Corel PAINTER ESSENTIALS 3 User Manual

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Essenti a l s

USER GUIDE

Corel® Painter™ Essentials 3 Getting Started Guide

The contents of this user guide 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 3 section in the Help menu of the software.

Corel, the Corel logo, Corel Painter Essentials, Corel Painter, Natural-Media, Corel Paint Shop Pro, and Corel Photo Album are trademarks or registered trademarks of Corel Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in Canada, the U.S. and/or other countries.

Apple, Mac OS, and iPhoto are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Wacom, Graphire, Cintiq, and Intuos are registered trademarks of Wacom Company, Ltd. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Corel’s licensor(s) makes no warranties, express or implied, including without limitation the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, regarding the software, Corel’s licensor(s) does not warrant, guaranty, or make any representations regarding the use of the results of the use of the software in terms of its correctness, accuracy, reliability, currentness, or otherwise. The entire risk as to the results and performance of the software is assumed by you. The exclusion of the implied warranties is not permitted by some states. The above exclusion may not apply to you.

In no event will Corel’s licensor(s), and their directors, officers, employees, or agents (collectively "Corel's licensor") be liable to you for any consequential, incidental, or indirect damages (including damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, and the like) arising out of the use of, or inability to use, the software even if Corel’s licensor has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Because some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitations may not apply to you.

Quick Start Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Using the new Artists' Oils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Using Digital Watercolor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Erasing techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Transforming a photo into a painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Cloning within an image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Cloning with an Artistic style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Creating an Underpainting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Auto-Painting your photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Restoring detail to your painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Applying Surface Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

What’s New in Corel Painter Essentials 3? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Learn to Draw and Paint Digitally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Turn Photos into Paintings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Have Fun with Digital Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Enjoy Compatibility with Popular Software and Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

How to Use the Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Documentation Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Using Corel Painter Essentials 3 Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Using the Quick Guide palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

How to Sign Up for Free Training from lynda.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

How to Access Corel Support Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

A Workspace Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Corel Painter Essentials 3 Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

The Menus and the Document Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

The Toolbox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Toolbox Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Accessing Tools in the Toolbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Exploring the Toolbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Using Selectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

The Property Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Property Bar Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Table of contents i

Using Tool Settings on the Property Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

The Brush Selector Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Working with the Brush Selector Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

The Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Showing and Hiding Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Navigating Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Exploring the Palette Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Grouping, Repositioning, and Resizing Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Docking Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Restoring Palette Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Restoring the default Corel Painter Essentials settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

The Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Working with Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Creating and Opening Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Creating and Opening Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Placing Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Understanding Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Zooming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Repositioning Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Rotating Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Cropping Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Using Full Screen Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Resizing the Canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Rotating and Flipping the Canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Saving Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Editing iPhoto Images in Corel Painter Essentials (Mac OS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Sending Images to Corel Photo Album (Windows) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Closing Documents and Quitting the Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Drag-and-Drop Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Setting Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

General Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Brush Tracking Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Memory and Scratch Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Using Two Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Wacom Intuos Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Textures and Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Using Paper Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Choosing Paper Textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Using Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

ii Table of contents

Choosing Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Getting Started with Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Changing the Paper Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Using the Colors Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Understanding Main and Additional Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Sampling Colors from Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Cloning Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Working with Gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Using Gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Painting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Exploring Brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Understanding Brush Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Selecting a Brush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Choosing Brush Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Adjusting Opacity and Grain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Using a Stylus or Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Marking the Canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Freehand vs. Straight-Line Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Constraining, Fading, and Undoing Strokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Erasing Image Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Exploring Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Painting with Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Working with the Impasto Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Painting with Airbrushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Working with Fill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Filling an Area with Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Using the Image Hose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

How the Image Hose Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Getting Started with the Image Hose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Controlling the Image Hose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Cloning and Tracing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Cloning Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Cloning a Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Using Tracing Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Changing Clone Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Table of contents iii

Using Quick Clone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107

Using Cloner Brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Painting in the Clone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

Using Point-to-Point Cloning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Turning Other Brushes into Cloners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Using Clone Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Cloning with Photo Painting Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Preparing a photo for cloning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

Cloning photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

Restoring photo detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Getting Started with Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Selecting a Drawing Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Turning Selections On and Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

Inverting Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

Creating Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Editing Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Getting Started with Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Layer Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

The Layers Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

The Layer Adjuster Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

Creating Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

Naming Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Saving Files That Contain Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Deleting Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Managing Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Selecting Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Moving Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

Viewing Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Changing Layer Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Grouping Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133

Merging Layers with the Canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Editing Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Painting on Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Working with Floating Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Setting Layer Opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

Adding Notes to a Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

iv Table of contents

Image Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Applying Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Where to Apply Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Using Fade with Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Applying Recently Used Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Understanding the Using Pop-up Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Using Orientation Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Rotating Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Scaling Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Flipping Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Adjusting Brightness and Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Equalizing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Using the Equalize Effect to Equalize Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Using Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Applying Preset Lighting Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Creating Custom Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Adding, Deleting, and Repositioning Light Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Setting Light Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Working with Surface Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Setting Appearance of Depth Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Using Paper to Create Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Using Image Luminance to Create Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Applying Express Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Applying Woodcut Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Applying the Sketch Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Using Focus Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Sharpening Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Softening Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Using Esoterica Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Using Auto Van Gogh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Working with Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Understanding the Text Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Creating and Formatting Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Adding Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Changing the Font, Point Size, and Color of Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Aligning Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Stretching, Rotating, and Skewing Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Dropping Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Table of contents v

Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Understanding Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Printing Composited Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165

Printing Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Setting Up Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

Sizing an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

Printing an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166

Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Toolbox Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Palette Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Corel Painter Essentials 3 Menu Commands (Mac OS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

File Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Edit Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Canvas Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Select Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Effects Menu Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Window Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Screen Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Palette Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Brush Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Selection Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Adjuster Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Other Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

vi Table of contents

Quick Start Tutorials

Quick Start Tutorials guide you through basic tasks in a few easy steps.

Using the new Artists' Oils

The new Artists’ Oils brush category gives users an incredibly realistic oil painting experience. Each dab of an Artists’ Oils brush on the canvas loads a preset, finite amount of paint. As the paint runs out, the bristly brush stroke becomes fainter. Brush strokes interact with any paint already on the canvas as they would with natural media. Corel Painter Essentials 3 includes five Artists’ Oils brush variants: Blender Brush, Grainy Dry Brush, Impasto Palette Knife, Thick Wet Impasto, and Wet Oily Brush.

To paint with Artists’ Oils

1 Choose File menu > New, and select a white paper color.

Artists’ Oils blend with all colors on the canvas, including paper color. This is useful when painting on a photograph or using a color wash as an underpainting. To prevent Artists’ Oils from blending with the canvas color, create a new layer exclusively for the Artists’ Oils (choose Layers menu > New Layer).

2 On the Brush Selector Bar, choose Artists’ Oils from the Brush Category Selector.

3 On the Brush Selector Bar, choose a brush variant from the Brush Variant Selector.

4 Paint on the canvas.

Quick Start Tutorials 1

Using Digital Watercolor

Digital Watercolor brush variants produce watercolor effects that react with the canvas texture. You can apply a Digital Watercolor brush stroke to any layer or the canvas. For example, if you’re applying watercolor effects to a digital photo, Digital Watercolor brush strokes can be applied directly to the image.

To paint with Digital Watercolor

1 Choose File menu > New, choose a paper size and color, and click OK.

2 On the Brush Selector Bar, choose Digital Watercolor from the Brush Category

Selector.

3 On the Brush Selector Bar, choose a brush variant from the Brush Variant Selector.

4 Paint on the canvas.

Erasing techniques

Conveniently located in the toolbox, the new Eraser tool gives you easy access to the Erasers brush category. When you choose the Eraser tool, you activate the last Eraser brush variant you used. Eraser brush variants erase down to the paper color.

Some brush categories, such as Digital Watercolor, have eraser variants that only erase media applied by brushes from that category. These media-specific eraser variants are useful because they only let you erase brush strokes that you applied with certain brush categories, leaving everything else unaffected.

In the following example, you’ll paint on the canvas with brush strokes from the Airbrushes and Digital Watercolor brush categories. Then, you’ll use the Eraser tool and the Digital Watercolor brush category’s media-specific eraser to erase portions of the brush strokes.

To apply brush strokes

1 Choose File menu > New.

2 On the Brush Selector Bar, choose Airbrushes from the Brush Category Selector

and Coarse Spray from the Brush Variant Selector.

3 Paint on the canvas.

2 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

4 On the Brush Selector Bar, choose Digital Watercolor from the Brush Category

Selector and Broad Water Brush from the Brush Variant Selector.

5 Paint on the canvas.

To erase with the Eraser tool

1 Choose the Eraser tool from the toolbox.

2 Drag over parts of both brush strokes.

Both brush strokes are erased.

To erase with a media-specific eraser

1 On the Brush Selector Bar, choose Digital Watercolor from the Brush Category

Selector and Gentle Wet Eraser from the Brush Variant Selector.

2 Drag over parts of both brush strokes.

Only the Digital Watercolor brush stroke is erased.

Transforming a photo into a painting

Quick Clone helps you transform photos into paintings. This is done by creating a clone of your image, and painting in the clone. The clone of the file is more than a copy. It maintains a pixel-for-pixel correspondence with its source document.

This new feature speeds up the manual image-cloning process by reducing five steps to one. You can adjust Quick Clone settings on the General page of the Preferences dialog box.

To clone using Quick Clone

1 Choose File menu > Open.

2 In the Open (Mac OS) or Select Image (Windows) dialog box, choose the image

that you want to clone, and click Open.

3 Choose File menu > Quick Clone.

4 Trace over the image using any Corel Painter Essentials brush variant.

If you have enabled the Switch to Cloner Brushes check box in the Preferences dialog box, the last Cloner brush you used is automatically selected.

Quick Start Tutorials 3

You can customize the Quick Clone effect. You can choose whether to delete the image from the clone or to turn on Tracing Paper. You can also select the last-used Cloner brush or choose to clone color with any brush variant.

Cloning within an image

The new Rubber Stamp Tool is located in the Toolbox to make it easy for you to set up point-to-point cloning. By setting source and destination reference points, you can clone within a document or between different areas of separate documents.

To clone point to point within a document

1 Choose File menu > Open, choose an image from the Open (Mac OS) or Select

Image (Windows) dialog box, and click Open.

2 Choose the Rubber Stamp tool in the toolbox.

3 Choose File menu > Clone Source, and choose the image you want to reference.

4 Hold down Option (Mac OS) or Alt (Windows).

A crosshair cursor appears.

5 Click inside the source image to set the source reference point.

A green marker appears on the image, indicating the reference point for the source image.

6 Begin painting in the destination area.

Cloning with an Artistic style

Using the Artists brush category and the Clone Color button, you can clone an image in the style of Vincent Van Gogh, Georges Seurat, or an Impressionist.

You can turn almost any brush into a cloner with the Clone Color button. The Clone Color button causes a brush to pick up color from the source image while staying true to its own stroke nature.

Artist brush variants help you paint in the styles of master artists. For example, you can paint in the style of Vincent Van Gogh, where brush strokes are multishaded, or in the style of Georges Seurat, where multiple dots combine to form an image.

4 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

To clone with an artistic style

1 Choose File menu > Open.

2 In the Open (Mac OS) or Select Image (Windows) dialog box, choose the image

that you want to clone, and click Open.

3 Choose File menu > Quick Clone.

4 On the Brush Selector Bar, choose Artists from the Brush Category Selector and

Seurat from the Brush Variant Selector.

5 On the Colors palette, click the Clone Color button .

6 Choose File menu > Clone Source, and choose the active image.

7 Paint over the image.

To see the results, you can toggle Tracing Paper off or on by pressing Command + T (Mac OS) or Ctrl + T (Windows).

