Wishlist for Painter

#221
  1. A simpler way to hide multiple layers. In Photoshop I “Option-click” a layer visibility icon to toggle all other layers off. I see no such option in Painter.
  2. Better screen refresh: There are numerous times when Painter does not refresh the screen properly (both in the paint window and palettes). For examples, sometimes the layer icons do not refresh and present inacurate thumbnails. Other times the layer visibility icons do not refresh (especially when dragging across several in succession).
#222

The 13 steps describe my testing to make sure it would work, resizing larger, then resizing smaller and having the Layer Mask and Alpha Channel resize with the image.

You’d be doing some of those steps anyway if you wanted to resize the image.

It doesn’t take 13 steps to resize an image with a Layer Mask. :smiley:

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#223

Sorry, the steps seem too confusing for this simple-minded illustrator. I’d prefer a “link” icon in the layers palette any day. :slight_smile:

#224

Hi,

I think the problem is that I misunderstood what you wanted to do. The steps I used to test were to resize the entire image, to see if the Layer Mask would resize with the Layer and the rest of the image.

Now I see you probably meant what you said… scale the Layer.

Just tested that in Painter X.1 and the Layer Mask did scale when I scaled the Layer.

Try this:
[ol]
[li]Create a Layer and paint a solid square area in the center of the Layer.[/li][li]Create a Layer Mask[/li][li]In the Layers palette, click the Layer Mask to highlight it.[/li][li]Paint a small solid circle on the Layer Mask over the center of the solid square you painted on the Layer.[/li][li]In the Layers palette, click the Layer to highlight it.[/li][li]Use Effects > Orientation > Scale and make the Layer larger. Notice the solid circle painted on the Layer Mask has also been scaled up with the Layer.[/li][/ol]If that’s still not what you meant, I guess I need another cup of coffee. :wink:

Jin

#225

Interesting, the first time I followed the steps above, the mask offset from the layer (moved completely off the square). Doing it again did work. However, “Orientation/Scale” does not give me a preview and does not allow rotation or distortion, which limits its usefulness in my opinion.

I have been using the “Free Transform” option which does not scale the mask.

I am using IX.5, so things may haved changed, but I think Corel needs to take a look at Photoshop’s implementation of layer mask editing.

More mask-related wishes:

  1. Make mask active when creating the mask (right now I create a mask then have to click the mask icon to make it active. It seems a good assumption that creating a mask means you want to edit it.)
  2. Set forground color to black by default when the mask is active (this is usually the value needed when editing a mask and gives the full range of values when working with a pressure sensitive brush.)

Thanks for your help Jinny.

#226

Hopefully none of these functions exist already. I read through about half this thread and some of my suggestions have already been mentioned but I’d like to vote for them too.

Smoother Opacity
It seems like anything above 30-40% for most brushes is nearly the same as 100%. Or at least it seems to get really difficult to control, like the pressure ramps up as you push harder.

Merge layers in one step

Custom Brush Icons.
I want to be able to create a folder for my favorite brushes and create a custom palette from them and be able to tell them apart. Ideally it would be great to make your custom palette, make a bunch of 30x30 pixel images and just drag and drop them on your palette, replacing the image but not affecting the link to the brush. Or make it easier in SOME way.

Include the brush tracking you set up when you save a custom brush. If it does this I haven’t noticed.

Real time transforming so we can see what we’re doing.

Easier color/value tweaks like using 'Hue/saturation" in PS

A real perspective tool
When you draw on paper you define your points and hold one end of a ruler on one and move the other end around your image, drawing all lines back to the vanishing point. On the computer we get a grid we can try to line up our strokes to, like if we couldn’t put the ruler on top of the paper but could just light table over top of it and try to draw straight lines freehand. I can’t believe neither Adobe or Corel has come up with a way to constrain your stroke to a vanishing point and allow us to draw like we can with a ruler. I envision it something like the image below: You zoom way out of your image and then open the perspective palette. The 1st thing you do it define your horizontal and vertical axis/ horizons (have the lines rotate but snap to vertical or horizontal) . Then you click on one of the perspective point buttons (the more the better, I drew 6) and click somewhere on one of the axis and then back on the button to set it. Set as many as you want then zoom back in. Minimize the perspective palette and it should dock somewhere where all you can see are the buttons for the vanishing points. The buttons can be toggled on and off as you draw. Another way to define points, if you were trying to match the perspective in a photo for instance, would be click the little “2 lines” box (or whatever you want to call it) and then click and drag two non-parallel lines and the program will figure out where they cross and set the point.

