel Miami Beach, the biggest art event in the U.S. I never thought I'd be an artist, and it's thanks in large part to the time I spent trying to figure out Painter.
Come to think of it, it's lucky I couldn't completely understand Mark Zimmer. Maybe if I could, I wouldn't have had so much practice painting, and would never have become an exhibited and commissioned artist.
Funny how things work out.
Writing the First Corel Painter Manual Software Review: The New Corel Painter 2019 Walks Softly and Carries a Big Stick Painterly or Photographic Portraits? Overcoming Fear of Creativity Good Communication for Great Painted Portraits Corel Painter 2016 Book New Foreword Learning to Paint in Corel Painter Takes Time Announcing the Debut of Karen Sperling's Newly Renovated Artistry Website! Writing the First Corel Painter Manual Choosing Learning Materials
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I figured I would share them with the world.
Create a Compelling Vision for Your LIFE!
Be Aware of Your Habits and Patterns.
Develop Habits and Patterns that Support Your Vision.
Talk as if Your Goal Was Already Achieved.
Visualize Your End Goal in Your Minds Eye.
Take Right Action Daily…. Results Will Follow.
Take Your Whole Life to The MAX!
The Story of THE Max ChallengePull Them Into Your World!


A few months ago one of my blogs was titled 'D is for Dining Out' – to be honest this isn't something we get to do that often without the boys – and when we're with them we have to make sure that the restaurant serves something they will be happy to eat. With this in mind we usually find ourselves visiting restaurants that would best be described as 'family-friendly', which tends to rather limit our own dining experience as we have to walk past restaurants that look more intimate or have more unusual menus.
As such, you can probably imagine our excitement when (a couple of weeks ago) we spent 3 'grown-up' nights in Fontaine De Vaucluse and could eat dinner wherever we fancied – we were determined to enjoy it.
There were a couple of Restaurants that we've walked past for years & were really keen to visit, so we booked these before we set off and decided to leave the third to chance. I'm happy to say that we weren't disappointed by any of the ones that we ate at.
We had booked our first evening at the Auberge De Lagnes http://www.aubergedelagnes.fr which is located in the heart of the old village, opposite the Pharmacy, with its terrace on the opposite side of the road to the Auberge itself.
We have a real soft spot for Lagnes – it was where we stayed when we first visited the area 25 years ago & has been a favoured place for our family holidays since. Over the years that we have been visiting we have seen the 'Auberge' change to become a delightful little restaurant with a delicious menu – so this had to be our first stop and it certainly lived up to our expectations.
After the meal, the sun had set & the village was now lit by street lights with blue neon shining out from the top of the Church (which was a little bizarre).
We still had to cycle back and decided to take the Route Touristique that climbs out of the village across the hill back towards Fontaine De Vaucluse. It was only then that we discovered that the bikes we had rented didn't have any lights fitted to them!!
I think it is best to describe the cycle back as being slightly hairy at times – we pulled over whenever we heard a car behind and somehow managed to avoid the occasional deep rut in the road as it hair-pins steeply down towards Fontaine De Vaucluse. My mind went back to a similar trip my hubby had done a few years ago when he thought there were some rocks in the road only for them to transform into Boars, stand up & run off as he approached – I imagined a similar thing happening again and found I managed to cycle up the hill rather more quickly than I had done it earlier that day!
The following evenings we ate in the village, finding great restaurants and enjoying 2 more 'grown-up' meals out – it also meant we didn't have to worry about trying to cycle home without lights again.
Next week we head back to Provence – this time with the boys, so our restaurant choice will again be slightly restricted, but perhaps we may just 'push our luck' a couple of times to try to enjoy evenings …. and food ….. like this again.
Next Post Fine art and something a bit different!


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This movie was actually really good, a hell of a lot better than I ever expected. It may well be my favorite of the Avengers series, it's definitely up there with Iron Man. Honestly, everything about this movie just clicks. It's well humored, well acted, the action is entertaining, and the plot, while silly at times, never comes across as overly cheesy, which it very easily could have.
Despite being an origins story, this movie doesn't feel like an origins story. We don't have to go through the whole process of seeing Steve Rogers getting used to his new powers, because really, he's the exact same guy he's always been. The only difference is that, after gaining his powers, he now has a physical outlet in which to do the things he's always mentally stood for in the first place. And since origins stories are so overdone these days, it was refreshing to be able to pretty much gloss over that whole aspect.
