Corel Painter - 2018 Installation Manual

INTRODUCTION TO PAINTER 2018

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Corel® Painter® 2018 Quick Start Guide

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Contents

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

2

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.

2

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.

3

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.

2

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.

3

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.

8

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

1

In the toolbox, click the Brush tool .

2

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

3

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

2

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)

Part Description

1. Menu bar Lets you access tools and features using pull-down menu options

2. Brush Selector bar Lets you open the Brush library panel to choose a brush category
and variant. It also allows you to open and manage brush libraries.

3. Property bar Displays commands that relate to the active tool or object. For
example, when the Fill tool is active, the fill property bar displays
commands for filling selected areas.

4. Extended property bar Displays commands and provides access to advanced settings that
relate to the active tool or brush. For example, when you choose
a brush that uses the Texture painting technology, the extended
property bar provides access to advanced Texture brush settings.

5. Palette drawer You can turn a palette into a palette drawer, so you can quickly
collapse it to save screen space.

6. Color panel Lets you choose main and additional colors for painting in Corel
Painter documents

7. Flyout Depending on the brush category and variant you select, the
property bar contains flyouts that allow you to quickly access basic
brush settings on different panels

8. Layers panel Lets you manage the hierarchy of layers and includes controls for
creating, selecting, hiding, locking, deleting, naming, and grouping
layers

9. Hints Provide useful tips about how to use brushes

10. Toolbox Lets you access tools for creating, filling, and modifying an image

11. Canvas The canvas is the rectangular work area inside the document
window whose size determines the size of the image you create.
The canvas acts as the image background and, unlike a layer, it is
always locked.

Choosing a workspace layout

A workspace layout (also known as “palette arrangement”) displays, hides, and positions workspace elements such as palettes and panels to
suit a specific workflow. Corel Painter 2018 offers the following workspace layouts:

Corel Painter 2018 | 13

Workspace layout Description

New to Painter Displays the most essential controls together with the Hints panel

to help you get started quickly with Corel Painter

Classic Ideal for users who have experience with previous versions of

Corel Painter and are looking for a seamless transition to a familiar
environment

Default The default workspace layout that works well for most computers.

For more information, see “Workspace overview” on page 11.

Simple Displays minimal user interface that includes the toolbox, the menu

bar, and the extended property bar

Concept Art Provides quick access to gradients, texture painting controls and

Glazing brushes. Brush and media palettes are logically grouped in
palette drawers to save screen space.

Illustration Displays the Reference Image panel, papers, gradients, and Glazing

brushes

Fine Art Provides quick access to traditional media brushes and composition

tools

Photo Art Displays palettes commonly used by photo artists, providing

optimal setup for cloning photos, textures, and paintings

Manga Art Provides quick access to brushes, papers, and gradients, as well as

brush opacity and glazing controls

The Quick Switch feature lets you choose two workspace layouts and quickly switch between them to suit the current task or the display
mode of your device. This feature is especially useful on multi- or dual-mode devices. For example, you can select Default as Layout 1 and
Simple as Layout 2. When you flip the display panel from Notebook to Tablet mode, the Simple workspace layout is automatically displayed,
which lets you work in an uncluttered, minimalistic user interface.

To choose a workspace layout

•

Choose Window  Layout , and choose a layout.

You can also choose a layout from the Welcome screen by clicking Setup and selecting a layout.

To switch between workspace layouts

1

Choose Window  Layout  Quick Switch  Layout 1, and choose a layout.

2

Choose Window  Layout  Quick Switch  Layout 2 , and choose a layout.

3 To switch between Layout 1 and Layout 2, do one of the following:

14 | Quick Start Guide

• Reposition the display panel of your dual- or multi-mode device (for example, from Notebook mode to Tablet mode).

•

Choose Window  Layout  Quick Switch  Toggle Layout.

You can switch between factory workspace layouts or custom workspace layouts that you created. For information about creating
and saving custom workspace layouts, see “Rearranging panels and palettes.”

Choosing and modifying brushes

Corel Painter 2018 brushes consist of a wide range of preset painting and drawing tools called brush variants. Brush variants are organized
into a wide variety of categories, such as Airbrushes, Artists’ Oils, Calligraphy, Pens and Pencils, and Watercolor. Some brush categories
are designed with real media in mind, so you can select a tool with an expectation of how it will behave. Other brush categories have no
real-media equivalent, such as the ground-breaking Particle brushes, and give digital artists the ability to express themselves in ways never
thought possible.

