GENERAL
New
Painter 7 Installation
Blue
Green Interface/Difficult to Read -
posted 8/29/01
-
Set your screen
to 24 bit Color or higher.
Keystroke Commands
Keystroke
Commands Have Changed
- posted 9/1/01
Printing
Printing
Higher Resolution Image from Painter 7 Looks like 72 ppi When Printed to
Some Epson Printers
-
One workaround suggested on the corel.graphic_apps.painter
newsgroup is to use Resize and change the image resolution to 360 before
printing. He said that 360, or multiples thereof is the Epson dpi and that
this works for him.
NOTE:
Please test this on a copy of your image first so you don't damage your
work. This workaround is posted here because it may work
for some people but there's no guarantee it will work in your situation.
Zoom
Feature - Scale Display
Zoom to
Fit, Double-click Grabber Tool, Magnifier Tool, Scale Display Inconsistencies,
Other Problems
Uninstall
Painter 7, Reinstall, Install the Painter 7 Update
Includes
Direct URLs to All Files in the Painter 7 Update Package
MENUS
AND PALETTES
Menus
Edit
Preferences
-
Palettes
(Showing and Hiding Palette Sections)
-
See Palettes/Palette
Sections/General/Missing Sections, How to Add (item listed below).
-
Palettes
-
Art
Materials - Color Section May Disappear when Other Sections are Deselected
-
Some Painter
7 users may experience a problem with the release version of Painter
7 when, in Edit/Preferences, some elements in the Art Materials
palette are deselected. The Color section may disappear even
if it has not been deselected.
-
Workaround: After
closing Painter 7, in the main Painter 7 folder, delete the
Painter.pal
file. This file is recreated when you reopen Painter 7. Now the
Color
section should be in the Art Materials palette and the deselected
items should not be.
-
This tip was contributed
by Terrie who has kindly allowed me to include her e-mail address
in case you have questions about Painter 7:
74727.3164@compuserve.com
Thanks, Terrie!
Windows
Zoom
to Fit
Zoom
to Fit Makes Image Window and Canvas Tiny
Zoom to
Fit, Double-click Grabber Tool, Magnifier Tool, Scale Display Inconsistencies,
Other Problems
Palettes
GENERAL
Palette
Sections
Missing
Sections, How to Add
(or more important, where to find
the information not easily found in the Painter 7 User Guide Index)
- posted 8/31/01:
-
Painter 7 User Guide, Chapter
2, The Workspace, the section named Showing and Hiding Palette
Sections, on page 17.
-
Painter 7 Help menu, click the
Search
tab, type Working with Palettes, and in the right panel, scroll
down to the section named Showing and Hiding Palette Sections.
ART
MATERIALS
(no new
info or complaints)
BRUSHES
and BRUSH CONTROLS
A
Gift from John Derry - Click
this Link to See What it Is
Thank You,
John!
A
Gift from Karen Sperling - Click this Link to
Download
A Painter
7 Watercolor Quick Reference Guide - PDF
This Will
Make Learning Painter 7 Water Color Brush Settings a Lot Easier!
Thank You,
Karen!
A
Gift from Judy Miller and Jeremy Sutton - To
Read the Solution Tutorial, Click Here
Brushes
React Differently to Paper Texture in Painter 7 - Solution by Judy Miller,
Tutorial by Jeremy Sutton -
posted 9/9/01
-
A simple, from
basics, texture tutorial that reviews how to reset the settings for grainy
brushes in Painter 7.
Thank
You, Judy and Jeremy!
BRUSH
LOOK DESIGNER - ERROR IN PAINTER 7 USER GUIDE AND HELP TOPICS
After reading
some messages on this subject on the corel.graphic_apps.painter newsgroup,
I did a search in Help Topics and found what appears to be an error. You'll
find it on page 201 of the Painter 7 User Guide as well. In the section
named Setting Well Controls, there's a note at the top of the middle column
that tells the Painter user to open the Look Designer, make a stroke, and
watch it update as adjustments are made to the Well sliders. Then it says
to use a checkered or striped background for more revealing results. There
doesn't appear to be a Look Designer in Painter 7. Below is a solution,
the basic version of which was offered by Karen Sperling, to which I've
added some things based on my experience using the procedure (i.e. Converting
Water Color and Liquid Ink Layers to Default Layers before making the square
selection and Dropping them to the Canvas if you have trouble making a
square selection).
