Basics on Brushes

Other Brush Types

The Draw Tool

Draw Tool: You can use the Draw Tool to draw single lines, freehand lines, Bezier curves, and point to point lines. You can create them as raster objects or vector objects. When drawing lines you have several options you can choose from Tool Options.

FIRST TAB:

• Type: four types
  • single lines (straight lines):
    • To draw a single line you can hold your mouse down and drag it in any direction to draw the line. When you release it will draw the line.
    • If you hold the SHIFT key down when you are dragging the mouse you will get lines that only go at 90 or 45 degree angles.
    • Next hold the ALT key and click in several spots. Release the ALT key and click one more time in any position to end your drawing. You will get a line of angled segments.
    • If you want to connect a line that you have already drawn to another segment, just hold the ALT key down and click on your image and PSP will continue to connect angeled segments.
  • freehand lines (any shape): You can draw lines in any shape you want. The Curve Tracking value on the second tab will control the distance between nodes in the line. Use lower numbers for tighter curves.
  • Bezier curves (curved lines): See Samples. This link will open a new browser window. Close the new browser when you are finished viewing the samples.
    • Hold your mouse button down and drag to create a line.
    • Click an area away from the line and you will get a node handle at one of the ends of the line. If you move this node handle you can stretch and curve the line.
    • Do this twice (for each end) and edit your curves (clicking twice in the same spot will create an arc, while clicking once on one side and once on the opposite side will create an S-curve.). Releasing the mouse after the second click (node) will set the curve.
  • point to point lines (lines composed of nodes): This is like connect the dots. When you draw point to point lines you make Nodes. Nodes are like your corner points. When you drag your mouse you make curved segment nodes and when you click you make straight segment nodes. To end the point to point line, right click to get the edit menu and choose Quit Node Editing or just press CTRL+Q.

  
  

• Style: three styles; (Note: these styles are not apparent when you use Single Lines.
  • Stroked: The forground (left click) or background color (right click)is applied to the color path.
  • Filled: The starting and ending points are automatically connected and the interior is filled with either the forground (left click) or background color (right click). The connected edges are also colored.
  • Stroked & Filled: The starting and ending points are connected and the interior is filled with the opposite color. The connected edges are not colored.

  See Samples.This link will open a new browser window. Close the new browser when you are finished viewing the samples.
  
  
  

• Width/Size: The thickness of the line can be set from 1 to 255 pixels.
• Antialias: This will blend the edges so that slanted lines appear smoother. This will only work with 24-bit or gray-scaled images.

• Close Path: When this is choosen, the start and ending points of Freehand lines and Bezier Curves are automatially connected to form a continuous line (or oddly shaped rings).
  

• Vector: You can choose to create lines as vector objects. See Basics on File Formats for more information about vectors.

SECOND TAB:

• Curve Track Setting: This setting is only for Freehand lines. It controls the distance between the points of the line segments.
  

• Cap Button Options: Sets the shape of the ends of the lines.
  • Flat Cap: A flat edge that ends where the end of the line ends and starts.
  • Round Cap: A rounded edge that extends a little past where the line ends and starts.
  • Square Cap: A sqare edge that extends a little past where the line starts and ends.
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• Join Button Options: Sets the shape of a line with corners.
  • Miter Join: pointed corners. When you must set the Miter Limit.
    • Miter Limit: If width of the corner is withing the set limit the corner will be jointed, if it is outside the limit the corner will have a bevel. The Miter Limit is the maximum ratio of the miter length (the length from the inside edge of the corner to the outside edge of the corner ) to the width or thickness of the line.
  • Round Join: rounded corners.

  • Bevel Join: flattened corners.