Corel Painter - 2018 Installation Manual

INTRODUCTION TO PAINTER 2018

Corel® Painter® 2018 Quick Start Guide

The contents of this user guide and the associated Corel Painter software are the property of Corel Corporation and its respective licensors, and are protected by copyright. For more complete copyright information about Corel Painter, please refer to the About Corel Painter section in the Help menu of the software.

Product specifications, pricing, packaging, technical support and information (“specifications”) refer to the retail English version only. The specifications for all other versions (including other language versions) may vary.

Information is provided by Corel on an “as is” basis, without any other warranties or conditions, express or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantable quality, satisfactory quality, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, or those arising by law, statute, usage of trade, course of dealing or otherwise. The entire risk as to the results of the information provided or its use is assumed by you. Corel shall have no liability to you or any other person or entity for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, loss of revenue or profit, lost or damaged data or other commercial or economic loss, even if Corel has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or they are foreseeable. Corel is also not liable for any claims made by any third party. Corel's maximum aggregate liability to you shall not exceed the costs paid by you to purchase the materials. Some states/countries do not allow exclusions or limitations of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitations may not apply to you.

Corel, the Corel balloon logo, the Corel logo and balloon logo combination, Painter, Cinco, CorelDRAW, Natural-Media, PaintShop, RealBristle, VideoStudio and WordPerfect are trademarks or registered trademarks of Corel Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in Canada, the U.S., and/or other countries. Other product, font, and company names and logos may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Patents: www.corel.com/patent

Sample artwork is provided by third parties not affiliated with Corel and used by permission.

214067

Corel Painter 2018.................................................................................................................................................................................3

What’s new in Corel Painter 2018..........................................................................................................................................................3

Workspace overview............................................................................................................................................................................. 11

Choosing a workspace layout............................................................................................................................................................... 13

Choosing and modifying brushes......................................................................................................................................................... 15

Exploring the toolbox........................................................................................................................................................................... 20

Exploring panels and palettes............................................................................................................................................................... 24

Choosing a workflow........................................................................................................................................................................... 29

Additional resources............................................................................................................................................................................. 41

Contents | 1

2 | Quick Start Guide

Corel Painter 2018

Corel® Painter® 2018 is the ultimate digital art studio. Its inventive drawing tools, realistic brushes, cloning capabilities, and customizable features let you expand your creative output in exciting new ways. When you use the pressure-sensitive brushes of Corel Painter, they become fluid extensions of your hand, so the resulting brushstrokes are unrivaled in texture and precision. What’s more, features such as the ability to build your own Natural-Media® brushes and customize how brushes interact with the canvas give you countless ways to develop your artistic ideas. Corel Painter takes you far beyond what’s possible in a traditional art environment.

Artwork created with Corel Painter. (Artwork by Raquel Bigby)

What’s new in Corel Painter 2018

New! Thick Paint

Ask a digital artist to list off the things that make Corel Painter so different from every other paint program, and one thing always comes up — the ability to easily combine classic art practices and time-honored techniques with state-of-the-art Natural-Media technology. And this

Corel Painter 2018 | 3

tradition continues in Corel Painter 2018 with the introduction of Thick Paint, which mimics the look and feel of thick paint with remarkable fidelity.

Thick Paint has brushes inspired by traditional tools that you’d instantly recognize in any art supply store. There are a range of bristle brushes and palette knives carefully crafted to deliver the feel and behavior you’d expect. These new brushes use paint that has pigment and volume that behaves just like real paint. This means you can blend, build up, push, pull and scrape the paint using the pressure, tilt, and rotation of your stylus.

These variants deliver versatile, scalable brush loading, so you can spend more time focusing on your work and less on the UI. Using a quick keyboard shortcut and dragging, you can precisely load the brush on the fly, thanks to a cursor that displays the amount of paint you’ve loaded and the color.

Just like in the real world, you can create strokes that have ridges of paint within. But what really makes the ridging pop, of course, is shadows in the canyons of the stroke. With that in mind, Painter lets you adjust the shadow strength and ambient lighting to get depth in a brushstroke like never before. What’s more, the ability to tweak the transparency of brushstrokes and control how paper texture interacts with the paint opens up a world of creative possibilities.

The Thick Paint property bar offers presets for painting technique, as well as quick access to settings that allow you to prevent the brush from running out of paint and control how new brushstrokes blend with existing ones. This makes it easy to jump in and get stunning results right away. Or if you'd rather tinker and experiment to get a certain look, there are new Thick Paint panels where you can modify controls. For more information, see “Thick Paint” in the product Help.

Thick Paint brushes create visible brush and knife marks in the painting. (Artwork by Cher Pendarvis)

To paint with thick paint

1 Create or open a document.

4 | Quick Start Guide

In the toolbox, click the Brush tool .

