Drawing tool setup to replicate traditional look/feel?

[JEEP23]

Recently purchased a copy of painter IX and trying to get used to sketching in the computer vs tradionally inking and then scanning. Problem is, I can't seem to set my drawing tools up correctly (Namely the ballpoint pen and pencil). When drawing, my strokes comes out pixelated. Even when I adjust the resolution higher, still same effect. Can anyone offer any advice on setting up digital pens and pencils to more resemble the look and feel of traditional ones? Or perhaps confirm that digital is not there yet, and I will stick with traditional ink/scan for now.

Much thanks,

Jeepster

[Jin]

Hi Jeepster,

TIPS:

• In general, when your image is zoomed to some percent not divisible by 25 (i.e. 171%, 243%, etc.) your brushstrokes will look pixelated. Whenever this happens, zoom to 100% and see if that helps.

• Any brush variant that interacts with Paper texture may (but won't always) look somewhat "pixelated" as the brushstrokes pass over the Paper's surface. As some Papers are smoother than others, the effect will vary depending on the particular Paper you've selected and controls in the Papers palette (i.e. Scale, Contrast, Brightness).

• Two quick ways to learn if a brush variant will interact with the currently selected Paper texture (to one degree or another depending on the Grain slider setting and other brush control settings for that particular brush variant) are to:

a.) Go to the Brush Controls' General palette and check the Subcategory name. If it contains the word "Grainy" it will interact with the currently selected Paper texture.

b.) If you see the Grain percent box and slider on the Property Bar, the brush variant will interact with the currently selected Paper texture.

• When a brush variant does interact with Paper texture, the effect will be different depending on the entire Subcategory name. For instance, a brush variant for which the Subcategory name contains the words "Grainy Hard..." will have harder edged brushstrokes while a brush variant for which the Subcategory name contains the words "Grainy Soft..." will have softer, more anti-aliased edged brushstrokes. The same principle applies for Subcategory names "Flat Cover" (harder edges) and Soft Cover (softer edges).

Pencils Variant

Since you don't say which Pencils variant you're using, it's hard to suggest brush controls adjustments you might make. If you can tell us the brush variant name, maybe we can suggest some things to try.

Try these brush control adjustments for the Pens' Ball Point Pen 1.5:

• Choose the Pens' Ball Point Pen 1.5 and in the Brush Selector menu, choose Restore Default Variant.

• Make sure the Brush Controls palettes are open (Window > Brush Controls > General).

• Go to the Brush Controls' General palette and change the Subcategory from Grainy Hard Buildup to Grainy Soft Buildup. This will give the brushstroke softer, more anti-aliased edges.

• In its default state, the Pens' Ball Point Pen 1.5 is set to Opacity: 15% so you may want to increase the Opacity setting to make the brushstroke darker.

Let us know if this helps and, again, tell us which Pencils variant you're using.

Good luck! :)



Jinny