The Brush Selector lets you choose a brush library, select a brush from a brush category, and browse additional brush packs that can
complement your creative set of brushes. It also allows you to view the most recently used brushes and organize and display brushes in
various ways. For example, you can hide the recently used brushes to save screen space or hide brush categories and variants to expose the
brushes that you use most.

Corel Painter 2018 | 15

Circled numbers correspond to the numbers in the following table, which describes the main components of the Brush Selector.

Part Description

1. Brush Library Selector Lets you choose a brush library

2. Recent Brushes Displays the recently used brushes. The list includes only brushes
from the currently selected brush library. Switching to a different
brush library clears the most recently used brushes list.

3. Brush Pack Promotions bar Lets you access the Brush Pack Selector and purchase brush packs

4. Brush Pack Promotions list Lets you browse the available brush packs

5. Brush library options button Lets you access commands that help you organize and display
brushes in various ways

16 | Quick Start Guide

Part Description

6. Dab and Stroke preview window Lets you preview a brushstroke

7. Brush categories Lets you browse all categories in a brush library. Brush categories
are groups of similar brushes and media.

8. Brush library panel Lets you browse the brush categories and variants in the currently
selected library

9. Brush variants Lets you browse the brush variants in a category. Brush variants are
specific brushes and brush settings within a brush category.

In the Brush library panel, brushes are organized into categories, which contain brush variants. Brush categories are groups of similar
brushes and media. Brush variants are specific brushes within a brush category.

The Brush library panel allows you to browse the brush categories (left) and variants (right).

To show or hide the Brush Selector

• Perform a task from the following table.

To show or hide Do the following

The Brush Selector bar

The Brush Selector panel

Choose Window  Brush Selector .

Choose Window  Brush Selector Panel .

Corel Painter 2018 | 17

To select a brush category and variant

1

In the toolbox, click the Brush tool .

2 Click the Brush Selector on the Brush Selector bar.

3 In the Brush library panel, click a brush category, and click a brush variant.

Finding brushes

You can quickly search the content of the currently selected brush library to find brushes that match a specific description. You can perform a
search by entering one attribute, or a combination of brush attributes. For example, typing the search terms “pencil real” generates a list of
all “Real Pencil” brush variants.

To search for brush variants

1 On the Search bar, type one attribute or a combination of brush attributes in the Search text box.

The Search bar is located to the right of the property bar, in the upper-right corner of the document window.

2 Hover over a brush variant in the list to display a preview of the brushstroke.

3 Choose a brush variant from the list.

You can search for brushes that are new in Corel Painter 2018 by typing 2018 in the Search text box.

Modifying brushes

When the Brush tool is selected, you can quickly modify a brush variant on the property bar. Some basic attributes, such as size and opacity,
are common to all brushes, and other attributes are specific to the brush category that you’ve chosen.

The property bar for a Real Watercolor brush variant. (1) The Size flyout; (2) The Flowmap flyout

You can quickly access additional brush controls for any default brush variant from the extended property bar.

18 | Quick Start Guide

The extended property bar for a Real Watercolor brush variant. (1) Dab Options flyout; (2) Static Bristle panel toggle

button; (3) Real Watercolor panel toggle button; (4) Advanced Brush Controls button; (5) General panel toggle button

To set basic brush attributes

1

In the toolbox, click the Brush tool .

2 Click the Brush Selector on the Brush Selector bar.

3 In the Brush library panel, click a brush category, and click a brush variant.

4 On the property bar, do any of the following:

•

To set brush size, move the Size slider , or type a value in the Size box.

•

To set brushstroke opacity, move the Opacity slider , or type a percentage in the Opacity box.

You can also increase brush size incrementally by pressing the right square bracket ( ] ) key or decrease brush size by pressing the
left square bracket ( [ ) key.

When the Brush tool is active, you can set opacity by pressing a number key. Each number key is mapped to a fixed percentage. For
example, 1 equals 10% opacity, 5 equals 50% opacity, and 0 equals 100% opacity.

To access brush-specific settings

1

When the Brush tool is selected, any settings specific to the active brush variant are displayed to the right of the Opacity slider

.

Corel Painter 2018 | 19

2

To access additional panels or palettes, choose Window  Extended Property Bar.

Exploring brush categories

Corel Painter 2018 has a wide selection of brush categories, each with a variety of preset brush variants. For a list of brush categories, see
“Exploring brush categories” in the product Help.

