Fading color with each opening

[GhostofMacbeth]

I am have some trouble with the color in Painter. I have had this problem before but not to this degree. Each time I use painter, open the file and use a few of the oil brushes the whole canvas gets less saturated and lighter. Now the piece is so muted it isn't even funny. Part of the problem might be because I am going between photoshop and painter but it does it even upon startup from a painter save I think. Any idea on how to fix it other than adjusting the levels in photoshop a lot? I know there is a color balance thing to calibrate the two programs better but this is beyond that I think. It also was a big pain from what I remember. Thanks

[Zaknafain]

You are using impasto variants.
go to canvas->surface lightning and uncheck the "Enable Impasto" option. (this is for painter IX don't know how it works in the old painter versions. I also don't know if it works on all created impastolayers or just on the new one.)

The best would be to not use impasto variants of the oil brushes when operating with 2 painting programs. Everytime you go to photoshop and then back to painter and use an oil brush, painter creates a new impasto layer.

To disable the impasto function, go to the brushcreator and set the "draw impasto to" option to color instead of depth

[GhostofMacbeth]

The problem is that I only seem to like the impasto brushes. Most of the other ones don't really suit my strokes as far as I can tell. I still haven't gotten a good oil brush using most of the other ones. Is there anyway to make it so that the lighting doesn't change with the impasto since I pretty much only use the oil brushes? If not I guess I will have to keep adjusting the dang thing ... Ugh.

[Jin]

Zaknafian,

I'm glad you brought up the possibility that Impasto lighting and depth may be the cause (or at least a partial cause) of image colors changing when the artist works on the same image in both Painter and Photoshop. I was about to mention that too.

Below, I'll explain some of the things you weren't sure of:


You are using impasto variants.
go to canvas->surface lightning and uncheck the "Enable Impasto" option. (this is for painter IX don't know how it works in the old painter versions.


The Canvas > Surface Lighting dialog box's (in Painter 6, the Impasto Lighting dialog box's) Enable Impasto checkbox is available in Painter 6, Painter 7, Painter 8, and Painter IX. In these versions, the Impasto icon in the upper right corner of the image window can also be used to toggle Impasto lighting and depth on and off.


I also don't know if it works on all created impastolayers or just on the new one.)


Both the Enable Impasto checkbox and the Impasto icon in the upper right corner of the image window, then toggled on and off, affect Impasto painting in the entire image, Canvas and Layers included. The same is true for all controls found in the Canvas > Surface Lighting (or in Painter 6 the Canvas > Impasto Lighting) dialog box. They affect all Impasto painting in the image, Canvas and Layers included.


The best would be to not use impasto variants of the oil brushes when operating with 2 painting programs. Everytime you go to photoshop and then back to painter and use an oil brush, painter creates a new impasto layer.

To disable the impasto function, go to the brushcreator and set the "draw impasto to" option to color instead of depth

It should be fine to work with brush variants that use Impasto depth and lighting when working in more than one program as long as you first save the file in RIFF format. Also you'll need to know, if you have problems seeing Impasto depth and lighting when the PSD file is opened in Photoshop, how to go back to Painter, open the RIFF file again, and disconnect any Impasto work from the Impasto lighting and depth effect while retaining the appearance of Impasto lighting and depth, before saving the file in PSD. I won't explain that process here, since it will vary depending on the particular image.

When an image containing Impasto work is saved in PSD format, closed, then opened again in Painter, there are also ways to avoid having new Impasto lighting and depth affect Impasto painting done before the file was saved in PSD format.

Back to color shifts:

Another factor to consider might be whether you save the Painter image in PSD format and check the CMYK radio button instead of leaving it in RGB.

Color profiles used in each program, yet another thing to consider!

Since I'm far from a color management expert, I hope someone who really is can add more useful information.


Jinny