Chris Evans does a great job as Captain America. And, well, honestly, everyone does a great job in their roles. Tommy Lee Jones especially stood out. I was pleased to see he was included in so much of the film, as he has a tendency to steal scenes, and puts in his contribution for funniest line of the year.
There's several scenes that pretty much poke fun at certain tropes that other movies go for, making you groan as you initially think the film's headed for one direction, only to steer back on course in satisfying fashion. The romance plot is especially handled well in this regard. It really could have gone so horribly wrong, but it's never forced and they managed to pull it off quite well.
And they also managed to pull off skinny Rogers, who always stood out as awkward and misplaced in the trailers. I was really not looking forward to these earlier scenes going in because they looked so bad, but they seriously fixed him up for the final film. He looks completely natural here.
By far my favorite part of the movie was the USO sequence, a montage which in itself sold me on this movie. Just everything about it was so lovely, Cap's obviously goofy suit, the bright colors, the patriotic music, Cap punching out Hitler. Really, this scene, as well as another montage later on of Cap and the boys in action, really drive home the propaganda elements that this movie is going for and cement it in the time period it takes place in.
If there's one thing this movie didn't do right, though, it was the ending sequence, where they essentially moved the after credits scene to before the credits, forcing in the Avengers tie-in. I would have preferred if this could work more as a stand alone and they left it after the credits where it could be more easily ignored, but the last line in the movie is almost enough to save this scene, so it's not that big of a hindrance.
I really enjoyed this movie, which was such a pleasant surprise. I've been left somewhat disappointed by so many comic book movies lately that it was a real treat to finally come across one that truly nailed it. Captain America - FUCK YEAH!
Posted by Chris Widdop at 8:33 AM No comments:
A Different Take
Okay, personal blog time.
As of 7AM this morning, I have exited the workforce. It's been something I've been planning for a while, trying to figure out how exactly to go about it. I came to the realization that, not only was I not happy at my job, but I wouldn't be happy at any job, because every job that I've been at has been the same thing. I get to a point where I'm so stressed out, whether it's with management, the company, or customers, that I just flat out don't wanna do it anymore.
It's more than unhappy, really, it was downright miserable, and I knew that something wasn't quite right. I was just going in circles, jumping from job to job until I spiraled right back down to that same point of rage and depression. But this last time that it happened, I didn't even bother looking for a replacement job to jump over to, just to have the cycle repeat itself all over again. I decided that it was time for a change in my life, and a fairly major one at that.
In some ways I feel like I've wasted the last six years of my life, though that's not completely true. I've gained a world of knowledge and experience, and I've even gained inspiration for some of my stories I'm working on. So it hasn't all been for naught, and that inspiration is truly going to come in handy now, because that's exactly the rout I intend to take.
As of this moment, I am a full time writer. I am also, for all intents and purposes, unemployed. Though I've saved up enough money to live off of for a while, and I've also been blessed with loving, supporting family who are helping me out as well. But now, without a job to suck all of the energy out of me every single day (or night), I have no more excuses, and no more distractions. It's time to buckle down and get this writing thing going.
I've already got a slew of projects I intend to get started on, with plans that would hopefully help me get my foot in a door somewhere. And in the meantime, I'm still trying to get my completed novel published as well, so we'll see how that goes.
I do have other goals in my career, but for right now, I want to focus on perfecting this craft and making it in this industry before I move on to those other things. It sounds easy enough at first, writing at home all day. This isn't going to be a cakewalk, though, I already know that. But I'm definitely up for the challenge, and I'm super excited for what lies ahead in my future.
So it's the big conclusion to the movie series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. And while I wouldn't call it a bad movie, it certainly has its problems, and it's a bit of a shame that the series couldn't have ended on a higher note.
The main issue with this movie is the pacing. I blame this mostly on the fact that they essentially split the final story into two parts. Part 1's only real issue (which was a minor one at that) was that it ended a bit anticlimactically. With this one, the beginning is really jarring, throwing you right into the action and never letting up for quite some time. This movie is very action heavy, and it just goes and goes, never giving you a moment to catch your breath.
Now granted, all of the action is entertaining enough, and the effects are particularly awesome this time around. But everything else takes a backseat to the action, and the film oftentimes feels rushed as a result. For instance, in previous installments, Ron and Hermione are just as much main characters as Harry himself. But here, they're little more than supporting cast, while most everyone else around them is lucky to share even a few moments on the screen.