Creating custom brushes

You can choose a ready-to-use default brush variant from the impressive Corel Painter brush library, or you can modify a brush variant in the
General bush control panel. It contains the following settings:

• Dab Type — determines the method for applying media to the canvas

• Stroke Type — determines how a brushstroke applies media

• Method and Subcategory— method defines the most basic level of brush behavior and is the foundation on which all other brush

variables are built. The method and method subcategory represent attributes of the stroke’s appearance.

• Source — determines the media that is applied by the brush variant

For more information about using the General brush control panel, see “General Controls” in the product Help.

To display the General Brush Controls panel

•

Choose Window  Brush Control Panels  General.

Exploring the toolbox

You can use the tools in the toolbox to paint, draw lines and shapes, fill shapes with color, view and navigate documents, and make
selections. Under the toolbox is a color selector, plus six content selectors that let you choose papers, gradients, patterns, looks, and nozzles.

The following table provides descriptions of the tools in the Corel Painter toolbox.

Tool Description

Color tools

The Brush tool lets you paint and draw on the canvas or a layer.
Brush categories include pencils, pens, chalk, airbrushes, oil paints,
watercolors, and more. When the Brush tool is selected, you can
choose specific brushes from the Brushlibrarypanel. For more
information, see “Selecting, managing, and creating brushes.”

The Dropper tool lets you pick up a color from an existing image.
The property bar shows the values of the color. When you select a
color with the Dropper tool, that color becomes the current color

20 | Quick Start Guide

Tool Description

in the Color panel. For more information, see “Sampling colors

from images.”

The Paint Bucket tool lets you fill an area with media, such as a
color, gradient, pattern, weave, or clone. The property bar shows
options for the areas that you can fill and the media that you can
use. For more information, see “Working with color fills.”

The Interactive Gradient tool lets you apply a gradient to an image
by filling an area, such as the canvas, a selection, layer, or channel.
For more information, see “Applying gradients.”

The Eraser tool lets you remove unwanted areas from an image.
For more information, see “Erasing image areas.”

Selection tools

The Layer Adjuster tool is used to select, move, and manipulate
layers. For more information, see “Displaying the Layers panel.”

The Transform tool lets you modify selected areas of an image by
using different transformation modes. For more information, see
“Preparing selections for transformations.

The Rectangular Selection tool lets you create rectangular
selections.For more information, see “Getting started with

selections.”

The Oval Selection tool lets you create oval selections.For more
information, see “Getting started with selections.”

The Lasso tool lets you draw a freehand selection. For more
information, see “Getting started with selections.”

The Polygonal Selection tool lets you select an area by clicking
different points on the image to anchor straight line segments. For
more information, see “Creating path-based selections.”

The Magic Wand tool lets you select an area of similar color
by clicking or dragging in an image. For more information, see
“Creating pixel-based selections.”

The Selection Brush tool lets you create a freehand selection by
painting.

Corel Painter 2018 | 21

Tool Description

The Selection Adjuster tool lets you select, move, and manipulate
selections created with the Rectangular, Oval, and Lasso selection
tools and selections converted from shapes. For more information,
see “Preparing selections for transformations.”

The Crop tool lets you remove unwanted edges from an image.For
more information, see “Cropping images.”

Shape tools

The Pen tool lets you create straight lines and curves in objects. For
more information, see “Drawing lines and curves.”

The Quick Curve tool lets you create shape paths by drawing
freehand curves. For more information, see “Adjusting curvature.”

The Rectangular Shape tool lets you create rectangles and squares.
For more information, see “Drawing shapes.”

The Oval Shape tool lets you create circles and ovals. For more
information, see “Drawing shapes.”

The Text tool creates text shapes. Use the Text panel to set the font,
point size, and tracking. For more information, see “Adding text.”

The Shape Selection tool is for editing Bézier curves. You use
the Shape Selection tool to select and move anchor points and
adjust their control handles. For more information, see “Selecting a

shape.”

The Scissors tool lets you cut an open or closed segment. If the
segment is closed, after you click on a line or point, the shape path
becomes open. For more information, see “Cutting and joining

shape segments.”

The Add Point tool lets you create a new anchor point on a shape
path. For more information, see “Adding, deleting, and moving

anchor points.

The Remove Point tool lets you remove an anchor point from a
shape path. For more information, see “Adding, deleting, and

moving anchor points.”

22 | Quick Start Guide

Tool Description

The Convert Point tool is used to convert between smooth and
corner anchor points. For more information, see “Adjusting

curvature.”

Photo tools 

The Cloner tool gives you quick access to the last Cloner brush
variant you used. For more information, see “Painting in the clone.”

The Rubber Stamp tool gives you quick access to the Straight
Cloner brush variant and lets you sample areas within an image
or between images. For more information, see “Performing offset

sampling.

