Corel Painter Essentials Instruction Manual
USER MANUAL
Corel® Painter™ Essentials User Manual
The contents of this user manual and the associated Corel Painter Essentials software are the property of Corel Corporation and its respective
licensors, and are protected by copyright. For more complete copyright information about Corel Painter Essentials, please refer to the About Corel
Painter Essentials section in the Corel Painter Essentials menu of the software.
Copyright 1991–2003 Corel Corporation. All rights reserved.
Corel, the Corel logo, Corel Painter, and Natural-Media are trademarks or registered trademarks of Corel Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in
Canada, the U.S. and/or other countries. Adobe, Photoshop, and PostScript are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States
and/or other countries. Canon is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. EPSON Stylus is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation.
Hewlett-Packard and DeskJet are registered trademarks of Hewlett Packard. Mac, Mac OS, Quick Draw, and Finder are registered trademarks of
Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the
United States and/or other countries. Minolta QMS is a trademark of Minolta Co., Ltd. Netscape Navigator is a registered trademark of Netscape
Communications Corporation. Tektronix is a registered trademark of Tektronix, Inc. Wacom, Intuos, and ToolID are trademarks or registered
trademarks of W acom Company, Ltd. Other product, font, and company names and logos may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective companies.
Contents
Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials
What’s Included in Corel Painter
Essentials? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Streamlined User Interface . . . . . . . . . . 1
Why Upgrade to Corel Painter 8? . . . . . 2
About Your User Manual . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Corel Customer Support Services . . . . . . 6
The Workspace
Using Menus and Document Window . . 9
Workspace Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Using the Toolbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Using Selectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Using the Property Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Using the Brush Selector Bar . . . . . . . . 15
Working with Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Exploring the Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Basics
Opening Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Working with Documents . . . . . . . . . . 22
Saving Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Closing Documents and Quitting the
Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Setting Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Wacom Intuos Support . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Using Textures and Patterns
Using Paper Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Using Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Color
Working with Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Changing Paper Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Using Gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Painting
Exploring Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Understanding Brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Using a Stylus or Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Selecting a Brush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Brush Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Where You Can Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Marking the Canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Painting with Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Painting with Airbrushes . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Filling Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Cloning and Tracing
Cloning Imagery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Cloning a Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Using Tracing Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Changing Clone Source . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Painting in the Clone . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Using Auto Van Gogh . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Turning Other Brushes into Cloners . . 57
Using Layers
Layer Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Working with Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Creating Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Saving Files Containing Layers . . . . . . 62
Deleting Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Managing Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Editing Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Changing Layer Characteristics . . . . . . 67
Using Selections
Working with Selections . . . . . . . . . . 69
Creating Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Editing Path-Based Selections . . . . . . . 72
Using Image Effects
Basics of Applying Effects . . . . . . . . . 75
Orientation Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Apply Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Apply Surface Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Other Surface Control Effects . . . . . . . 84
Esoterica Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Working with Text
The Text Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Applying Effects to Text . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Printing
Understanding Printing . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Setting Up Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Printing an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
The Image Hose
How it Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Using the Image Hose . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Controlling the Image Hose . . . . . . . . 88
Table of contentsii
1
Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials
Corel Painter Essentials is the leading
Natural-Media painting application.
Corel Painter Essentials lets you
simulate a wide range of art tools,
from acrylics and airbrushes to
crayons and oils.
What’s Included in Corel Painter Essentials?
Corel Painter Essentials lets you
experiment with a wide range of
Natural-Media tools. A portfolio of
features will help you expand your
digital drawing and painting
techniques.
Streamlined User Interface
Corel Painter Essentials features a
streamlined user interface based on
the following new elements:
Toolbox
The toolbox appears vertically and, by
default, is docked to the top-left
corner of the document window. The
toolbox lets you access the tools in
Corel Painter Essentials, as well as the
primary and secondary colors, and
provides easy access to the Paper,
Pattern, Gradient and Nozzle
libraries.
The toolbox can be undocked and
moved anywhere inside the
application window, or it can be
turned off.
Property Bar
The property bar is context-sensitive
depending on which tool is selected,
providing commonly used controls for
each tool.
The property bar is docked below the
menu bar by default, but it can be
undocked and moved to any location
in the document window, or turned
off.
Brush Selector
The Brush Selector lets you choose a
brush category, using the Brush
Category picker, and a brush variant,
using the Brush Variant picker. The
name of the selected brush category is
displayed on the right side of the
Brush Selector.
The Brush Selector is docked, by
default, to the top-right corner of the
document window, beside the
property bar. It can be undocked and
moved to any location in the
document window, or it can be turned
off.
Palettes
The palettes include the following
feature:
• Expand/Collapse — You can
expand or collapse palettes by
clicking the palette arrow in the
top corner of the palette. When the
triangle points down, the palette is
expanded. When it points to the
right, the palette is collapsed.
Brush Variants
Corel Painter Essentials includes an
array of Brush variants. Brushes are
included in the following 15
categories:
•Acrylics
•Airbrushes
•Artists
•Blenders
•Chalks
•Cloners
•Crayons
•Erasers
•Image Hose
•Oils
• Palette Knives
•Pastels
• Pattern Pens
•Pencils
•Tinting
Why Upgrade to Corel Painter 8?
