Exploring the Tool Panel

The tools
Brush settings on the tool panel (Size, Opacity, Step)
Drawing modes

  

PD Pro's drawing toolset is shown as a series of icons on the Tool Panel. Each row has it's own set of functions.

This first row show the Current brush preview, the current paper preview, and the current buffer preview.
  1. The current brush preview. This shows you the currently selected brush image. Left clicking on this image brings up the brush options panel. Right clicking brings up a set of built in brush images.
     
  2. Right clicking the center thumbnail brings up the Paper panel, and Left clicking it toggles the current setting for the paper effect.
     
  3. The buffer preview shows a small image of the current buffer you are working on. Right clicking on this image brings up a menu of options for working with buffers.
 

This next row contains the Natural media tool, rectangle and ellipse tools, and the flood fill tool.
  1. The natural paint tool activates the powerful natural media painting capabilities. See the section on Natural tools
     
  2.     The rectangle tools draws a filled or unfilled shape.  Depending on which part of the icons you click on, the rectangle and ellipse tools are filled or unfilled.  There's a dividing line to show you.  Right clicking on the icons brings up the fill settings/gradient panel.  See the section on gradients for more information.
     
  3.     The Ellipse tool, like the Rectangle tool, draws a filled or unfilled shape.
     
  4. The paint can lets you flood fill areas that are surrounded by pixels.  Right click on it for more options, including the tolerance at which border detection happens.

 


The unfilled rectangle and ellipse tools, as well as the line and arc tools can be used with any of the natural medias.  Just select the media you want, then select the drawing tool you want to draw it with.

The alpha channel tools let you work with a mask.  A mask, (or stencil) holds back part of your paint so can can paint on just certain areas of an image.


 
  1. The alpha channel lasso tool lets you ‘select’ part of an image for further exclusive manipulation. You may also pick up this selection and use it as a custom brush. Right clicking on this tool brings up the Alpha channels panel.
     
  2. The Rectangle to alpha tools lets you draw a rectangle into the alpha channel.  This can also be thought of as 'selecting' part of an image.  Right clicking on this tool brings up the alpha channel panel.
     
  3. The Ellipse to alpha tool lets you draw an ellipse shape into the alpha channel.   Right clicking on this tool brings up the alpha channel panel.
     
  4. The alpha magic wand tool lets you ‘select’ and area in your buffer based on its similarity to the point you select. Right clicking on this tool brings up its options.

Next up are the Brush Selector tool, the Linear tool, the Arch tool, and the Text tool.


Note the many uses of the linear tool
  1. The custom brush selector lets you pick up an area from the buffer and use it as a brush. Right clicking on this tool brings up the brush keyer panel. With the keyer panel, you can make areas of the brush transparent.  See the section on Custom brushes.
     
  2. The linear tools basic function is drawing lines. However, right clicking on this tool lets you select from a number of functions including Linear gradient, Circular gradient, Warp, Linear alpha fader, Nova, Lens flares, and Lightning. See Linear tools.
     
  3. The arc tool lets you draw arcs with the current media.
     
  4. The text tool lets you place a line of text into your buffer. Right clicking on this tool brings up a menu of options.

 

This row contains the navigation tools.  These tools are complemented by the keyboard shortcut (CTRL+Shift) for dynamically panning and zooming around in your image.
  1. The Hand tool lets you drag the buffer around.  It does not force you to switch tools.  Just scrolling around on the icon will scroll the image.  Using the keyboard shortcuts (CTRL+Shift) will have the same effect when you scroll around in the buffer's window.  Doing the same with the Right Mouse Button will zoom in and out.
     
  2. The Zoom tool lets you zoom in and out.
     
  3. This icon will pop your image back to 100%.
     
  4. The next icon will scale your image to fit inside your buffers window.
     

Here you have some misc. tools like the gradient editor, Turkey Baster, undo/redo, and clear.
  1. The gradient/panels tool brings up the gradient panel. Right clicking lets you select from any of Dogwaffle’s tool panels.
     
  2. The turkey baster lets you pick up a color from your buffer. Right clicking lets you specify how large of an area to sample.
     
  3. The undo tool undoes the last painting operation. Right clicking redoes the last undone operation. Middle clicking and dragging lets you interactively fade the last painting operation.
     
  4. The clear button clears the buffer to the current secondary color. Right clicking brings up a panel of options for clearing your buffer or current selection.  You can also clear an entire animation from here.

Here we have several common parameters for controlling your brushes.  There are many more on the brush settings panel.

  1. Size controls the size of internal brushes, or the size of custom brushes if 'Allow brush transforms" is ticked on the brush settings panel.
     
  2. Opacity controls how opaque (or transparent) a brush is when you draw with it.  When stamping a brush down, the effect will build up over time, making it more opaque.
     
  3. Step controls the spacing between brush 'stamps'
     
  4. Selecting a mode will determine how the brush is applied when you draw.  See the section on paint modes for examples.

 

 Drawing Modes

   

 

 Default mode uses a straight copy of the paint color, effectively replacing one color with the other.  It has the effect of looking like an opaque paint like gouache.  Paper texture, opacity, and other brush settings also have an effect on the final color.

Additive mode Adds the red, green, and blue values of the paint color to the color in the image. For example, if you paint with blue onto a red image, you would get a bright purple color.

Subtractive mode subtracts the paint color from the color on your image.  Here, red is the color being subtracted.  It appears as cyan over the white area because it is white - red.  The yellow area shows up as green because it is yellow - red.

Multiply mode multiplies the paint and image colors.  The result is never brighter than the original values. This mode is similar to painting with translucent ink, and can be used for watercolor effects.  It is also highly useful for combining images or textures together.

Divide is the complement of multiply. Use it as you see fit.

Screen is similar to additive, but it keeps an image from ‘blowing out’ or becoming overly bright. It’s often useful for effects like stars and fire.

Around gray combines two colors around their middle brightness level.  It is useful in cases where your background is grey, and you want to make it either lighter or darker, depending on the color in the brush.

Rubthrough mode lets you paint, or rub, one image onto another.  The source of the image is the swap buffer.  To copy an image into the swap buffer, press 'J' (capital j) on the keyboard.  You can turn on layer mixing from the layers panel to see both layers at the same time, then paint one onto the other.  In the example, a photograph has been rubbed into a grey buffer with an airbrush tool.

Panto mode (Pantograph) lets you copy part of an image from one area of your buffer to another. Shift click to set the source area. This effect is used quite often in image touchups to remove blemishes and errors from an image.  In the example, the tree has been cloned.

Smear, as it implies lets you smear an image.  Changing the opacity, steps, and the brush shape itself has a tremendous impact on the actual effect achived.

Paintsmear mode is a combination of default mode and smear mode.  The initial stamp of paint is done in default mode, and it is then switched to smear mode.  The result is like painting with oil paints.

Pattern uses the current custom brush as a pattern. Generally, you select an area of the buffer as a custom brush and then switch to one of the internal brushes to paint.  Currently, painting with a custom brush in pattern mode will use the same brush as the pattern.

Offset pattern randomly changes the position of your patter by a small amount every time you make a brush stroke. This is useful for giving an image an impressionist style, or for creating textures that do not repeat at regular intervals.