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Using the Stroke Designer
The Stroke Designer lets you tweak the various settings for each brush variant to create new brushes. A series of controls, each containing its own settings, can be adjusted on the Stroke Designer page.
Setting General Controls
Dab Types
Dab types are media application methods. Corel Painter produces "computed" brush strokes using rendered dab types that are computed during the stroke.
Earlier versions of Corel Painter used "dab-based" media application, where brushes apply small dots of media to create brush strokes. With Spacing between dabs set small, strokes appear smooth. Zoom in close enough, and you can probably tell that the brush stroke is made up of tiny dabs of color. Make a rapid brush stroke or set spacing between dabs large, and strokes can become trails of dots.
Rendered dab types create continuous, smooth-edged strokes. They're fast and less artifact prone than dab-based media application. In fact, you can't draw fast enough to leave dabs or dots of color showing in a stroke, because they're just not there. Rendered dab types allow rich new features, that were not possible with dab-based media application.
The Scratchboard Pen illustrates the smooth stroke that can be accomplished with the Corel Painter rendered Dab Types.
Corel Painter brushes use one of the following dab types.
- Circular (dab-based)-Circular dabs are controlled by the sliders in the Size and Angle areas of the Stroke Designer.
- Single Pixel (dab-based)-A Single Pixel dab consists of one pixel only. You can't change its size. You'll use single pixel brushes most often when you zoom in for editing at the pixel level.
- Static Bristle (dab-based)-Bristle dabs are controlled by the sliders in the Size area of the Stroke Designer. When you select the Static Bristle dab type, the preview grid displays a bristly profile.
- Captured (dab-based)-Captured dabs are dab shapes you create and capture. Refer to "Capturing Brush Dabs".
A captured dab is for a captured brush. It lets you paint with specific shapes and designs.
- Camel Hair (rendered)-You use Camel Hair dabs to create a bristle brush with a circular array of bristles. Individual brush hairs can have their own color and can pick up underlying colors independently of the Brush loading option. Increase color variability in Corel Painter to make each hair a separate color. For more information about color variability, see "Color Variability".
The Feature slider in the Size area separates bristles. The higher the setting, the farther apart hairs appear. Use a low setting to make more solid strokes. For more information about the Size controls, see "Setting Size Controls".
The effects of Feature on the stroke.
- Flat (rendered)-You use Flat dabs to create a flat brush, like those used to apply paint to houses or walls. Brushes that use Flat dabs respond to bearing, allowing for flat or narrow strokes, depending on how the stylus is held. Flat dabs are always perpendicular to the shaft of the stylus.
The Feature setting in the Size area separates bristles.
- Palette Knife (rendered)-You use these dabs to create brushes that are the opposite of Flat dab brushes. With resaturation set low, you can use these brushes to scrape, push, or pick up, and rapidly drag colors along. Palette Knife dabs are always parallel to the shaft of the stylus.
The Feature setting in the Size area separates bristles.
- Bristle Spray (rendered)-You use Bristle Spray dabs to create brushes that can use airbrush controls. These brushes recognize tilt, which separates bristles on the opposite side of the tilt. Holding down Option + Shift (Mac OS) or Alt + Shift (Windows) when painting reverses the spray direction.
Adjust the Feature slider in the Size area to separate bristles.
- Airbrush (rendered)-You use Airbrush dabs to create brushes that act like airbrushes. Bearing (direction) and angle (tilt) affect the eccentricity of the resulting conic section. The Feature slider in the Size area controls the size of the individual droplets of media. Set Feature too high and you might get undesirable artifacts.
Holding down Option + Shift (Mac OS) or Alt + Shift (Windows) when painting reverses the spray direction.
- Pixel Airbrush (rendered)-You use these dabs to create brushes that work like airbrushes. Brushes that use Pixel Airbrush dabs cannot use the Feature setting to control the size of individual droplets of media. Holding down Option + Shift (Mac OS) or Alt + Shift (Windows) when painting reverses the spray direction.
- Line Airbrush (rendered)-You use these dabs to create brushes that work like airbrushes. Brushes that use Line Airbrush dabs spray lines instead of droplets of media. Holding down Option + Shift (Mac OS) or Alt + Shift (Windows) when painting reverses the spray direction.