Corel Painter 8 lets you experiment
with the industry’s widest range of
Natural-Media tools and includes all
the features and behaviors of Corel
Painter Essentials.
Corel Painter 8 includes a new Mixer
palette that realistically mimics the
traditional paint mixing experience.
Digital water color, a new Sketch
effect, and more than 400 new brushes
all expand your creative potential.
You can create custom brush variants
using the new Brush Creator, which
includes the Randomizer, Transposer,
and Stroke Designer. Corel Painter 8
also includes redesigned layer masks
and channels that provide a smoother
workflow and greater compatibility
with Adobe Photoshop.
Info Palette
The new Info palette provides access
to the following information:
Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials2
•Image size preview
• Document information, such as
width and height
• X and Y coordinates and the
cursor position
• Context-sensitive information
based on the selected tool. For
example, if the Eyedropper tool is
selected, the HSV and RGB
information is displayed.
• Unit information, such as pixels,
inches, and resolution
Mixer Palette
The new Mixer palette lets you mix
colors interactively. The Mixer palette
contains a Brush tool and a Palette
Knife tool for applying and mixing
colors, mimicking the traditional
experience of mixing two or more
colors on a palette.
The Mixer palette also includes an
Eyedropper tool for sampling specially
mixed colors from imagery, as well as
Zoom and Pan tools for easy
navigation in the palette. You can
choose to save your Mixer palette
settings for future use, and you can
create a custom color set from the
colors in the Mixer palette.
Digital Water Color
Digital Water Color is a simple,
transparent medium that is ideal for
hand painting line drawings, touching
up photographs, or creating simple
water color washes.
Sketch Effect
The new Sketch effect in Corel
Painter 8 lets you convert images or
photographs to simple pencil
drawings, while providing controls for
the amount of paper grain being
applied, the heaviness of the pencil
line, and the desired level of detail.
New Brush Variants
Corel Painter 8 includes over 400 new
Brush variants. New brushes are
included in the following categories:
•Acrylics
•Airbrushes
•Artists
•Blenders
• Calligraphy Pens
•Chalks
•Charcoals
• Colored Pencils
•Conte
•Crayons
• Digital Water Color
• Distortion
• Erasers
•Felt Pens
•F-X
•Gouache
•Image Hose
•Liquid Ink
•Oil Pastels
•Oils
• Palette Knives
•Pastels
•Pattern Pens
•Pencils
•Pens
Corel Painter Essentials 3
•Photo
•Sponges
•Sumi-e
•Tinting
• Water Colors
Brush Creator
Corel Painter 8 features a Brush
Creator, which is designed to make
the brush variant creation process easy
and fun. The Brush Creator includes
three key features:
• Randomizer — The Randomizer
lets you choose an existing brush
variant and randomize its
properties to create a new variant.
You can set the amount of
randomization to determine how
much of the original brush’s
properties remain—a low amount
will result in variants that are very
similar to the original, while a high
amount will result in variants that
are radically different. To help you
visualize how the new brush
variants will look, the Randomizer
provides a brush stroke preview of
each new variant.
• Tr an s po s er — The Transposer lets
you change the properties of one
brush variant using the properties
of another. For example, you can
choose the 2B Pencil and create
brush variants that are mutated
toward another variant, such as
Charcoal. To help you visualize
how the new brush variants will
look, the Transposer provides a
brush stroke preview of each new
variant.
• Stroke Designer — The Stroke
Designer lets you modify the
properties of brush variants using
advanced controls. The Stroke
Designer has 16 different sets of
controls: General, Size, Spacing,
Angle, Bristle, Well, Rake,
Random, Mouse, Cloning,
Impasto, Image Hose, Airbrush,
Water, Digital Water, and Liquid
Ink. To make the brush creation
process more visual and
interactive, the Stroke Designer
includes a live preview that
updates each time you make
changes to the brush variant.
Industry-Standard Masks,
Layer Masks, and Channels
Layer Masks: The redesigned layer
masks let you hide and reveal areas of
layers without making permanent
changes to an image.
Channels: The Channels palette lets
you use alpha channels to create and
store masks to modify, separate, and
preserve specific areas of an image.
And So Much More...
• Thumbnail previews for Layers,
Layer Masks, and Channels
• Brush cursor preview that lets you
see the size of the brush you’re
painting with
• Enhanced keyboard shortcuts to
make it easier to transition
between Corel Painter 8 and other
applications
• Enhanced file compatibility with
Adobe Photoshop
Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials4
• New paper textures, patterns,
Image Hose nozzles, brush looks,
gradients, and more!
• Extra content CD, including 100
pictures from
http://www.brandxpictures.com,
hundreds of brushes, paper
textures, and more!
About Your User Manual
You can find answers to most of your
questions in the Corel
Painter Essentials User Manual.
Available as PDF, it provides
information you need to get the most
out of Corel Painter Essentials.
The Corel Painter Essentials User
Manual is for both the Mac OS and
Windows platforms. As a convention,
Mac OS commands precede Windows
commands in the text.
When a modifier key differs between
the Mac OS and Windows, the Mac
OS modifier is listed first, followed by
the Windows modifier. For example,
Command + I (Mac OS) or Ctrl + I
(Windows) means that Mac OS users
would press Command + I and
Windows users would press Ctrl + I.