Creating an Underpainting

The new Underpainting palette gives you access to several options for preparing an image for cloning. You can adjust the contrast, lightness, or saturation of an image. In addition, you can add a decorative edge effect to an image, such as rectangular, circular, or jagged vignettes.

You can prepare a photo for cloning by using the Underpainting palette.

Quick Start Tutorials 5

To create an underpainting

1 Choose File menu > Open, choose an image from the Open (Mac OS) or Select

Image (Windows) dialog box, and click Open.

2 On the Underpainting palette, choose an option from Style pop-up menu.

A preview of the change is shown in the photo, but the change is not applied until you click Apply.

3 If you want to add a decorative border to your cloned image, choose an option from

the Edge Effect pop-up menu, and adjust the Amount slider.

The edge effect is previewed in the image, but isn’t set until you click Apply.

4 In the Smart Blur area, adjust the Amount slider.

The range is 0 to 100. Moving the slider to the right increases the amount of blur. More detail is maintained in high contrast areas than in low contrast areas.

5 Click Apply.

6 Click Quick Clone.

A clone of the photo is created.

Auto-Painting your photos

Even if you have no experience with digital art, the new Auto-Painting palette lets you create painted portraits from digital images or scanned photos. You simply choose a brush stroke and adjust several preset options that determine how the brush strokes interact with the canvas. Then, with the click of a button, Corel Painter Essentials auto-paints a portrait based on the original image.

The Auto-Painting palette provides a range of cloning options.

6 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

To auto-paint a photo

1 On the Brush Selector Bar in the upper-right corner of the application window,

choose a Cloner brush variant from the Brush Variant Selector.

2 With the clone of the image open, choose an option from the Stroke pop-up menu

on the Auto-Painting palette.

3 Adjust the Pressure slider to set the amount of pressure with which the brush

strokes are applied.

The range is 0 to 200. This setting represents the percentage of the preset pressure for the Stroke option.

4 Adjust the Length slider to set the length of the brush strokes.

The range is 0 to 200. This setting represents the percentage of the preset length for the Stroke option.

5 Adjust the Rotation slider to set the rotation of the brush strokes.

The value range is 0 to 360 degrees.

6 Adjust the Brush Size slider.

7 Click the Play button .

Brush strokes are automatically applied.

8 When you’re satisfied with the results, click the Stop button .

You can view the progress of the cloning at any time by clicking the Stop button and choosing Canvas menu > Tracing Paper. You can resume cloning by clicking the Play button.

Restoring detail to your painting

After you’ve used the Auto-Painting palette to create the clone, you can use the Restoration palette to recover photo detail. The Restoration Palette is ideal for restoring a subject’s eyes when converting a photo to a portrait.

Quick Start Tutorials 7

You can restore detail using the Restoration palette.

To restore photo detail

1 On the Restoration palette, click one of the following buttons:

• Soft Edge Cloner Brush — activates the Soft Edge Cloner brush variant, which restores detail gradually

• Hard Edge Cloner Brush — activates the Straight Cloner brush variant, which restores detail quickly with a few brush strokes

2 Adjust the Brush Size slider.

3 Paint over the area in which you want to restore detail.

Applying Surface Texture

The Apply Surface Texture effect lets you add a three-dimensional (3D) surface texture to your image. You can use this feature to apply a paper texture across the image or to give depth to the brush strokes of an oil painting.

Surface texture is created either by applying a paper texture or by using information from a clone source to determine depth and height. There are two methods for creating texture:

• Using a paper texture

• Using image luminance

When you create a texture using the Paper method, the current paper texture is applied to your image. The Preview window is updated automatically to reflect paper changes.

8 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

To create surface texture by using paper

1 Choose File menu > Open.

2 In the Open (Mac OS) or Select Image (Windows) dialog box, choose the image to

which you want to apply surface texture, and click Open.

3 Choose Effects menu > Surface Control > Apply Surface Texture.

4 In the Apply Surface Texture dialog box, choose Paper from the Using pop-up

menu.

5 Adjust the Softness slider to control the amount of distortion created by the

texture.

Increasing softness creates more intermediate steps, which produces a smoother distortion.

6 Adjust the Amount slider.

This controls how much surface texture is applied to the image. Moving the slider all the way to the right applies the maximum amount.

7 Adjust the Brightness slider.

Quick Start Tutorials 9

Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials 3

Built on the award-winning power of Corel Painter IX, Corel Painter Essentials 3 is a complete home art studio that includes everything a new user needs to get started with digital art and create stunning paintings from photos.

What’s New in Corel Painter Essentials 3?

Corel Painter Essentials 3 includes a range of new tools and features that help users get started on their next digital art project. The new Photo Painting Palettes magically transform photos into stunning paintings, and the new Artists’ Oils brushes take Painter’s legendary Natural-Media features into a new dimension of realism. In addition, to ensure that digital camera enthusiasts get the most out of their photos, Corel Painter Essentials 3 integrates with Corel Paint Shop Pro X, Corel Photo Album 6, and Apple iPhoto.

Learn to Draw and Paint Digitally

Corel Painter Essentials 3 makes it easier than ever for you to start creating breathtaking digital works of art. The application includes a convenient new Quick Guide palette, free lynda.com training videos, the printed Corel Painter Essentials 3 Getting Started Guide, and 10 Quick Start tutorials that launch from the new Welcome screen.

Quick Guide Palette

Providing context-sensitive information about the options available from workspace items, the Quick Guide palette makes it easy for you to get started. When you click on a palette, the toolbox, the Brush Selector bar, or the property bar, the Quick Guide palette displays relevant information about the options available, as well as a link to the more comprehensive Help.

Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials 3 11

New lynda.com Training Videos

Corel Painter Essentials 3 includes 10 new training videos created by lynda.com, one of the world’s most renowned graphics training companies, to guide you through the Corel Painter Essentials workspace, tools, features, and techniques. Ten more training videos can be downloaded for free upon product registration.

Welcome Screen

Getting started with digital art has never been more straightforward, thanks to the new Corel Painter Essentials 3 Welcome screen. The Welcome screen gives you quick access to recently used files, tutorials, and settings. It also showcases original artwork from renowned Corel Painter Masters to inspire you to explore the application and create your own works of art.

Quick Start Tutorials

These short, instructive tutorials guide you through basic tasks, such as transforming a photo into a painting, in a few easy steps.

Turn Photos into Paintings

With Corel Painter Essentials 3, it’s never been easier for you to turn digital photos into stunning paintings.

Photo Painting Palettes

Right out of the box, the new Photo Painting Palettes let you create beautiful paintings from digital photos. The three Photo Painting Palettes are the Underpainting palette, the Auto-Painting palette, and the Restoration palette.

With the Underpainting palette, you can prepare a photo for painting and can add beautiful effects and borders, such as a vignette. The Auto-Painting palette lets you magically transform a photo into a painting by automatically applying random paint strokes that vary in stroke type, direction, and pressure. The Restoration palette allows you to touch up your painting manually with one of two special brushes that “restore” areas of the image — such as facial features — to their original pristine detail.

12 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

Underpainting Palette

Auto-Painting Palette

Even if you have never before experimented with digital art, the new Auto-Painting palette makes it easy to create painted portraits from digital photos. Simply choose a brush stroke, and adjust the preset options to determine how the brush strokes interact with the canvas. Then, with the click of a button, watch Corel Painter Essentials autopaint a portrait based on the original image.

Restoration Palette

When painting a portrait, you can take advantage of the Restoration palette to restore detail from your original image. This palette is particularly beneficial for finishing a subject’s eyes.

Quick Clone

Quick Clone gives you total control when transforming photos into paintings. This new feature speeds up the manual image-cloning process by reducing five steps to one. You can adjust Quick Clone settings on the General page of the Preferences dialog box.

Cloner Tool

The new Cloner tool is conveniently located in the toolbox to give you immediate access to your last-used Cloner brush and brush variant.

Have Fun with Digital Art

Corel Painter Essentials 3 an impressive array of new features that give you unprecedented ability to replicate a real-world painting experience with your computer.

Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials 3 13

Artists’ Oils Brush Category

The new Artists’ Oils brush category gives you an incredibly realistic oil-painting experience. Each dab of an Artists’ Oils brush on the canvas loads a preset, finite amount of paint. As the paint runs out, the bristly brush stroke becomes fainter. Brush strokes interact with any paint already on the canvas as they would in the real world. Corel Painter Essentials 3 includes five Artists’ Oils brush variants: Blender Brush, Grainy Dry Brush, Impasto Palette Knife, Thick Wet Impasto, and Wet Oily Brush.

Digital Watercolor Brush Category

Digital Watercolor produces watercolor effects that react with the canvas texture. Significantly enhanced in Corel Painter Essentials 3, the Digital Watercolor paint now stays wet between sessions, enabling you to start one session where the last one ended.

Rotate/Flip Canvas

Corel Painter Essentials 3 now lets you rotate or flip images directly in the application, just as you would do with non-digital images in the real world. You can choose from preset rotation values or specify your own custom rotation value. Image composition is easily verified at the touch of a button.

Rubber Stamp Tool

The new Rubber Stamp tool is located in the toolbox to make it easy for you to set up point-to-point cloning. By setting source and destination reference points, you can clone within a document or between different areas of separate documents.

Enjoy Compatibility with Popular Software and Hardware

Corel Painter Essentials 3 is fully compatible with Corel Paint Shop Pro X and Corel Photo Album 6. As a result, you can enjoy a complete digital photography workflow, ranging from photo editing and digital painting to organizing image collections and creating keepsakes and crafts. For Mac OS X users, Corel Painter Essentials 3 is also compatible with Apple iPhoto. In addition, Corel Painter Essentials offers extensive support for Wacom pen tablet technology. What’s more, the application has been enhanced to run faster and smoother — with some brushes operating 10 times faster than ever before.

14 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

Support for Corel Paint Shop Pro file format

Users of the Windows operating system can now open Corel Paint Shop Pro file formats (versions 9 and X) in Corel Painter Essentials 3, which ensures that you can seamlessly exchange images between the applications.

Integration with Corel Photo Album

For users of the Windows operating system, Corel Painter Essentials 3 is integrated with Corel Photo Album. You can now use Corel Photo Album 6 to organize and showcase the paintings you’ve crafted with Corel Painter Essentials, so that your creative projects can be easily shared with friends and family.

Support for Apple iPhoto

If you use the Mac OS, you can now easily add their Corel Painter Essentials artwork to your digital image collections, thanks to support for Apple iPhoto. You can now set your iPhoto preferences to designate Corel Painter Essentials as your photo-editing software. This means that double-clicking an iPhoto image will open the image for editing in Corel Painter Essentials. When the you save your work, changes are instantly updated in iPhoto.

Support for Microsoft Tablet PC Edition

Corel Painter Essentials 3 supports Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, the latest pen-based mobile operating system from Microsoft.

Support for Wacom Pen Tablets

Corel Painter Essentials 3 supports the most recent advancements in pen tablet technology from Wacom, including the Wacom Intuos 3 pen tablet, the Cintiq 2 UX interactive pen display, and the 6D Art Pen.

Support for Mac OS X.4 (Tiger)

Corel Painter Essentials 3 supports Mac OS X.4 (Tiger), the latest Apple operating system.

Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials 3 15

Improved Speed and Performance

This is the fastest version of Corel Painter Essentials yet. Some brushes perform up to 10 times faster than in earlier versions. On average, all brushes work twice as fast. In addition, you can now change the default scratch disk location and memory allocation in the Preferences dialog box.