But what I think has stood out within the movies are actually the slower moments, when the movies take their time and show us a little more of their human side. That's when these movies really come to life. And that holds true even in this installment, as the only real standout scene sure enough happens later in the movie when it finally puts the action on hold for a little bit, and we learn about Snape's history.
While I complained about Part 1's anticlimactic ending, it at least had the excuse that it was only the first half of a story. This movie has no such excuse. The finale is very underwhelming, with the only satisfying moment coming at the hands of Neville of all people.
And the epilogue, wow. It apparently takes place 19 years after the events of the main story, but they didn't even attempt to age our actors. They're supposed to be in their mid- to late-thirties, yet they all look clearly in their early twenties, which just looks ridiculous and is hard to ignore. I wanna know what spell they're using to age so well! But even that arguably minor complaint aside, I just don't see why it was necessary to include. Sure, it may have been in the books, but from what I've heard it wasn't very popular there, and it certainly didn't work here either to provide a satisfying close for the series.
It sounds like I'm complaining a lot about this movie, which I suppose I am, but I was really left disappointed overall with what we got. And especially coming off of Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows: Part 1, which were both great movies in their own right and, in my opinion at least, by far the best in the series, it kind of sucks to see the series take such a dip in quality for the big finale. It's still an overall enjoyable experience, though, so I'm not not recommending the movie. I'm just saying to maybe lower your expectations a little.
Posted by Chris Widdop at 9:41 AM 1 comment:
The Green Lantern
So this has become this year's go-to hate movie, and now I feel somewhat obligated to step up in its defense. I liked this movie. It wasn't great, but it certainly wasn't all that bad, either.
Going in, the most interesting looking parts of the movie were all of the scenes in space, while everything on Earth really didn't look good at all. But after seeing it, I actually thought everything was entertaining in their own right, even the Earth scenes, so I was pleasantly surprised about that. But entertaining as it all was, yes, the film has some issues. It's overly silly at times, there are scenes that are entirely pointless, the love interest is given a little too much importance, and there are some editing issues from time to time. Now, that said, this movie openly acknowledges almost all of these issues, and even pokes fun at itself for them. And that's really why I don't have a problem with this movie.
My personal biggest gripe with the movie was the constant back and forth cuts earlier on between our hero, Hal, and the villain, Hector. This was initially jarring to watch, but as the parallel between these two character became more and more apparent, not only did this no longer become an issue for me, I actually kinda liked that they did it. Hal and Hector are exact opposites of one another in every sense of the word, and they go down their separate paths at the same time, so cutting back and forth and seeing how each reacts to these different changes actually works out well.
Another minor issue was Hal's mask while as the Green Lantern, which honestly does little to actually hide his identity. There's a scene where he approaches his old girlfriend's window, and while watching this, I'm pretty sure everyone in the audience was thinking that there's no way she can't tell who he is. Sure enough, just as we're all thinking that, the woman recognizes him, and all is well again.
But this kind of thing keeps happening, such as the first time Hal uses his Green Lantern powers. It looks so cheesy and goofy, but the characters in the movie actually mock him for being so cheesy and goofy. It embraces its own shortcomings, making it a hard movie to hate... well, for me, at least!
I also mentioned there being scenes that serve no purpose, and while I don't have much of a defense for them, all I can suggest is to just not put too much thought into it. The movie knows what it is, and it never even attempts to take itself seriously or be anything more than that. It's really just an all around fun, occasionally dumb film at the end of the day, and because of this, I honestly can't see why everyone's chosen to hate on it so much.
Disappointing weekend at the movies
I saw two new movies this weekend and, well, neither of them were all that good. So fair warning, I've got a couple of negative reviews in store this time.
So surprising even to me, I actually didn't really like this movie. I didn't hate it, but I felt it was by far the weakest of the three movies. After the first two, I instantly felt that I had to see them again. With this one, though, it was hard enough sitting through the first half one time, I couldn't imagine doing it again.
That's basically where this movie suffers, there's about a good hour that really should have been cut out. Things start interesting enough in the beginning, when they're talking about the moon landing and tying it together with the Transformers arriving to Earth. But after that whole sequence, the movie begins to drag. We pretty much figure out what's happening early on, but the film feels need to drill the point home over and over, and it drags on so much that by the time the action finally starts, I just really don't even care anymore.
