Tag Archives: Corel Painter 2015

How to Recover Your Custom Data After a Painter Crash

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

OK, Painter crashed and no matter what I did, I could not open it again.  To start Painter I had to either use a Shift-Start or uninstall and re-install, which meant I would lose all of my custom brushes, papers, flow maps, etc.  Sound familiar; I hope not.  But, I know that some of my readers have experienced this same horror.  Well, all is not lost.  Follow along as I show you how I recovered my custom files.

The first thing to do after a crash is to try to open Painter again.  If that doesn’t work, then try rebooting your computer and then open Painter.  If that doesn’t work, then try uninstalling Painter, but when you start the process you will get the option to either repair or remove Painter.  Do not remove it, but do try a repair.  Hopefully, one of the above steps will allow you to open Painter again, but if it doesn’t, then follow what I did.

For a PC first copy and save your workspace information to your documents.  In a PC, go to Desktop > User System Folder (usually your name) > AppData > Roaming > Corel > Painter 2015 (or X3, or 12.2) > Your Workspace name…or default if you haven’t made a workspace.  Once you get to your workspace, copy the information and paste it to a new folder in your documents or somewhere you can find it again.  Do not copy it in the Painter user area.

If you are on a Mac, then go to your Finder Menu and select Go > Go To Folder and in the box that opens type: ~/Library and hit Go.  Now in the finder select Application Support > Corel > Painter 2015 > Your Workspace name…or default if you haven’t made a workspace.  Once you get to your workspace, copy the information and paste it to a new folder in your documents or somewhere you can find it again.  Do not copy it in the Painter user area.

Watch the following video about saving your workspace.

Now that I saved the workspace, I can open Painter using a Shift – Start or uninstalling and re-installing.  What is a Shift – Start.  It is a very neat way to open painter with a corrupted workspace or something that blocks Painter from opening.  Hold down the shift key and start Painter normally, but don’t let up on the shift key.  A window will open that asks if you want to set Painter back to factory defaults.  At this point, release your shift key and select all workspaces and hit the enter key.  At this point, Painter deletes all custom files.  That is why it is important to copy your workspace files before a Shift – Start.  The same is true if you uninstall and re-install Painter.

Once Painter is operating again, I want to import my saved workspace into Painter, but I have to prepare it for import.  I do this by selecting the contents of the saved workspace folder and zipping them.  Then I change the name to the name I want to use for my workspace, and this is very important, I changed the extension .zip to .pws.  Changing the extension prompts the OS to give me a warning that changing the extension can corrupt the file.  I ignore the warning and proceed with the changes.  Now the file is ready for import.

I opened Painter and went to Window > Workspace > Import Workspace > and navigated to my zipped file, selected it, and hit open.  If my workspace isn’t corrupted, it will open in Painter.  My experience is about 50/50; meaning that about 50% of the time this will work, but 50% of the time my workspace still crashes Painter.

The following video shows you how to prepare your workspace for import:

All is still not lost.  I can import my custom files individually from my saved workspace to Painter.  I started with brushes.  In my saved workspace folder, there are a series of folders and some files.  The first folder is Brushes.  I opened that folder and found another series of folders.  Each one of these folders represent a Painter brush library.  Three of them are the default brush libraries that came with Painter, Painter Brushes, Painter 13 brushes, and Painter 14 brushes.  Don’t let the name Painter 14 brushes confuse you; that is the name of the Painter 2015 brush library.  It is possible, if you have never created a Painter brush library, these three libraries will be all that you have.  You do not want to import these libraries again.  More on that later.

If you do have more than the three default libraries, you do want to import each library into Painter.  To do that, I opened the brush library folder and selected the contents of the folder and zipped it.  Again, I changed the name to the name I want to use for the library.  This time I changed .zip to .brushlibrary.  To import into Painter, I go to Brushes > Import > Brush Library and select my newly created file for import.  I do this for each library.

But, I also have some custom categories in my default brush library.  Most of you will, too.  It is not a good idea to import the default libraries into Painter, but you can import each category.  To import a category, I open the Brush library folder.  In the folder, there are another group of folders plus .jpgs with the same name.  I want to select one of the custom folders and select its companion .jpg.  I zip those two items and change the name to the name of the brush category and the .zip to .brushcategory.  Before import, I make sure I am in the library I want the category placed.  Then I go to Brushes > Import > Category and select my newly made brush category for import.

The video version for import follows:

But what about my custom papers, flow maps, patterns, etc. I can hear you saying.  Don’t worry, that is what I do next.  Back in the corrupted workspace, notice the folders called papers, flow maps, patterns, looks, gradients, weaves and so forth.  Those contain your media libraries.  To prepare them for import, I followed the same method used for preparing brush libraries.  For papers, I opened the paper folder and each folder therein represents a paper library.    I opened one of the paper library folders and selected the entire contents, zipped it, and then changed its name to reflect the name of the paper library.  I also changed .zip to .paperlibrary.  I did this for each paper library folder contained in the paper folder.  Next, I opened Painter and opened my Paper Library Panel and selected the fly out menu in the upper right corner and picked import paper library.  I navigated to my newly made paper library files and selected one to import.  I did this for each paper library.