Choosing a menu item from a menu
follows the convention “Choose menu
name > menu item.” For simplicity,
the term “folder” refers to directories
as well as folders. The Corel Painter
Essentials interface for Mac OS and
Windows platforms is identical, unless
otherwise specified.
Registering Products
Registering products is important.
Registration provides you with timely
access to the latest product updates,
valuable information about product
releases, and access to free downloads,
articles, tips and tricks, and special
offers.
You can register a Corel product
• online—follow the instructions
provided on the Corel Web site
• by mail—send the product
registration card to the Corel
Customer Service Center nearest
you
• during installation—follow the
instructions provided by the
product setup
Before Calling Corel Technical
Support
Before you call Corel Technical
Support, please check out some of
Corel's complimentary online support
options. Please have the following
information available to assist the
Technical Support representative in
helping you:
• a brief description of the problem,
including the exact text of any
error messages received and the
steps required to re-create the
problem
• the type of computer, monitor,
pointing device (for example,
mouse or stylus), printer, and video
adapter (display adapter) you are
using
• the type and version number of the
operating system you are using
• the product information (version
number, serial number from the
Corel Painter Essentials 5
product authenticity card, and
PIN) of the Corel application you
are using. To find the product
information, choose Help menu >
About Corel Painter Essentials in
the application.
• a list of any applications loaded
into RAM. Click the Start menu
on the Windows taskbar, and click
Programs > Startup to determine
whether there are any other
applications running.
Corel Customer Support Services
Corel Support Services can provide
you with prompt and accurate
information about product features,
specifications, pricing, availability,
services and technical support.
Corel Knowledge Base
kb.corel.com
The Corel Knowledge Base allows
you to read, print and download
documents that contain answers to
many technical questions.
Newsgroups
www.corel.com/newsgroups
The newsgroups (peer-to-peer
forums) llow you to exchange
information, tips and techniques with
other users of Corel products.
Downloads
www.corel.com/downloads
You can download product patches,
updates and trial versions.
telephone support for this Corel
product is available as a fee-based
service only.
North America
• For pricing, purchasing, or general
inquiries about Corel products,
you can call Customer Service tollfree at 1-800-772-6735.
• To speak directly to a technician on
a Pay-As-You-Go line please dial 1900-733-8780. To speak directly to
a technician on a Pay-Per-Incident
line please dial 1-877-662-6735.
The hours of operation are 8:30
a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday to
Friday, Eastern Standard Time
(EST).
Outside North America
Online Support
For information about online support
services, visit www.corel.com/support.
Please note, some of the services are
available only in English.
Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials6
Telephone Support
For detailed information regarding
telephone support services please visit
www.corel.com/support. Live
For pricing, purchasing, or general
inquiries about Corel products, call
Customer Service toll-free at the
corresponding in-country number
listed below.
Please note that these numbers may
change as we adapt our services to fit
user needs. Check the international
support numbers page at
www.corel.com/support for the most
up to date contact details.
Contact Customer Service for pricing,
purchasing, general inquiries, or
replacement CDs. Contact Technical
Support should you require technical
assistance operating your Corel
software.
Country Customer
Service
Argentina 0800 777 3203 57 1 523 1240
Australia 1 800 658 850 61 2 8844 4101
Austria 0192 89600 0192 89600
Belgium (Dutch) 0240 06733 0240 06733
Belgium (French) 0240 06777 0240 06777
Brazil 0800 14 1212 55 11 5696 5797
Chile 54 0800 777 3203 57 1 523 1240
China 10 800 610 2323 10 800 610 2673
Colombia 01 800 091 9370 57 1 523 1240
Czech Republic 0224 239645 0224 239645
Denmark 352 58008 352 58008
Finland 922 906040 922 906040
France 0170 706090 0170 706090
Germany 06922 2220288 06922 2220288
Hong Kong 800 964 514 800 964 515
Hungary 204 117089 204 117089
Indonesia 1 803 61 539 1 803 61 544
Ireland 0124 77724 0124 77724
Technical
Support
Corel Painter Essentials 7
Country Customer
Service
Israel 44 1628 581601 44 1628 581601
Italy 0236 003600 0236 003600
Japan 81 3554 53274 81 3531 93013
Luxembourg 44 1628 581603 44 1628 581603
Malaysia 1 800 807 895 1 800 807 899
Mexico 1 800 1234 854 57 1 523 1240
Netherlands 0207 132700 0207 132700
New Zealand 0508 267 351 0800 908 592
Norway 229 71908 229 71908
Poland 071 3477279 071 3477279
Portugal 44 1628 581601 44 1628 581601
Singapore 800 6161 853 800 6161 854
South Africa 0860 223 388 0860 223 388
South Korea 82 2 3444 5166 82 2 3444 5166
Spain 0914 141500 0914 141500
Sweden 0856 610555 0856 610555
Switzerland 0158 03300 0158 03300
Switzerland 0158 03280 0158 03280
Taiwan 00801 61 1411 00801 61 1412
UK 0870 774 0202 0870 774 0202
Technical
Support
Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials8
2
The Workspace
The Corel Painter Essentials
workspace has been designed to give
you easy access to tools, effects,
commands, and features.