The Dodge tool lets you lighten the highlights, midtones, and
shadows in an image. For more information, see “Dodging and

burning.”

The Burn tool lets you darken the highlights, midtones, and
shadows in an image. For more information, see “Dodging and

burning.”

Symmetry tools 

Composition tools 

The Mirror Painting mode lets you create a perfectly symmetrical
painting. For more information, see “Using the Mirror Painting

mode.”

The Kaleidoscope mode lets you transform basic brushstrokes
into colorful and symmetrical kaleidoscope images. For more
information, see “Using the Kaleidoscope Painting mode.”

The Divine Proportion tool lets you plan compositions by using
guides based on a classical composition method. For more
information, see “Using the Divine Proportion tool.”

The Layout Grid tool lets you divide your canvas so that you can
plan your composition. For example, you can divide your canvas
into thirds vertically and horizontally to use the compositional rule
of thirds. For more information, see “Using the Layout Grid.”

Corel Painter 2018 | 23

Tool Description

The Perspective Guides tool lets you display guides using one-,
two-, or three-point perspective. For more information, see “Using

Perspective Guides.”

Navigation tools 

The Grabber tool lets you scroll through an image quickly. For more
information, see “Repositioning images.”

The Magnifier tool lets you magnify areas of an image when you
are performing detailed work, or reduce areas to get an overall
view of an image. For more information, see “Zooming images.”

The Rotate Page tool lets you rotate an image window to
accommodate the way you naturally draw. For more information,
see “Rotating images and the canvas.”

Selectors 

The Color selector lets you choose main and additional colors. The
front swatch displays the main color, and the back swatch displays
the additional color. For more information, see “Choosing colors

from the Color panel.”

The Paper Selector opens the Papers panel. From the Papers
panel, you can choose a paper texture to alter the canvas surface
and achieve more realistic results when applying brushstrokes. For
more information, see “Working with paper texture and grain.”

The View selector allows you to switch between document
views and viewing modes. For more information, see “Switching

document views.”

The toolbox is open by default, but you can close it by clicking the close button on the toolbox header bar. To reopen the toolbox,
choose Window  Toolbox.

Exploring panels and palettes

The interactive panels in Corel Painter are single tabbed containers that let you access content libraries, commands, controls, and settings.
Panels are stored in palettes.

24 | Quick Start Guide

This palette includes two related panels: Layers and Channels. You can access a panel’s content by clicking its tabs.

Exploring panels

Most panels in Corel Painter contain option menus from which you can access a series of related commands. For example, you can use the
options menu in the Layers controls panel to lock, duplicate, and group layers.

A typical palette features a header bar (1), a Palette Drawer button that lets you turn a palette into a palette

drawer (2), panel tabs (3), and a Paneloptions button that allows you to access a series of related commands (4).

The following table contains descriptions of the most frequently used panels. For more information about other panels, see “Exploring

panels” in the product Help.



Panel Description

Brush Control panels

The brush control panels are included in the Brush Controls palette.
The brush controls are divided into multiple brush control panels
that allow you to adjust a brush variant while you work, or alter an
existing variant to create a new variant.



Allow you to customize brush variants. For more information, see
“Adjusting brushes with brush controls.”

Corel Painter 2018 | 25

Panel Description

Advanced Brush Controls panel Generates a grouping of brush control panels that are relevant to

the currently selected brush.

Color panels



Color Lets you choose main and additional colors for painting. For more

information, see “Choosing colors from the Color panel.”

Mixer Lets you mix and blend colors as you would on an artist’s palette.

For more information, see “Exploring the Mixer panel and mixing

controls.”

Color Set Libraries Displays the colors in the current color set so you can organize

groups of colors. For more information, see “Working with color

sets.”

Layers and Channels panels



Layers Lets you preview and arrange all layers. You can use Dynamic Plug-

ins, add new layers (including Watercolor and Liquid Ink layers),
create layer masks, and delete layers. In addition, you can set the
composite method and depth, adjust the opacity, and lock and
unlock layers.

Channels Lets you preview thumbnails of all the channels in a Corel Painter

document, including RGB composite channels, layer masks, and
alpha channels. From the panel, you can also load, save, and invert
existing channels, and create new channels.

Working with panels and palettes

When you launch Corel Painter 2018, the Color panel is open automatically and is grouped in a palette with the Mixer and Color Set
Libraries panels. By default, the Color panel displays the color wheel and color information for a selected color, but you can hide these

elements.

