stopping blending

[mofogie]

hi guys, i got a question about blending.

so as long as you hold the brush down on hte pad, the color is constant, as the opacity, even if you go over the spot within the same stroke.

however if you paint on it again it saturates the spot even more, thereby changing the color value.

i want to know how to remove his option. The reason why is take for instance i painted a block of sky blue in one stroke. Then i noticed i missed a few spots, but sometimes when painting over those spots, i accidentally overlap the brush with the painted area, thus changing the tone of the painted area.

i tried playing with the pencil tool to see if it'd work like a pixel shader, but the pencil didnt imitate the same opacity as the brush.

so is there any way to tell photoshop, "just fill it in the color i want, dont blend and saturate more "?

[Datameister]

This explanation was a little unclear, but I know exactly what you're talking about. It annoys me, too. I don't know of any way to correct it directly, and here's why.

Let's say you have a pure red background. Your foreground color is a bright blue. You go in and paint with 50% opacity. Wherever you paint, the color will be purple--halfway between red and blue. If you paint over a purple area again, another 50%-opacity blue will be layered in, and the purple will get closer to blue, rather than staying that wonderful purple color.

So what can you do to fix this? Well, you can alt-click the purple area to sample its color and then paint that in. It's not as convenient as the solution you're looking, but it works. If anyone has a better workaround, I'd desperately like to hear it, too.

[Skrunchey]

I have discovered that this problem only occurs for me in older versions of Photoshop. My suggestion would be to put the color you want on a layer of its own..use the fill option at 100% opacity.. then you can adjust your layer opacity to the transparency you like and use the eraser to take out the areas where you don't want the color.
I hope this was helpful...

[Datameister]

That works, but it's a little cumbersome. Often, creating a new layer and adjusting the opacity of the layer is too time-consuming and awkward--it breaks up the creative flow.

I suppose the ultimate solution to this problem is: don't create those gaps that need filling in the first place. :wink:

[Snarfevs]

Oh yes this annoys the hell out of me as a mouse painter - I wish adobe could integrate some kind 'resume stroke' key. I deal with it if necessary by drawing several strokes and then blending out the overlap with smudge tool, or putting another layer at reduced opacity with the desired blending mode on top.

[madster]

Or simply learn to select the color you want for the sky and paint at full opacity, or if your sky is a large portion of your work, do a bucket fill on a separate layer, and THEN paint the rest of your image on another layer...

The "reduced opacity" layering effect is a waste of energy on anything more than detail work. If your brush spacing is anything greater than about 4%, the "spots" of the stroke are horribly visible, unless you blend the by blurring. Color changes show, line and shape edges are often too blurry and indistinct, and the overall workmanship looks somewhat sloppy most often.

If you must use reduced opacity to paint, learn to use the Airbrush tool, rather than the Brush tool. Blending is easier, problems like you describe are much easier to rectify, and the overall effect is much cleaner in the end.

~M

[Datameister]

Or simply learn to select the color you want for the sky and paint at full opacity, or if your sky is a large portion of your work, do a bucket fill on a separate layer, and THEN paint the rest of your image on another layer...

You're right. That's the ultimate solution, really. Usually, picking the right colors and painting the base colors at full opacity will take care of the problem. It still pops up from time to time, though.

The "reduced opacity" layering effect is a waste of energy on anything more than detail work. If your brush spacing is anything greater than about 4%, the "spots" of the stroke are horribly visible, unless you blend the by blurring. Color changes show, line and shape edges are often too blurry and indistinct, and the overall workmanship looks somewhat sloppy most often.


Now, if I understand what you're saying correctly, I disagree here. Working with a low opacity or flow is a very effective way to achieve certain appearances. Some pieces demand a bolder approach--you pick the colors, lay them down at full opacity, and then blend and texture--but others require a more subtle method. I personally like working with very low Flow values (on the Brush tool), with my tablet's pressure sensitivity set to affect the Flow. This allows me to achieve complex blends that are otherwise more difficult to create.

If you must use reduced opacity to paint, learn to use the Airbrush tool, rather than the Brush tool. Blending is easier, problems like you describe are much easier to rectify, and the overall effect is much cleaner in the end.

The only difference between the two tools is that the Airbrush continues to spray color even if the brush isn't moving. This is certainly helpful at times, but it doesn't have that much impact on the kind of problem mofogie is talking about. Setting your tablet's pressure sensitivity to affect Flow or Opacity allows you to do the same things, but with greater control.

You're right; the best way to remedy this problem is to simply paint the base colors at full opacity.

[Snarfevs]

Setting your tablet's pressure sensitivity to affect Flow or Opacity allows you to do the same things, but with greater control.

The problem arises when you don't have a tablet. I think that's the assumption being made here - certaintly there is a lot more control over opacity when you can couple it to pressure sensitivity. Unfortunately mouse painting, especially of detail, relies on the repeated application of low opacity strokes and possible blending/smudging to achieve a painterly effect.


Or simply learn to select the color you want for the sky and paint at full opacity, or if your sky is a large portion of your work, do a bucket fill on a separate layer, and THEN paint the rest of your image on another layer...

That's often a given - I can only speak with any authority for myself but I know many people layer split their images considerably. The issue here is with being unable to complete long strokes at constant opacity (for instance, with a mouse) without ones' arm falling off. As such inelegant workarounds must be made. In some cases I have even gone so far as to paint base detail, shadows, highlights and speculars on separate levels so i can work at them with blending tools without disrupting other areas (though I definitely try to avoid that and am certainly working towards a freer style)

[Datameister]

My revised "best solution": buy a tablet. :tihi:

Seriously, there is NO comparison between mouse-painting and tablet-painting. You won't regret buying a tablet.

[dindon]

If you paint someting at X opacity, do something else, and want to go back and paint around that area again without that opacity-laying problem, just sample the color you want and paint it at 100% opacity.

[Snarfevs]

My revised "best solution": buy a tablet. :tihi:

Oh I will, as soon as I start my new job after the semester ends. Taking weeks to do pics is no way to live.

[Datameister]

If you paint someting at X opacity, do something else, and want to go back and paint around that area again without that opacity-laying problem, just sample the color you want and paint it at 100% opacity.

In most cases, this will work just fine.

[madster]

There are some other options to buying a tablet, although I do not know of the effectiveness of any except my basic, which is using a trackball (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/US/EN,CRID=2150,CONTENTID=5006) type of mouse that moves the cursor with the fingers, rather than the entire arm.
Some other options available to you are:
Joystick to Mouse Program (http://www.imgpresents.com/joy2mse/j2m.htm) - which allows any joystick to point and click, with 32 functions that can be assigned to your joystick buttons.
The "Quill Mouse," (http://www.ergo-items.com/quillMouse.htm) which looks to me like the next generation of trackball-type mouse.
The Smart Cat (http://www.ergo-items.com/smart_cat_touchpad.htm), a touch pad. I used the original version of this with Win98 until I could afford my first wacom. You draw with your fingertip...I wore the texture smooth on mine. Loved it.
~M