Setting Liquid Ink Controls

Liquid Ink controls work with Liquid Ink layers. Use the Liquid Ink controls to specify qualities such as type, smoothness, and volume of a brush stroke. You can adjust the Liquid Ink controls when you have selected a Liquid Ink brush from the Brush selector bar.

Ink Type

Liquid Ink is divided into two basic properties: Ink and Color. The Ink component provides the form of the brush stroke, while the Color component applies color to the Ink form. The Ink and Color components can be used together or controlled separately.

You can select from the following Ink types:

• Ink Plus Color-applies the currently selected color to the Ink form
• Ink Only-applies only the Ink component
• Color Only-applies only the Color component
• Soften Ink Plus Color-applies Color to an Ink form, causing inks and colors to blend into one another
• Soften Ink Only-applies only the Ink component
• Soften Color Only-applies only the Color component
• Resist-repels Ink
• Erase-deletes Ink and Color
• Presoftened Ink Plus Color-applied in conjunction with surface depth effects

To choose an ink type

1. On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click Liquid Ink.
2. Choose a Liquid Ink type from the Ink Type pop-up menu.

Smoothness

The Smoothness slider controls the "tack" of the brush strokes. Lower values result in coarser brush strokes. Higher values cause brush strokes to appear smoother.

The Smoothness slider controls the "tack" of brush strokes. Top=0%, bottom=100%.

To set smoothness

1. On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click Liquid Ink.
2. Adjust the Smoothness slider.

Lower values result in coarse brush strokes. Higher values cause brush strokes to blend into one another and appear smoother.

Volume

The Volume slider controls the height of the brush stroke, or how much medium is applied to the image. Higher values result in thicker strokes.

Used to control the amount of spray from Liquid Ink airbrushes when this brush feature is tied to Wheel, adjustments to the wheel on an airbrush stylus (especially the Intuos Airbrush Stylus) act like a needle control on a real airbrush.

You can use the Depth controls in the Impasto area of the Stroke Designer to give Liquid Ink brush strokes the appearance of height. Refer to "Setting Impasto Controls" for more information about Depth controls.

The Volume slider controls the height of the brush stroke. Top=100%, bottom=500%.

To set ink volume

1. On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click Liquid Ink.
2. Adjust the Volume slider.

Higher values result in thicker strokes.

Minimum Volume

The Min Volume slider controls the maximum variation in volume. A value of 100%, for example, means no variation in volume during the brush stroke.

The Min Volume slider controls the maximum variation in volume. Top=100%, bottom=0%

To set maximum variation in volume

1. On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click Liquid Ink.
2. Adjust the Min Volume slider.

If you want volume to relate to stylus pressure, choose Pressure from the Expression pop-up menu.

Random Volume

The Rand Vol slider controls the randomness in volume within the brush stroke. A value of zero results in a perfectly smooth brush stroke.

The Rand Vol slider controls the randomness in volume within the brush stroke. Top=0%, bottom=100%.

To set random volume

1. On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click Liquid Ink.
2. Adjust the Rand Vol slider.

Lower values result in smoother brush strokes.

Random Size

The Rand Size slider controls the randomness in size within a brush stroke. A value of zero results in a perfectly smooth brush stroke.

The Rand Size slider controls the randomness in size within a brush stroke. Top=0%, bottom=100%.

To set random size

1. On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click Liquid Ink.
2. Adjust the Rand Size slider.

Lower values result in smoother brush strokes.

Bristle Fraction

The Bristle Frac slider controls the thickness of the bristles. Higher values cause the bristles to stick together and result in a smoother brush stroke. Lower values cause the individual brush strokes to become visible.

The Bristle Fraction slider controls the thickness of the bristles. Top=3%, bottom=20%.

To set bristle fraction

1. On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creators, click Liquid Ink.
2. Adjust the Bristle Frac slider.

Higher values result in smoother brush strokes.

Random Bristle Volume

The Rand Br Vol slider controls the variation in bristle heights. A value of zero signifies that all of the bristles are of equal height.

The Rand Br Vol slider controls the variation in bristle heights. Top=0%, bottom=75%.

To set random bristle volume

1. On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click Liquid Ink.
2. Adjust the Rand Br Vol slider.

Random Bristle Size

The Rand Br Size slider controls the variation in bristle widths. A value of zero signifies that all of the bristles are of equal width.

The Rand Br Size slider controls the variation in bristle widths. Top=0%, bottom=100%.

To set random bristle size

1. On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click Liquid Ink.
2. Adjust the Rand Br Size slider.