Enhanced Zoom

With Corel Painter Essentials 3, you can zoom by pressing Command and + (Mac OS) or Ctrl and + (Windows). These shortcuts now use predefined values, so it’s easier to return to common zoom levels.

How to Use the Documentation

You can find answers to many of your questions in the Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide and the Help available from within the Corel Painter Essentials workspace.

Corel Painter Essentials 3 Getting Started Guide contains commonly used procedures and information. A Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the entire Corel Painter Essentials Help is available on the Corel Painter Essentials 3 CD.

The Help gives you access to a full range of topics in a searchable format. You can access the Help by clicking Help > Help topics.

Documentation Conventions

The following table describes important conventions used in the Corel Painter Essentials 3 Getting Started Guide and in the Help.

Convention Description Example

Multiple platforms This guide is for both the Mac

OS and Windows platforms. As a convention, Mac OS commands precede Windows commands in the text.

16 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

Hold down Command (Mac OS) or Ctrl (Windows).

Convention Description Example

Modifier keys When a modifier key differs

between Mac OS and Windows, the Mac OS modifier is listed first, followed by the Windows modifier.

Choose X menu > menu item

Title bar A title bar is located at the top or

Palette title bar The palette title bar appears at

On the menu bar, click the menu name, and choose the menu item from the list.

side of some UI elements, such as the toolbox, property bar, and palettes. It may not display title text.

the top of a palette. When expanded, the palette’s title bar changes to dark gray. When a palette is collapsed, you can still see the palette’s title bar, which is now light gray.

“Command + I (Mac OS) or Ctrl + I (Windows)” means that Mac OS users would press Command + I and Windows users would press Ctrl + I.

“Choose File menu > Quick Clone” means the following:

Examples of the toolbox title bar on the Mac OS (left) and in Windows (right):

Palette title bars for the AutoPainting, Underpainting palettes are collapsed, and the Restoration palette is expanded.

Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials 3 17

Convention Description Example

Palette arrow The palette arrow is used to

expand or collapse a palette.

Flyout Some tools share a space in the

toolbox. Hold down the tool button that’s displayed to open the flyout.

A note contains information that is important to the steps that precede it. It can describe conditions under which the procedure can be performed.

A tip contains suggestions for performing the steps that precede it. It can present alternatives to the steps, as well as other benefits and uses of the procedure.

The Auto-Painting palette arrow is collapsed, and the Underpainting palette arrow is expanded.

In the toolbox, by clicking and holding the Grabber tool, you can display a flyout that includes another tool: the Rotate Page tool.

For example: “This command is available only if you have turned off a selection.”

For example: “You can quickly access the Dropper tool by pressing D on the keyboard.”

Using Corel Painter Essentials 3 Help

The Help is the documentation that can be accessed from within the Corel Painter Essentials workspace. It is fully searchable and includes all the information in the Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide and more.

To use Help

1 Choose Help menu > Help Topics.

18 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

2 Click one of the following tabs:

• The Contents tab lets you browse through topics in the Help.

• The Index tab lets you use the index to find a topic.

• The Search tab lets you search the full text of the Help for a particular word. For example, if you are looking for information about RGB color mode, you can type “RGB” to display a list of relevant topics.

Using the Quick Guide palette

You can find information about the toolbox, the property bar, Brush Selector bar, or any palette you are using by referring to the Quick Guide palette. By displaying Help topics about the functionality and controls the features you are using, the Quick Guide palette can help you get the most out of each Corel Painter Essentials session.

To display the Quick Guide palette

• Choose Window menu > Show Quick Guide.

The Quick Guide palette is displayed by default.

You can get more information about related to a palette by clicking More Help on the Quick Guide palette.

How to Sign Up for Free Training from lynda.com

When you register Corel Painter Essentials 3, you will receive free access to some of the lynda.com “Getting Started With Corel Painter Essentials 3” training videos. These videos are designed to allow new users to start working quickly and give experienced users a tour of the new features.

How to Access Corel Support Services

Corel Support Services can provide you with prompt and accurate information about product features, specifications, pricing, availability, services, and technical support. For the most current information on support services available for your Corel product, please visit www.corel.com/support.

Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials 3 19

A Workspace Tour

Corel Painter Essentials 3 is the leading Natural-Media painting application. Corel Painter Essentials 3 lets you simulate a wide range of art tools — from crayons, chalk, and air brushes to watercolor and oils.

Corel Painter Essentials 3 Workspace

The Corel Painter Essentials 3 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.

Menu bar

Property bar

Toolbox

Color Selection box

Selectors

Canvas

Document window

Drawing mode icon

Zoom slider

Navigation icon

Tracing Paper and Impasto Effect

Photo Painting Palettes: Underpainting, Auto-Painting, and Restoration

Brush selector bar

Quick Guide palette

Colors palette

Layers palette

A Workspace Tour 21

The Menus and the Document Window

Using the commands on the Corel Painter Essentials menu bar, you can:

• work with files and editing commands

• apply and adjust 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 — Lets you trace a clone source. When Tracing Paper is in use, you see a faded-out version of the clone source, as if it were displayed under real tracing paper on top of a light box.

• Impasto Effect — Lets you view the depth effect of the Impasto layer.

• Drawing Mode — Lets you choose where you can apply brush strokes to your image when you have an active selection. Click and hold down the icon to choose between drawing anywhere, drawing outside the selection only, or drawing inside the selection only.

• Navigation — Lets you view a pop-up window of the entire image and choose which area is displayed in the document window. For example, when you are working at a high zoom level or with a large image, you can find a different image area without having to adjust the zoom level.

The Toolbox

In the toolbox, there are tools to paint, erase, clone, fill image areas with color, view and navigate, and make selections. Under the toolbox is a color selector, plus four content selectors that let you choose papers, gradients, patterns, and nozzles.

Toolbox Basics

The toolbox is open by default; however, it can be closed. You can move the toolbox around the application window, and you can attach the toolbox to the document window or to other palettes.

22 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

To open or close the toolbox

To Do the following

Open the toolbox Choose Window menu > Hide Toolbox.

Close the toolbox Click the close button in the top-right

corner of the toolbox. You can also choose Window menu > Hide Toolbox.

To move or dock the toolbox

• Place the cursor over the title bar of the toolbox.

To Do the following

Move the toolbox Drag the toolbox title bar to a new location

in the application window.

Dock the toolbox Drag the toolbox title bar to the edge of the

application window or a palette. When the toolbox lines up with the edge of the application window or palette, it will snap into place.

Accessing Tools in 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 time. Any tool that has a triangle in the bottom-right corner has one or more tools underneath it in a flyout.

The current tool can be modified by options on the property bar, which change as you change tools. For more information, see “Property Bar Basics” on page 27.

To access tools grouped in flyouts

1 In the toolbox, click and hold the tool icon whose flyout you want to open.

A flyout menu of the entire group of related tools appears.

2 Choose the tool you want to use.

The tool you’ve chosen now appears on the toolbox.

A Workspace Tour 23

Some tools share a space in the toolbox. Hold down the tool button that’s displayed to open the flyout.

Exploring the Toolbox

To o l D e s c r i p t i o n

Navigation and Utility Tools

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 42.

Grabber tool The Grabber tool gives you a quick way to

scroll an image. For more information, see “Repositioning Documents” on page 44.

Rotate Page tool The Rotate Page tool lets you rotate an

image window to accommodate the way you naturally draw. Refer to “Rotating Documents” on page 45 for more information.

Eraser tool The Eraser tool lets you remove unwanted

areas from the image. For more information, see “Erasing Image Areas” on page 90.

24 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

To o l D e s c r i p t i o n

Crop tool The Crop tool lets you remove unwanted

edges from the image. For more information, see “Cropping Images” on page 46.

Tools that Apply Color

Brush tool The Brush tool lets you paint and draw on

the canvas or a layer. Brush categories include pencils, pens, chalk, an airbrush, oil paints, watercolors, and more.

When the Brush tool is selected, you can choose specific brushes from the Brush Selector bar. For more information, refer to “Selecting a Brush” on page 82.

Paint Bucket tool The Paint Bucket tool lets you fill an area.

The property bar shows choices for what area to fill and what to fill it with. For more information on the Paint Bucket tool, refer to “Filling an Area with Media” on page 96.

Dropper tool The Dropper tool lets you pick up a color

from an existing image. The property bar shows you values for the color. 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 Images” on page 70.

Cloner tool The Cloner tool gives you quick access to the

last Cloner brush variant you used. For more information, see “To paint with cloner brushes” on page 109.

Rubber Stamp tool The Rubber Stamp tool gives you quick

access to the Straight Cloner brush variant, allowing you to clone point-to-point in an image or between images. For more information, see “Using Point-to-Point Cloning” on page 109.

A Workspace Tour 25

To o l D e s c r i p t i o n

Selection Tools

Rectangular Selection tool You use the Rectangular Selection tool to

create rectangular selections. Refer to “Creating Selections” on page 119 for more information.

Oval Selection tool You use the Oval Selection tool to create oval

selections. Refer to “Creating Selections” on page 119 for more information.

Lasso tool The Lasso tool lets you draw a freehand

selection. Refer to “Creating Selections” on page 119 for more information.

Adjuster Tools

Layer Adjuster tool The Layer Adjuster tool is used to select,

move, and manipulate layers. Refer to “The Layer Adjuster Tool” on page 126 for more information.

Selection Adjuster tool The Selection Adjuster tool lets you select,

move, and manipulate selections created with the Rectangular, Oval, and Lasso selection tools. For more information, see “Editing Selections” on page 120.

Text tool The Text tool creates text shapes. Use the

Text palette to set the font, point size, and tracking. For more information, see “Working with Text” on page 161.

Color Selector The Color Selector lets you choose main and

additional colors. The front square displays the main color, and the back square displays the additional color. For more information, refer to “Understanding Main and Additional Colors” on page 69.

26 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

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.

To u s e a s e l e c t o r

• Click the selector you want to open.

Paper

Selector

Pattern Selector

The selectors give you quick access to the libraries.

Gradient

Selector

Nozzle Selector

The Property Bar

The property bar displays options for the tool that is currently selected in the toolbox. Here, you can access and change tool options and settings. 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. By default, the property bar is docked below the menu bar. You can move the property bar or dock it again. You can also hide the property bar.

Property Bar Basics

The property bar is docked horizontally below the menu bar by default. You can move the property bar anywhere in the application window, dock it under the menu bar again, or close it.

The property bar for the Rectangular Selection tool. You can restore the default settings

for the current tool by clicking the Reset Tool button at the left end of the property bar.

A Workspace Tour 27

To show or hide the property bar

To Do the following

Show the property bar Choose Window menu > Show Property

Bar.

Hide 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.

To m o v e o r d o c k the property bar

To Do the following

Move the property bar Drag the left side of the property bar

to its new location.

Dock the property bar Drag the property bar’s title bar ,

and move it under the menu bar. The property bar snaps into place.

Using Tool Settings on the Property Bar

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.

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 On the property bar, do any of the following:

28 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

• Click a button.

• Type a value in the box next to a control, or click the arrow and access a pop-up slider or menu.

• Enable or disable the check box next to the option you want to use.

Not all of these options are available for every tool. The settings change depending on the tool selected.

next to a control

To reset the default tool settings

• Click the Reset Tool button on the property bar.

The Reset Tool button on the property bar has the same icon as the selected tool in the toolbox.

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. For example, in the Pastels category, there are pencil, chalk, soft, and hard pastel variants.

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.