On a similar note is a usable method for confining your stroke to an eclipse. You could click and drag like the circular marquee tool but then it goes right to a transform mode. Transform real quick, double click to set it, draw your strokes, delete the path, continue on… You should also be able to set the degree, size and angle numerically. An automatic saving of the last few would be useful, like the brush tracker.

Why is the distance between the fibers on a brush called “feature”? How about “fiber spacing”? This is a very useful function, and shouldn’t be hidden in the manual, it should be obvious from within the program.

Don

Link if image doesn’t work:
http://donflaws.blogspot.com/2007/11/wish-list-for-painter-and-photoshop.html

#227

I believe this is doable. I think I recall some sort of tutorial on this in a “Painter 5 FX” or “magic” book… The cd included custom brush icons too.
Truth is ,it’s quite difficult to add custom icons to subcategory brushes. Only the main category icon gets to be displayed on a custom brush palettte. Like bulge, pinch, distorto, will all have the same icon if dragged into a palette, although I think one can change that.
Any one with suggestions on that will refresh our memory?

#228

About the custom brush palette, you can’t change the default brush icon that you get when you drag it onto the palette. What you see is what you get. You can hover on it but with a Wacom it’s not practical. You can only change the icon on the brush selector bar.

#229

A simple alternative to custom brush icons would be “list view” so we could select the brush based on its unique name.

#230

I found this page http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.gell/pages/custom_palette_icons_fix.html

and may give it a try but I was hoping for something a little less involved. I’m just hoping it will be added to the program in the future. Even an overlay where we can type in 1, 2,3,etc…over the brush icon would be good.

No input from anyone on the perspective or eclipse tool? I was hoping someone would mention a work around for one of those functions. 12 steps to get a custom brush icon is kinda tough for me (especially since I seem to radiate a field that makes computers act funny, i.e.-I screw things up most of the time) but to easily be able to constrain to a perspective point or an eclipse I’d jump through all kinds of hoops.

Don

#231

Sorry double post.

#232

…

#233

-would be nice to elarge the mixer pallete size to not have scroll it around all the time.

  • give the mutiple color picker a brush ghost to we know what colors we are actualy picking.
  • make multiple color picker a alternative picker tool to get colors from the canvas, so be able to use any canvas as a mixer.
  • be able to apply one type of paper texture as a mode to each layer. it would be easier then swich the paper type.
  • when chosing canvas color will able to chosen the painter color wheel or default (windows) color wheel.
    • be able to swich the default color triangle to a square like this:
      and be able to increse it’s size. it’s tiny!

  • I don’t know if it’s possible when coping the canvas change the copy canvas color to no color or other color. Not by selecting the canvas color and delete it.
#234

Im pretty new to digital art, but have been a professional painter/sculptor for about 20 years. My main wish’s have to do with the defaults. For instance, I was doing some messing around with the cloning brushes. I’d love the brushes to default to the direction of the stroke on the tablet. The impressionist brush only made diagonal strokes. Im sure I can switch it, as soon as I hunt down a menu for it (and hopefully the function is obviously named) but it felt wrong to not be applying strokes in the direction I moved the brush. Another few cloning brushes (working on the tracing paper above a photo Id taken) only painted in roses…I mean WTF?..Im sure thats handy for something but please…Im not talking about the image hose here, but other brushes. If I pick up an oil brush or whatever, and use it…I expect an oil effect…not plants. There seems to be a number of things that default to some funky function and make you work to do what is normal or intuitive. Coming from a painting background Id like the transition to working in digital media to be a bit more intuitive and logical.