I used the same technique for flow maps, patterns, and the rest of the media libraries, but each extension is different for each type of library.  To find the extension needed, I went to each type of library, for example, I opened the flow map library.  I clicked on the fly out menu or option button in the upper right corner.  From the list, I pick import library.  A window opens and in the lower left corner above Open and Cancel is a drop down menu.  If I hover my cursor over this menu, I will see the extension necessary to import the file.  In this case I would change .zip to .flowmaplibrary.  Come on…it isn’t that complex.  Watch the next video to see how to do it.

Import Custom Media files in this video:

So, what’s left?  Color sets, mixer pads, arranged palettes, and even custom palettes can be recovered.  Actually, these are easier to do, but there are a couple of tricks.  It is easier to explain in the following video.

Importing Color set, etc.:

That’s it.  Yes, I know it is a lot of stuff, but is way easier than rebuilding all your custom files from scratch.  In my case, if I lose a brush that hasn’t been exported, it is next to impossible to recreate that brush from memory.  However, if you are just using a custom brush set made by me or someone else, it is easier to just import the set again.

But even easier that importing the set again, it is best if you export the workspace monthly, weekly or even daily.  Let’s talk prevention.  A workspace has all the custom information…everything.  Painter offers the ability to export workspaces.  There is one warning.  It is static, meaning that the information is current to the date of export.  If you add more custom stuff, unless you export your workspace again, that new stuff will be lost.  I try to export my workspace weekly and if I am making a bunch of stuff, I will do it daily.  Then if Painter crashes, I can just import my exported workspace and be back in business quickly.  It is always good to export custom stuff individually, too.  You can export custom palettes, brush categories, brush libraries, brushes, paper libraries, etc.  But, for me, I find exporting my workspace routinely works well, and I don’t export custom files individually.

The next video tells you how to export a workspace:

That’s all folks.  I hope you never have a Painter crash and lose your custom stuff, but if you do, these procedures work well for me.  One last warning.  Every computer is different and your results may not be the same as mine.  I cannot guarantee everything will work the same for you.  Proceed with caution.

Enjoy,

Skip

Working with a Very Wet Watercolor Variant in Corel Painter 2015

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

I am still tweaking my new watercolor variants, but I decided that I would share a few brushes with you and even a couple of watercolor papers.  One of the brushes, Skip’s Real Water, actually flows almost like traditional watercolor, but unfortunately, it does require a lot of computer power to render in a timely fashion.  I will explain more later in the Tutorials at the end of the post.

As you know Corel Painter Master Elite, Karen Bonaker‘s class about Contemporary Japanese Ink Painting is underway at the Digital Art Academy.  I have followed the class and have enjoyed seeing everyone’s work and creating a few pieces myself.  I used my new brushes to create these pieces.

In the first example from the class, I made the chops in the upper right corner.  I downloaded the calligraphy from one of the sites that will translate your name.  I hope it is my name; I really don’t know.  The square chop has my name placed in the four corners, but you cannot read it…sigh.  Karen gives us a few pointers in the class and I made better chops later.

Lonely Pine, Corel Painter 2015 Watercolor, Skip Allen

Lonely Pine, Corel Painter 2015 Watercolor, Skip Allen

My second image continued with the same theme.

Life, Watercolor in Corel Painter 2015, Skip Allen

Life, Watercolor in Corel Painter 2015, Skip Allen

The chops were my two again, but I added some chops provided by Karen that mean Yin Yang, Hope, and Learn from Nature.

Next, I tried my hand at creating a new chop.  I do not believe I created one that is intensely personal or spiritual; I need to try again.  Here are my two attempts.

Watercolor in Sumi-e style with my chop, Corel Painter 2015, Skip Allen

Watercolor in Sumi-e style with my chop, Corel Painter 2015, Skip Allen

I like the soft feel of this painting, and the linear quality is very important to me.  I made pots for nearly 3 decades and my surface decorations were always linear.  The chop is also linear.  I do have my name in English running up the right side.  The S is at the bottom and the P is at the top.  It is kind of strange, right?  The second chop is identical, but I used my name in calligraphy.

Strong Bamboo, Watercolor in Corel Painter 2015 with my chop, Skip Allen

Strong Bamboo, Watercolor in Corel Painter 2015 with my chop, Skip Allen

THE TUTORIALS:

OK, would you like to see how I did the above images?  I hope so.  In this first video, I mainly talk about the brushes used and paper and flow maps play an important part.  Actually, the brushes are useless without proper manipulations of the paper and flow maps.  The Expressions settings are also very important.  For instance, I may use Pressure or Velocity as an Expression.  If I do, then you need to have your brush tracking or brush calibration set properly for your hand.  Otherwise, you will not get the same look and feel that I get.  Also, I use a Wacom Art Pen almost exclusively.  The Art Pen allows barrel rotation, meaning you can rotate the pen in your fingers and get the same look and feel of a traditional flat brush.  If you are using a Grip Pen, then the brush will remain rigid…it will not twirl as you see mine do.  For more information go to Art Pens.