26 | Quick Start Guide

The Color panel

To hide information on the Color panel



To Do the following

Hide the color wheel

Hide color information

Click the Color options button , and choose Color Wheel.

Click the Color options button , and choose Color Info.

You can easily display a panel when you need it, and you can quickly close a panel when you’re done.

To hide or show a panel or palette

•

Choose Window  [Panel name].



You can restore a previously hidden palette by choosing Window and choosing the name of a panel that is contained in the
palette.

You can rearrange the display of panels to better match your workflow. For example, you can group task-related panels together in one
palette. At any time, you can further customize these palettes by adding or removing a panel, repositioning a panel, or moving a panel to
another palette.

Palettes and panels float in the workspace. Docking attaches panels or palettes to the vertical edge of the application window. Undocking
detaches them from the workspace, so you can move them.

To dock or undock a palette or a panel

• Perform a task from the following table.



Corel Painter 2018 | 27

To Do the following

Dock a palette Drag the palette header bar, or the blank space to the right of the

tabs, to the vertical edge of the application window. The palette
snaps into place when it lines up with the edge.

Undock a palette Drag the blank area to the right of the panel tabs away from the

edge of the application window.

Dock a panel Drag the panel tab to the vertical edge of the application window.

The panel snaps into place when it lines up with the edge.

Undock a panel Drag the panel tab away from the application window.

You can turn a palette into a palette drawer, so you can quickly collapse it to save screen space. At any time, you can turn a palette drawer
back into a regular palette. You can resize and reposition a palette drawer like any other palette group.

To use a palette drawer

• Perform a task from the following table.



To Do the following

Create a palette drawer

Click the Palette Drawer toggle button on the palette header

bar, and click Palette Drawer.

To turn a drawer into a regular palette, repeat the preceding steps.

Expand or collapse a palette drawer Double-click the header bar of the palette drawer.

Hide a palette drawer

Show a palette drawer

Click the Close button on the header bar.

Choose Window  Palette Drawers  [Palette drawer name].

Creating custom palettes

Corel Painter lets you create custom palettes that contain only the features that you want so you can quickly access them. For example, you
can place items from the Brush library panel or any of the Media library panels in a custom palette. You can also add commands from the
main menus or panel options to custom palettes. For more information, see “Creating and modifying custom palettes” in the product Help.

You can change how items on a custom palette are displayed. For example, you can display them as text, icons, or wide icons.

To create a custom palette

1

Choose Window  Custom Palette  Add Command.

2 Choose New from the Select Custom Palette list box.

3 With the Create Palette/Add Command dialog box open, do one of the following:

• Choose a menu item from a default Corel Painter menu.

• Choose a menu item from the Other menu to add additional controls to a custom palette.

28 | Quick Start Guide

• Choose a menu item from the Panel Menus menu to add a panel, or any of the items included in a panel’s options flyout menu, to a

custom palette.

• Choose a menu item from the Tools menu to add a toolbox tool to a custom palette.

• Choose an item from an open palette.

4 In the Create Palette/Add Command dialog box, click Add, and then click OK.

Choosing a workflow

Corel Painter includes a wide array of tools and features that allow you to create original artwork and use the workflow that best suits your
creative style.

Using Corel Painter’s powerful cloning tools, you can quickly transform a digital photo into a painting. You can also use a photo as a starting
point for a painting with the tracing paper feature, which displays a faded-out version of the source image beneath the clone document and
allows you to precisely apply clone colors to the canvas.

If you prefer to start with a sketch created with traditional art tools, you can scan it and finish the painting digitally in Corel Painter. You can
also start a project from scratch in Corel Painter by choosing a paper texture and a brush, and applying color to the canvas.

Photo art: Photo painting

A great way to become acquainted with Corel Painter is to create photo art by painting on a photo. All you need is a photo to use as a
source image. The Photo Art workspace layout displays only the palettes and tools that are relevant to photo painting.

You can use various preset styles to turn your photo into a painting.

Corel Painter includes powerful image cloning tools to help you transform an existing image, such as a photograph, into a work of art. You
can use the Quick Clone feature to automatically set up everything you need to clone an image, or you can start from a blank document
and add one or more clone sources. A clone source is a reference — a guide — for brush colors. You clone (copy) color from a clone source
and apply it to a destination canvas (clone document). A clone source may or may not be embedded. Embedding a clone source allows you
to keep it with your document and switch quickly between clone sources as you paint. You can use images, textures, and patterns as clone
sources. If you plan to use a clone source only once — for example, if you want to turn a photo into a painting — you can embed it as an
image. If you plan to reuse a content asset as a clone source in multiple projects, you can store it as a texture or a pattern in the Texture or
Pattern library, respectively. Corel Painter supports PNG and RIFF clone sources with transparency and lets you easily transform textures in the
context of your composition to make them suit your artistic vision. For more information about cloning, see “Image cloning and sampling”
in the product help.

