pixelation

[AmadorL]

I am new to painter 7. I am giving it a try and for some reason the end results look to pixelated what am i doing wrong how do i know what size to make the canvas and make the the colors look smooth? Oh yeah i am using it with a Wacom intous 1 6x8.

thnxz
Amador
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[Jin]

Hi,

I usually work at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) so if I want to print the image it will have good visual quality.

File > New, enter the number of inches for Width and Height that you want to print, then in the Resolution field, type 300 (ppi).

If you haven't printed your image, you might do that to see if it's actually pixelated or if it's a display problem that some painter users have reported when they zoom out.

If you're working an image to be used on the Web, 72 ppi is OK for the final image. Still, I almost always work at 300 ppi, save the finished image in Painter's RIFF format, then use Canvas > Resize to change the Resolution to 72 ppi and save it as a High Quality JPG (or I do it in Fireworks where I can get a better result).

If you want to know what print size you'll get when your image dimensions are in pixels, and the Resolution is 300 ppi use this example (for instance):

2400 x 3000 pixels at 300 ppi = 8 x 10 inches at 300 ppi

because:

2400 pixels divided by 300 ppi = 8 inches (the width)

and...

3000 pixels divided by 300 ppi = 10 inches (the height)

Some brushes may look pixelated even at a higher ppi number. The Pens Flat Color variant's Subcategory is Flat Cover. Paint a black brush stroke, then change the Subcategory to Soft Cover and paint another brush stroke and compare them at 100% zoom.

When you post questions like this one, always indicate your Painter version, including patches/updates, which brush variants you used, what your image dimensions and Resolution (ppi) are, and any other details about the image and/or whatever else you were doing in Painter.

It's easier to answer when we know the specifics.


Hope this helps.

[AmadorL]

I will try this and let you know what i come up with. This seem to be exactly what i needed to understand about P7 ..thanks again and I will post a reply soon.

Amador
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[AmadorL]

So far everything you told me to do worked and it seems to be exactly what i was looking for. Now what I am having trouble with is creating and saving a custom color swatch. I figued out how to create a custom brush swatch but thats it. Can you give me a few pointers? Oh yeah I know that in some programs you can save settings so that, say you wanted to take those settings from work to home or from home to work and not have to redo you customization. Is this possible in Painter 7?

Thanks in advance
Amador
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[Jin]

Hi Amador,

You'll soon learn that I'm a nut about using the same terminology we see in Painter (as much as possible, that is), in order to make communication easier.

In Painter, what you refer to as "color swatch" is a Color Set (whether it contains one color or many colors).

Painter brush hierarchy:

Brush Library > Brush Category > Brush Variant

Individual Painter drawing and painting tools are Brush Variants.

One or more Brush Variants are saved in a Brush Category.

One or more Brush Categories are saved in a Brush Library.

Originally posted by AmadorL
So far everything you told me to do worked and it seems to be exactly what i was looking for. Now what I am having trouble with is creating and saving a custom color swatch.

Two tutorials at PixelAlley that should help:

"Using Color Sets"

http://www.pixelalley.com/tutorials/colorsets-pg1.html

"Creating Custom Color Sets"

http://www.pixelalley.com/tutorials/custom-color-set.html

I figued out how to create a custom brush swatch but thats it. Can you give me a few pointers?

Not sure what kind of pointers you want, since your question isn't specific. Learning about Painter's brushes is quite an undertaking, though it's so much fun it doesn't seem like work at all, after you get over the first hurdles. The possibilities are endless, so what each user wants to learn will differ depending on the kind of work they're doing.

I'll be covering the basics for Painter 7 brushes and a bit more in my Painter 7 Intro to Brushes - Brush Management class. It's designed go give the student a good foundation and consequently the freedom to learn more on their own, or with other users:

http://www.pixelalley.com/painter_classes_general/jins_painter_classes_updates.html

In the meantime, here is some reading you can do:

Painter 7 User Guide, Chapter 2 The Workspace, section named Libraries and Movers

Painter 7 User Guide, Chapter 4 Painting

Painter 7 User Guide, Chapter 8 Customizing Brushes

Painter 7 > Help > Tutorials > online tutorials > Create a brush library

Oh yeah I know that in some programs you can save settings so that, say you wanted to take those settings from work to home or from home to work and not have to redo you customization. Is this possible in Painter 7?

Thanks in advance
Amador

Basically, the answer is yes. The following "settings" come to mind:

Custom Brush Variants

Custom Brush Libraries and their custom Brush Categories, and custom Brush Variants

Custom Palettes (Exported/saved as individual files)

Settings saved in the Painter.set file (Windows) or Painter Settings (Mac) such as programmed Function Keys, Palette Layouts, Preferences, etc.

Custom Pattern, Paper, and other Art Materials Libraries

Custom Color Sets (text files)

All of the above will be covered in detail in my currently listed or future Painter classes.

Hope this helps a bit. :)