<a name="1011032"> </a>A channel allows certain types of editing not possible in a selection.
</p>
<p id="1011169" class="Body">
<a name="1011169"> </a>You can paint in a channel or apply effects to it. Feathering a channel softens the transitions between light and dark areas.
</p>
<p id="1011856" class="Body">
<a name="1011856"> </a>You can also fill a channel with a color, pattern, gradient, or weave. You can fill an entire channel or an area of a channel, or you can fill a channel based on existing color. For more information, refer to <a href="06-Painting14.html#1015742">"Filling Images Based on Color"</a>.
</p>
<p id="1011187" class="Body">
<a name="1011187"> </a>When you edit a channel, you are making modifications to the channel, and not the image. You can use shades of gray only; no colors are available. This is because the alpha channel is a grayscale image, separate from the RGB image. The resulting channel can be used afterwards to make changes to your image.
</p>
<p id="1011303" class="Body">
<a name="1011303"> </a>If you want to modify a specific area of a channel, you can create a selection. The current selection is available to the RGB image and all channels. For more information, refer to <a href="12-Selections4.html#999057">"Creating Selections"</a>.
</p>
<p id="1011235" class="Body">
<a name="1011235"> </a>Editing a channel does not affect how the channel displays. For information about setting the color and opacity of the displayed channel overlay, refer to <a href="13-Channels5.html#1009361"><span style="color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline">"Setting Channel Attributes"</span></a>.
</p>
<h5 id="1009438" class="ToDoHead">
<a name="1009438"> </a>To paint in a channel
</h5>
<ol type="1">
<li class="SmartList1" value="1"><a name="1009439"> </a>On the Channels palette, display and select the channel you want to work with.</li>
<p id="1011346" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1011346"> </a>If you want to paint only on a specific area of the channel, make a selection.
</p>
<li class="SmartList1" value="2"><a name="1009440"> </a>Choose the Brush tool from the toolbox.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="3"><a name="1011212"> </a>On the Brush selector bar, choose a brush category and variant. </li>
<p id="1009441" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1009441"> </a>The Pen and Airbrush categories make good choices.
</p>
<li class="SmartList1" value="4"><a name="1009442"> </a>On the Colors palette, choose a color. </li>
<p id="1009443" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1009443"> </a>Only grayscale values are available. Black adds to the channel. White erases from it.
</p>
<p id="1009444" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1009444"> </a>When you paint in the channel, hue is irrelevant. The channel carries 8 bits of information and you need only set a level in that range. The value scale is between black and white.
</p>
<li class="SmartList1" value="5"><a name="1009445"> </a>On the property bar, type a value in the Opacity box, or adjust the pop-up slider.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="6"><a name="1011266"> </a>Type a value in the Size box, or adjust the pop-up slider.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="7"><a name="1009446"> </a>Paint in the document window.</li>
</ol>
<h5 id="1011284" class="ToDoHead">
<a name="1011284"> </a>To apply an effect to a channel
</h5>
<ol type="1">
<li class="SmartList1" value="1"><a name="1011296"> </a>On the Channels palette, display and select the channel you want to work with.</li>
<p id="1011286" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1011286"> </a>If you want to apply the effect to a specific area of the channel, make a selection.
</p>
<li class="SmartList1" value="2"><a name="1011299"> </a>Choose an effect from the <span style="color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline">Effects</span> menu.</li>
<p id="1011287" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1011287"> </a>To learn more about image effects, explore <a href="15-Effects2.html#1047824">"Using Image Effects"</a>.
</p>
</ol>
<h5 id="1011860" class="ToDoHead">
<a name="1011860"> </a>To feather a channel
</h5>
<ol type="1">
<li class="SmartList1" value="1"><a name="1011861"> </a>On the Channels palette, display and select the channel you want to work with.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="2"><a name="1011862"> </a>Click the palette menu arrow, and choose Feather. </li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="3"><a name="1011863"> </a>In the Feather dialog box, type a number of pixels. </li>
<a name="1011868"> </a><i>A channel - before and after feathering.
</i></p>
<h5 id="1009470" class="ToDoHead">
<a name="1009470"> </a>To fill a channel
</h5>
<ol type="1">
<li class="SmartList1" value="1"><a name="1011342"> </a>On the Channels palette, display and select the channel you want to work with.</li>
<p id="1011352" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1011352"> </a>If you want to fill only a specific area of the channel, make a selection.
</p>
<li class="SmartList1" value="2"><a name="1009472"> </a>In the toolbox, choose a color, pattern, gradient, or weave from the corresponding selector.</li>
<li class="SmartList1"><a name="1011407"> </a>For more information on the Fill command, refer to <a href="06-Painting14.html#1014472">"Filling an Area with Media"</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h5 id="1009481" class="ToDoHead">
<a name="1009481"> </a>To fill a channel based on color
</h5>
<ol type="1">
<li class="SmartList1" value="1"><a name="1011433"> </a>On the Channels palette, display and select the channel you want to work with.</li>
<li class="Bulleted2"><a name="1011495"> </a><span style="color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline">Clone Source</span>-fills using the current clone source image. If you haven't defined a clone source, Corel Painter fills with the current pattern. </li>
<li class="Bulleted2"><a name="1011500"> </a><span style="color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline">Weave</span>-fills with the selected weave.</li>
</ul>
<ol type="1">
<li class="SmartList1" value="5"><a name="1011501"> </a>Choose the specific material you want from the Fill selector.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="6"><a name="1011502"> </a>To specify the range of gray to be filled, type a value in the Tolerance box, or adjust the pop-up slider.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="7"><a name="1011503"> </a>To specify the fill opacity for pixels outside the Tolerance range, type a value in the Feather box, or adjust the pop-up slider.</li>
<p id="1011504" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1011504"> </a>If you want to create intermediate fill values on the boundaries, enable the Anti-Alias check box. This gives soft edges to the fill. Anti-aliasing is desirable when Feather is zero or extremely low.
</p>
<li class="SmartList1" value="8"><a name="1011505"> </a>Click the area of the channel you want to fill.</li>
<p id="1011506" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1011506"> </a>If the result is not what you want, undo the fill, change the settings, and try again.
<li class="SmartList1"><a name="1011465"> </a>The Paint Bucket applies a fill only to a visible channel. Make sure the channel's eye icon is open before using the Paint Bucket.</li>
<li class="SmartList1"><a name="1011525"> </a>For complete information on Paint Bucket controls, refer to <a href="06-Painting14.html#1015742">"Filling Images Based on Color"</a>.</li>