The workspace is organized across a
series of menus, selectors, and
interactive palettes. Some features are
also available in the frame of the
document window.
Using Menus and Document Window
Using the commands on the Corel
Painter Essentials menu bar, you can:
• work with files and editing
commands
• adjust and apply effects
• perform selection operations
• control the document window or
the Corel Painter Essentials
workspace
The document window lets you access
the following features with the click of
a button:
•tracing paper
•drawing mode
• navigation
Workspace Tour
Menu bar
Property
bar
Toolbox
Canvas
Document
window
Drawing mode
icon
Brush
selector
Colors
palette
Layers
palette
Navigation
icon
The Workspace10
Zoom slider
Using the Toolbox
In the toolbox, there are tools to make
marks, draw shapes, fill shapes with
color, view and navigate, and make
selections. There are also four
selectors that let you choose papers,
gradients, patterns, and nozzles.
time. Any tool that has a triangle in
the bottom-right corner has one or
more tools underneath it in a flyout
menu.
The toolbox is open by default;
however, it can be closed. You can
move the toolbox around the
document window, and you can dock
the toolbox to the document window
or to other palettes.
The toolbox.
Some tools of similar function share a
space in the toolbox. The button for
only one of these tools is displayed at a
The current tool can be modified by
options on the property bar, which
change as you change tools. For more
information, see “Using the Property
Bar” on page 14.
To access tools grouped in flyout
menus:
1 In the toolbox, hold down the tool
icon whose flyout menu you want
to open.
2 Choose the tool you want to use.
Some tools share a space in the toolbox. Hold
down the tool button that’s displayed to open
the flyout menu.
To close the toolbox
• Do one of the following:
• Click the Close button in the
top corner of the toolbox.
•Choose Window menu >
Hide Toolbox.
To open the toolbox, choose
Window menu > Show Toolbox.
To move the toolbox
1 Place the cursor over the title bar of
the toolbox.
Corel Painter Essentials 11
2 Drag the toolbox to a new location
in the document window.
To dock the toolbox
1 Place the cursor over the title bar of
the toolbox.
2 Drag the toolbox to the edge of the
document window or a palette.
3 When the toolbox lines up with
the edge of the document window
or palette, release the mouse
button.
The toolbox will snap into place.
Navigation and Utility Tools
The Magnifier Tool
You can use the Magnifier tool to
magnify areas of an image when you
are performing detailed work, or to
reduce areas to get an overall view of
an image. For more information, see
“Zooming” on page 22.
The Grabber Tool
The Grabber tool gives you a quick
way to scroll an image. For more
information, see “Repositioning
Documents” on page 24.
The Rotate Page Tool
The Rotate Page tool lets you rotate an
image window to accommodate the
way you draw naturally. Refer to
“Rotating Documents” on page 24 for
more information.
The Crop Tool
The Crop tool lets you remove
unwanted edges from the image. For
more information, see “Cropping
Images” on page 25.
Tools that Apply Color
The Brush Tool
You use the Brush tool to make marks
on the Canvas or a layer. The Brush
tool represents a category of marking
tools. Within the Brush category are
pencils, pens, chalk, an airbrush, oil
paints, and more.
When the Brush tool is selected, you
can choose specific brushes from the
Brush selector bar. For more
information about selecting brushes
and tools, refer to “Selecting a Brush”
on page 45.
On the property bar, you can set size,
opacity and, depending on the brush
variant selected, sometimes grain.
The Paint Bucket Tool
The Paint Bucket tool lets you fill an
area. The property bar shows fill
choices and fill color selections.
The Workspace12
Double-click the Paint Bucket tool to
specify what color in the image to lock
out of your fill. For more information
on the Paint Bucket tool, refer to
“Filling Techniques” on page 50.
The Dropper Tool
The Dropper tool lets you pick up a
color from an existing image. When
you select a color with the Dropper
tool, that color becomes the current
color on the Colors palette. For more
information, see “Sampling Colors
from Imagery” on page 41.
The Selection Tools
The Oval Selection Tool
You use the Oval Selection tool to
create oval selections. Refer to “Using
Selection Tools” on page 70 for more
information.
The Lasso Tool
The Lasso tool lets you draw a
freehand selection. Refer to “Using
Selection Tools” on page 70 for more
information.
The Adjuster Tools
The Selection Adjuster Tool
The Selection Adjuster tool lets you
select, move, and manipulate
selections created with the
Rectangular, Oval, and Lasso selection
tools.
Th e Te x t To o l
The Text tool creates text shapes. Use
the property bar to set the font, point
size, alignment and text color. For
more information, see “Working with
Te x t” o n p a ge 9 1 .
The Rectangular Selection Tool
You use the Rectangular Selection tool
to create rectangular selections. Refer
to “Using Selection Tools” on page 70
for more information.
The Layer Adjuster Tool
The Layer Adjuster tool is used to
select, move and manipulate layers.
Refer to “Using Layers” on page 59 for
more information.
The Color Selection Box
The Color Selection box lets you
choose primary and secondary colors.
The front rectangle displays the
primary color, and the back rectangle
displays the secondary color. For more
information, refer to “Understanding
Primary and Secondary Colors” on
page 40.
Corel Painter Essentials 13
The Color Selection box.