Video 1: Tips and Tricks, Corel Painter 2015, Wet Watercolor

After the first video, I decided to paint a piece similar to the ones done in class and capture the experience for you.  It wasn’t that easy.  Some tutorials are easy, and then others are full of challenges.  I actually made two complete sets of tutorials.  I had so much difficulty with the first set that I remade the videos.  There is a lot of stuff in the first set that might be useful, so I may post it anyway.  I haven’t decided, yet.

OK…here is the painting that I created in the tutorials.

Isolation, Watercolor in Corel Painter 2015, Skip Allen

Isolation, Watercolor in Corel Painter 2015, Skip Allen

Before I actually start painting, I usually create a paper layer.  I like seeing the paper texture; it makes me think I am actually painting on paper.  Check out how I do it in this video.

After I created the paper texture, I started the painting.  Using three layers, I painted the sky and mountains.

In the next video, I added another mountain and the isolated tree.  Establishing the focal point was crucial.  I did this as someone from the West.  The Asian focal point is very different, I believe.

In the last video, I place a texture over the image.  The texture came from Media Militia.  This is an incredible free resource of textures.  On their website they state: “All of our resources are free for personal and commercial use. We put a lot of time and energy into creating them. If you found something useful, help us out by making a donation. Even a donation of a buck helps pay for the crazy bandwidth costs. Thank you!”  If you do go to their site and download materials, do donate.  The service offered is well worth a donation and it is so helpful to get them.  I seldom get donations, but when I do, it’s delightful.  It is so rewarding and inspires me to produce more.  Plus, it helps with expenses.  When you donate to Media Militia, think about donating here, too.

That was the last video.  I give the brushes, papers, and flow maps used, except those from Tim Shelbourne, in the following link.

PLEASE NOTE: I made the tools (brushes, flow maps, and papers) in Corel Painter 2015, and they are not compatible with other versions.  Do not install in earlier versions.  If I get many requests for an earlier version set , I’ll produce and post it.

Get the tools here:

Wet Water Demo Category

Wet Water Demo Flow Maps

Wet Water Demo Papers

I have decided not to post the other videos.  I may change my mind later, but the image was pretty awful.  In a week or two, I’ll check them again and see if the information is valid and would be helpful to you.  If so, I’ll post them

Enjoy,

Skip

 

 

 

 

 

Painter 2015 – Hot Fix 1 Released for PC Users…This Is NOT For Mac Users.

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Friends,

If you are working in Windows on a PC, then Corel Painter has released a hot fix that corrects the problem with NET Framework 4.5.2.  Again, if you are using a Mac, this fix isn’t necessary and you should ignore this post.

PC users should have gotten an automatic notification that the fix has downloaded and requests installation.  If you didn’t, then go to Patches and Updates and download the Painter 2015 – Hot Fix.  Save it on your computer and then double-click the saved file to install it.

Enjoy,

Skip

More Watercolor in Corel Painter 2015

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hey Friends,

One more post for today.  I actually posted this image in FB, which is the opposite of what I normally do.  I wasn’t going to post it on the blog, but then I realized a whole bunch of folks wouldn’t see the image.  At first I wasn’t so happy with the image, but over the last day I realized that I do like it.

I am making new brushes, which I am excited about…although, today I pretty much scrapped them all and have redone them.  I’m really happy about some of the techniques that are developing.  It all started with the black ink washes I posted in December.  But now I am working in full color and I like the wash effects and I love the granulation.  I will probably need to tone down the granulation a bit, but I always go overboard when I start something.  🙂

OK…so here is the image.  I hope you enjoy it.

Hibiscus, Watercolor done in Corel Painter 2015

Hibiscus, Watercolor done in Corel Painter 2015

More later,

Skip

Stuff I’ve been doing lately…inky wash landscapes and other stuff

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hey Friends,

Normally I post information about stuff Corel Painter or Wacom Tablet related, as well as tutorials on how to do stuff.  Well, today, I thought you might be interested in seeing what leads up to a post about how to do stuff.  Confused?  Me too.

I am saying that before a post, I have to do a lot of paintings.  Some are successful and others not so successful; it is all part of the process.  During this preliminary painting, I am making brushes and tweaking the process.  If you have followed the blog, then you know I love Asian style paintings, especially Chinese brush work and Japanese Sumi-e.  I’ve never been trained in either, just read a few books, watched a lot of You Tube tutorials, and practiced myself.

