Painter X- seperating lines from canvas?

**sci fi samurai** · 14 April 2010, 04:26 AM

Hey everyone, I'm having some trouble figuring something out with Painter and I'm hoping someone here can help.

I have a bit more experience with Photoshop, but recently I've been trying to beef up my experience with Painter. In Photoshop, there's a way you can separate the lines of your artwork from the background into 2 different layers. The white background would be the bottom layer, and the lines would be on the very top. In doing this, you can make many layers in between them and essentially paint 'in between' the lines and the background.

Does anyone know if there's a way to do this in Painter? I've been searching around online for an answer and have been unsuccessful. Using the help feature in Painter hasn't yielded me any results, either.

I'm thinking the only solution would be just to trace my drawing in a new layer above everything else, if all else fails.

Thanks!

**Jinny Brown** · 14 April 2010, 05:06 AM

Hi sci fi samurai!

There are a couple of methods that work for me and a lot of others use them too. Experiment with these methods to find the one that works best for the particular line work you'll be using:

Method One - The one I've seen Painter artists use for many years, but no longer my favorite of the two:

1. Use Select menu > All, then click inside the selection using the Layer Adjuster tool, to lift the Canvas imagery (line work) to Layer 1.

2. With Layer 1 highlighted in the Layers palette, at the top of the layers palette, left side where you see the word Default, choose Composite Method Gel from that drop down list. Now the Layer 1 white background is transparent and you can see through it to paint on other Layers below Layer 1.

Method Two - This is the one I most often use as it's quick and easy especially when my black line work doesn't need to be beefed up and, in more recent versions, Painter's selections seem to do a better job.

1. Open your black and white line work in Corel Painter. Make sure your black line work is strong enough. If not, use Effects > Tonal Control > Brightness/Contrast to adjust as needed. (Your line work may not need any adjustments prior to making the selection in Step 2.)

2. With Canvas highlighted in the Layers palette, use Select > Auto Select > Using: Image Luminance. Now the black line work is selected.

3. Create a new Layer. This is Layer 1.

4. With the selection still active, highlight Layer 1 in the Layers palette, choose Black as your Main Color, then fill the selection, with black. The originally white background is gone and you can see through the black line work to paint on other Layers below the line work Layer.

Jinny

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