Solution
Instead, design
your Brush by experimenting. When you have something you like, paint a
sample. Then draw a square selection around it (if it's either Water Color
or Liquid Ink, Convert to Default Layer before making the selection. If
you have trouble making the selection, Drop the Layer to the Canvas first.)
In the Brushes palette's Brush menu, choose Brush Looks > New Look. Give
your custom Brush Look a unique name and click the OK button. Now your
new Brush Look is saved in the Art Materials palette's current Looks Library.
Thanks to
Karen Sperling for offering the basic solution and to Michel for asking
the question!
Water
Color Bleed and Pickup - Click
here to see Kaburaya's thorough demonstration
A Visual
and Text Demonstration of Problems with Painter 7 Water Color Brushes and
Settings
Thank
You, Kaburaya!
Water
Color (watercolor) Eraser Variants - Change Colors
Workaround
for Known Bug in First Release of Painter 7 - posted 8/29/01
-
White is the
correct Primary Color for the Painter 7 Water Color Eraser variants. Since
the Painter 7 Water Color Eraser variants change both the Primary and Secondary
Colors unexpectedly (or as you'll see below when we unwittingly do something
we would not expect would change them), after choosing any of the Water
Color Eraser variants, and before beginning to paint, go to the Brushes
palette's Variant menu and choose Restore Default Variant. The Primary
Color should then be white. If it's not white, manually change the Primary
Color to white.
| More detailed
information from John Derry on 8/31/01:
"<SNIP>
This issue has been documented online
by Jinny Brown at:
http://www.pixelalley.com/Painter7/eraser-color-change.html
This is not a bug, per se, but instead
is user confusion over how a particular Painter feature works. I'll admit
that it is not obvious and it could be better documented...
Here is the specific area that is
in question:
The Watercolor "Eraser" Variants
In order to erase existing watercolor,
the P7 Watercolor Erasers must use _White_ as the Current Color. Why is
this so? The Watercolor Layer technology, being a physical simulation of
watercolor, has no built-in color removal (Once pigment is suspended in
the Watercolor Layer, it can be diffused and moved around, but it can not
be eliminated).
Consequentially, the only way to
erase existing pigment in the Watercolor Layer is to utilize two of the
old pre-P7 Wet Methods ("Grainy Wet Abrasive", "Wet Remove Density") which
remain compatible with the new Watercolor Layer. The Grainy Wet Abrasive
Wet Method is dependant upon White as the Current Color to erase.
To enforce this requirement, the
Watercolor "Eraser" Variants have been saved with White as the Current
Color. This is done by selecting White as the Current Color and then checking
the "Save Current Colors" checkbox in the "Save Variant" dialog when saving
the Variant.
Now, here is where the user confusion
is occurring:
Save Variant Dialog "Save Current
Colors" Feature
If "Save Current Colors" is checked
when saving a Variant, it means that the Variant will retain the color
that is Current at the time that the Variant is initially _saved_ (I will
refer to this color as the "Original Current Color").
If a user _changes_ the Current Color
while using a Variant that has been saved with "Save Current Colors" enabled,
then that color will override the Original Current Color and "stick" to
the Variant (I will refer to this color as the "Cached Current Color").
The next time that particular Variant is selected, then this cached color
will become current.
It is important to note here that
P7 XML brushes can store 2 instances of a Variant:
1> The original Default Variant (Original
Current Color stored here
2> The user-adjusted Cached Variant
(Cached Current Color stored here)
Additional Issues
With regard to Jinny Brown's description
of problems with the Watercolor Erasers (see url above), the initial confusion
resulted because she appears to have adjusted her Current Colors while
the "Salt Eraser" was the current Variant. She subsequentially changed
her current color when another Watercolor Variant was selected (Diffuse
Camel). The next time she selected the Salt Eraser Variant, the current
color was updated to the Salt Eraser's Cached Current Colors.