I have to admit that I love the practice.  I find it relaxing.  But, I’m sure working digitally is vastly different in feeling from working traditionally.  And please, I don’t want to get into a discussion on the pros and cons of working traditionally versus digitally.  For me, they are two different media and really are not comparable.  Both are equally valid and creative.  I do find it interesting that I cannot find folks working in this style digitally.

Recently I discovered the work of Gao Xingjian, who according to Wikipedia “is a Chinese émigré novelist, playwright, and critic who in 2000 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature “for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity.”  I do not know anything about his writing; I discovered his traditional visual art.  Do take a look at Gao Xingjian on Artnet or google the images of Gao Xingjian.

I cannot describe his work, or at least, I cannot describe his work in a way that does it justice.  It is contemplative, and that is what I do when looking at his work.  I sit quietly with my thoughts and enjoy.

With the work of Gao Xingjian as my inspiration, I tried my hand at digital ink or watercolor washes.  The first image isn’t like his work at all; I was just trying out a few brushes and looking at the way the media flowed.  I was using some of my custom brushes.  I already knew how they behave when working in my normal manner, but now I am looking for a different look and feel from the same brushes.  I am not sure that makes sense.  In one case, I am looking at how the paint flows and blends together smoothly, but in another painting I am looking for the flow to crash into paint already applied and disrupt it, not blend with it.  The action is at first accidental, but with practice is controllable.

The first image isn’t complete…it is a simple sketch that was never meant to be seen, but I am going to show it.  I may regret this, but here goes.

Quick sketch testing brushes in Corel Painter 2015. I called it the Stalk.

Quick sketch testing brushes in Corel Painter 2015. I called it the Stalk.

I liked the grainy quality of the variant and the way the paper affects its flow.  Stylistically, I was not showing much influence by Gao Xingjian.  I tried again, but I turned my paper horizontally.  I went wild.  I tried multiple brushes, I splashed, I scratched, I played, and I got this.

Abstract Horizontal Landscape, Corel Painter 2015

Abstract Horizontal Landscape, Corel Painter 2015

I loved areas of the image, but it disappointed overall.  It seemed scattered and too busy.  My next attempt was very different.  I changed my paper to one of my suminagashi papers that I used in the post Corel Painter X3 SP1, New Flower Brushes…Loads of Fun.  The landscape that unfolded surprised me, and I wish I had left it alone, but I didn’t.  I decided to add a tree and a bit of grass, which I do not think works.

Horizontal Landscape 2, Corel Painter 2015

Horizontal Landscape 2, Corel Painter 2015

Horizontal Landscape 3 started out nicely.  I liked the mountain landscape, which I made with 2 strokes, but alas…it seemed too simple and I had to add the bamboo, which did not help.  I added a signature chop and supposedly my name.  The chop I designed and for my name, I found a web site that would create the calligraphy.  At this point, I must tell you, that these paintings represent the paintings that I saved, there were many more deleted attempts.

Horizontal Landscape 3, Corel Painter 2015

Horizontal Landscape 3, Corel Painter 2015

In the next attempt, I did not add anything and left the first wash alone.  I allowed the paint to flow into different paper textures and I used wetter brushes to disrupt areas.  I thought Hanging Landscape represented my first success.

Hanging Landscape, Corel Painter 2015

Hanging Landscape, Corel Painter 2015

I took another look at Gao Xingjian’s work and compared it to mine.  That was a laugh.  I had none of the power, emotions, or strength showing in his work.  But, I had to let that go.  I just needed to plug along…after all, his work was my inspiration, I wasn’t trying to copy him.  I hoped I would develop something of my own from this exercise.  I decided to go back to the vertical format and work with the concept of a tree from the beginning.  I had added trees as an after thought instead of making them part of the original idea of the painting.  I did two quick attempts with trees as the original idea.

Tall Dark Tree, Corel Painter 2015

Tall Dark Tree, Corel Painter 2015

I liked the background of Tall Dark Tree, but the tree, itself, seemed too much.  I tried again, but I kept the tree small.

Tall Pine with Mountain Hint, Corel Painter 2015

Tall Pine with Mountain Hint, Corel Painter 2015

I wasn’t pleased with the overall composition of Tall Pine with Mountain Hint, but I was getting stoked by the watercolor effects.  I especially liked the area at the base of the trees that is running.  That is pretty cool and an amazing testament of the power of Painter’s watercolor.  I also loved the distant mountains.  I decided to go back to a horizontal format and play a bit with the watercolor functions and a cityscape emerged.

The City, Corel Painter 2015

The City, Corel Painter 2015

I do like the watercolor effects, but overall I thought this painting was a step backward.  Going backward isn’t always a bad thing.  I’m not sure what I was thinking, if anything, when I did the next piece, Landscape House. I wasn’t thinking about a house.  I liked the landscape, but the few lines indicating a house or structure were an afterthought.  I don’t know, but the afterthought seemed to work better this time.  Karen Bonaker had sent me some paper textures, and I place one on Landscape House.  I do like the way the paper looks.