To change the primary or
secondary color:
1 Double-click the primary or
secondary color rectangle.
2 Choose a color from the Color
dialog box.
Using Selectors
The selectors in the toolbox give you
quick access to the libraries for the
following Corel Painter Essentials
elements: papers, gradients, patterns,
and nozzles.
You can display items in selectors in a
list with thumbnails.
To open a selector:
1 Click the flyout menu arrow on
the bottom-right corner of the
selector you want to open.
2 Choose an item from the list.
Using the Property Bar
The property bar in Corel Painter
Essentials is context-sensitive — it
changes according to the tool you are
using.
You can access settings and options for
each tool, and you can change them
according to your preferences using
the boxes or pop-up sliders. Tool
settings are retained when you switch
from one tool to another. You can also
use the property bar to restore the
default settings of the selected tool.
The property bar is docked
horizontally to the menu bar by
default. You can move the property bar
anywhere in the document window,
dock it under the menu bar again, or
close it.
The property bar for the Rectangular Selection
tool.
To access tool settings on the
property bar:
• Choose a tool from the toolbox.
Tool settings are displayed on the
property bar.
To change tool settings on the
property bar:
1 Choose a tool from the toolbox.
2 Do any of the following:
• Type a value in the box next to
the control, or click the arrow
next to the control and adjust
the pop-up slider.
• Click a box to make a selection.
•Enable or disable the check box
next to the option you want to
use.
Note
•
Not all of these options are available
for every tool. The settings change
depending on the tool selected.
To reset the default tool settings:
• Click the Reset Tool button on the
property bar.
Note
•
The Reset Tool button on the property
bar has the same icon as the selected tool
in the toolbox.
The Workspace14
To move the property bar:
• Point to the bar on the right side of
the property bar, and drag it to its
new location.
To dock the property bar:
• Point to the title bar of the property
bar, and drag it under the menu
bar.
The property bar snaps into place.
To close the property bar:
• Do one of the following:
•Choose Window menu >
Hide Property Bar.
• If the property bar is undocked,
click the close button on the
title bar.
Tip
To show the property bar, choose
•
Window menu > Show Property Bar.
Using the Brush Selector Bar
The Brush selector bar lets you choose
from a variety of brush categories and
variants. Brush categories are groups
of similar brushes and media. Brush
variants are specific brushes and brush
settings within a brush category.
The name of the selected brush
category appears at the top of the
Brush selector bar. The name of the
selected brush variant appears under
the brush category name.
The Brush selector bar.
To display the Brush selector bar:
• Choose Window menu > Show
Brush Selector Bar.
To choose a brush from the Brush
selector bar:
1 On the Brush selector bar, click the
Brush Category arrow and choose
a brush category.
2 Click the Brush Variant arrow, and
choose a variant.
Previewing Brushes
The Brush Category selector shows
you a preview of the currently selected
brush category and lets you choose a
new brush category. The Brush
Variant selector does the same for
brush variants.
You can preview brush categories and
variants in lists with thumbnails.
To display brush categories and
variant lists:
• On the Brush selector bar, click the
Brush Category or Brush Variant
arrow.
Corel Painter Essentials 15
Items in the Brush selector bar can be displayed
as lists with thumbnails.
Brush Selector Bar Menu
Commands
The Brush selector bar menu restores
either one or all brush variant
defaults.
Moving and Docking the
Brush Selector Bar
The Brush selector bar is displayed at
the top-right of the property bar by
default. It can be moved to a new
location in the document window, or
it can be docked to the edge of the
document window or other palettes.
To move the Brush selector bar
• Point to the title bar of the Brush
selector bar, and drag it to its new
location.
To dock the Brush selector bar
1 Point to the title bar of the Brush
selector bar, and drag it to the edge
of the document window or a
palette.
2 When the Brush selector bar is
lined up with the edge of the
document window or palette,
release the mouse button.
The Brush selector bar snaps into
place.
Closing the Brush Selector
Bar
You can close the Brush selector bar to
hide it from view.
To close the Brush selector bar
• Do one of the following:
•Choose Window menu >
Hide Brush Selector Bar.
• If the Brush selector bar is
undocked, click the close button on the title bar.
Working with Palettes
The interactive palettes in Corel
Painter Essentials let you access the
commands, controls, and settings
available when creating documents.
Showing and Hiding Palettes
You can show or hide a palette by
choosing its name from the Window
menu.
To show or hide a palette:
• Choose Window menu, and
choose the palette you want to
show or hide.
Tip
•
You can hide a palette by clicking the
close box on the palette title bar.
To show or hide all palettes:
• Choose Window menu > Show/
Hide Palettes.
The Workspace16
Exploring the Palettes
Navigating Palettes
Docking Palettes
As you work with Corel Painter
Essentials, you’ll use the following
palettes:
The Colors Palette
•The Colors palette lets you choose
primary and secondary colors for
painting in Corel Painter
Essentials documents. You can also
use the Clone Color option on the
Colors palette . For more
information, see “Working with
Color” on page 39.
The Layers Palette
•The Layers palette contains
thumbnail previews of all the
layers in a Corel Painter Essentials
document. You can use the buttons
on the Layers palette to add,
arrange and delete layers. You can
use the slider to adjust the opacity.
