Changing Paper Color

You can change a document's paper color-the color of the background Canvas-at any time. This color appears when you delete a filled area or use the eraser to remove color.

To change the existing paper color

1. Choose a primary color from the Colors palette.
2. Choose Canvas menu > Set Paper Color.
3. To expose the new paper color, do one of the following:

• Make a selection, and cut or delete it.
• Use the eraser brush to erase part of your image.

• Do not use a bleach variant to expose the new paper color, unless the paper color is white. Bleach variants will erase to white, regardless of the paper color.

For more information about choosing colors, see "Using the Color Pickers".

If you change the existing paper color, you must delete an area to view the change.

Using the Color Pickers

Corel Painter provides two Color pickers: standard and small. The Colors palette menu lets you select between the two pickers.

The standard Color picker.

The small Color picker.

The standard Color picker has a hue ring and a color triangle. Within the triangle, colors are organized by value and saturation.

• Values span the triangle from top to bottom, with the top of the triangle being the highest value (white), the bottom the lowest value (black).
• Saturation levels go from left to right. Dragging or clicking to the right produces the purest color within the predominant hue. Dragging or clicking to the left reduces the level of color saturation, giving "muddier" or grayer colors.

The small Color picker displays a color triangle, with the hue ring as a single bar.

To choose a hue and color from the standard Color picker

1. Choose Window menu > Show Colors to display the Colors palette.

If the Colors palette is not expanded, click the palette arrow.

2. Click the palette menu arrow, and choose Standard Colors.
3. Drag the circle on the color ring to select the predominant hue.

You can also select a hue by clicking once anywhere on the ring.

The triangle displays all the available colors within that selected hue.

4. Select a color on the triangle by dragging the circle or click the color you want.

To choose a hue and color from the small Color picker

1. Choose Window menu > Show Colors to display the Colors palette.
2. Click the palette menu arrow, and choose Small Colors.
3. Drag the slider on the color bar to select the predominant hue.

You can also select a hue by clicking once anywhere on the bar.

The triangle displays all the available colors within that selected hue.

4. Select a color on the triangle by dragging the circle or click the color you want.

Understanding Primary and Secondary Colors

The color you select appears in one of two overlapping rectangles displayed on the Colors palette. The front rectangle represents the selected primary color. The back rectangle shows the selected secondary color. By default, black is the primary color and white is the secondary color. Most of the time you'll work with the primary color.

Overlapping rectangles display the current primary and secondary colors.

Don't confuse the secondary color with what other graphics programs call "the background color." In Corel Painter, the "background color" is the paper color.

The secondary color is for multicolor brush strokes, two-point gradients, and Image Hose effects. It's used when more than one color is applied.

To choose the primary color

1. Choose Window menu > Show Colors to display the Colors palette.
2. Click the front rectangle.
3. Choose a color using the Color picker.

Click the front rectangle to set the primary color.

To choose the secondary color

1. On the Colors palette, click the back rectangle.
2. Choose a color using the Color picker.

If you usually work with the Primary color, you might want to re-click the front rectangle so that it will be selected the next time you go to the color picker.

Click the back rectangle to set the secondary color.

To swap primary and secondary colors

• Click the swap icon .

Sampling Colors from Imagery

In addition to choosing colors on the Colors palette, you can use the Dropper tool to select, or "pick up," a color from an existing image.

To use the Dropper tool

1. Click the front or back rectangle to select a primary or secondary color.
2. Click the Dropper tool in the toolbox.
3. Move the cursor to the color you want to pick up, and click it.

The color picker updates to display the color you've selected.

• The Dropper tool picks up visible color only. You can't select a hidden color with the Dropper tool.

• You can quickly get the Dropper tool by pressing D on the keyboard.

To access the Dropper tool from other tools

• Press Option (Mac OS) or Alt (Windows).

• The Dropper tool doesn't work with all tools.

Cloning Color

The Clone Color option is another way to choose color. This feature lets the brush pick up color from an original (source) image. Brushes using dab-based Dab Types take an average based on samples of color from the clone source, resulting in an approximation of the original color. Brushes using rendered Dab Types sample several colors, loading each into individual bristles of the brush, allowing for startlingly realistic results. For more information about cloning, refer to "Cloning Imagery".

To set up a clone source

1. Choose File menu > Open, and choose the file you want to use as a clone source.
2. Choose File menu > Clone.
3. Choose Select menu > All, and press Delete (Mac OS) or Backspace (Windows).

Now you can work in the new file, taking data from the original source file.

• You can also use this feature when creating a mosaic. For more information, see "Mosaics".

To use clone colors

1. Set up a clone source.

If you don't set a file as the source, Corel Painter uses the current Pattern.

2. Choose a brush from the Brush selector bar.
3. Choose Window menu > Show Colors to display the Colors palette.
4. Do one of the following:

• Click the palette menu arrow, and choose Use Clone Color.
• Click the Clone Color button on the Colors palette.

Enabling the Clone Color option disables the color picker. This is a reminder that your color information is coming from the clone source.

5. When you paint in the clone file, Corel Painter uses colors from the clone source image.

• When you change the brush or variant, Corel Painter turns Use Clone Color off. Be sure to turn it back on to continue working with the clone color.

Using Two Colors at Once

Usually, you'll work with only the primary color-the front rectangle of the two overlapping rectangles on the Colors palette. Using one color produces a solid-color brush stroke.

By selecting a secondary color, you can determine the colors for multicolored brush strokes. Many brush variants are able to paint with a variable range of colors.

The settings on the Color Expression palette determine when Corel Painter uses one color or the other. For more information about using color expression, see "Color Expression".

You can use two colors at once in a brush stroke.

To set up a two-color brush stroke

1. Choose a brush from the Brush selector bar.
2. Choose Window menu > Show Colors to display the Colors palette.
3. Choose a primary and secondary color from the standard or small Color Picker.

Refer to "Understanding Primary and Secondary Colors" for more information about setting primary and secondary colors.

4. Choose Window menu > Show Color Expression to display the Color Expression palette.
5. Choose Direction from the Controller pop-up menu.
6. Paint in the document.

The primary color is used in one direction and the secondary color is used in the other.

• You can also choose a color from a color set.

• You might want to try a different setting from the Controller pop-up menu on the Color Expression palette. Try setting it to Pressure instead of Direction.