Landscape House, Corel Painter 2015

Landscape House, Corel Painter 2015

For me, something seemed to click with this Landscape House.  But…then I had another step backward.  In the next image, I tried to repeat some of the bold brush work, but again, I added a lonely tree and bush, which didn’t work.  Will I ever learn?

Horizontal Landscape 4, Corel Painter 2015

Horizontal Landscape 4, Corel Painter 2015

OK…so I am thinking I need  simple, bold brush work and very little added details.  I actually liked the next attempt.

Mountain Trees, Corel Painter 2015

Mountain Trees, Corel Painter 2015

I am beginning to think I am heading in the right direction.  I had a lot of help getting there.  I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you that I am taking Tim Shelbourne’s Winter School, which is fabulous BTW.  Anyway, I decided to post some of this work at the school, which was very hard for me to do.  I am always nervous to post…even here on my blog.  But, the students at the school were so encouraging and helpful.  They told me what they saw in the work and pushed me forward.  I started feeling more confident, which is always a plus.   Unfortunately, the next image seemed a little forced to me…not very spontaneous.

Mountain Trees 2, Corel Painter 2015

Mountain Trees 2, Corel Painter 2015

Mountain Trees 2 has some nice parts, but I think I was trying to hard with the main trees.  So next, I just splashed paint and didn’t try to make a landscape at all.  For fun, I threw in a splash of color.  I do not know why I like this image, but I do.  I intended to do more with it…but for some reason I just stopped…probably because I didn’t know what else to do with the image, which is always a good indicator that it is time to stop.

Abstract Landscape, Corel Painter 2015

Abstract Landscape, Corel Painter 2015

When I introduced color to Abstract Landscape, it was like a breath of fresh air.  I decided I needed a color break…and did a digital wet watercolor I call The Wet Arrangement.

The Wet Arrangement, Corel Painter 2015

The Wet Arrangement, Corel Painter 2015

It is definitely a riot of color and I do like the painting very much.  It is funny, but my favorite parts are the three places where the image leaves the picture frame.  The two flowers and leaf were fairly representational, but I thought they needed to be less so.  Using a very wet brush, just like adding water to a traditional watercolor painting, I brushed the flowers and leaf causing them to disperse.  I love watching that happen in Corel Painter 2015.

I think I needed the color break because the next two landscapes pleased me.  I saw a direction; I saw me influenced by Gao Xingjian, but remaining me.

The Lonely Hill, Corel Painter 2015

The Lonely Hill, Corel Painter 2015

The color break brought the touch of a warm color to The Lonely Hill.  I liked that very much.  I continued with the same concept in the next vertical piece.

Forest Peaks, Corel Painter 2015

Forest Peaks, Corel Painter 2015

The green might be a little much especially in the signature.  I still like this piece very much.  Yesterday, I went back to a more traditional style.  I do love working with quick brush strokes creating objects.

Tulips Maybe?, Corel Painter 2015

Tulips Maybe?, Corel Painter 2015

There you have it, dear Reader.  You know what I am doing.  I will continue working this way for a little while longer, and then I will produce some “how to” videos and provide some brushes, too.  I may even have a paper or two to share.

I hope you enjoyed the show,

Skip

 

 

 

 

 

 

Service Pack 1 Now Available for Painter 2015

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everybody,

Corel Painter has just posted an update for Painter 2015.  Follow this link: Service Pack 1

Enjoy,

Skip

PS:

Following is from Corel and lists the items that have been addressed:

Corel Painter 2015 – Update 1 Readme

Painter 2015 Update 1 will update the initial release of Painter 2015 (14.0.0.728) to 14.1.0.1105. The following items have been addressed.