Once a user gets into this apparently
unpredictable Current Color updating, it becomes easy as an apparently
corrective remedy, to begin changing the Current Color while the various
Watercolor Eraser Variants are selected.
As a result, each of these Variants
will now have a new Cached Current Color "sticking" to it. This condition
is quickly corrected by invoking "Restore Default Variant" while the Variant
in question is selected. This will override the Cached Current Color and
restore the Original Current Color.
Watercolor Dry Eraser Bug
There _is_ a small bug involved in
Jinny's Watercolor Eraser problems. The Watercolor "Dry" Eraser was erroneously
saved with _Blue_ as the Current Color. Consequentially, whenever this
Variant is selected, the Current Color is replaced with blue. This has
the effect of making the whole "Current" vs. "Cached" Current Color issue
even more indecipherable by the uninformed.
By coincidence, the "Dry" Eraser
is the one P7 Watercolor eraser Variant that uses the "Wet Remove Density"
Wet Method. Unlike the earlier-described "Grainy Wet Abrasive" Wet Method
used for all of the other Watercolor Erasers, "Wet Remove Density" does
_not_ rely on the color White to erase. So, it has been saved with "Saved
Current Colors" erroneously enabled.
Because it does not rely on a color
to erase, it will work properly even with the color blue having been erroneously
invoked. But the user will be further mystified by the sudden appearance
of an uncalled for new Current Color.
"Saved Current Colors" Bug
There appears to be a bug associated
with the "Save Variant" Dialog's "Save Current Colors" checkbox. Once a
Variant has been saved with this checkbox enabled, it appears to be impossible
to ever re-save this Variant with the checkbox disabled. The user can uncheck
it in order to re-save the Variant with this feature disabled. However,
subsequent re-loading of this Variant will have the checkbox enabled and
therefore replace the Current Color with its Original Current Color. This
bug inhibits the ability to correct the above-described "Dry Eraser" Variant.
<SNIP>
-john" |
.
Water
Color - Wet Fringe Control
Painter
7 User Guide Instructs the Reader to Use Wet Fringe Slider to Create Pooling
at Edges of Water Color Brush Stroke
-
In the Brush Controls
palette's Water section, there is no Wet Fringe slider.
-
In the Brushes
palette's Control menu, if Custom Controls is chosen, then Water is chosen
from the Category list, there are two boxes available to check. One of
them is Wet Fringe. If you check it, and hit the OK button, nothing is
added to the Controls:Brushes palette. (Your screen might flash around
a bit, though.)
-
If, in another
Painter session this is attempted again, when Water is chosen from the
Category list, the previously displayed window where the Wet Fringe box
was available doesn't open at all.
-
There is no Wet
Fringe Control to create pooling around the edges of a Water Color Stroke.
If it's possible at all, we'll have to do it another way.
-
In the meantime,
here's a quick try I made at creating a pooling brush. It's not there yet
but fun to play with anyway. Maybe you'll enjoy it too:
COLOR
SET
CONTROLS
TOOLS
Grabber/Magnifier
Tools Used to Zoom
Zoom to
Fit, Double-click Grabber Tool, Magnifier Tool, Scale Display Inconsistencies,
Other Problems
OBJECTS
Layers
Layer
Attributes Dialog Box
Renaming
Layers - Error Message - "Number is Out of Range"
This one looks
like a bug
to me. I've seen it too. The only solution I've found is to "cooperate"
with Painter 7 (or the Painter 7 bug)
and, in the Layer Attributes dialog box, type 0 in the Top field
and 0 in the Left field. That moves the Layer back into it's
"default" position with its upper left corner at 0,0 aligned
the upper left corner of the Canvas which is 0,0 as well.
This, however,
repositions
your Layer where you may not want it to be.
A workaround
is to use vertical and horizontal Guides and/or the Grid and take
note of where your Layer is before opening the Layer Attributes dialog
box. Then you can reposition it after the Layer Attributes box is
closed.