- Projected (rendered)-You use Projected dabs to create brushes that act like airbrushes. Brushes created with Projected dabs work similarly to the airbrush from previous versions of the application, but react to bearing and angle data. They create conic sections with an overall softness. Holding down Option + Shift (Mac OS) or Alt + Shift (Windows) when painting reverses the spray direction.
- Rendered (rendered)-You use Rendered dabs to create brushes that conform the source to a stroke.
Use the Source pop-up menu to control what is mapped into the computed brush strokes. For more information, see "Source".
- Liquid Ink-You use Liquid Ink dabs to create liquid paint effects that simulate traditional ink-based media. You can give a Liquid Ink brush stroke the appearance of height by applying lighting effects. There are five types of Liquid Ink dab types: Liquid Ink Camel Hair, Liquid Ink Flat, Liquid Ink Palette Knife, Liquid Ink Bristle Spray, and Liquid Ink Airbrush.
- Water Color-You use Water Color dabs to create brushes that work like water color brushes. The colors flow and mix and absorb into the paper. You can control the wetness and evaporation rate of the paper. There are five types of Water Color dab types: Water Color Camel Hair, Water Color Flat, Water Color Palette Knife, Water Color Bristle Spray, and Water Color Airbrush.
To choose a dab type
- On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click General.
- Choose a dab type from the Dab Type pop-up menu.
Stroke Types
Stroke type determines how media is applied during a brush stroke.
Corel Painter brushes use one of the following stroke types.
- Single-A Single stroke type draws one dab path that corresponds exactly to the brush stroke you make.
You can use Bristle, Captured, or one of the bristly rendered dab types (such as Camel Hair) with the Single stroke type to create the effect of multiple bristles.
The Single stroke type has one dab path.
- Multi-A Multi stroke type draws a set of randomly distributed dab paths, positioned around the brush stroke you make. These dabs leave dab paths that are not parallel and might overlap. Each time you apply a multi-stroke brush, the result might differ.
Increasing the Jitter value in the Random area spreads out the strokes in a multi-stroke brush.
Multi-stroke brushes must be precomputed, which can generate a delay in their appearance on the screen. Because of this delay, multi-stroke brushes work best when you apply them in short, controlled strokes.
The Multi stroke type draws a set of randomly distributed dab paths.
- Rake-A Rake stroke type draws a set of evenly distributed dab paths. The several dab paths in a rake brush stroke are parallel. You can control all other aspects of the stroke by using settings in the Rake area of the Stroke Designer.
Each bristle in a Rake brush can have a different color. Increasing Color Variability in Corel Painter causes bristles to be colored differently.
A rake stroke is composed of evenly distributed dab paths.
- Hose-The Hose stroke type applies only to the Image Hose. It's a single stroke composed of the current Image Hose Nozzle file. To learn more about the Image Hose and Nozzle files, refer to "Using the Image Hose".
The Hose stroke type uses the current Nozzle file as media.
To choose a stroke type
- On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click General.
- Choose a stroke type from the Stroke Type pop-up menu.
Methods and Subcategories
The brush method defines the most basic level of brush behavior. A brush method is the foundation on which all other brush variables build. You can think of the method and method subcategory as attributes of the stroke's appearance.
Because the method sets a brush variant's most basic behavior, you can alter a variant's behavior by changing its method. For example, suppose you want a Charcoal-looking stroke, but instead of hiding underlying strokes, you want brush strokes to build to black. You can get this effect by changing the method to Buildup. Perhaps you want a variant of the Pens brush category to smear underlying colors. You can change its method from Cover to Drip. Some brush effects are less easily affected by other methods, and results may differ.
Each method can have several variations, called method subcategories. These subcategories further refine the brush behavior. The following terms are used in describing most method subcategories:
- Soft methods produce strokes with hard, "pixellated" edges.
- Flat methods produce smooth, anti-aliased strokes.
- Hard methods produce brush strokes with semi anti-aliased edges.
- Grainy methods produce brush strokes that react to paper texture.
- In a few instances, you'll see the words "edge" and "variable" in a method subcategory. "Edge" means strokes are thick and sticky looking. "Variable" means a brush stroke starts off a bit more transparent.