  • You can now click directly on a layer mask to select it (you no longer have to click the layer, and then click the layer mask.)
  • The Fill dialog box (Edit > Fill) now displays dynamically your clone source or the pattern that you have chosen.
  • Improved performance of Gravity Particle Brushes: the repeating pattern that is created when you use local chaos with Gravity Particle Brushes at small document sizes is now random and far less obvious.
  • Improved user experience when resizing brushes onscreen by pressing Command + Option (Mac OS) or Ctrl + Alt (Windows) and dragging, by using the Brush size (onscreen) command in a custom palette, and by using the Brush size (onscreen) tool in the toolbox in the Simple workspace layout. The Legacy-style onscreen brush sizing control has improved accuracy and more closely resembles the look and feel of the brush sizing control in earlier versions of Corel Painter.
  • The Canvas now appears in the Layers panel after you switch from the Simple workspace layout to the Default one by using the Welcome screen.
  • The values that you enter in the Canvas size dialog box are no longer truncated if they exceed three digits.
  • Painter no longer crashes when you double-click a Liquid Lens or Liquid Metal layer in the Layers panel to edit it.
  • Painter no longer crashes when you first increase the bristle density (Feature) and then increase the size of a Real Wet brush.
  • All relevant options on the Layers menu are now available after you create a new layer by copying a selection from the canvas and pasting it as a new layer.
  • After you create a new layer and press the space bar, the selected layer no longer changes from the one that you just created to the one below it in the Layers palette.
  • (Windows) After you apply or delete a layer mask, it no longer appears in the Layers panel.
  • After you select a color (Select > Color Select) and then create a new channel from color range, the color range is converted properly.
  • In the Color Correction dialog box, you can now drag the nodes of the color-correction curve to the top or bottom of the graph.
  • When you apply the Equalize effect to a selection that has been copied and pasted, the effect is applied to the whole selection.
  • When you load a custom nozzle file for 2-rank or 3-rank nozzles, you can change the settings in the Nozzle Definition dialog box.
  • Apply Surface Texture effect is now applied when clicking OK when Preview checkbox is unchecked.
  • Clone Source Image dialog is now appearing correctly after making a change to the source image.
  • In the Shape Attributes dialog box, you can change the fill or stroke color by choosing a color from the Color panel.
  • The Smart Blur effect now applies the last-used value when the dialog box is re-launched.
  • When you switch between workspaces, the Clone Color setting in the Color panel is maintained.
  • The Glass Distortion effect can be applied to an alpha channel.
  • When you use the Apply Surface Texture effect, the settings are maintained for subsequent images.
  • The Corel Painter Multi-touch setting in the Tablet preferences now works as expected with Cintiq 24HD touch and Intuos touch tablets.
  • When you create custom wide icons for items on a custom palette and then re-launch the application, the icons no longer revert from wide to small.
  • The Delete Layer button on the Layers panel is now disabled when the layer is locked.
  • When you paint within a selection, then delete the selection and undo the brushstroke, and then create a smaller selection in the same area of the canvas, the new selection no longer appears distorted, and brushstrokes remain within the boundary of the new selection, rather than the old one.
  • Polygonal selections behave as expected when part of the selection is outside the canvas.
  • Zooming using the Magnifier tool now works as expected.
  • When placing an image with the Retain Alpha check box enabled in the Place dialog box, the entire placed image is now displayed.
  • The default setting in the Using list box in the Adjust Color dialog box is now Uniform Color.
  • When applying the Soften effect to a selected layer, the effect no longer increases the dimensions of the layer.
  • When applying the Depth of Field effect to a selected layer, the effect no longer increases the dimensions of the layer.
  • When applying the Motion Blur effect to a selected layer, the effect no longer increases the dimensions of the layer.
  • Adjustments you make in the Color Correction dialog box are now also applied to channels.
  • Indicators for cloning-sample and cloning-destination reference points now display a expected.
  • Using the Soften effect on a rectangular selection on the canvas now works as expected.
  • The settings in the Nozzle Definition dialog box now work as expected.
  • Clicking Cancel in the Glass Distortion dialog box now works as expected.
  • Cropping an image now works as expected.
  • The selected channel in the Color Correction dialog box is now clearly identifiable.
  • When using the Polygonal Selection tool, pressing Command + Z to Command + D (Mac OS), or Ctrl + Z or Ctrl + D (Windows) now closes open selections.
  • Changes you make in the Equalize dialog box are now applied to the entire image.
  • You can choose a color from the Color panel when the Surface Lighting dialog box is open.
  • The color chip in the Dye Concentration dialog box is updated when you choose a new color in the Color panel.
  • Changing the color in the Shape Attributes dialog box no longer changes the current color.
  • Painter no longer crashes when you adjust the Softness slider in the Apply Surface Texture dialog box.
  • Choosing a new color in the Apply Lighting dialog box now changes the primary color on the Color Wheel. In addition, you can choose a color from the Color Wheel when the Apply Lighting dialog box is open.

Mac OS Specific

  • Clicking the green button in the upper-left corner of the image window resizes the window frame to fit around the image, instead of expanding the frame to the whole screen.
  • The position of the canvas no longer shifts when you use the Grabber tool to drag the image into a corner.
  • Loss of stylus pressure no longer occurs when you use the same pressure-sensitive brush variant after re-launching the application.
  • Sliders in the advanced brush controls panels no longer appear flattened.
  • You can now paint on the image after moving the canvas to the secondary display on dual-monitor systems when the primary and secondary displays are offset.
  • Display color values are now consistent between Painter 2015, Painter X3 and Photoshop.
  • A tone shift in your colors will no longer happen when panning.
  • When you enable the Smart Stroke Painting and the Smart Settings check boxes on the Auto-Painting panel and click the Play button, the auto-painting stops as expected.
  • Canceling a color deletion from the default Painter color set now works as expected.
  • The Welcome Screen no longer appears when starting the application by double-clicking a RIF file.
  • The Brush Tracking dialog box now appears in the center of the screen.