When a palette is displayed, it must be
expanded for you to access its settings.
You can collapse palettes to save screen
real estate, while keeping them
displayed in the application.
To expand or collapse a palette:
• Click the palette arrow in the top
corner of the palette.
When the triangle points down,
the palette is expanded. When it
points to the right, the palette is
collapsed.
To scroll through the Layers
palette:
• Do one of the following:
• Use the scrollbar on the right
side of the palette to scroll
through the palette.
•Press Option + click (Mac OS)
or Alt + click (Windows), and
drag vertically inside the
palette. The cursor changes to a
hand and the palette scrolls as
you drag.
You can save valuable room on your
screen by docking palettes.
This handy feature of Corel Painter
Essentials lets them be docked into
place when they get close to the top or
bottom edge of another palette. In
addition to tidying up your workspace,
this feature can help keep a palette
from being covered up by another
palette.
To dock palettes:
1 Place the cursor over the title bar of
the palette you want to dock.
2 Drag the palette to the top or
bottom of a second palette.
3 When the first palette lines up
with the second palette, release the
mouse button.
The palette will snap into place.
To undock palettes:
1 Place the cursor over the title bar of
the palette you want to undock.
2 Drag the palette to another
location in the workspace.
Corel Painter Essentials 17
3
Basics
The Corel Painter Essentials
application provides a digital
workspace in which you can create
new imagery or alter existing imagery
using the Corel Painter Essentials
Natural-Media tools and effects. Your
working image is known as a
document and is displayed in a
document window—this document
window includes navigation and
productivity features to help you work
efficiently.
As you create an image, you can save
your document in a number of
different file formats: RIFF (Corel
Painter Essentials native format),
JPEG, and TIFF, to name a few. Corel
Painter Essentials also lets you open/
import images in many file formats.
Every artist works in a unique way,
and every computer system has its
own configuration of memory, disks,
printers, and accessories. Corel
Painter Essentials preferences let you
customize the program for your own
work style and optimum performance
on your particular system. You can
also optimize the features of your
tablet and pens in Corel Painter
Essentials.
Opening Documents
The first step to creating an image in
Corel Painter Essentials is opening a
document. You can open a blank
Canvas by creating a new document,
work with an existing image by
opening a file, place a file into a
document, or acquire an image from a
scanner or digital camera to place
directly into a document.
Creating New Documents
The New command creates a blank,
untitled document based on the
specifications you set in the New
dialog box.
• Canvas Size shows the RAM
requirement for creating the
document at the specified width,
height, and resolution. This
number does not reflect the file
size for the saved document. A
saved Corel Painter Essentials file
is usually 25% to 50% of the size of
the working document, depending
on the number of colors it
contains.
• Width and Height determine the
dimensions of the Canvas. You can
change the unit of measurement
using the menu. Choose from
pixels (the default), inches,
centimeters, points, picas, and
columns (2" wide).
• Resolution is the number of pixels
per inch (ppi) or centimeter that
make up an image. In the New
dialog, setting the document’s
pixels per inch is the same as
setting its dpi. Refer to
“Understanding Resolution” on
page 21 for detailed information
about document, screen, and print
resolutions.
• Paper Color lets you select a
background paper color—or
Canvas color—when you create a
new document. The default is
white.
To create a new document:
1 Choose File menu > New.
2 In the New dialog box, enter
values for the width, height, and
resolution of the document.
Change the unit of measurement
by choosing an option from the
menu.
3 Click in the Paper Color box to set
the document’s background to a
color other than white.
Choose a color from the system
color picker that appears.
4 Click OK.
A new document appears in the
workspace.
Opening Existing Documents
You can open documents from other
graphics applications and use Corel
Painter Essentials to add brush
strokes, tints, or paper textures. Or,
you can clone a document to re-create
it in a different medium.
Corel Painter Essentials lets you open
the following file formats:
• RIFF—Corel Painter Essentials
native format (RIF)
• TIFF (TIF)
•Mac PICT (PCT)
•Windows Bitmap (BMP)
• GIF—Corel Painter Essentials
does not convert GIF animations
to frame stacks.
• JPEG (JPG).
Note
•
Corel Painter Essentials does not
support LZW compressed TIFF file
format. Only uncompressed TIFF files
open into Corel Painter Essentials.
To open an existing document:
1 Choose File menu > Open.
2 In the Select Image dialog box, use
the dialog controls to locate the file
you want to open.
Basics20
Corel Painter Essentials lists every
image’s file size, file format, and
dimensions in pixels. In addition,
files saved in Corel Painter
Essentials include a thumbnail
image for browsing purposes.
3 Click Browse.
The Browse dialog box shows
thumbnails for all the RIFF files in
a folder.
4 Double-click the file name, or
select a file and click Open.
Tip
The File menu also offers you a
•
shortcut to previously opened documents.
Before choosing Open in the File menu,
check the recently opened files list at the
bottom of the File menu.
Acquiring Images
You can acquire images for Corel
Painter Essentials directly from an
external device—such as a scanner or
digital camera—if the device provides
a TWAIN driver (Windows)
Before acquiring images:
• Make sure your TWAIN driver is
properly installed.