Working with the Brush Selector Bar

You can use the Brush Selector bar to choose brush categories and variants. 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.

A Workspace Tour 29

The Brush Selector bar is displayed to the right of the property bar by default. It can be moved to a new location in the application window, or it can be docked to the edge of the application window or other palettes.

To show or hide the Brush Selector bar

To Do the following

Show the Brush Selector bar Choose Window menu > Show Brush

Selector Bar.

Hide 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.

To move or dock the Brush Selector bar

To Do the following

Move the Brush Selector bar Drag the left side of the Brush Selector bar

to a new location.

Dock the Brush Selector bar Drag the title bar on the left side of the

Brush Selector bar , and move it to the edge of the application window or a palette. The bar snaps into place.

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.

30 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

The Palettes

The interactive palettes in Corel Painter Essentials let you access commands, controls, and settings.

You can set up the palette layout in Corel Painter Essentials to best suit your working style. Palettes can be arranged in the application window to give you easy access to the tools and controls you use most often, and to maximize screen space. You can also group and reposition palettes according to your preferences, and you can dock them to the edges of the application window or other palettes.

Showing and Hiding Palettes

You can show or hide a palette by choosing its name from the Window menu, from a selector, or by using the key combination shown on the Window menu.

To show or hide a palette

• Choose Window menu, and choose either Show [Palette name] or Hide [Palette

name].

You can use keyboard shortcuts to show or hide the Layers and Colors palettes. Press Command (Mac OS) or Ctrl (Windows) + 1 to show or hide the Colors palette. Press Command (Mac OS) or Ctrl (Windows) + 4 to show or hide the Layers palette.

You can also hide a palette by clicking the close box on the palette title bar

To show or hide all palettes

• Choose Window menu > Show Palettes, or Hide Palettes.

When you choose Show Palettes, only the palettes that were open when you chose Hide Palettes display.

A Workspace Tour 31

Navigating Palettes

When a palette is displayed, it must be expanded for you to access its settings. You can collapse palettes to save screen space, while keeping them displayed in the application.

If you have many palettes displayed and expanded, the view of other palettes can be obscured. You can scroll through palettes to locate the elements you want to work with.

To expand or collapse a palette

• Click the palette arrow in the top left 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 a 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.

Exploring the Palette Groups

As you work with Corel Painter Essentials, you’ll use the following palettes.

Palette Description

Quick Guide The Quick Guide palette displays helpful

information when you click the property bar, the toolbox, Brush Selector bar or any palette.

32 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

Palette Description

Colors The Colors palette lets you choose main and

additional colors for painting in Corel Painter Essentials documents. You can also use the Clone Color option on the Colors palette.For more information, see “Using the Colors Palette” on page 68.

Layers 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 arrange layers, group layers, add new layers, and delete layers. You can also adjust the opacity.For more information, see “Layers” on page 125.

Photo Painting Palettes The Photo Painting Palettes let you create

paintings from digital photos. The three Photo Painting Palettes are the Underpainting palette, the Auto-Painting palette, and the Restoration palette. For more information, see “Cloning with Photo Painting Palettes” on page 112.

Grouping, Repositioning, and Resizing Palettes

In Corel Painter Essentials, palettes appear by default in small, intuitive groupings. You can customize these groupings by moving palettes from one group to another. You can include as many palettes as you want in a group. You can also reposition items to a new location within a group.

A Workspace Tour 33

A customized palette grouping. In this example, the Colors palette has been grouped with the Photo Painting palettes.

To group, ungroup, rearrange, and resize palettes

To Do the following

Group palettes Drag the palette title bar, and place it on top

of the palette with which you want to create a group. A new group of palettes is formed.

Ungroup palettes Drag the palette title bar away from the

group. The palette is removed from the group.

Reposition items in grouped palettes Drag the palette title bar to a new location

in the group.

Resize palettes Drag the resize handle in the bottom-

right corner of the open palette.

Docking Palettes

If you need some room on your screen, but don’t want to collapse or group palettes, you can save valuable screen space 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.

34 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

To dock or undock a palette

To Do the following

Dock a palette Drag the title bar of the palette you want to

dock to the top or bottom of a second palette until the first palette lines up with the second palette. The moved palette will snap into place.

Undock a palette Drag the title bar of the palette you want to

undock to another location in the workspace.

Restoring Palette Layout

You can drag a palette to any location that’s convenient for your work. Corel Painter Essentials saves palette arrangements so that the next time you start the program, the workspace appears as you left it.

You can save several different palette layouts for future use, and you can later delete layouts. You can also return the palette layout to the Corel Painter Essentials default.

To return to the default palette layout

• Choose Window menu > Arrange Palettes > Default.

Restoring the default Corel Painter Essentials settings

Corel Painter Essentials is designed to run from a locked volume (such as a read-only disk image or a CD) or from within a limited-user mode. All user settings are saved to a local user folder; when Corel Painter Essentials starts, it recalls these user settings rather than the application settings. At any time, you can restore the Corel Painter Essentials workspace to its default factory settings by replacing the settings in the user folder with copies of the settings from the originating read-only installation.

Restoring the Corel Painter Essentials workspace to its default factory settings removes all modifications you have made to the application — including the brushes, papers, textures, and similar customizations. The user folders are located as follows:

• Mac OS — /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/ Corel Painter Essentials/

A Workspace Tour 35

• Windows — \Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\ Corel Painter Essentials\

Restoring Corel Painter Essentials to its default factory settings is particularly useful in a multiuser environment, where many users are working from the same installation.

To restore Corel Painter Essentials to its default factory settings

• Hold Shift when you start Corel Painter Essentials.

A warning appears, asking you to verify that you want to erase all of the modifications that you have made to Corel Painter Essentials. Restoring the default factory settings copies the original workspace settings from the installation to the user folder.

36 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

The Basics

The Corel Painter Essentials application provides a digital workspace in which you can create new images, or alter existing images, using the Corel Painter 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 native format), Adobe Photoshop (PSD), JPEG, TIFF, and Corel Paint Shop Pro (PSP), to name a few. Corel Painter Essentials also lets you open or 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 for optimum performance on your particular system. You can also customize the features of your tablet and pens in Corel Painter Essentials.

Wor k i n g w i t h D oc u m e n t s

The first step in 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 already created, or acquire an image from a scanner or digital camera. Once you have created your image, you can place it directly into a document.

Creating and Opening Documents

The File menu > 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

The Basics 37

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.

You can also 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 native format (RIF). Corel Painter Essentials converts Watercolor, Liquid Ink, Shape, and Dynamic layers to default layers, and applies layer masks to the associated layer. Alpha channels remain unchanged, but are not visible.

• TIFF (TIF)

• Adobe Photoshop formats (PSD) — Corel Painter Essentials applies layer masks to the associated layer.

•Windows Bitmap (BMP)

• GIF — Corel Painter Essentials does not convert GIF animations to frame stacks.

•JPEG (JPG)

• Corel Paint Shop Pro (PSP) — All layers are flattened.

• Mac PICT (PCT)

Corel Painter Essentials does not support LZW compressed TIFF file format. Only uncompressed TIFF files open in Corel Painter Essentials.

To create a new document

1 Choose File menu > New.

2 In the New dialog box, enter values for the following:

• Width and Height determine the dimensions of the canvas. You can change the

unit of measurement by using the menu. Choose from pixels (the default), inches, centimeters (CM), points, picas, and columns (2 inches wide).

• Resolution is the number of pixels per inch (ppi) or pixels per centimeter that

make up an image. In the New dialog box, setting the document’s pixels per inch is the same as setting its dots per inch (dpi). Refer to “Understanding Resolution” on page 41 for detailed information about document, screen, and print resolutions.

38 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

3 Click the Paper Color chip to set the document’s background to a color other than

white.

Choose a color from the Color dialog box that appears.

4 Click OK.

A new document appears in the workspace.

To open an existing document

1 Choose File menu > Open.

Corel Painter Essentials remembers the location of the last file you opened.

2 In the Open (Mac OS) or Select Image (Windows) dialog box, use the controls to

locate the file you want to open.

Corel Painter Essentials lists every image’s dimensions (in pixels), file size, and file format. In addition, files saved in Corel Painter Essentials include thumbnails for browsing purposes.

3 Click Open.

The File menu also offers you a shortcut to previously opened documents. Before choosing Open in the File menu, see if the file you want is in the recently opened files list at the bottom of the File menu.

To b r o w s e f o r a d o cument (Mac OS)

1 Choose File menu > Open.

2 Click Browse.

The Browse dialog box shows thumbnails for all the RIFF files in a folder.

3 Double-click the file name, or select a file and click Open.

The Browse dialog box (Mac OS) displays a thumbnail image of files.

The Basics 39

Acquiring Images (Windows)

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.

Before acquiring images make sure your TWAIN driver is properly installed.

Creating and Opening Templates

If you regularly create documents that contain similar dimensions, formatting, and resolution, you can create document templates so that you don’t have to start each document from scratch.

To open a document template

1 Choose Help menu > Welcome.

2 Choose a template from the Open a Template pop-up menu.

To s a v e a d o c u m e nt as a template

1 Set up a file with all the sizing, formatting, and resolution attributes you want in

the template.

2 Choose File menu > Save As.

3 In the Save Image As dialog box, save the file to the

Corel Painter Essentials 3\Templates folder.

Placing Files

Placing a file lets you import an image into an existing Corel Painter Essentials document. The placed image becomes a new reference layer in the document — you can transform (resize, rotate, slant) it on screen by dragging its handles. A placed file maintains its link to the source file until you commit it to standard layer format.

To place a file

1 Choose File menu > Place.

2 Select an image file, and click Open.

3 In the Place dialog box, set the options:

40 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

• In the Scaling area, the Horizontal and Vertical boxes suggest a scale to fit the image in the current document. To change the size, enter scaling percentages in the Horizontal and Vertical boxes.

• Constrain Aspect Ratio maintains the proportions of the image. Disable this check box to distort the image.

4 Do one of the following:

• To place the image in a particular location, click on that location in the document.

• To place the image in the center of the document, click OK.

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, or save or 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 1 pixel on your monitor. The display resolution does not affect the document’s actual pixels per inch — 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 1 pixel on your monitor, and the monitor’s pixels are four times the size of the image’s pixels. Put another way, at 300 ppi your printed document will be approximately one-quarter of its on-screen size. In this example, if you wanted to view the image at actual size, you would 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.

The Basics 41

Resolution and Print Quality

The resolution of output devices (printers) is measured in dots per inch, 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 newspaper stock.

If you are using a personal laser or inkjet printer, set your document size in inches, centimeters, points, or picas at the dots-per-inch setting specific to your printer. Most printers will produce excellent output from images set at 300 ppi. Your file will be output correctly — in the proper size and at the best resolution for your printer. Increasing the file’s pixels-per-inch setting does not necessarily improve the output and may create a large, 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 lines per inch. So, at 150 lpi, the pixels per inch should be twice that, or 300 ppi; at 85 lpi, the pixels per inch should be 170 ppi. It’s a good idea to check with your service bureau if you have questions about output device resolution.

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, or zoom to fit the screen. You can even zoom in and out while working with other tools.

42 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

The Magnifier tool lets you zoom in and out by clicking in the document window.

To z o o m i n

1 Do one of the following:

• In the toolbox, click the Magnifier tool .

• Hold down Command + Spacebar (Mac OS) or Ctrl + Spacebar (Windows).

The Magnifier cursor shows a plus sign (+), indicating that you are increasing magnification (zooming in).

2 Click or drag in the document window.

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 document’s magnification level appears in the document window’s title bar.