A royal pain
in the neck but at least it's some kind of solution until this bug is fixed
or until we learn that it's not actually a bug, what benefit there is,
and how to avoid having to reposition our Layers. (I'm voting for bug-be-gone.)
Anyone have
a better suggestion? I'll update this page if your idea works better than
mine.. or post both as alternative workarounds.
Water
Color (watercolor) Layers - Combining on One Layer - (alternative to Group
and Collapse)
Combining Multiple Water Color
Layers on One Layer (and Extra Neat Tip About Using Undo) - posted
8/29/01:
This Solution arose after a Painter
7 user found that when attempting to Group and Collapse
her Water Color Layers using the Layers icon menu, the Collapse
option was greyed out. Using Right-Click to open the
menu, the Collapse option was available. However using that
method left white edges around the brush strokes.
NOTE:
Only do this with the Canvas white and blank. If
you have something on the Canvas, first use Ctrl/Command+A to select
the Canvas then click inside the Selection using the Layer Adjuster
tool to temporarily lift the existing Canvas to a Layer.
-
To prevent white edges showing up
on your brush strokes, highlight the Water Color Layers you want to
have together on one Layer and in the Layers menu, choose Drop.
Then from the Layers menu, choose Lift Canvas to Water Color Layer.
-
If, immediately after using this
method, you use Undo, your image will be on both the Layer and on
the Canvas. This is
a very neat feature as it allows us more freedom and time to think
what we'd like to do with either the Layer image or the Canvas image..
or both.
Masks
Image
Layer's Mask
-
Splotches left on Mask when pen is
lifted after editing with white and Brush's Opaque Round variant.
-
Airbrush's Digital Airbrush variant
won't work on an Image Layer's Mask.
- posted
9/9/01 -
The following message was sent
to the corel.graphic_apps.painter newsgroup on Sunday, September 9, 2001
at about 6:40 pm PST:
"C-Techs and Corel,
I know this has been mentioned before
but I'm reporting some specifics that I would like to have turned over
to Corel:
1. New white Canvas with one New
Layer.
2. Painted with Brush's Opaque Round
variant.
3. Edited Mask with white using same
brush. Although the area I painted with white was completely white, when
I lifted the pen, there was a faint brush-dab shaped splotch. I painted
that with white to remove it and, again, when I lifted the pen there was
a faint brush-dab shaped splotch.
4. Used Undo to get back to the beginning
of Mask editing so I could try the Airbrush's Digital Airbrush instead,
thinking that might work best (as it did in Painter 6).
5. Got an error message saying "Your
Water Color brush doesn't work because Wet Paint is not allowed on Mask
Layers." I was not, and had not been using either Water Color Layers or
Water Color brushes. Only the brushes mentioned above on a normal New Layer
(Image Layer).
7. I tried some of the other Airbrush
variants and they worked fine, except they were not the brushes I wanted
to use. Here are the ones I tried: Coarse Spray, Detail Airbrush, Fine
Spray, Fine Wheel Airbrush...
Corel can try the rest. The points
have been made:
Splotches left on Mask when pen is
lifted after editing with white and Brush's Opaque Round variant.
Airbrush's Digital Airbrush variant
won't work on an Image Layer's Mask.
Jinny Brown
http://www.pixelalley.com"
______________________
Liquid
Ink Layer's Visibility Mask Nonexistent
There is
no Visibility Mask for a Liquid Ink Layer.
Water
Color Layer's Visibility Mask
-
Using a Water Color brush to paint
the Mask brings up the followng error message: "Your Water Color
brush doesn't work because Wet Paint is not allowed on Mask Layers. "
-
Using a non-Water Color brush brings
up the following error message: "Only Water Color Brushes can be used on
Water Color Layers."
Scripts
Scripting
- PDF Download on Jeremy Sutton's Website (Also Painter Tips and Hints
- PDF Download). Both Came with Painter 4. - Download
from Jeremy Sutton's Site
An Excellent
Technical Note from Painter 4 that Explains Scripting Syntax and Another
for Painter Tips and Hints.
Thank
You, Jeremy!
.... to be continued ....
|