Combining a method with a method subcategory results in a specific brush style you can assign to a given brush. For example, Grainy Hard Cover means that brush strokes interact with paper grain and have semi anti-aliased strokes that hide underlying pixels. Grainy Hard Cover is the default method for Chalk and Charcoal.
The brush stroke on top was created using Grainy Hard Buildup. The stroke on bottom was created using Soft Variable Buildup.
Corel Painter supplies the following methods:
Buildup Method
The Buildup methods produce brush strokes that build toward black as you overlay them. A real-world example of buildup is the felt pen: Scribble on the page with blue, then scribble on top of that with green, then red. The scribbled area keeps getting darker-approaching black.
Even if you were to apply a bright color like yellow, you couldn't lighten the scribble-it would stay dark. This is buildup. Crayons and Felt Pens are buildup brushes.
An example of the Buildup method.
Cover Method
The Cover methods produce brush strokes that cover underlying strokes, such as oil paint in a traditional studio. No matter what colors you paint, you can always apply a layer of paint that completely hides what's underneath. Even with a black background, a thick layer of yellow will be pure yellow. Some Chalk and Pen variants are examples of brushes that use the Cover method.
An example of the Cover method.
Eraser Method
The Eraser methods either erase, lighten, darken, or smear the underlying colors.
An example of the Eraser method.
Drip Method
The Drip methods interact with the underlying colors to distort the image.
An example of the Drip method.
Mask Method
Due to Corel Painter masking capabilities, the Mask method is provided only for compatibility with earlier versions of the application. Mask methods are now mapped to the Cover method. Normally, you will not use the Mask method.
Cloning Method
The Cloning methods take imagery from a clone source and re-create them in another location, often rendering them in a Natural-Media style. For more about cloning imagery refer to "Cloning Imagery".
An example of the Cloning method.
Plug-in Method
Plug-in is a special category of method subcategories. It defines no specific brush behavior, but is an open door to a wide range of subcategories.
It's well worth your time to browse through the Plug-in method subcategories. There, you'll find methods such as Left Twirl. Left Twirl gives you a brush with the dab and stroke of an Impressionist performing left-handed twirls.
You can give any built-in brush the power of a plug-in by changing its method and subcategory.
Wet Method
The Wet method applies brush strokes to a Water Color layer. For more information, see "The Water Color Layer".
Digital Wet
The Digital Wet method applies digital water color brush strokes to the canvas or a regular layer. For more information, see "Digital Water Color".
To choose a method and subcategory
- On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click General.
- Choose a method from the Method pop-up menu.
- Choose a subcategory from the Subcategory pop-up menu.
Source
Source selects the media that is applied by the brush variant. Source applies only to some dab types like Line Airbrush, Projected, and Rendered. Refer to "Painting with Color" for more information about setting a media source.
Corel Painter brushes use one of the following source types:
- Color-applies primary or secondary color.
- Gradient-applies the current gradient across the length of the stroke.
- Gradient Repeat-applies the current gradient repeatedly along the stroke.
- Pattern-paints with a pattern containing no mask information.
- Pattern with Mask-paints with a pattern limited by the pattern's mask.
- Pattern as Opacity-the Luminance of the pattern becomes the opacity of the stroke.
To choose a media source
- On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click General.
- Choose a source from the Source pop-up menu.
Opacity
The Opacity slider determines how Corel Painter should vary the density of the media being applied. It sets the maximum opacity of the selected brush.
The opacity of an Airbrush variant is often set to be determined by stylus pressure. More pressure yields more opaque strokes. Use the Expressions settings on the Stroke Designer page to tie Opacity to stylus or mouse data.
To set brush opacity
- On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click General.
- Move the Opacity slider left to reduce opacity. Move it right to increase opacity.
Grain
The Grain slider determines the maximum amount of paper texture Corel Painter should reveal in a brush stroke.
Some default variants have their grain component determined by pressure. Increasing pressure causes the pencil to "dig into" the paper. Use the Expressions settings on the Stroke Designer page to tie grain to stylus or mouse data.
You can also use the paper's brightness and contrast settings to control brush-grain interaction. For more information, see "Using Paper Texture".
To set grain
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