To zoom out

1 Do one of the following:

• In the toolbox, click the Magnifier tool and hold down Option (Mac OS) or Alt (Windows).

• Hold down Option + Command + Spacebar (Mac OS) or Alt + Ctrl + Spacebar (Windows).

The Magnifier cursor shows a minus sign (-), indicating that you are decreasing magnification (zooming out).

2 Click in the document window.

The Basics 43

Each click reduces the magnification to the next level, as defined in the Zoom Level at the bottom of the image window.

You can also zoom in or out by moving the Scale slider, typing a value in the Scale box at the bottom of the image window, or choosing an option from the Zoom Level pop-up menu on the property bar.

To z o o m u s i n g t h e 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.

• In the toolbox, double-click the Grabber tool .

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.

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:

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• In the toolbox, click the Grabber tool .

• Hold down the Spacebar.

The cursor changes to the Grabber tool.

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.

Rotating Documents

The Rotate Page tool lets you rotate an image on the screen to accommodate the way you draw naturally.

To rotate the page

1 Activate the Rotate Page tool by doing one of the following:

• In the toolbox, click the Rotate Page tool .

• Hold down Option + Spacebar (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 counterclockwise to rotate the image counterclockwise.

The new rotation angle appears on the property bar.

You can also rotate an image by typing a rotation angle in the Rotation Angle box on the property bar.

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Rotate a document to accommodate the way you naturally draw.

To return an image to its original orientation

1 In the toolbox, click the Rotate Page tool .

2 Do one of the following:

• Click once in the document window.

• Double-click the Rotate Page tool.

• On the property bar, click the Reset Tool button.

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.

To crop an image

1 In the toolbox, click the Crop tool .

2 Drag inside the image to define the rectangular area you want to keep.

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.

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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.

To constrain cropping to a square

• Hold down Shift while dragging to define the area with the Crop tool.

To adjust the ratio of the cropped image

1 In the toolbox, click the Crop tool.

2 On the property bar, type ratio values in the boxes.

If necessary, enable the Ratio check box to maintain aspect ratio when cropping the image.

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 Essentials features — except the buttons on the document window — work when you use full screen mode.

To toggle the full screen mode on and off

• Press Command + M (Mac OS) or Ctrl + M (Windows), or click Window menu >

Screen Mode Toggle from the menu bar.

You can position the image window anywhere on the screen by holding down the Spacebar and dragging.

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 or crop the canvas.

To r e s i z e t h e c a n v a s

1 Choose Canvas menu > Resize.

The Basics 47

The Resize dialog box appears, showing the current and new sizes by width, height, and resolution.

2 Enter a new value for width, height, or resolution.

For more information on these values, refer to “Creating and Opening Documents” on page 37.

3 The Constrain File Size check box 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 File Size check box.

To resize the drawing area

1 Choose Canvas menu > Canvas Size.

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.

Rotating and Flipping the Canvas

Corel Painter Essentials lets you rotate and flip the Canvas layer. When you rotate or flip the Canvas layer, all other layers move along with it. You can rotate the Canvas layer by a predefined amount, or you can choose the amount of rotation. If your document has layers of different varieties, you are prompted to commit all of them to default, pixel-based layers. The Canvas layer increases in size when necessary, so rotating or flipping it does not cause the contents of other layers to be cropped.

To rotate the Canvas layer by a predefined amount

1 Choose Canvas menu > Rotate Canvas.

2 Choose one of the following:

• 180 to rotate 180 degrees

• 90 CW to rotate 90 degrees clockwise

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• 90 CCW to rotate 90 degrees counterclockwise

To rotate the Canvas layer by a user-defined amount

1 Choose Canvas menu > Rotate Canvas > Arbitrary.

2 In the Rotate Selection dialog box, type the number of degrees of rotation you want

in the Angle box.

To f l i p t h e C a n v a s

1 Choose Canvas menu > Rotate Canvas.

2 Choose one of the following:

• Flip Canvas Horizontal

• Flip Canvas Vertical

Saving Files

You have several options for saving files. You can save a file in its current format or to a different format. In addition, Corel Painter Essentials remembers the location of the last file you saved.

Saving RIF Files

RIF is the Corel Painter native format, which retains special information about your document. For example, a RIF file maintains layers so that you can return to the file to re-access them.

It is a good idea to always save files in RIF format first. Think of RIF files as “work-in-progress” files. When a file is ready for production, then save it to GIF, JPEG, TIF, or another file format.

Corel Painter Essentials lets you compress files and save disk space with a lossless compression method. When saving in RIF format, leave the Uncompressed option disabled to minimize the file size on your hard disk.

Saving JPEG Files

Corel Painter Essentials supports the JPEG file format. Because of its small file size and high quality, JPEG is commonly used to transmit files through a modem. Unlike GIF, the JPEG file format displays a full range of colors.

The Basics 49

The JPEG file format allows you to compress your file on a scale of Fair to Excellent, where quality is directly proportional to file size. These quality settings will let you achieve compression ratios of less than 10:1 to greater than 100:1. JPEG is a “lossy” file format, meaning that a decompressed JPEG file will not be identical pixel-for-pixel to the original. However, because the JPEG algorithm takes into account the sensitivity of the eye to different colors, the higher-quality settings should achieve visually satisfying results.

When you save a file in JPEG format, Corel Painter Essentials displays the JPEG Encoding Quality dialog box, with the following options:

• The Quality options — Excellent, High, Good, and Fair — let you set the degree of file compression.

The Excellent option compresses the least, but retains the most data. Fair compresses the most, but loses the most data.

You can also use the Quality slider to adjust file compression.

• The Smoothness slider applies smoothing to the entire image. This is useful when using the Fair option, to blur the edges of JPEG artifacts. The default is 0. Keep in mind that using a high smoothness setting can cause blurring.

• The Progressive JPEG check box creates a progressive JPEG file. Progressive format is useful for files used on the Web. As the name implies, progressive format displays an image in stages — as a series of scans — while the file downloads. The first scan is a low-quality image; the following scans improve in quality. This allows the user to see the whole image very quickly.

It is best not to decompress and recompress a file multiple times. Although JPEG can compress and discard data not visible or obvious, the degradation of the data can affect the condition of your file.

When a file has lost a significant amount of data, block patterns may appear in areas of the image. If you try to use the Apply Surface Texture feature on a JPEG file, you may find it will accent the block patterns.

Saving GIF Files

Corel Painter Essentials allows you to save documents as GIF files. GIF, a file format using 8 or fewer bits, is commonly used to display graphics on the Web. When you save a GIF file, you can choose settings from 4 Colors to 256 Colors. You can choose how your colors will be displayed and what part of your image will be transparent.

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The Imaging Method setting determines how your 24-bit Corel Painter Essentials document will be converted to the limited number of colors that GIF uses. If you choose Quantize to Nearest Color, Corel Painter Essentials picks the color nearest to that of each pixel. If you choose Dither Colors, Corel Painter Essentials applies a pattern to the colors chosen to generate a more accurate, less banded result.

If you want your image to have transparency, enable the check box for Output Transparency. Most programs that display GIF files support transparency, but for those that don’t, you should specify the color of the “transparent” area. If your image will be displayed on the Web, enable the Background is WWW Gray option. You can also choose to use the background color of your Web page by enabling the Background is BG Color option.

For programs that support transparency, your selection will determine which areas are transparent. The Threshold slider determines which selection (loaded mask) value becomes transparent. You can see how the Threshold slider is affecting the transparency of your image in the Preview window in the dialog box. Transparency is displayed in the Preview window by a rectangular lattice. You can toggle between the Preview window and your Save As GIF options to get exactly what you want. Enable the Interlaced check box if your image will be displayed on a Web page.

Saving TIF Files

The TIF format is a widely supported bitmap image format that facilitates exchange between applications and computer platforms.

Saving Adobe Photoshop (PSD) Files

Corel Painter Essentials can save files in Adobe Photoshop (PSD) format.

To save a file in its current format

• Choose File menu > Save.

To save a file with a different name or format

1 Choose File menu > Save As.

2 In the Save (Mac OS) or Save Image As (Windows) dialog box, use the controls to

specify a location, file name, and format.

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Editing iPhoto Images in Corel Painter Essentials (Mac OS)

You can set iPhoto preferences so that you can open an iPhoto image for editing in Corel Painter Essentials.

To set iPhoto editing preferences (Mac OS)

1 In iPhoto, choose iPhoto menu > Preferences.

2 In the Preferences dialog box, enable the Opens In Other option.

3 Click Select.

4 Click the Corel Painter Essentials 3 folder, and choose Corel Painter Essentials 3.

5 Click Open.

To open an iPhoto image for editing in Corel Painter Essentials (Mac OS)

• In iPhoto, double-click an image.

The image opens in Corel Painter Essentials.

Sending Images to CorelPhotoAlbum (Windows)

Corel Photo Album is a powerful tool that lets you organize, fix, share, and protect your images. You can send an image directly to Corel Photo Album if you have it installed on your computer. For more information about Corel Photo Album, please visit www.corel.com/products.

To send an image to Corel Photo Album (Windows)

1 Choose File menu > Send to Corel Photo Album.

2 In the Save dialog box, type a name in the Save Image As box.

By default, the image’s filename appears in the Save Image As box with the .jpg filename extension.

3 Click OK.

The image is saved in the My Pictures folder, and Corel Photo Album opens.

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Closing Documents and Quitting the Application

You can close documents or quit Corel Painter Essentials using menu commands, keyboard shortcuts, or the Close button of the current window.

To c l o s e a d o c u m e n t

• Do one of the following:

• Click the current window’s Close button.

• Choose File menu > Close.

• Press Command + W (Mac OS) or Ctrl + W (Windows).

To quit Corel Painter Essentials

• Do one of the following:

• (Mac OS) Choose Corel Painter Essentials 3 menu > Quit Corel Painter Essentials 3.

• (Windows) Choose File menu > Exit.

You can also quit Corel Painter Essentials by pressing Command + Q (Mac OS) or Ctrl + Q (Windows).

Drag-and-Drop Features

Corel Painter Essentials supports drag-and-drop copying of documents from one window to another. For Mac OS users, Corel Painter Essentials supports drag-and-drop copying of documents between applications.

Dragging Between Documents

You can copy selections and layers between Corel Painter Essentials documents by dragging from one window to the other. When you drag a selection to a new document window, Corel Painter Essentials automatically turns the selection into a layer. When you drag a layer to a new document, the layer keeps its original properties.

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Dragging Between Programs (Mac OS)

Corel Painter Essentials supports drag-and-drop functionality between applications on Mac OS. This can be a quick, convenient way to acquire or export images. On the Mac OS, you can drag files from Adobe Photoshop directly into Corel Painter Essentials.

Raster images that you drag into a Corel Painter Essentials document window become layers. You can drag a PICT file from the Finder to a Corel Painter Essentials document. The PICT image becomes a layer.

You can also drag layers out of Corel Painter Essentials to another application or to the Finder; the exported image is in PICT format, supported by most applications. When you drag out one of these objects, it will automatically rasterize a shape or dynamic layer (at its current settings) to become a PICT.

Though dragging and dropping between programs is not supported on the Windows platform, computers running on either Mac OS or Windows platforms support copying and pasting between Corel Painter Essentials and other programs.

Setting Preferences

Corel Painter Essentials has three different pages of the Preferences dialog boxes: General, Brush Tracking, and Memory & Scratch.

Use the Preferences dialog box to customize your application.

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General Preferences

To access General preferences

• Do one of the following:

• (Mac OS) Choose Corel Painter Essentials 3 menu > Preferences > General.