And when the action does start, it just didn't feel right somehow. For one thing, the focus is placed far more on the human characters than ever before, relegating the actual Transformers to the background for the most part. But also, it just wasn't as exciting. For instance, Optimus' little rampage in the trailer gave me goosebumps every time I saw it. But here, it did absolutely nothing for me, and that's sort of how I felt about all of the action. It just felt a little deflated, even if it was more coherent than the previous movies.
Concerning the Transformers, as little as we see them, they, too, don't feel right. Optimus Prime in particular is completely out of character in this movie. He's supposed to be a merciful being, but here he's not just merciless, he's straight up blood-lusted. And yeah, his change in attitude is certainly justified, but it's just not right. It goes completely against his character as its been established not only in the film franchise, but in every other medium as well. But not all of the Transformers were off, we actually got to see a little more of Starscream's character this time, which is always a treat.
I will say this, though, the love interest is about a million times more likable than Megan Fox ever was, but that's honestly the only thing this movie has over its predecessors. Some of the humor works, some of it doesn't, some scenes are cool (Sam being ejected from a transforming Bumblebee was awesome), but a lot of it falls flat. I don't really have much else to say, it was what it was, but this time I actually left the theater disappointed.
Wow, whoever said this movie was pretentious nonsense wasn't lying. Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life is completely obnoxious and full of itself, and it left me rolling my eyes and groaning just about every other minute with its pointless artsy-fartsyness.
The thing is, there's actually a potentially decent movie hidden underneath all of this mess. Really, there's about a good 90 minutes of random shots of nature and shiny, cloudy things that could have easily been cut out. This is especially intrusive during an entire sequence portraying the evolution of the world which really probably should go. In the end, it just sticks out like a sore thumb and doesn't really fit. I understand what he was going for with it, what with the whole "life goes on" message and all, and I can actually see why he tried to include it. But it was just executed so poorly. It was so boring, and it dragged on for so, so long.
Really, that's the major problem with this movie, it never gets to the point. Scenes just drag on and on and on and on, and when it finally looks like its getting somewhere, guess what? It doesn't. Nope, just keeps going, and by the time we finally do get to the point, I'm completely removed from the movie.
At times this movie almost becomes a drinking game. I almost wish I saw this with some people, because I kept screaming in my head every time he cut to a random shot of nature. "Tree!" or "water!" And when he cut to the sunflowers at the end, I literally facepalmed and almost walked out right then and there. Not that it would make a difference, the movie's all but over by that point, though it's not like that was the first time I was considering walking out. But no, that shot wasn't clever, that was ridiculous, and I wasn't the only one in the theater who thought so, as someone behind me was laughing hysterically throughout the entire ending sequence (which totally wasn't intended to be funny at all).
But like I said, there actually is a potentially interesting story to be told here, and interesting concepts to be explored, they're just not executed well at all. In the beginning, we're introduced to a mother and father who receive news that one of their sons has died. We then see how they, as well as their eldest son, relive their past and try to cope with this loss and come to terms with everything leading up to the moment of his death.
The main story of the eldest son growing up with his increasingly strict and borderline abusive father, and how his father's actions chip away at the family little by little is legitimately interesting. Seeing the effects this has on everyone, and watching the evolution the eldest son undergoes, and how this effects his own relationship with his younger brother, really is almost fascinating at times. Brad Pitt, who plays the father, is by far the standout of this movie. His character is the most intriguing, especially given how he's introduced at first as this really caring guy, only to see that raising his kids, he really was just a straight up asshole. But I think seeing this evolution of his character really did strengthen our earlier impression of him, seeing how regretful he's become for his actions.
None of that matters when the rest of the movie is nearly unwatchable, however. Malick tried way too hard to be artsy, and his movie suffers tremendously for it. This is admittedly a very polarizing movie, with everyone who sees it either absolutely loving it, or completely hating it. I just happen to fall under the latter group, though I know plenty of people who did enjoy this film, so take that for whatever it's worth.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The information contained in this video about the eWIC card is intended for the Southeast region only. For other regions across the state, it can be viewed as a preview of what will be coming soon!
Please take note of the eWIC Rollout Schedule, below.
Our WIC program is moving from checks to an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card we're calling "eWIC." The new eWIC card looks like a debit card and has all of your family's WIC benefits in one place.
Buy as little or as much of your WIC food at a time!
We will begin piloting the eWIC card in Southeast Alaska starting in February 2019.