Understanding Resolution
When working with images in a
digital workspace, it is helpful to
understand the concept and
applications of resolution. Resolution
refers to how Corel Painter Essentials
measures, displays, saves, and prints
images—either as small squares of
color known as pixels or as
mathematical objects known as
vectors.
A document’s resolution affects both
its appearance on your computer
screen and its print quality. You can
specify a document’s resolution when
you create a new document, acquire
an image, and save/export a file.
Resolution and Screen
Appearance
Most monitors have a resolution of 72
dpi (dots per inch). Because of this,
the Corel Painter Essentials display
default is 72 ppi (pixels per inch). This
means that each pixel in the Corel
Painter Essentials image occupies one
pixel on your monitor. The display
resolution does not affect the
document’s actual ppi—only how the
image is displayed on the monitor.
For example, a 300 ppi document
displays at approximately four times
its actual size. This happens because
each pixel in the Corel Painter
Essentials image occupies one pixel
on your monitor, and the monitor’s
pixels are four times the size of the
image’s pixels. Put another way, at 300
pixels per inch, your document will be
approximately a quarter of its
on-screen size when printed. In this
example, if you want to view the
image at actual size, set the zoom level
to 25%.
Keep in mind that if you leave the
dimensions in pixels and then change
the pixels per inch (resolution), the
actual printed size will be affected by
the change. If you set your document
size in inches, centimeters, points, or
picas and change resolution, the
dimensions will not be affected by the
change.
Corel Painter Essentials 21
Resolution and Print Quality
The resolution of output devices
(printers) is measured in dpi and, in
the case of halftones, lines per inch
(lpi). Output device resolutions vary
depending on the type of press and
paper you’re printing on. Generally, a
photograph will be output at a crisp
150 lpi if printed on glossy magazine
stock and at 85 lpi for more porous,
and therefore more forgiving,
newspaper stock.
If you are using a personal laser
printer or inkjet printer, set your
document size in inches, centimeters,
points, or picas at the dpi specific to
your printer. Most printers will
produce excellent output from images
set to 300 ppi. Your file will be output
correctly, at the best resolution for
your laser printer and at the proper
size. Increasing the file’s ppi setting
does not necessarily improve the
output, and can make for a larger and
sometime unwieldy file.
If you are using a commercial printer
or a more sophisticated output device,
the dimensions of the image should
always be set to the actual size it will
appear in the printed piece. For the
resolution, a good rule of thumb is to
set your document’s pixels per inch to
twice the desired lpi. So, when lpi is
150, the pixels per inch should be
twice that, or 300; if the lpi is 85, the
pixels per inch should be 170. It’s a
good idea to check with your service
bureau if you have questions about
output device resolution.
Working with Documents
Viewing Documents
You can change your view of an image
by changing its level of magnification
(zooming in or out), repositioning the
document in the Corel Painter
Essentials workspace, or rotating the
document. You can also change the
characteristics of the document
window by changing the screen mode,
and by selecting options from the
Canvas menu.
Zooming
By default, Corel Painter Essentials
opens a document at 100%
magnification, but you can change the
level of magnification by zooming.
You can zoom in and out using the
Magnifier tool, reset magnification
and zoom to fit the screen. You can
even zoom in and out while working
with other tools.
The Magnifier tool lets you zoom in and out by
clicking in the document window.
To zoom in:
1 Do one of the following:
Basics22
• Choose the Magnifier tool
in the toolbox.
•Hold down Command + Spa-
cebar (Mac OS) or Ctrl + Spacebar (Windows).
The Magnifier cursor shows a plus
sign (+) — indicating you are
increasing magnification
(zooming in).
2 Click or drag in the document
window.
• Clicking magnifies the image
to the next level, as defined in
the Zoom Level menu on the
property bar.
• When you drag, Corel Painter
Essentials chooses the magnification level that most closely
conforms to the selected area
and centers the screen view on
that area.
The percentage the document is
magnified appears in the
document window’s title bar.
To zoom out:
1 Do one of the following:
• Choose the Magnifier tool and
hold down Option (Mac OS)
or Alt + Ctrl (Windows).
• Hold down Option +Com-
mand +Spacebar (Mac OS) or
Alt + Ctrl + Spacebar (Win-
dows).
The Magnifier cursor shows a
minus sign (-) — indicating you
are decreasing magnification
(zooming out).
2 Click in the document window.
Each click reduces the
magnification to the next level, as
defined in the Zoom Level menu
on the property bar.
Tip
•
You can also zoom in or out by
moving the Scale slider, typing a value in
the bottom left corner of the image
window, or choosing an option from the
Zoom Level pop-up menu on the property
bar.
To zoom using the Magnifier tool
1 In the toolbox, click the Magnifier
tool.
2 Choose a zoom level from the
Zoom Level pop-up menu on the
property bar.
To reset magnification to 100%:
• Double-click the Magnifier tool.
To zoom to fit the screen:
• Do one of the following:
•Choose Window menu >
Zoom to Fit Screen.
• Double-click the Grabber tool
in the toolbox .
Corel Painter Essentials generates
a view of the entire document to fit
the size of your screen.