3 Click the Brush Selector on the Brush Selector bar.

4 In the Brush library panel, click the Thick Paint brush category, and click a brush variant.

To set the overall look of the brushstrokes — thick, soft, thin, or dry — click the Technique button on the property bar, and choose a

technique preset.

5 Paint in the document window.

Enhanced! Cloning

It’s easier to create compelling photo composites in Painter 2018. A range of cloning enhancements let photo artists to do more, in less time.

You can increase the sophistication of your photo composites in Painter 2018 with new cloning transparency support. You can now use transparent and semi-transparent clone sources when creating a collage, so all elements in a composite interact naturally. And for even more accurate transparency cloning, there’s a precise cloning option that picks up colors from the center of the brush dab.

Photo artists can now use a texture as a clone source. Transformations can be applied to texture clone sources, so you can resize and shape them to easily and intuitively craft a composite.

The user interface has been streamlined to simplify switching between clone sources. The revamped cloning controls give you more space to work, but not at the expense of easy access to the settings you need most. All critical cloning controls are easily accessible from a flyout on the property bar. Whatever your favorite cloning workflow is, Painter 2018 has you covered. Whether tracing paper or a crosshair cloning cursor works best for you, the choice is yours.

And when you find or create a clone source that you want to reuse, you can save it with the image as an embedded source or as a texture in the Texture library so it’s always at your fingertips. There’s also an option that lets you embed a clone source in a document, saving you time finding the source when you get back to work and simplifying sharing with other photo artists. For more information, see “Photo art: Photo

painting” on page 29.

Combine images with creative collage and compositing techniques to achieve stunning results. (Artwork by Deborah Kolesar)

Corel Painter 2018 | 5

Enhanced! Drip and Liquid brush technologies

Brushes that use the Drip method (all subcategories) or the Plug-in method (Liquid Brush subcategory) are even more versatile in Painter

2018. Take, for example, the Sargent Brush, one of most popular Painter brush variants ever. Loved by artists for its rich brushstrokes, the Sargent Brush can now be used on an empty layer to blend the currently selected color with an oil-like transparency. Alternatively, you can use variants that use drip or liquid technologies to pick up color from underlying layers. What’s more, this step forward in brush technology offers artists of all stripes a range of fresh brushes, opening up a world of possibilities. For more information, see “General controls: Methods

and subcategories” in the product Help.

In this painting, Melissa Gallo uses the Sargent brush, as well as brushes from the Artists’ Oils category.

To paint with a brush that uses the Drip and Plug-in methods

1 Create or open a document.

In the Brush Selector panel (Window  Brush Selector Panel ), choose a brush variant that uses the Drip or Plug-in methods. Tip: To search for variants that use the Drip and Plug-in methods, in the Search bar ( Window  Search), type sargent or drip or liquid

brush.

In the Layers panel ( Window  Layers), click the New Layer button . Move the Opacity slider to adjust the layer transparency.

Tip: To pick up color from underlying layers when painting with a brush variant that pushes paint, in the Layers panel, click the Pick Up Underlying Color button .

4 Apply brushstrokes in the document window.

New! Texture synthesis

The limitless creative possibilities that made Texture Painting an instant favorite with concept artists and character designers just got even more powerful thanks to the addition of the Synthesis feature. It allows you to capture and synthesize an area of a texture or document and reproduce it on a larger scale, using all the visual elements of the input sample. During the synthesis process, properties of the selected area are randomized, creating a new texture based on settings that you’ve chosen. You can then paint with it to give every texture brushstroke even more depth and detail.

Synthesis gives digital artists of all stripes the ability to create vibrant, one-of-a kind textures. Because you can also you use part of an image, you can use favorite brushstrokes as the DNA of a new texture, offering infinite possibilities. The synthesized texture can then be used just like any other texture or it can be exported to a layer.

6 | Quick Start Guide

And in Painter 2018 you can fill with texture, whether you created it using the Synthesis feature, imported it to use with a Texture Painting brush, or found it in the Texture library. For more information, see “Creating textures” in the product Help.

Corel Painter generates a large texture (left) from a small sample (right) by taking into account its structural content. Image (right) by Henk Dawson

To create a texture by using Texture synthesis

1 Open or create a document.

In the Texture Synthesis panel (Window  Media Control Panels  Texture Synthesis), choose a source image by performing a task from the following table.



To synthesize an image from Do the following

A texture Choose Texture from the Source list box, click the Texture selector,

and click a texture.

Content in the active document Choose Document from the Source list box.

Choose the Rectangular Selection tool in the toolbox.

4 In the document window, drag to define the sampling area that will be used to synthesize the new image.

Note: Ensure your selection is 4 by 4 pixels or larger.

5 Move the Side Length slider to adjust the tile size.

6 Perform a task from the following table.



To send the synthesized image to Do the following

A new layer Enable the New Layer option.