Windows Specific

  • The Glass Distortion effect is no longer applied to the image when the Preview check box is disabled.
  • When you type text, pressing Shift or Alt no longer results in unrecognized characters.
  • Pressing Ctrl + Alt + 1 twice closes the temporal colors palette.
  • In the Edit Gradient dialog box, you can click the Color Hue options (the square box above the color ramp bar) to change the hue of the blend.
  • Selecting the content of a layer and then widening or contracting the selection more than once (Select > Modify) no longer results in an error message.
  • When you apply a gradient fill to a layer, the fill is now centered on the layer and does not fall outside the canvas area.
  • When you create a new color set after deleting all colors from another color set, the application no longer crashes.
  • Creating a custom brush category and a Brush Controls custom palette will no longer cause the workspace to crash.
  • Grouped layers are no longer collapsed into a single layer when the canvas is flipped horizontally.
  • When you set a low Spacing value in the Liquid Lens dialog box and then drag on the canvas, the application no longer freezes.
  • When saving an image as a JPEG, the quality settings are retained when the file is opened.
  • The Image Warp effect works as expected on all layers and can be undone.
  • The settings in the Resize dialog box now work as expected.
  • Clicking Reset in the Surface Lighting dialog box restores all controls to factory default settings.
  • Opening the Apply Surface Texture, Woodcut, or Bevel World dialog boxes no longer changes the current color.
Application Initial Release Update 1
Painter 2015 14.0.0.728 14.1.0.1105

Still Time To Register for Holiday Open Studio 2014

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

OK…this is your last chance.  Registration for Holiday Open Studio 2014 at the Digital Art Academy is open until Saturday, November 15.  After that it is too late.  The class started this week and I am the first instructor.  During my week, we learn about making calligraphy in Painter 2015 or Painter X3.  I provide some special calligraphy brushes for Painter 2015 and Painter X3.  Over the last couple of days, I have made 4 more variants to add to the set.  The following video is a shameless promotional video for the class, but you do see me practicing calligraphy in Painter 2015.

Four more weeks follow my week.  The instructors are Elaina Moore-Kelly, Aaron Rutten, and Karen Bonaker.  For more information and to register go to Holiday Open Studio or the Digital Art Academy.  You don’t want to miss out.  Last chance for Holiday fun. 🙂

Enjoy,

Skip

Holiday Open Studio Starts November 8, 2014; Register Today

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hey Everyone,

It is that time of year again.  Holiday Open Studio, a tradition at Digital Art Academy, starts day after tomorrow, Saturday, November 8, 2014.  As usual, it will be a fun packed few weeks.  Do join us and click the link above and register for this session.

A beautiful image created by Corel Master Painter, Karen Bonaker.

A beautiful image created by Corel Master Painter, Karen Bonaker.

 

This year, I start the party with lessons on calligraphy.  OK, I’m not a calligrapher or a scribe, but I created some cool brushes and show you the basics of calligraphy.  I teach a type style called Foundational Hand, which Edward Johnson developed from a 10th century manuscript.  Want to see a quick video of me starting the alphabet with Foundational Hand.  Well, it is below, but fair warning…it is really a shameless advertisement for the class…but you do see me making part of the alphabet.

Elaina Moore-Kelly reserved the second week for an old-fashioned nostalgic look at Christmas.  She explains how to create a Christmas card that looks like a chalkboard card.  It is very cool and  this type of image is very trendy in craft circles this year.  Elaina provides written and video lessons.

Elaina Moore-Kelly's Chalkboard Christmas

Elaina Moore-Kelly’s Chalkboard Christmas

Next up is Aaron Rutten with something fascinating.  Aaron demonstrates how to paint totem art in a traditional Native American style.  Totemic art is found in cultures all around the world, which allows the student to draw inspiration from a variety of places.  Aaron encourages each student to choose their own totem animal or symbol, and paint it abstracted instead of in a realistic way.

Totem Art by Aaron Rutten

Totem Art by Aaron Rutten

Corel Master Painter Karen Bonaker takes the lead for the two final weeks.  She developed a wonderful technique to create digital Japanese woodcuts.  I have seen some of her images and they are stunning.  She is very excited about the process and I can tell it will be a lot of fun.

What color is snow?  Karen tells us in her second week.  I can’t wait to find out.  I thought snow was white.  Didn’t you?  Karen paints snow scenes in a glorious rainbow of colors; after the class, we can too.

Winter Road - Digital Woodcut by Corel Master Painter Karen Bonaker

Winter Road – Digital Woodcut by Corel Master Painter Karen Bonaker

OK…that’s the skinny.  Check out Holiday Open Studio at the Digital Art Academy.  Register today and join us for this years seasonal fun.

Enjoy,

Skip

 

How I Set Up My Wacom 24″ HD Touch Cintiq for Corel Painter 2015

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hello Everyone,

I am now the proud owner of a Wacom 24″ HD Touch Cintiq.  I have to admit I really love it, and I am having so much fun with it.  Previously, I have owned an Intuos 3, 4, and 5 touch, and I have loved them all, but this is the first time I have spent a great deal of time and put a lot of thought into setting up the Wacom Tablet Properties.  I hope the effort I made will prove useful to you.  I have 9 videos showing each step and explaining the reasons behind my decisions.  And then I have a quick 10th video making an image using my settings.  I show you how to use the Corel Painter Customize Keys functions to add shortcut keys to Painter commands that do not have them.  And, I offer an HTML document with the shortcuts that I created, which I hope you will use when setting up your tablet.