To access the Magnifier tool while
any other tool is selected:
• Press Command + Spacebar (Mac
OS) or Ctrl + Spacebar
(Windows) and click to zoom in;
press Command + Option +
Spacebar (Mac OS) or Ctrl + Alt
+ Spacebar (Windows) and click
to zoom out.
Corel Painter Essentials 23
Repositioning Documents
The Grabber tool allows you to
reposition a document in the Corel
Painter Essentials workspace and view
different areas of an image.
To use the Grabber tool:
1 Activate the Grabber tool by doing
one of the following:
• Choosing the Grabber tool .
• Holding down the Spacebar.
The cursor changes to the Grabber
tool and the property bar shows the
zoom level. You can change the
zoom level from the property bar.
2 Do one of the following:
• Drag in the document window
to scroll through your image.
• Click once in the document
window to center the image.
To access the Grabber tool from
any tool:
• Hold down the Spacebar.
To size your image window to fit
the screen area:
• Do one of the following:
• Double-click the Grabber tool.
•Choose Window menu >
Zoom to Fit.
• Click Fit on Screen on the
property bar.
Tip
•
To return the image window to center,
click once with the Grabber tool or click
Center Image on the property bar.
Rotating Documents
The Rotate Page tool lets you rotate an
image on the screen to accommodate
the way you draw naturally.
You can access the Rotate tool by
clicking on the small arrow at the
lower right corner of the Grabber tool.
Select the Rotate tool from the flyout
menu that opens. It will then appear
in the toolbox.
• Clicking it in the toolbox .
• Holding down Option + Spa-
cebar (Mac OS) or Alt + Spacebar (Windows).
The cursor changes to a hand with
a pointing finger.
2 Drag in the document window to
rotate the image.
Move the cursor clockwise to rotate
the image clockwise. Move the
cursor counter-clockwise to rotate
the image counter-clockwise.
The new rotation angle appears on
the property bar.
Tip
You can also rotate an image by
•
specifying a rotation angle on the property
bar.
To rotate the page:
1 Activate the Rotate Page tool by
doing one of the following:
Basics24
2 Do one of the following:
• Click once in the document
window.
• Double-click the Rotate Page
tool.
• Click the Reset Tool button on
the property bar.
To constrain rotation to 90°
increments:
• Hold down the Shift key while
rotating.
Cropping Images
You can remove unwanted edges from
the image with the Crop tool. You can
adjust the ratio of the cropped image,
and choose to maintain the aspect
ratio.
You can adjust the rectangle by
dragging a corner or any of its
edges.
3 When you’re ready to execute the
crop, click inside the rectangle.
To constrain cropping to a square:
• Press Shift + drag while defining
the rectangular area with the Crop
tool.
To adjust the ratio of the cropped
image:
1 Click the Crop tool in the toolbox.
2 On the property bar, type ratio
values in the boxes.
3 If necessary, enable the Ratio check
box to maintain aspect ratio when
cropping the image.
Rotate a document to accommodate the way
you naturally draw.
To return an image to its original
orientation:
1 Activate the Rotate Page tool .
To crop an image:
1 Click the Crop tool in the
toolbox.
2 Drag inside the image to define the
rectangular area you want to keep.
Using Full Screen Mode
Full screen mode allows you to hide
your computer’s desktop and view the
document window without scroll bars.
When full screen mode is on, the
document window is centered over a
solid background. All Corel Painter
Corel Painter Essentials 25
Essentials features—except the
buttons on the document window—
work when using full screen mode.
To toggle the full screen mode on
and off:
• Press Command + M (Mac OS)
or Ctrl + M (Windows), or choose
Window menu > Screen Mode
Toggle.
Tip
•
You can position the image window
anywhere on the screen by holding down
the Spacebar and dragging with your
mouse or stylus.
Resizing the Canvas
If you want the same image at a
different scale, you can resize the
canvas. You can also change the size of
the drawing area, and you can crop
the canvas.
the current and new size by width,
height, and resolution.
2 Enter a new value for width,
height or resolution.
For more information on these
values, refer to “Creating New
Documents” on page 19.
3 The Constrain File Size option lets
you choose how to deal with
dimensions relative to resolution.
When Constrain File Size is
enabled, you can change the
height and width of the image
together. The resolution will
change accordingly.
When Constrain File Size is
disabled, you can change the
height and width independently of
the resolution, and vice versa.
If you choose Pixels or Percent as
the unit and enter a value, Corel
Painter Essentials automatically
disables the Constrain option.
4 Click OK.
2 In the Canvas Size dialog box,
specify the number of pixels you
want to add to any side of the
canvas.
Enter negative values to reduce the
canvas size.
To crop the canvas:
1 Display the image at a scale where
you can see all of it.
2 In the toolbox, choose the Crop
tool .
3 Drag in the image to describe the
rectangular area you want to keep.
4 Adjust the rectangle by dragging a
corner or any of its edges.
To constrain the cropping
rectangle to a certain aspect ratio,
enter values for the width and
height aspect, and enable the Ratio
option on the property bar.
5 Click inside the rectangle to
perform the cropping operation.
To resize the canvas:
1 Choose Canvas menu > Resize.
Corel Painter Essentials displays
the Resize dialog box, which shows
Basics26
To resize the drawing area:
1 Choose Canvas menu > Canvas
Size.
Loading...