Corel Painter 2018 | 29

In this guide, we describe one of many possible photo-painting workflows for creating a composite image. We use a painting by Karen
Bonaker as a guide to show how you can use an embedded image and a texture as clone sources. Feel free to experiment with the tools and
settings shown to create your own digital art from scratch.

Corel Painter also has auto-painting tools that streamline the process of creating a painting that is based on a digital image or scanned
photo. Previous experience with digital art is not required to use these tools. For more information, see “Auto-painting photos” in the
product help.

To display the Photo Art workspace layout

•

Choose Window  Layout  Photo Art .

To clone an image using Quick Clone

1 Open the image that you want to clone.

2

Choose File  Quick Clone .

3 Apply brushstrokes to the canvas by using a cloner brush.

You can also choose a brush from any other brush category and set it to clone color by clicking the Clone Color button on the

Color panel.

To add clone sources to a document

1 Open or create a document.

Corel Painter supports PNG and RIFF clone sources with transparency. In this example, Karen used a transparent PNG.

2

In the Clone Source panel ( Window  Clone Source), choose Embedded Image from the Source list box. In the Embed Source Image
dialog box, enable the Current Document option, and choose the document that you want to clone from the list of open documents.

Tip: To embed an additional image, click the Embed Source Image button , and click Browse . Locate the folder that contains the image
that you want to use, and click Open.

30 | Quick Start Guide

3 To add a texture as a clone source, in the Clone Source panel, choose Texture from the Source list box. Click a texture thumbnail in the

list. Enable the Show Texture check box to see the texture in the document window.

Create your content assets, import them into the Texture library, and use them as clone sources in your painting or photo collage.

Tip: Before you clone a texture, you can modify its appearance to suit your composition and concept. Learn more about modifying

textures in the Help.

4

In the Brush Selector Panel (Window  Brush Selector Panel), choose a brush from the Cloners category.

5 Paint in the clone document to clone the texture.

In this example, Karen used a custom texture.

Tip: To embed a texture into a clone document so that it's saved with the document for future use, in the Clone Source panel, right-click
a texture thumbnail (Windows) or hold down Control and click a texture thumbnail (macOS), and click Embed Texture as Clone Source
Image.

6 To switch to the embedded source image, in the Clone Source panel, choose Embedded Image from the Source list box.

Corel Painter 2018 | 31

7 Paint in the clone document to clone the image. As you paint, you can turn the tracing paper on and off by enabling or disabling the

Toggle Tracing Paper check box in the Clone Source panel.

In this painting, Karen Bonaker used an embedded image and a texture as clone sources.

Experiment with other variants from the Cloners brush category.

Examples of brush variants from the Cloners category. Find more examples of brushstrokes in the Help.

32 | Quick Start Guide

You can transform any brush into a cloner brush by clicking the Clone Color button in the Color panel.

Photo art: Tracing

In addition to painting on a photo, you can use tracing paper to outline a photo or other artwork. You can then use the outline as a starting
point for a painting. Or you can trace a photo to create a sketch, such as a charcoal or chalk drawing.

Tracing a photo to create a sketch

To trace a photo

1 Open the photo or other artwork that you want to trace.

2

Choose File  Quick Clone .

3

In the Clone Source panel ( Window  Clone Source), make sure the Toggle Tracing Paper check box is enabled, and in the Cloning
panel (Window  Brush Control Panels  Cloning), disable the Clone Color option.

Now you can see a visual reference of the original photo as you paint, but you can choose the color that you paint with.

4 Draw on the canvas to outline the image by using the underlying image as reference.

By varying the pressure of the stylus, you can apply darker or lighter tones. The shading doesn’t have to be exact.

You can change the opacity of tracing paper by moving the Opacity slider in the Clone Source panel, or turn off the tracing paper
by disabling the Toggle Tracing Paper check box.

Corel Painter 2018 | 33

Starting from a scanned illustration

With Corel Painter, you can easily cross over to the digital world from pencil and paper. Many graphics professionals still prefer to start with a
hand-drawn illustration, scan it, and then import the scan into Corel Painter.

First, you scan a sketch done in any medium on white paper to the JPEG or TIFF file format.

To place a scanned illustration

1

Choose File  New to create the document into which you’ll place the scanned image.