#235

If I understand what you want, we already have it.

In the New dialog box:

Double-click the Paper Color rectangle and the Windows Colors dialog opens.

After the image is open, if you want to change the Paper color:

Double-click the Main color square on either the Colors palette or Color Info palette and the Windows Colors dialog box opens. Choose the color, close the dialog box, and use Canvas menu > Set Paper Color. Then do one or more of the following:
[ul]
[li]Select the entire Canvas and hit the Backspace key to replace the original Canvas color with the new color.[/li][li]Make a smaller selection and hit the Backspace key to reveal the new Paper color.[/li][li]Paint with any of the the Eraser’s variants that use Subcategory: Soft Paper Color.[/li][li]Use the Eraser tool.[/li][/ul]
Jinny

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#236

Ok…Ive since figured out that Id somehow removed the cloned source with that particular brush that painted in “chicks and hens” though as I recall, other brushes were still cloning hte source and working…I dunno, but I now know how to fix it.

Here’s my wish of sorts. I have PS6 essentials and its got a new interface with guided, quick and full edits. Id love to have a program like PainterX have “steps”. That is to say, basic, intermediate and full create/edit ability. In basic mode, youd get some brushes, canvases/papers and palletes. In intermediate you’d have easy acsess to more functions, but still very clear, intuitive and straightforward, and full would be as it is now.

I say this because Im an artist of over 20 years for a living who is new to Painter, having come from more simple programs and mostly traditional media. Id love for someone like my dad to use this program, becasue of what if can do, but I know that he wouldnt have the time or patience or computer ability to learn all the backdoor methods and shortcuts that are needed to get the program doing the work he does traditionally. Id also have an 11 year old neice who really enjoys art, but again…its too complex a program. The variety of paints and /pens brushes this program has would be faboulous to expose people to in a more intuitive and straightforward way. I love that you can do so much with this program, but Ive hit walls…had to buy books…watch tutorials and such to pick things up. Ive made some great stuff too…and Id love to be able to get some people up and running with the “essential” elements of this software.

My neice with a Wacom bamboo and a simple, straightforward interface would be a great creative combo, and if she could grow into the program, you’d have a customer for life. My dad too for that matter.

#237

The mixer is a really great feature, I think it’s pretty brilliant actually, but I’d like more functionality in it. Ability to paste selections into it perhaps would be nice as I often use reference material to sample color from.

As many others have griped about, the color selection wheel is totally subpar in Painter… I have no idea why they went with the triangle rather than the square, picking anything in the top or bottom V range is nigh impossible… and then they don’t let you manually key in values that I’ve seen either. At least it has the same function as Photoshop where if you drag the eyedropped off your screen, it’ll pickup any colors from other programs. Sadly I just keep Photoshop on one screen to help with color choosing and then just sample from there with Corel.

#238

We can type color values, in either RGB or HSV in the Color Info palette. The default display is RGB. To switch from RGB to HSV, go to the Color Info palette menu and choose Display as HSV.

At least it has the same function as Photoshop where if you drag the eyedropped off your screen, it’ll pickup any colors from other programs.

I wish it did do that, but using Painter X.1 in WinXP Home SP2, I’m not able to use the Dropper tool to pick colors outside of the Painter X.1 program window.

Maybe you can explain in more detail how you’re able to do it. Thanks in advance.

Sadly I just keep Photoshop on one screen to help with color choosing and then just sample from there with Corel.

#239

Hmm that’s odd… as I was typing that message I thought to myself “I wonder if Corel can sample outside the program by dragging the eyedropper?” and I tested it and was picking up the red --> black gradient on this site’s background, watching the color in the Corel colors pallete slowly turn from red to black as I ran my stylus across the page… yet now I can’t reproduce it.

Jin, I don’t see where I can manually key in values. I click on the little white HSV box with the numerical color info and all clicking seems to do is toggle between RGB values and HSV. Or do you mean keying them in manually in the expanded, double-click, classic Windows color choosing window?

#240

Hi kweechy,

From my previous post:

Not the Colors palette, but the Color Info palette.