• (Windows) Choose Edit menu > Preferences > General.

To make changes to other preferences before closing the Preferences dialog box, choose another preference type from the pop-up menu.

Setting up the Drawing Cursor

You can choose a cursor icon and its orientation. You can also set the drawing cursor to show the brush size and shape.

To choose a drawing cursor icon

1 On the General page of the Preferences dialog box, enable the Brush option in the

Cursor Type area.

2 Choose one of the following drawing cursor icon options from the pop-up menu to

the right of the Brush option:

•Brush

• Cross

•Torus

•Triangle

• Hollow Triangle

•Gray Triangle

If you want to set the cursor to show the brush size and shape, enable the Brush Ghosting check box. Brush Ghosting gives you immediate visual feedback on the cursor, showing you the shape and size of the selected brush.

If you want the drawing cursor icon to be a single pixel, enable the Single Pixel option in the Cursor Type area.

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When you use a brush with “Enable Brush Ghosting” enabled, the cursor shows the shape of the brush.

Setting Quick Clone Preferences

To set Quick Clone preferences

1 Choose Corel Painter Essentials 3 menu > Preferences > General (Mac OS), or

Edit menu > Preferences > General (Windows).

2 In the Quick Clone area of the Preferences dialog box, enable or disable the

following check boxes:

• Delete Image From Clone. When enabled, this option automatically deletes the contents of the clone file.

• Turn on Tracing Paper. When enabled, this option automatically activates the Tr a c in g Pa p e r f e a t u r e .

3 Enable one of the following check boxes:

• Switch to Cloner Brushes automatically activates the last Cloner brush variant used.

• Clone Color uses the current brush variant to clone the underlying color.

By default, the Switch to Cloner Brushes check box is enabled. To enable the Clone Color check box, you must disable the Switch to Cloner Brushes check box.

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Cloning Preference

When you clone an image, Corel Painter Essentials uses the color information from the original as you fill in your clone. If you would like Corel Painter Essentials to display what part of the original you’re cloning, check the box next to Indicate Clone Source with Crosshairs While Cloning.

Draw Zoomed-out Views Using Area-Averaging

When you are viewing an image at under 100% magnification, screen draw is faster when Draw Zoomed-out Views Using Area-Averaging is enabled, and slower — but more accurate — when this check box is not enabled.

Display Warning When Drawing Outside Selection

Checking this box enables the warning that appears when you draw outside a selection.

Show Commit Dialog When Converting to a Layer

Enable this check box if you have enabled the Commit and Don’t Ask Again check box in the Commit dialog box and want to reinstate the dialog box.

Brush Tracking Preferences

When you draw with traditional media, the amount of pressure you use with a tool determines how dense and how wide your strokes are. Using a pressure-sensitive stylus with Corel Painter Essentials gives you this same kind of control. Each artist has a different strength or pressure level in a stroke. The Brush Tracking preference lets you adjust Corel Painter Essentials to match your stroke strength. This is particularly useful for artists with a light touch. If a light stroke leaves no color on the canvas, you should use Brush Tracking to increase sensitivity.

You might also change brush tracking between phases of a project. You could use a light touch when sketching with a pencil brush variant, then set tracking for more pressure when you switch to an oil paint variant. Corel Painter Essentials saves Brush Tracking between sessions, so whatever tracking sensitivity you set will be the default the next time you open the application.

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To s e t B r u s h Tr a c k i n g

1 Do one of the following:

• (Mac OS) Choose Corel Painter Essentials 3 menu > Preferences > Brush Tr a c k i n g .

• (Windows) Choose Edit menu > Preferences > Brush Tracking.

2 Drag in the scratch pad in a “normal” stroke.

Use the pressure and speed you prefer when drawing or painting. For specific adjustments, you can move the sliders.

Use the Brush Tracking dialog box to customize how

Corel Painter Essentials responds to your stroke pressure and speed.

Memory and Scratch Preferences

You can change the percentage of memory usage dedicated to Corel Painter Essentials, which is set to 80% by default. You can dedicate as much as 100% of memory to Corel Painter Essentials. The lowest percentage you can choose is 5%. You can also choose the scratch disk, which selects the disk volume that Corel Painter Essentials uses to store its temporary file and to access virtual memory.

To s e t m e m o r y u s a g e

1 Do one of the following:

• (Mac OS) Choose Corel Painter Essentials 3 menu > Preferences > Memory & Scratch.

• (Windows) Choose Edit menu > Preferences > Memory & Scratch.

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2 Type a number in the Memory Usage box.

To choose a scratch disk

1 Do one of the following:

• (Mac OS) Choose Corel Painter Essentials 3 menu > Preferences > Memory & Scratch.

• (Windows) Choose Edit menu > Preferences > Memory & Scratch.

2 Choose the volume name (Mac OS) or letter (Windows) from the Scratch Disk

pop-up menu.

Using Two Monitors

The Corel Painter Essentials user interface can be displayed across two or more monitors. You can drag any of the Corel Painter Essentials palettes, the property bar, and the toolbox to any monitor; however, each palette must be displayed entirely on one monitor at a time. If a palette straddles two monitors, it will automatically snap to the nearest vertical edge of the monitor with the largest portion of the palette. If the palette is displayed equally on both monitors, it will snap to the vertical edge of the left monitor.

For best performance, make sure that both monitors are set to the same resolution. In Windows, you must stretch the application window to straddle both monitors, then redesign your workspace. For information on configuring your system to display across two or more monitors, refer to your operating system documentation.

Wacom Intuos Support

Corel Painter Essentials supports the Wacom Intuos tablet, pen, and airbrush technology.

Painting with an Intuos Tablet and Pen

The Intuos tablet provides 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity to help you create smooth curves, gradual transitions, and precise brush strokes. Corel Painter Essentials allows you to take advantage of tilt and bearing input from an Intuos pen in new and exciting ways.

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Before you use Corel Painter Essentials with your Wacom Intuos 3 tablet on the Mac OS, you need to ensure that the Wacom Intuos 3 driver you’ve installed is optimized for use with Corel Painter Essentials. To do this, access the Mac OS System Preferences, and choose the Wacom Tablet command. Choose Functions from the Tool area, and then click the Touch Strip button that appears. In the Touch Strip area, make sure that the left and right Touch Strip functions are both set to Scroll.

The mouse mode option in the Wacom controls panel, which causes a stylus to behave like a mouse, is not compatible with Corel Painter Essentials. Always use pen mode when painting with an Intuos tablet and pen.

Brush Tracking

Every artist uses a different pressure when drawing on an Intuos tablet. The Corel Painter Essentials Brush Tracking preferences help you customize your Intuos tablet to meet your pressure sensitivity needs. Refer to “Brush Tracking Preferences” on page 57 for more information.

Using the Intuos Airbrush Wheel

The Intuos Airbrush — the first true computer airbrush — provides fingertip media flow control. Corel Painter Essentials airbrushes respond to angle (tilt), bearing (direction), and flow (wheel setting) data from the Intuos stylus, allowing for a truly realistic brush stroke. For example, as you tilt your stylus, specks of media land on the paper in a way that reflects that tilt. Corel Painter Essentials airbrushes create conic sections that mirror your stylus movements.

Corel Painter Essentials airbrushes take advantage of the Intuos Airbrush stylus wheel control. Like the needle control on a real airbrush, the Intuos wheel control adjusts airbrush flow, or how much medium is applied. For more information about using the new airbrushes, refer to “Painting with Airbrushes” on page 94.

Using Multiple Intuos Pens

All Intuos pens — both standard and airbrush — feature ToolID, which allows you to configure and work with multiple pens during a Corel Painter Essentials session. All Intuos pens — both standard and airbrush — feature ToolID, which allows you to configure and work with multiple pens during a Corel Painter Essentials session. For example, let’s assume you have two Intuos pens: Pen 1 and Pen 2. Pen 1 is set to an Oil brush variant; Pen 2 is set to an Artists variant.

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Every time you bring Pen 1 into the tablet’s proximity, Corel Painter Essentials automatically changes the active brush to the Oil brush. Every time you bring Pen 2 into the tablet’s proximity, Corel Painter Essentials switches to the Artists brush. If you’ve adjusted the tool assigned to a pen’s size or other settings, Corel Painter Essentials remembers those changes for the next time you use that pen.

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Textures and Patterns

In Corel Painter Essentials, paper textures, gradients, and patterns can all be applied to your image. You can brush some of them on, get them to interact with each other, spray them, smear them, and even create your own. Best of all, you never have to run to the store in the middle of creating to get a new tube of paint or the right kind of paper.

You’ll use these items in several ways:

• to load a Brush tool with media for painting

• to fill selections with the Effects menu > Fill command or the Paint Bucket tool

• to control certain image effects, like Apply Surface Texture

Using Paper Texture

In the real world, a marking tool has different results when applied to surfaces with different textures. Corel Painter Essentials allows you to control the texture of the canvas to achieve the results you’d expect from natural media on a given surface — pencil on water color paper, chalk on pavement, and so on.

Of course, some brushes, like those in the Airbrush category, don’t reveal paper texture in their strokes. This behavior follows that of the natural tool.

Te x tu re s a n d P a t te r ns 6 3

Most of the brushes interact with the current paper texture.

You can use paper textures in many ways. Brushes interact with paper “grain,” just as natural tools react with the texture of the surfaces beneath them. Working with paper grains is useful when you use the Apply Surface Texture command or other effects. You can select different paper textures, modify them, organize them in libraries, and even create your own custom textures.

The terms “paper grain” and “paper texture” are used here synonymously.

Choosing Paper Textures

The Papers Selector in the toolbox is where all paper textures are stored.

The Paper Selector in the toolbox.

To choose a paper texture

1 In the toolbox, click the Paper Selector to display the available paper textures.

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2 Choose a paper texture from the Paper Selector.

Corel Painter Essentials uses the currently selected texture. You can make a few strokes, and then change the paper and make a few more strokes to get different results.

Using Patterns

A pattern is a repeating design. The smallest unit of a pattern is known as a “tile.” When you fill an area with a pattern, the tile is repeated across the selected area.

With patterns, you can

• fill selections with an image

• paint patterns directly onto your image using a cloning brush

• control image effects

Choosing Patterns

The Patterns Selector in the toolbox shows a preview of the pattern.

The Pattern Selector in the toolbox.

To choose a pattern

1 In the toolbox, click the Pattern Selector.

2 Choose a pattern from the list.

To fill an image with pattern tiles

1 In the toolbox, choose a pattern from the Pattern Selector.

2 Choose Effects menu > Fill.

3 In the Fill dialog box, choose Pattern.

Te x tu re s a n d P a t te r ns 6 5

To see tiling in an image, the image must be larger than the tile.

To paint with a pattern

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

2 In the toolbox, choose a pattern from the Pattern Selector.

3 On the Colors palette, click the Clone Color button .

4 Paint in the image.

If you have not set a clone source, Corel Painter Essentials uses the current pattern in any operation referring to clone source colors or luminance. This means you can paint with a pattern using a Cloner brush.

If the Source option is not available (grayed out), the selected brush can apply color only.

When painting with a pattern, keep in mind that direction matters. Corel Painter Essentials flips the pattern you’re painting when you change directions, so apply strokes in the same direction for a uniform effect.

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Color

Corel Painter Essentials offers many ways to apply color to your image. For example, you can change the paper color, choose colors for your brush strokes, or apply gradients to an entire image or selection.