2 In the New Image dialog box, specify the document width and height by using roughly the same dimensions as your scan.

3

Choose File  Place , browse to the scan, select it, and click Open.
An outline of the scan appears, which you can use to position the sketch.

4 Click the document when the outline is in position, or click OK in the Place dialog box.

The scanned sketch becomes a new layer.

(Artwork by Dwayne Vance)

When you scan or photograph a sketch, there might be smudging picked up by color scanners or lighting imperfections in a photo. You
can quickly correct these issues by hiding the canvas and changing its composite method, which lets you determine how a layer blends with
an underlying image. For example, change the layer’s composite method to Gel to see the sketch on a transparent background. With this
method, anything that is white is made transparent.

To make the sketch background transparent

1 In the Layers panel, click the eye icon next to the canvas.

2 Select the sketch layer, and choose Gel from the Composite Method list box.

34 | Quick Start Guide

You can also work in Gel mode when the canvas is visible by first filling the canvas with a color other than white. This allows you to
paint on the canvas, so you can paint underneath the sketch. This method is used by many graphics professionals because it allows

them to paint large parts of the sketch quickly and then clean it up with the Eraser tool .

(Artwork by Dwayne Vance)

You can also open a scanned file directly in Corel Painter, rather than place the scanned sketch in a new document. There is no guesswork in
trying to size your document. Keep in mind that when you open a scanned file, it’s mounted to the canvas, so lifting it off the canvas onto
its own layer offers you greater flexibility.

To open a scanned illustration

•

Choose File  Open , browse to the scanned file, select it, and click Open.

To lift the canvas to a layer

1

In the Layers panel, click the Layer options button , and choose Lift Canvas to Watercolor Layer.

The default composite method for watercolor layers is Gel.

2 Double-click the watercolor layer, and type Sketch in the text box.

3 If you want to use a variant from a brush category other than Watercolor, click the Layer options button, and choose Convert to Default

Layer.

You can use shapes and selections to add line work over the sketch for reference. Alternatively, you can copy the line work to its own layer
and incorporate it into the painting. Another technique that design professionals use when they start with a scanned sketch is to create
shapes that mirror parts of the sketch. You can then snap a brushstroke to the shape or fill it with color.

To use shapes to recreate the sketch

1 Click any of the following tools in the toolbox to create shapes that replicate portions of the sketch:

•

Pen tool to create straight lines and curves in objects

•

Quick Curve tool to create shape paths by drawing freehand curves, which are ideal for tracing areas of the sketch

•

Rectangular Shape tool to create rectangles and squares

Corel Painter 2018 | 35

•

Oval Shape tool to create circles and ovals

2 Click any of the following tools in the toolbox to fine-tune a shape so that it better mirrors an area of the sketch:

•

Shape Selection tool to select and move anchor points and adjust their control handles

•

Add Point tool to create a new anchor point on a shape path

•

Remove Point tool to remove an anchor point from a shape path

You can’t paint on a Shape layer, so when you’re satisfied with the look of a shape, select its layer, and click the New Layer button

in the Layers panel to create a layer above the shape layer.

3

In the toolbox, click the Brush tool .

4 Click the Brush Selector on the Brush Selector bar, and choose a brush category and variant.

5

On the property bar, click the Align to Path button .

Brushstrokes within the tolerance area of a path or shape are automatically aligned.

6 In the Layers panel, select the layer you added above the shape layer, and paint.

If you use closed shapes, you can convert them to selections that can be filled with the Paint Bucket tool . First, select the

shape, and then choose Shapes  Convert to Selection .

Drawing and painting from scratch

When you draw or paint from scratch, you start by setting up the canvas size, resolution and orientation. When setting the canvas size and
resolution, keep in mind that a larger image size preserves more image detail and makes it easier to maintain image quality when you need
to produce a smaller version of the image. For more information, see “Understanding resolution” and “Resizing images and the canvas.”

In this guide, we use a painting created by renowned Corel Painter Master Mike Thompson as a guide. Feel free to experiment with the tools
and settings shown to create your own digital art from scratch.

To set up your painting

1

Choose File  New , and choose any options to set up your canvas.

2 Choose a unit of measurement from the list box next to Width and Height boxes, and set the image width and height.

36 | Quick Start Guide

In the sample image, the unit of measurement used is inches. The width is set to 10 inches, and the height is set to 12 inches.

3 Type a value in the Resolution box.

In the sample image, the resolution is set to 200 dpi.

4 Click the Color chip, and choose a paper color from the Color dialog box.

In the sample image, white is used.

