problem transforming Shapes

Hi -

I've been using Painter for quite awhile but have encountered a serious problem since upgrading to Painter X. When I try to transform a Shape by dragging its selection rectangle with the Layer Adjuster tool it doesn't work as expected. Instead of smoothly transforming as I drag, the Shape leaps: disappearing the moment I click the mouse to drag, and instantly reappearing -- already drastically stretched -- elsewhere on the canvas.

At this point, with the mouse button still held down, the Shape will respond to mouse movement by transforming smoothly -- but this doesn't really help as the Shape is usually partially off-screen after the leap and the mouse pointer is so far from the adjustment rectangle that I run out of mousepad before dragging far enough.

This "leap" happens regardless of where I click the adjustment rectangle and whether holding the Shift key or not. It happens to all Shapes I attempt to transform, whether made with the Oval, Rectangle, Pen, or Quick Curve tools, or imported from Illustrator.

However, I can adjust Layers using Free Transform, which I mention because it involves clicking and dragging an adjustment rectangle with the Layer Adjuster in just the same way. Also, I can successfully edit individual points of a Shape using the Shape Selection Tool -- so it's not like all attempts to edit Bezier shapes are affected: only overall transforms.

I've tried searching for other mentions of this problem without finding anything. Has anyone else encountered anything like this? Any ideas?

- Dave

Hi Dave,

I'm using Painter X.1 in WinXP Home SP2, and when I create a Shape using the Pen tool, have the Shape highlighted in the Layers palette, and use Effects > Orientation, the Free Transform and Set Transform commands are greyed out.

The only commands available to use are:

• Rotate
• Scale
• Distort
• Flip Horizontal
• Flip Vertical

When I choose either Scale or Distort, and drag one of the corner bounding box handles, it works as expected.

Using the Scale option, we can scale the Shape manually by using the bounding box handles or we can, in the dialog box, set the Horizontal Scale or Vertical Scale (or both) by typing the numbers into the appropriate fields and we can (before setting the Horizontal and Vertical Scale) choose to uncheck the Constrain Aspect Ratio and Preserve Center boxes or leave them checked (the default).

Are you using Painter X.1 or Painter X? If you haven't installed the Painter X.1 Update, you might want to do that and see if it helps.


Good luck!


Jin

Thanks for the response, Jin.

Also using XP SP2 here, and X.1 (the problem occurred both before and after the patch).

You're right about Free Transform not being available when working with Shapes. Sorry if my post was confusing on that point. I have not been attempting to use Free Transform to adjust shapes. :) I only mentioned Free Transform above because its use is identical to the way one transforms a Shape: i.e. using the Layer Adjuster tool to click and drag an adjustment rectangle to resize the object. I thought it interesting that this works for bitmapped layers with Free Transform, but produces this strange "leaping" behavior when using the adjustment rectangle around a Bezier shape.

Because you mentioned it I gave it a try, but it shouldn't be necessary to use Orientation effects to transform a shape -- because when a shape is highlighted in the Layers Palette an adjustment rectangle appears around the shape automatically and should be directly transformable with the Layer Adjustment Tool. Are you able to directly transform a shape in this manner, or do you always use an Orientation effect?

Anyway, I do find both Scale and Distort transform the shape smoothly. Unfortunately, until the OK button is clicked to commit the effect, only the bounding box is redrawn, so I can't see the shape being transformed as I'm dragging it. Is it the same for you, or does the shape redraw as you're resizing it?

Thanks again for your suggestions.

-Dave

Hi,

I'm able to increase or decrease the Shape's size, rotate, or skew a Shape using the Layer Adjuster tool without any problems.

Increase or decrease overall size: Click and drag a corner bounding box handle.

Increase or decrease height: Click and drag the top center or bottom center bounding box handle.

Increase or decrease width: Click and drag either of the two side center bounding box handles.

Rotate: Hold down the Ctrl/Command key, hold your cursor over a corner bounding box handle until it changes to a circular sweep arrow, then click and drag.