In the last video I said I would do a quick painting using my settings for my Cintiq, but I ran out of time.  I had to go to Mississippi to help my sister transition from rehab back to her home.  I promise to do a video as soon as I can after I get back.  But for now…here are the “how to” videos.

Video 1 – An Introduction…I talk a bit about what I will be covering in all the video tutorials.

Well, that was a mess…I just hit the publish button by accident and released an incomplete post on the unsuspecting public.  My apologies…I’ll try to finish the post before I publish again.

Moving right along…the second video isn’t about setting up the Cintiq…nope…it is about an enhanced feature in Corel Painter 2015 called Arrange Palettes.  This feature has a simple arranged palette that is new to 2015 and it is fabulous.  So, to understand why I have used the setting that I use, you need to understand Arranged Palettes.  Check out Video 2:

Video 3: I continue with Arrange Palettes, but this time I have created my own using the Simple Palette provided.  I explain how you can switch between two different arrange palettes, which is very sweet.  I promise, after this video we will actually start setting up the Wacom.

You know, I just realized that I didn’t make a pretty picture to show on these videos to make them look more interesting in the blog.  I forget about that sort of stuff…oh well…the meat and potatoes are still here.

Video 4: I set up my Wacom Art Pen and Grip Pen for use in Corel 2015.  It doesn’t matter what Wacom device you have, these settings should work for your.

Did I mention that there are nine videos…way too many, right?  Well, the videos are very detailed.  Fast forward through the videos you don’t find interesting…or not.

Video 5: I configure the Express Keys.  It is probably now that I should mention that my settings may not be the best ones for you.  Each person should set up their Wacom tablet to work with their workflow.  I do tell you why I use the settings that I use…hopefully that will be of interest to you.

Video 6: I talk about the Touch Ring and I think I found some cool ways to use the Touch Ring.  But you know, it doesn’t matter how cool they are if I don’t actually use them.  One of the most important aspects of setting up your Wacom device is to practice using it…make it a part of your painting experience.  I’m practicing a lot with mine…and frequently changing settings to find a more efficient way to use the Cintiq.

At the end of Video 6, I realized that I was using a shortcut key that I had created using Painter’s Customize Keys function.  You must have a shortcut key to program a command for your Wacom tablet or Cintiq, so now I need to show you how to do that in Painter.  BTW, Photoshop has a similar function.

Video 7: Learn the power of Corel Painter’s Customize Keys.  At the end of this post, I will provide a list of all the shortcut keys that I am using.

Video 8: In this video I talk about Display Toggle.  This Wacom function allows you to use multiple displays.  If you only have one monitor, then you can skip this video.

And finally, I saved the best for last.

Video 9: I cover the Radial Menu in this video.  For my money, the Radial Menu is the most powerful function available for Wacom tablets and Cintiqs.  The Radial Menu makes it possible to program a huge number of commands and have them at your fingertips.  It is very cool and very useful, but most folks do not use it much.  To create a useful Radial menu, you must give it a bit of thought and time.  Program it in a way that will work for you.  I love using the Radial Menu.  Check out the video.

Okay, as promised, here is an html file that lists the Shortcut keys that I used to set up my Cintiq.  You can use the list to program Painter’s Customize Keys and set up your own Wacom Device.

Skip’s Shortcut Keys

I have mixed emotions about posting my Wacom backup settings.  I have no experience with giving these to anyone.  If you have a Wacom 24″ HD Touch Cintiq and are using Windows 7, the file might work for you.  I do not believe it will work for anyone using a Mac, nor do I think it will work with any other Wacom device.  But, if you are foolhardy enough to try it, be sure to back up your current Wacom settings before doing anything.

Skip’s Cintiq Settings

Well, that wraps up this blog post.  I hope you find it useful.

Enjoy,

Skip

 

Special Pricing for Corel Painter 2015!!! $99.00 for registered users of Corel Painter X3

Posted by Skip Allen on

Hey Gang,

Just found out that Corel sent an email to all registered X3 users offering  Corel Painter 2015 for $99.  That is a very good deal.  I wouldn’t download the trial…just go for the full version at $99.00.  Everyone, that is all I know.  If you didn’t get an email and you are a registered user, first check your spam folder.  Then contact sales.  I’m just passing on information I received.

Sweet!!!

Skip

Another quick sketch I did with 2015 using a custom particle brush, which I will make available sometime in the future.

Quick Flowers, Corel Painter 2015, Custom Particle brushes

Quick Flowers, Corel Painter 2015, Custom Particle brushes