5 Click the Paper chip, and choose a paper texture from the Paper Textures panel.

In the sample image, Basic Paper is used.

The maximum canvas size is 16 382 x 16 382 pixels. To prevent performance issues, start with a canvas that is smaller than 16 382
x 16 382 because layers expand when paint and effects are applied close to their edges.

If you’re basing your painting on a photo, design, or another piece of digital art, the Reference Image panel makes it easy to keep a visual
source of inspiration within sight while you create. It’s the perfect way to capture subtle elements that will enhance your artwork without
disrupting your workflow. You can resize the panel by dragging from the lower-right corner. In the Reference Image panel, you can even
sample colors from the image, reposition the image, as well as zoom in or out.

Corel Painter 2018 | 37

To display a reference image

1

Choose Window  Reference Image .

2

In the Reference Image panel, click the Open Reference Image button .

3 In the Open Reference Image dialog box, locate the file that you want to open.

You can open reference images that are saved to the following file formats: JPG, PNG, RIFF, and PSD, with a maximum size of 1600 x
1600 pixels.

4 Click Open.

38 | Quick Start Guide

When you open RIFF, TIFF, and PSD files that contain layers in the Reference Image panel, all layers are flattened.

To sample a color in a reference image, click the Dropper tool , move the cursor to the color that you want to sample, and

click it. The color swatch is updated to display the color you’ve selected.

With the document set up, now it’s time to choose a brush, select a color, and start painting. Corel Painter offers a wide range of brushes
that are designed with the real media in mind, so you can predict how a brush will behave. Corel Painter brushes can paint or draw with any
kind of media — not just oils and watercolor, but also pencils, pens, pastels, and other media.

Individual brushes, known as brush variants, are stored in the Brush library panel in different brush categories. For more information, see

“Choosing and modifying brushes” on page 15.

You can use the brush variants as they are, or you can adjust them to suit your purposes. Many artists use brush variants with only minor
adjustments to size, opacity, or grain (how brushstrokes interact with paper texture). These settings are found on the property bar.

To choose a brush and change its color

1

In the toolbox, click the Brush tool .

2 From the Brush Selector bar, choose a brush category, and then choose a brush variant.

In the sample image, Mike used the 2B Pencil variant from the Pens and Pencils brush category.

3 To change the color, on the Color panel, drag the Hue Ring to display the range of colors you want, and click the Saturation/Value

Triangle to specify the color.

The top of the triangle represents the highest value (white), and the bottom of the triangle represents the lowest value (black).
Saturation levels increase from left to right. Dragging to the right, or clicking on the right, produces purer colors within the predominant
hue. Dragging to the left, or clicking on the left, reduces the color saturation and produces “muddier” or grayer colors.

In the sample image, Mike started with a light blue.

Color panel

When you start a painting from scratch, it’s a good idea to place each element of your painting on its own layer. This allows you to modify
and manipulate the content of a layer independently of other layers and the canvas. It also allows you to use one layer as a sketch, which
you can then trace on another layer with more detail and precision.

Corel Painter 2018 | 39

To add and manage layers

1

Choose Window  Layers to display the Layers panel.

2

Click the New Layer button at the bottom of the panel to create the sketch layer.

3 Double-click the new layer in the Layers panel, and name it Sketch.

4

In the toolbox, click the Brush tool , and create a rough sketch that will serve as the foundation of the painting.

(Artwork by Mike Thompson)

5 Create a new layer to use as a tracing layer, and name it Tracing .

6 Select the Sketch layer, and move the Opacity slider to 70%.

7 Select the Tracing layer, choose another brush variant and color, and begin creating a clean line drawing based on the sketch.

40 | Quick Start Guide

Mike used a pencil from the Pens and Pencils brush category. (Artwork by Mike Thompson)

After you’ve traced your sketch, Corel Painter 2018 offers a world of creative possibilities to complete your painting.

(Artwork by Mike Thompson)

To complete this painting, Mike used fills, brushes from the Oils and Blenders brush categories, colors mixed on the Mixer Pad, and more.

You can get a more in-depth explanation of the creation of this painting or learn more about Mike Thompson.

Additional resources

You can access additional Corel Painter resources online to learn more about the product and connect with the Corel Painter community.



Corel Painter 2018 | 41

Resources To access

Corel Painter website http://www.painterartist.com

Corel Painter Tutorials http://www.youtube.com/user/PainterTutorials

Corel Painter on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/corelpainter

Corel Painter on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/corelpainter

For information about the products available in the Corel Painter family, visit www.corel.com.



42 | Quick Start Guide