Skew: Hold down the Ctrl/Command key, hold your cursor over any of the center (top, bottom, or side) bounding box handles until it changes to a line with a double-ended diagonal arrow, then click and drag.


If you still can't make this work, I'd strongly suggest sending a detailed report, along with example images if possible, and including your OS version and system specs directly to the Corel Painter development team at:

painterteam@corel.com

Be sure to give them enough information so they'll have a good chance of reproducing the problem, tracking down the cause, and finding a fix.


Good luck!


Jin

Yep, that's just the way I've been transforming shapes in the decade+ I've been using Painter. Now I find it doesn't work for me in Painter X, but works fine in older versions running on the same computer. Odd.

I've already got a message in to Corel Support. If I don't get a solution from them I'll contact the Painter team as you suggest. Thanks again for your help.

-Dave

Hi Dave,

I'd do both as Corel Tech Support doesn't seem to know what's up half the time.

Good luck in any case, and please let us know how it turns out.


Jin

EUREKA! Corel Tech Support came through with a solution:

Quote:

---

Try resetting the workspace in Corel Painter X. Corrupt workspaces may lead to problems with the operability of the application and in some circumstances can prevent the application from launching.

*** Please note that your customized user settings will be lost as a result of resetting the Corel Painter X workspace. Custom settings should be backed up prior to resetting to factory defaults.

To reset your user settings to the factory default, hold down the Shift key while starting the application. A prompt will appear asking you to confirm that you want to restore the default settings. Click Yes.

---

Frankly I didn't hold out much hope of this working. Due to this "leaping shapes" problem I've continued working with my old version of Painter and so have yet to customize any settings in Painter X. I think I had specified a color set in Preferences, and maybe dragged around a few palettes. How could I have corrupted the workspace? I don't know, but resetting factory defaults did the trick. :D

Thanks again, Jinny, for the helpful responses.

-Dave

Hi Dave,

I'm happy for Corel Tech Support and happy for you that they came through with a solution.

Thanks for letting us know, and what the solution was.

It's an easy one, especially if the artist hasn't done much customizing and doesn't need to back custom items up then retore them.


Cheers!


Jin

Hi Dave,

I just finished experiencing the same leaping shape problem. After reading your comments I reset my workspace and a couple of hours later the same problem reappeared. During those couple of hours I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. I work in Corel Painter about 8 hours a day (for over 6 years) creating children's books, so its not like I'm new to the program. Did your problem reappear? Have you found a workaround? I sent an email to Corel and I'm still waiting for a reply.

Mike

I have this same problem, and it's very annoying.

After much frustration I have found that the problem disappears when I close the Info window. Quite absurd! So while closing the window solves the problem it also means that I can't resize with any precision.

Well I'll be darned! Thanks for the info Mats! I never would have thought of that.... not the most convenient way to work (opening and closing the Info box) but faster than using Effects>Orientation>Scale I would think.

I just received a reply from Corel about this. They told me to install the newest patch (even though this problem isn't listed in their technical issues that were addressed with the patch) and if that doesn't work then reinstall the software.

By now I'm used to having to deal with one abnormality per Painter release. Version 9 was having the program periodically crash when using selections.

Like every relationship, it requires a certain amount of sacrifice. :)

Mike

Hi guys,

I've just verified the Info palette open/Shapes leaping bug and sent a report off to the Corel Painter development team at painterteam@corel.com with a link to this thread.

Thanks for discovering the open Info palette is the culprit (poor thing).


Happy Thanksgiving!


Jin

Thanks for informing the Corel team, Jin. Thanksgiving was over a month ago for us Canadians... but you enjoy yours!

Mike

Thanks for the good wishes, Mike.

Unfortunately, my e-mail didn't go through. I'll have to contact Corel on Monday to find out why... or maybe my web hosting company/e-mail provider. Someone must know. ;)

Cheers!