Corel Painter 2018 | 7

To send the synthesized image to Do the following

The active Texture library Enable the Texture Library option.

7 Type values in the Width and Height boxes to specify the size of the resulting image.

Click the Start button .

Tip: To stop the synthesis at any time, click the Stop button .

New! 2.5D Thick Texture brushes

Concept artists and character designers love Texture Painting for its ability it to deliver powerful realism, and Painter 2018 takes the experience to a whole new level. New 2.5D Thick Texture brushes apply strokes that feel like their jumping off the canvas. Do you need to make a character authentically reptilian? You can paint thick, exotic scales that look like they’re rising off the canvas. Or when you need to make skin more lifelike, Thick Texture brushes let you paint cavernous pores and amplify them by adjusting the directional lighting and appearance of depth. For more information, see “Adding depth to Texture brushes” in the product Help.

An example of a Texture brush that uses the impasto Depth method (left)

and the impasto Color and Depth method (right). (Model by Cris Palomino)

To add depth to a Texture brush

In the toolbox, click the Brush tool .

In the Brush Selector panel (Window  Brush Selector Panel ), click a Texture brush category, and click a brush variant.

In the Impasto panel ( Window  Brush Control Panels  Impasto), choose one of the following drawing methods from the Draw To list box:

• Color and Depth

• Depth

4 From the Depth Method list box, choose Texture Luminance to use the texture luminance to control the appearance of depth. Drag the

Depth slider to the right to increase depth, or to the left to decrease it.

To adjust the appearance of depth, click Canvas  Surface Lighting , and adjust the sliders in the Appearance of Depth area. To adjust the ambient and directional lighting, experiment with the controls in the Ambient Lighting and Directional Light Controls

areas, respectively.

8 | Quick Start Guide

New! Selection Brush tool and Selection brushes

Because selections are critical to so many digital-art workflows, Corel Painter 2018 gives you more choices when you need to isolate an area of an image. How much time could you save if you could create a selection as easily and precisely as you can apply a brushstroke? The new Selection Brush tool lets you do just that. To make it easier to distinguish between selected and protected areas, you can display a color overlay when you apply a stroke. You can fine-tune the overlay to make it suit the document that you’re working in. There's a new Selection brush category with new variants designed specifically for creating selections when working with a complex shape or image area. There’s also the option of turning any stamp-based brush variant into a selection tool, giving you even more flexibility. What’s more, you can tweak a brush just as if you were using it to paint, then save it as a custom selection variant for reuse. And in response to artist feedback, there are a series of selection improvements in Painter 2018. For more information, see “Selecting areas by painting” in the product Help.

Examples of selections (right) created with brushes that use the Selection method. The color

overlay (left) that appears as you paint helps to distinguish selected areas from protected areas.

To make a freehand selection by painting

1 Perform a task from the following table.

To Do the following

Select an area with the Selection Brush tool

Select an area with a Selection brush Click the Brush Selector on the Brush Selector bar. In the Brush

2 Paint in the document to select the area you want.

In the toolbox, click the Selection Brush tool .

library panel, click a brush category, and a choose a brush variant that uses the Selection method.

New! Natural Media Brushes library

The new Natural-Media brush library makes it easy for artists transitioning from traditional to digital art. It gives quick, one-stop access to brushes that mimic traditional media, from pencils and pastels to oils and acrylics, and much more. If you’ve used it in the real world, chances are you’ll find the digital equivalent in the Natural-Media brush library. You can access the new collection by opening the Brush Selector and choosing Natural Media Brushes from the Brush Library list box. For more information, see “Exploring brush categories in the

Natural Media Brushes library” in the product Help.

Corel Painter 2018 | 9

Examples of brushstrokes created with brush variants from the PAINT - Watercolor category

To access the Natural Media Brushes library

•

In the Brush Selector panel (Window  Brush Selector Panel ), choose Natural Media Brushes from the Brush library list box.

New! Random grain rotation

Another user request in Painter 2018 is random grain rotation. This new feature slightly rotates the paper grain in each stroke, giving brushstrokes a more natural, organic look. For more information, see “Grain controls” in the product Help.

Select your favorite grainy brush, enable Random Grain Rotation, and Corel Painter will slightly rotate the grain in each individual stroke.

To vary grain rotation within a brushstroke

1 Choose your favorite grainy brush.

10 | Quick Start Guide

In the Grain panel ( Window  Brush Control Panels  Grain), enable the Random Grain Rotation check box.

Workspace overview

The workspace is organized by using a series of menus, selectors, panels, and interactive palettes.

Corel Painter 2018 | 11

12 | Quick Start Guide

Circled numbers correspond to the numbers in the following table, which describes

the main components of the application window. (Artwork by Simon Haiduk)

+ 30 hidden pages