Getting Started with Color

You can select colors in several ways. You can use

• the color squares on the Colors palette

• the Dropper tool, which samples color from the image

• the Clone Color button, which pulls color from a source

Changing the Paper Color

You can change a document’s paper color — the color of the background canvas — at any time. This color appears when you delete a filled area or use the Eraser tool to remove color.

An example of changing the paper color.

Color 67

To display the Colors palette

• Choose Window menu > Show Colors.

To change the existing paper color

1 Choose a main color from the Colors palette.

2 Choose Canvas menu > Set Paper Color.

3 To expose the new paper color, do one of the following:

• Make a selection, and cut or delete it.

• Use a the Eraser tool to erase part of your image.

Using the Colors Palette

The Colors palette includes the Hue Ring and the Saturation/Value Triangle.

• Values span the triangle from top to bottom, with the top of the triangle being the highest value (white) and the bottom being the lowest value (black).

• Saturation levels go from left to right. Dragging or clicking to the right produces the purest color within the predominant hue. Dragging or clicking to the left reduces the level of color saturation, producing “muddier” or grayer colors.

You can also use the Clone Color button on the Colors palette to transform regular brushes into cloning brushes.

The Colors palette is one place where you can select a color to add to your image.

To choose a hue and color from the Colors palette

1 Choose Window menu > Show Colors to display the Colors palette.

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If the Colors palette is not expanded, click the palette arrow.

2 Drag the circle on the Hue Ring to select the predominant hue.

The Saturation/Value Triangle displays all available colors within that selected hue.

3 Select a color on the Saturation/Value Triangle by dragging the circle or by clicking

the color you want.

You can also select a hue by clicking once anywhere on the Hue Ring.

Understanding Main and Additional Colors

The color you select appears in one of two overlapping squares displayed on the Colors palette. The front square represents the selected main color. The back square shows the selected additional color. By default, blue is the main color, and white is the additional color. Most of the time, you work with the main color.

Don’t confuse the additional color with what other graphics programs call “the background color.” In Corel Painter Essentials, the “background color” is the paper color.

Overlapping squares display the current main and additional colors.

To choose the main color

1 Choose Window menu > Show Colors to display the Colors palette.

2 Double-click the front square.

3 Choose a color from the Colors dialog box.

Click the front square to set the main color.

To choose the additional color

1 On the Colors palette, double-click the back square.

Color 69

2 Choose a color from the Colors dialog box.

If you usually work with the main color, you might want to re-click the front square to reselect it.

Click the back square to set the additional color.

To swap main and additional colors

• Click the Color Swap Icon .

Sampling Colors from Images

In addition to choosing colors on the Colors palette, you can use the Dropper tool to select, or “pick up,” a color from an existing image.

To use the Dropper tool

1 Click the front or back square to select a main or additional color.

2 Click the Dropper tool in the toolbox.

3 Move the cursor to the color you want to pick up, and click it.

The color square updates to display the color you’ve selected.

The Dropper tool picks up visible color only; it cannot be used to select a hidden color.

You can quickly access the Dropper tool by pressing D on the keyboard.

To access the Dropper tool from other tools

• Press Option (Mac OS) or Alt (Windows).

The Dropper tool works with the Brush, Crop, Text, and Paint Bucket tools.

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Cloning Color

The Clone Color option offers another way to choose color. This feature lets the brush pick up dabs of color from an original (source) image. For more information about cloning, refer to “Cloning Images” on page 103.

To set up a clone source

1 Choose File menu > Open, and choose the file you want to use as a clone source.

2 Choose File menu > Clone.

3 Choose Select menu > All, and press Delete (Mac OS) or Backspace (Windows).

Now you can work in the new file, taking data from the original source file.

To use clone colors

1 Set up a clone source.

If you don’t set a file as the source, Corel Painter Essentials uses the currently selected pattern.

2 Choose a brush from the Brush Selector bar.

3 Choose Window menu > Show Colors to display the Colors palette.

4 Click the Clone Color button on the Colors palette.

Enabling the Clone Color option disables the Colors palette. This is a reminder that your color information is coming from the clone source.

5 When you paint in the clone file, Corel Painter Essentials uses colors from the clone

source image.

When you change the brush or variant, Corel Painter Essentials turns Use Clone Color off. Be sure to turn it back on to continue working with the clone color.

Working with Gradients

A gradient is a gradual transformation from one color into another. Sometimes gradients are called blends or fountains.

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Using Gradients

Corel Painter Essentials provides several different types of gradients.

You can use gradients to

• Fill an image selection, layer, or channel. For more information, see “Selections” on page 117 and “Layers” on page 125.

• Express the gradient in an existing image by mapping gradient colors to image luminance. For more information, see “Using Image Luminance to Create Texture” on page 152.

The Gradient Selector in the toolbox.

To select a gradient

• In the toolbox, click the Gradient Selector, and choose a gradient.

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Painting

Corel Painter Essentials lets you draw and paint as you might with real artists’ tools and media. In your studio, you use brushes, pencils, chalk, airbrushes, and palette knives to make marks on a canvas or piece of paper. With Corel Painter Essentials, an infinite variety of marks are possible. Like a fully stocked art store, Corel Painter Essentials supplies you with many different brushes and drawing tools, each with modifiable characteristics.

Exploring Brushes

The Corel Painter Essentials Brush tool offers users a wide range of preset painting and drawing tools called brush variants. Brush variants are organized into categories, such as Airbrushes, Artists’ Oils, Pencils, and Digital Watercolor. They are designed with real media in mind, so you can select a tool with an expectation of how it will behave. For example, you’ll find a 2B Pencil brush variant in the Pencils category, and a Fine Camel brush variant in the Oils category. The Brush Selector Bar lets you choose a category and brush variant quickly and easily.

The Brush Selector Bar lets you choose a brush category (left) and a brush variant (right) quickly and easily.

You can use the Corel Painter Essentials brush variants as they are, or you can adjust them to suit your purposes. Many artists use Corel Painter Essentials brush variants with only minor adjustments — to size, opacity, or grain (how much color penetrates paper texture).

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Most Corel Painter Essentials brushes apply media (a color, gradient, or pattern) to an image. Some brushes, however, do not apply media. Instead, they make changes to media already in the image. For example, the Smudge brush variant (in the Blenders brush category) smudges existing colors in the image with smooth, anti-aliased strokes. Using one of these brushes on a blank area of the canvas has no effect.

Understanding Brush Categories

The section below lists the brush categories and highlights some of the brush variants you can find in Corel Painter Essentials.

Acrylics Airbrushes Art Pen Brushes Artists

Artists’ Oils Blenders Chalk Cloners

Crayons Digital Watercolor Erasers Image Hose

Oils Palette Knives Pastels Pattern Pens

Pencils Tinting

Acrylics

All Acrylic brush variants cover underlying brush strokes.

Captured Bristle Thick Acrylic Flat Wet Acrylic

Airbrushes

Airbrushes apply fine sprays of color. Computed airbrushes carefully mirror the feel of a real airbrush in action. The Wacom airbrush stylus is fully compatible with the airbrush brush variants.

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Coarse Spray Fine Spray Digital Airbrush

Art Pen Brushes

The Art Pen Brushes offer you a range of tools you’d expect to find in an arts supply store. You can choose from a range of unique tools, such as calligraphy pens, gouache brushes, or felt art markers.

Thin Smooth

Calligraphy

Tapered Gouache Felt Art Marker

Artists’ Oils

Brush variants from the Artists’ Oils category let you mix paints on the canvas as though you were working with traditional oil paints. Each stroke created with an Artists’ Oils brush variant loads the brush with a finite amount of oil, which is then transferred to the image. As you apply a stroke to the canvas, the Artists’ Oil brush loses oil, and the brush stroke becomes fainter. Because layers don’t have the oily properties of the canvas, brush strokes applied to a layer don’t fade as rapidly. Some Artists’ Oil brush variants are palette knives, allowing artists to mix paint directly on the canvas.

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Blender Brush Grainy Dry Brush Thick Wet Impasto

Artists

Artist brush variants help you paint in the styles of master artists. For example, you can paint in the style of Vincent Van Gogh, where brush strokes are multishaded, or in the style of an Impressionist, where brush strokes are short and use unmixed colors.

When you use any of the Artist brush variants, dragging quickly produces wider strokes.

Impressionist Auto Van Gogh Seurat

Blenders

Blenders affect underlying pixels by moving and mixing them. You can smooth drawing lines and create shading just as you would on a pencil sketch or charcoal drawing.

Smear Smudge

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Chalk

Chalk brush variants produce the thick, rich texture of natural chalk sticks and cover with strokes that interact with the paper grain. The opacity is linked to stylus pressure.

Sharp Chalk Square Chalk

Cloners

The Cloner brush variants behave like other brush variants, except that they take color from a clone source. These variants recreate the source imagery while effectively filtering it, reproducing the image in an artistic style, such as pastel chalk or watercolor. For more information, see “Cloning and Tracing” on page 103.

Original photo used

as Clone Source

Coarse Watercolor Impressionist Cloner Soft Cloner

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Camel Oil Cloner Chalk Cloner

Crayons

Crayons offer a range of styles. From soft and dull, to waxy and grainy, they produce textured strokes that interact with the paper grain. As with other dry media brush variants, the opacity is linked to stylus pressure.

Basic Crayon Waxy Crayon

Digital Watercolor

Broad Water Brush Diffuse Water Dry Brush

Gentle Wet Eraser

applied to a brush stroke

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New Simple Water Salt applied to a brush

stroke

Erasers

Eraser brush variants erase down to the paper color. Pressure determines how much you erase.

Eraser Flat Eraser

Image Hose

The Image Hose is a special brush that applies images instead of color. The images it “paints” with come from special image files called nozzles. Each nozzle file contains multiple images that are organized by characteristics such as size, color, and angle. Each characteristic (parameter) can be linked to a stylus attribute (animator), such as Velocity, Pressure, and Direction.

The name of each Image Hose variant tells you which parameter and animator are in effect. For example, the Linear-Size-P Angle-R brush variant links size to stylus pressure (P) and sets the angle randomly (R).

Linear-Angle-B

(Bearing)

Linear-Size-P

(Pressure)

Oils

Oil brush variants let you create effects you’d expect from oil paints. Some variants are semitransparent and can be used to produce a glazed effect. Other variants are opaque and cover underlying brush strokes.

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Fine Camel Opaque Flat Smeary Round

Palette Knives

You can use Palette Knife brush variants to scrape, push, or pick up and drag colors in your image. Only one Palette Knife brush variant, the Loaded Palette Knife, applies the current paint color. Palette Knife dabs are always parallel to the shaft of the stylus.

Loaded Palette Knife Palette Knife applied

to a brush stroke

Smeary Palette Knife

Pastels

Pastels range from hard pastel styles that reveal the paper grain to extra soft pastels that glide on to completely cover existing brush strokes. Opacity is linked to stylus pressure.

Artist Pastel Chalk Soft Pastel

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Pattern Pens

Pattern Pen brush variants let you use a brush to apply a pattern to an image.

Pattern Pen Pattern Pen Masked Pattern Pen Soft Edge

Pencils

Pencil brush variants are great for any artwork that would traditionally require pencils; from rough sketches to fine line drawings. Like their natural counterparts, Pencil brush variants interact with canvas texture. All of the variants build to black and link opacity to stylus pressure. The width of Pencil strokes varies according to the speed of the stroke, so dragging quickly produces a thinner line and dragging slowly leaves a thicker line.

2B Pencil Grainy Variable Pencil

Tinting

Tinting brush variants let you apply effects to photos or existing artwork. For example, you can apply translucent color to areas of a black and white photo using the Basic Round brush variant.

