Brush Setting "Lighten only"?

New to the forum. Hope these questions haven't been discussed elsewhere.

Is there a "lighten only or darken only" option for brush strokes? I'm used to using this option on most any brush in PSD, but can't seem to find it in Painter v9.

Also, I find it troubling that, when painting on a layer, the strokes have a white halo. They do not blend as expected, with the canvas or other layers. I realize there is a mask channel, but any partially transparent pixels have a white tint, not what I want. Any suggestions?

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Originally Posted by rcraighead

New to the forum. Hope these questions haven't been discussed elsewhere.

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They have, everywhere, ad infinitem, but that's how it goes when people are new to Painter so don't feel bad. Just get used to the fact that Painter is not Photoshop so if you find similarities, that's gravy. Many things work differently in Painter than in Photoshop.

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Is there a "lighten only or darken only" option for brush strokes?

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No. There isn't.

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I'm used to using this option on most any brush in PSD, but can't seem to find it in Painter v9.

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If we want to make existing color lighter or darker, Painter has a Dodge brush variant and a Burn brush variant. They're found in the Photo brush category. In Painter IX.5, Painter X, and Painter X.1 the Dodge and Burn tools have been added to the Tools palette and the Dodge and Burn brush variants are also still found in the Photo brush category.

I don't think that's what you meant, though.

A color's value can be set in one or the other of two places:

• Colors palette Saturation/Value Triangle: Move the small circle up for a tint of the color (lighter) and down for a shade of the color (darker).
• Color Info palette: In the Color Info palette menu, choose Display as HSV, then adjust the V slider (Value slider) to make the color lighter or darker.

If we're painting on a white Canvas, color can be made to appear lighter by adjusting Opacity lower. In addition, Opacity Expression can be controlled with Pressure so Opacity can be varied within the brush stroke. (Brush Controls' General palette.)

With Opacity set to 100% when we paint on a white Canvas, the color won't be darker, unless we adjust the Value as described above.

If we paint on a Layer set to Gel or Multiply (the automatic Composite Method for brush variants that use Method Buildup, for Watercolor variants, and for Digital Watercolor variants), color painted on the Layer will be transparent, and darken underlying colors (not black or white).

After the fact (of painting color), Hue, Saturation, and Value can be adjusted using Effects > Tonal Contol > Adjust Colors.

Color can also be made to appear lighter when painted on a Layer above a white Canvas by adjusting the Layer Opacity lower.

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Also, I find it troubling that, when painting on a layer, the strokes have a white halo. They do not blend as expected, with the canvas or other layers. I realize there is a mask channel, but any partially transparent pixels have a white tint, not what I want. Any suggestions?

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Any brush variant that has blending and smearing characteristics is meant to be used on existing color and will have white around, or at the beginning or ending, of the brush stroke when painted on transparent areas of a Layer, unless:

• The Layer Composite Method is set to Gel or Multiply, or
• The Pick Up Underlying Colors box at the top left corner of the Layers palette is checked before we begin painting on the Layer, or
• We go to the Brush Controls Well palette before painting and adjust Resaturation to 100% and Bleed to 0%, or adjust these two controls on the Property Bar.

Take time to read Help Topics as often as possible as you'll find a lot of answers in those chapters. Again, Painter's brush controls are powerful and there's a lot to learn, so don't expect to get it all down pat in a short time. No one does.


Cheers!

Thanks for the reply. I should have introduced myself. I've been using Painter since v. 1 and am quite familiar with certain portions of the program.

I appreciate all the excellent tips shared here. I wonder if there is a "Painter Gallery" associated with this forum? I think it is helpful to see examples of other's work and compare solutions visually as well as verbally.

Hi,

Sorry, it was not evident you were a long time Painter user by reading your question. When in doubt, I figure the safest bet is to explain things as if the person asking questions is not familiar with the program.

I don't know of a Painter Gallery associated with this forum but there are many available to see on Painter user's websites and on the Corel Painter X website you can see work done by the Painter Masters.

Painter Masters' Gallery and Profiles

Also, on the Corel Painter the Official Magazine website, you can take a look at many Painter users' galleries:

Corel Painter the Official Magazine Galleries

Jin

No problem. I should have been more precise with my question…

Yes, "pick up underlying color" gives the desired affect, but at the expense of editability. If I decide to change the background color, the foreground layer brush strokes do NOT reflect the change. In PSD I can create a layer (w/ normal blend mode) containing brush strokes which seamlessly blend with the background (no white halo). If I change the background, vualá!, the blend remains seamless. For all the bells and whistles Painter has, it should be able to do this.

Obviously, Painter contains superior features to PSD for painting, so I'd like to know if I'm missing something here. I guess it's a feature request. :)

Anyone who wants to can send a feature request directly to the Corel Painter development team at:

painterteam@corel.com


Jin