<li class="Bulleted"><a href="10-Brushes25.html#1004765">Creating a New Brush Category</a></li><br/>
<li class="Bulleted"><a href="10-Brushes25.html#1020457">Saving a Brush Look</a></li><br/>
<li class="Bulleted"><a href="10-Brushes25.html#1000646">Using Brush and Looks Libraries</a></li><br/>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<blockquote>
<h2 id="1002344" class="Heading1">
<a name="1002344"> </a>Managing Brushes
</h2>
<h3 id="1019170" class="Heading2">
<a name="1019170"> </a>Saving Brush Variants
</h3>
<p id="1000446" class="Body">
<a name="1000446"> </a>After you've customized a variant to act exactly how you want it to act, you can use it immediately. In fact, adjusting brushes as you paint is something you'll probably do often. Changes you make to brush variants are saved until the Restore Default Variant command is selected.
</p>
<p id="1000447" class="Body">
<a name="1000447"> </a>If you want to keep a customized version of a brush variant, Corel Painter lets you do it as a new variant or as a Look.
</p>
<p id="1018586" class="Body">
<a name="1018586"> </a>Variant settings are included when you save a Look, but Looks also include paper texture, pattern, gradient and nozzle data. Refer to <a href="10-Brushes25.html#1020457">"Saving a Brush Look"</a> for more about saving the combined look of a variant.
</p>
<p id="1000464" class="Body">
<a name="1000464"> </a>It's easier to find a variant when the variant list is short. You can manage the number of variants in a Brush category by creating new categories, then saving variants you create there.
</p>
<h5 id="1004726" class="ToDoHead">
<a name="1004726"> </a>To save current settings as a custom variant
</h5>
<ol type="1">
<li class="SmartList1" value="1"><a name="1002357"> </a>Do one of the following:</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li class="Bulleted2"><a name="1018608"> </a>On the Tracker palette in the Brush Creator or Corel Painter, choose the variant you want to save, click the Tracker palette menu arrow, and choose Save Variant.</li>
<li class="Bulleted2"><a name="1018626"> </a>In Corel Painter, click the selector menu arrow on the Brush selector bar and choose Save Variant.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="2"><a name="1001908"> </a>In the Save Variant dialog box, type a name for the new variant.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="3"><a name="1018656"> </a>Enable the Save Current Colors check box if you want the current primary and secondary colors saved with the variant. </li>
<p id="1000492" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1000492"> </a>If a variant uses the Clone Color option, it is not necessary to enable Save Current Colors.
</p>
<p id="1000494" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1000494"> </a>Your new variant appears on the variant menu, in the current brush category. A new XML file is created in the Brush category folder.
</p>
</ol>
<h5 id="1000496" class="ToDoHead">
<a name="1000496"> </a>To return the current variant to default settings
</h5>
<ol type="1">
<li class="SmartList1" value="1"><a name="1000497"> </a>Choose the variant from the Brush selector bar.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="2"><a name="1018665"> </a>Click the selector menu arrow and choose Restore Default Variant.</li>
<p id="1018672" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1018672"> </a>Choose Restore All Default Variants to reset all of the settings for every brush variant you may have adjusted.
</p>
</ol>
<h5 id="1018671" class="ToDoHead">
<a name="1018671"> </a>To delete a variant
</h5>
<ol type="1">
<li class="SmartList1" value="1"><a name="1000501"> </a>Choose the variant from the Brush selector bar.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="2"><a name="1018686"> </a>Click the selector menu arrow and choose Delete Variant.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="3"><a name="1018684"> </a>Click Yes to delete the variant.</li>
<p id="1005967" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1005967"> </a>The variant's related XML file is deleted from the Brush category folder.
</p>
</ol>
<h3 id="1000507" class="Heading2">
<a name="1000507"> </a>Copying Variants between Brush Categories
</h3>
<p id="1000508" class="Body">
<a name="1000508"> </a>If you create a variant, then decide you want it in a different brush category, you can copy it there. After copying, you can then delete the original.
</p>
<h5 id="1000509" class="ToDoHead">
<a name="1000509"> </a>To copy a variant to a different brush category
</h5>
<ol type="1">
<li class="SmartList1" value="1"><a name="1000510"> </a>Choose the variant you want to copy from the Brush selector bar.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="2"><a name="1018718"> </a>Click the selector menu arrow and choose Copy Variant.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="3"><a name="1018721"> </a>In the Copy Variant dialog box, choose the destination brush category from the pop-up menu. </li>
<p id="1018724" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1018724"> </a>The brush variant is copied to the selected category. (Remember to delete the variant in the category from which it was copied.)
<li class="SmartList1"><a name="1020204"> </a>You can also copy Brush variants at the root of the category folder by copying the XML files to the desired category. This is much quicker when copying multiple files.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="1000516" class="Heading2">
<a name="1000516"> </a>Capturing Brush Dabs
</h3>
<p id="1000517" class="Body">
<a name="1000517"> </a>You can create your own brush dab shapes. Any shape is possible.
<a name="1004734"> </a><i>When you've created a shape you like, select and capture it.
</i></p>
<h5 id="1000526" class="ToDoHead">
<a name="1000526"> </a>To create a brush dab shape
</h5>
<ol type="1">
<li class="SmartList1" value="1"><a name="1000527"> </a>On a white background, draw a brush shape in black. </li>
<p id="1018728" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1018728"> </a>Use shades of gray to define what you wish to be partially transparent areas of the brush.
</p>
<p id="1000528" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1000528"> </a>To follow stroke direction, a captured brush set must face toward the right side.