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Basic Round Blender Soft Grainy Round

Selecting a Brush

On the Brush Selector bar, you can choose from brush variants that are arranged in recognizable categories. Corel Painter Essentials brushes are built to emulate NaturalMedia tools, which lets you select a tool with a reasonable expectation of how it will behave. In an art store, if the tools in one aisle don’t produce the results you want, you can try a different aisle. Similarly, with Corel Painter Essentials, you can try different brush categories to find the tool you want.

To show the Brush Selector bar

• In the toolbox, double-click the Brush tool .

You can also show the Brush Selector bar by choosing Window menu > Show Brush Selector Bar.

To choose a brush

1 On the Brush Selector bar, choose a brush category from the Brush Category

selector.

2 Choose a variant from the Brush Variant selector.

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The Brush Category pop-up menu of the Brush Selector bar.

Choosing Brush Settings

Basic brush controls for size, opacity, and grain are located on the property bar. The property bar may also contain additional controls for the selected brush category, such as resaturation, bleed, and jitter.

When a brush is selected and positioned over the canvas, the cursor changes, by default, into a “ghost” of the brush — mirroring size and shape — so you can see the area that you’re about to paint. This ghost brush provides a handy way to see if a change in size is required.

Setting Brush Size

The Size slider on the property bar determines the size of a single brush dab. The text field next to this slider lets you enter a specific size (in pixels).

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To set brush size

1 Choose the Brush tool from the toolbox.

2 Choose a brush from the Brush Selector bar.

3 On the property bar, type a value in the Size box, or adjust the pop-up slider.

Corel Painter Essentials may need to rebuild the brush after you resize it. Automatic rebuilding of modified brushes is the default in Corel Painter Essentials. Expect a short delay while Corel Painter Essentials is rebuilding the brush.

To use the resize shortcut

1 Hold down Command + Option + Shift (Mac OS) or Ctrl + Alt + Shift

(Windows).

2 With the Brush tool, drag in the image window.

A circle representing the brush size is displayed beside the pointer. When the circle is the size you want, release the mouse button.

3 Click the image to reactivate the Brush tool.

A handy way to set brush size is to use the keyboard shortcut: Command + Option + Shift (Mac OS) or Ctrl + Alt + Shift (Windows).

You can also adjust brush size “on the fly” by using the square bracket keys: To increase brush size incrementally, click the right square bracket ( ] ) key. To decrease brush size incrementally, click the left square bracket ( [ ) key.

Adjusting Opacity and Grain

The Opacity slider controls the degree to which a stroke “covers” or “builds up” on the underlying pixels.

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80% opacity (top) and 20% opacity (bottom).

The Grain slider controls how much color penetrates into the paper texture. Lower settings show more of the grain.

89% grain (top), and 12% grain (bottom).

To s e t o p a c i t y

1 Choose the Brush tool from the toolbox.

2 Choose a brush from the Brush Selector bar.

3 On the property bar, type a percentage in the Opacity box, or adjust the pop-up

slider.

When Opacity setting is low, the applied color is thin, allowing you to see through to the underlying colors. When the setting is high, the applied color covers underlying pixels more completely.

To s e t g r a i n

• On the Brush property bar, type a percentage in the Grain box, or adjust the

pop-up slider.

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Move the slider to the left to reduce penetration and reveal more texture. Move it to the right to increase penetration and reveal less grain.

For liquid media brushes, Grain controls the amount of “pull.” For Image Hose brushes, Grain controls the mixture with the additional color. For other brushes, such as airbrushes, the Grain slider is not available.

Using a Stylus or Mouse

When you reach for a wide, flat brush, you expect the stroke you make to depend on how you hold the brush. A stroke using the face of the brush comes out wide. A mark using the edge is narrow.

Paint with the face of a flat brush for a wide stroke; use the edge for a narrow stroke.

Corel Painter Essentials produces realistic brush strokes that fade in and out; change width, tilt, and angle; and penetrate based on the stylus input. Some brush variants, such as the Smeary Flat variant in the Oils category, also react to stylus tilt (how close to vertical the stylus is held) and bearing (the compass direction in which the stylus is pointing).

Tilt can significantly affect brush strokes. If you get unexpected results, especially with bristle-type brushes or airbrushes, you can try reducing the tilt of your stylus. Extreme tilt angles are usually undesirable.

Many Corel Painter Essentials brushes also respond to stylus pressure (how hard you press with the stylus). Depending on variant settings, greater stylus pressure can increase the width of a brush stroke, the penetration of color, or the degree of other

86 Corel Painter Essentials 3 User Guide

effects. The Corel Painter Essentials airbrushes also respond to the fingerwheel on the Wacom Intuos airbrush, simulating a needle control that adjusts how much ink is sprayed.

You can link brush settings (such as size, opacity, and angle) to stylus input data (such as velocity, direction, pressure, airbrush fingerwheel, tilt, and bearing).

In theory, a mouse has no pressure information. A mouse button is either “on” (button down) or “off ” (button up). Corel Painter Essentials introduces mouse controls that let you simulate stylus pressure, tilt, bearing, and fingerwheel settings.

If you are using a mouse with Corel Painter Essentials, you can compensate for the lack of pressure information by adjusting size, opacity, and grain on the property bar. For example, reducing opacity or grain can produce the same results as pressing more lightly with a stylus.

Marking the Canvas

You can paint on the canvas or on a layer above the canvas. When you select a layer on the Layers palette, that layer becomes the target for your brush strokes.

When you have an active selection, painting is confined to the selection by default. Refer to “Selections” on page 117 for more information about selections.

In all cases, your brush strokes go to the selected target, so you should check that it matches your intended destination before you start to paint.

You mark the canvas by selecting the Brush tool and dragging in the document window with a brush variant that applies media. Each time you drag, you create a brush stroke.

Freehand vs. Straight-Line Drawing

You can draw unconstrained lines by using the freehand drawing style, or you can draw straight lines. Options on the property bar

When you use Freehand Strokes, you can drag with any motion or in any direction. The stroke follows your drag path.

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let you choose the drawing style.

With the Freehand Stroke option, you drag to create strokes.

When you use Straight Line Strokes, Corel Painter Essentials connects points with a straight line.

With the Straight Line Strokes option, you click to create the first point and then click or drag to create a stroke.

To draw freehand lines

1 On the Brush property bar, click the Freehand Strokes button .

2 Drag on the canvas.

You can use shortcut keys to toggle between the freehand and straight line drawing styles. Press B to choose the freehand style, or V to choose the straight-line style.

To draw straight lines

1 On the Brush property bar, click the Straight Line Strokes button .

2 Click a point on the canvas where you want to start your line.

3 Do one of the following:

• Click the point where you want to end the line.

• Drag to place the end point exactly where you want it.

Corel Painter Essentials connects the first and second points with a straight line.

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4 To continue drawing from the second point, click or drag to create additional

points on the canvas.

Corel Painter Essentials connects each point with a straight line.

5 To end a line, do one of the following:

• Press Return (Mac OS) or Enter (Windows) to close the polygon. The final point is connected to the origin with a straight line.

• Click the Freehand Strokes button to return to the freehand drawing style without closing the polygon.

• Press V to end the current polygon without closing it, so that you can begin a new one.

Constraining, Fading, and Undoing Strokes

In either drawing style, you can constrain your strokes to 45° angle increments. With the Freehand Strokes option, each stroke is constrained to a straight line, with the angle depending on the orientation of the stroke. With the Straight Line Strokes option, points are connected with lines at 45° angle increments.

If you apply a stroke, but want it to be less opaque, you can fade it.

You can use the Undo command to remove it. You can repeat the command to remove previous strokes and set how many individual strokes can be undone.

To constrain strokes to 45° angle increments

• Hold down Shift as you drag or click.

In Straight Line mode, you can also constrain lines to the grid by enabling the Snap to Grid option. Choose Canvas menu > Grid > Snap to Grid.

To f a d e a s t r o ke

1 Choose Edit menu > Fade.

2 Set the Undo Amount slider for the opacity you want, and click OK.

The Preview window shows the results of your selection.

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To undo a stroke

• Choose Edit menu > Undo Brush Stroke.

You can also undo a stroke by pressing Command + Z (Mac OS) or Ctrl + Z (Windows).

Erasing Image Areas

You can erase any part of your image and control the opacity of erased areas. You can link the opacity to stylus pressure or specify a fixed opacity value.

To erase an image area

1 On the Layers palette, choose the layer on which you want to erase.

2 Choose the Eraser tool in the toolbox.

3 On the property bar, adjust the Size pop-up slider.

4 Adjust the Opacity pop-up slider.

5 Click one of the following buttons:

• Soft Mode — sets opacity based on stylus pressure. The more pressure you apply, the higher the opacity. The initial opacity level is determined by the Opacity pop-up slider.

• Hard Mode — sets opacity based on the value set by the Opacity pop-up slider

You can toggle between Soft Mode and Hard Mode by holding down Option (Mac OS) or Alt (Windows) as you drag in the image window.

You can erase in straight lines by clicking the Straight Line Strokes button on the property bar, clicking a point on the canvas where you want to start your line, and clicking where you want to end the line.

You can also erase image areas by choosing the Brush tool in the toolbox, and choosing Erasers from the Brush Category selector on the Brush Selector bar.

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Corel PAINTER ESSENTIALS 3 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Table of contents

Quick Start Tutorials

Using the new Artists' Oils

Using Digital Watercolor

Erasing techniques

Transforming a photo into a painting

Cloning within an image

Cloning with an Artistic style

Creating an Underpainting

Auto-Painting your photos

Restoring detail to your painting

Applying Surface Texture

Welcome to Corel Painter Essentials 3

What’s New in Corel Painter Essentials 3?

Learn to Draw and Paint Digitally

Turn Photos into Paintings

Have Fun with Digital Art

Enjoy Compatibility with Popular Software and Hardware

How to Use the Documentation

Documentation Conventions

Using Corel Painter Essentials 3 Help

Using the Quick Guide palette

How to Sign Up for Free Training from lynda.com

How to Access Corel Support Services

A Workspace Tour

Corel Painter Essentials 3 Workspace

The Menus and the Document Window

The Toolbox

Toolbox Basics

Accessing Tools in the Toolbox

Exploring the Toolbox

Using Selectors

The Property Bar

Property Bar Basics

Using Tool Settings on the Property Bar

The Brush Selector Bar

Working with the Brush Selector Bar

The Palettes

Showing and Hiding Palettes

Navigating Palettes

Exploring the Palette Groups

Grouping, Repositioning, and Resizing Palettes

Docking Palettes

Restoring Palette Layout

Restoring the default Corel Painter Essentials settings

The Basics

Wor k i n g w i t h D oc u m e n t s

Creating and Opening Documents

Creating and Opening Templates

Placing Files

Understanding Resolution

Zooming

Repositioning Documents

Rotating Documents

Cropping Images

Using Full Screen Mode

Resizing the Canvas

Rotating and Flipping the Canvas

Saving Files

Editing iPhoto Images in Corel Painter Essentials (Mac OS)

Sending Images to CorelPhotoAlbum (Windows)

Closing Documents and Quitting the Application

Drag-and-Drop Features

Setting Preferences

General Preferences

Brush Tracking Preferences

Memory and Scratch Preferences

Using Two Monitors

Wacom Intuos Support

Textures and Patterns

Using Paper Texture

Choosing Paper Textures

Using Patterns

Choosing Patterns

Color

Getting Started with Color