</p>
<li class="SmartList1" value="2"><a name="1000529"> </a>Choose the Rectangular Selection tool from the toolbox <img src="images/10-Brushes74.jpg" height="16" width="42" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0" />
. </li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="3"><a name="1018734"> </a>Hold down the Shift key and drag across your brush shape to create a square selection.</li>
<p id="1000533" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1000533"> </a>Corel Painter uses the selected area to map brush Size. When the brush is created, this area is sampled to compute each brush dab.
</p>
<p id="1000534" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1000534"> </a>When the original area must be scaled to the Size of the brush dab, sampling can appear aliased. The greater the scaling, the more aliasing is apparent. To prevent too much aliasing, create a shape with soft (grayscale) edges and draw it close to the Size you'll use.
</p>
<li class="SmartList1" value="4"><a name="1000536"> </a>On the Brush selector bar, choose the brush category where you want to save the variant for the captured dab shape.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="5"><a name="1000537"> </a>Click the selector menu arrow and choose Capture Dab.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="6"><a name="1018745"> </a>On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click Size to see the captured brush dab. </li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="7"><a name="1000539"> </a>If necessary, change the Size, Squeeze, and Angle settings. </li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="8"><a name="1000544"> </a>Draw with the brush on the canvas. </li>
<p id="1000545" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1000545"> </a>If you like the results you've captured, you can save the brush as a new variant. Refer to <a href="10-Brushes25.html#1019170">"Saving Brush Variants"</a> for how to save brush customizations for later use.
<a name="1004763"> </a><i>You can paint with a captured brush, just as you would with other brushes.
</i></p>
<h3 id="1004765" class="Heading2">
<a name="1004765"> </a>Creating a New Brush Category
</h3>
<p id="1018779" class="Body">
<a name="1018779"> </a>The brushes that appear as icons on the Brush selector bar are really categories for collections of similar variants. You can add your own brush categories to the Brush selector bar.
</p>
<p id="1018780" class="Body">
<a name="1018780"> </a>You might want to create a brush category if you've customized a medium and you want to keep its tools organized.
</p>
<h5 id="1000574" class="ToDoHead">
<a name="1000574"> </a>To create a new brush category
</h5>
<ol type="1">
<li class="SmartList1" value="1"><a name="1000575"> </a>Draw a small image to use as the icon for the new brush. </li>
<p id="1018797" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1018797"> </a>This will appear on the Brush selector bar, like the default brush category icons.
<li class="SmartList1" value="5"><a name="1000582"> </a>In the Capture Brush dialog box, type a name.</li>
<p id="1020454" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1020454"> </a>Your new brush and its icon now appear on the Brush selector bar.
</p>
</ol>
<h3 id="1020457" class="Heading2">
<a name="1020457"> </a>Saving a Brush Look
</h3>
<p id="1018817" class="Body">
<a name="1018817"> </a>A Look is a variant that has a paper texture, pattern, gradient, or nozzle assigned to it. A variant alone does not know about underlying texture or other elements. The Look, on the other hand, associates additional data with a particular variant and saves it as a complete Look. Regardless of a document's current libraries, when you select a Look, you use the elements that are part of that look. If the specific libraries are not available, Corel Painter prompts you to locate them.
</p>
<p id="1000615" class="Body">
<a name="1000615"> </a>You can save a Look so you can use it later. A saved Look keeps all variant settings plus the paper, pattern, gradient, or nozzle settings.
</p>
<h5 id="1000616" class="ToDoHead">
<a name="1000616"> </a>To save a Brush Look
</h5>
<ol type="1">
<li class="SmartList1" value="1"><a name="1003533"> </a>In the toolbox, click the Look selector menu arrow, and choose New Look.</li>
<li class="SmartList1" value="2"><a name="1003517"> </a>In the New Look dialog box, type a name for the look.</li>
<p id="1000623" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1000623"> </a>The icon for the Look you've created is saved into the Look selector in the toolbox. This is a handy visual reminder of what the Look does.
<a name="1004785"> </a><i>Saved Looks appear in the Look selector in the toolbox.
</i></p>
<p id="1000632" class="Body">
<a name="1000632"> </a>In the case of the Image Hose brush, the Look might have a particular nozzle file attached. For more information about working with the Image Hose and Nozzle files, refer to <a href="17-Hose4.html#998977">"Using the Image Hose"</a>.
</p>
<h5 id="1000638" class="ToDoHead">
<a name="1000638"> </a>To use a saved Look
</h5>
<ul>
<li class="SmartList1"><a name="1000639"> </a>In the toolbox, choose a look from the Look selector.</li>
<p id="1000644" class="ToDoBody">
<a name="1000644"> </a>Corel Painter loads the correct variant and materials for the saved Look.
</p>
</ul>
<h3 id="1000646" class="Heading2">
<a name="1000646"> </a>Using Brush and Looks Libraries
</h3>
<p id="1000650" class="Body">
<a name="1000650"> </a>Corel Painter comes with several brush libraries. You can also create new libraries for brushes and Looks and add your custom brushes to them. Create as many brush libraries as needed.
</p>
<p id="1000651" class="Body">
<a name="1000651"> </a>Library features are identical for all resource types (Papers, Brushes, Looks, Patterns, Gradients, Weaves, Scripts, Layers, and Selections portfolios). For more information on Library features, refer to <a href="02-Workspace13.html#1026381">"Libraries and Movers"</a>.
</p>
<p id="1000655" class="Body">
<a name="1000655"> </a>It's a good idea to limit the number of tools in a library. This makes it easier to find a particular tool and helps Corel Painter manage memory.
</p>
<p id="1000662" class="Body">
<a name="1000662"> </a>Corel Painter loads brushes into memory when you launch it, so adding variants to the default brush library increases the program's need for RAM. Organize new brushes into secondary libraries for better efficiency. When you want a different brush set, just switch libraries.
