Painting

AliasStudio's unique integrated paint tools enable you to use 2D sketching throughout the design process to develop your concepts.

Dodge and Burn Color Correction tools

Two new toning tools have been added under Paint Edit > Color correction in the palette: Dodge and Burn.

These tools are based on traditional photography techniques of holding back light to lighten an area on the film (dodging) or increasing the exposure to darken areas on the film (burning).

Dodge lightens areas of an image (highlights, shadows, midtones or all tones) as if a bright light of the selected color was projected on them.

Burn darkens areas of an image (highlights, shadows, midtones or all tones) as if paint of the selected color was added to them.

New Predictive Strokes

When sketching, sometimes you want an approximation of a straight line or curve. Sometimes you want it to be correctly drawn. AliasStudio now has the ability to perceive what you're trying to draw, and redraw it with precision when you want it to. You can use predictive strokes to create straight lines, curves, and ellipses.

To use predictive strokes, open Preferences > Interface > Hotkeys/Menus

. Scroll down to the section labelled Special, and open it. Open the Paint subsection.

Assign a hot key to Toggle predictive stroke (curvature) to draw curves, circles, or ellipses, or Toggle predictive stroke (line) to draw straight lines.

When the brush is in predictive mode, your paint stroke is redrawn when the pen is lifted from the tablet or the mouse button is released. The stroke will either be a circle, ellipse, or arc if Toggle predictive stroke (curvature) has been toggled on, or a line if Toggle predictive stroke (line) is active. The cursor shows which of the stroke hotkeys is active.

To easily return to the previous brush that was in use, add a hotkey for Last Brush.

Enhancements to Canvas Layer Editor

The Canvas Layer Editor has been redesigned to be thinner so it occupies less space on the screen.

Ability to select a canvas from a lister

A toggle button to open and close the Canvas General Information window (displaying canvas properties).

Edit > Invert Layer: a new tool that can be used to invert an image layer, mask layer, or invisibility mask layer. When applied to an image layer, it inverts the RGB colors in the image. For example, red (255,0,0) becomes cyan (0, 255, 255). When applied to a mask layer, or invisibility mask layer, it swaps the masked and unmasked regions.

Edit > Delete all invisibility mask layers: a new tool that deletes the invisibility mask layers, and gives you the option to restore the hidden paint.

Tool tips for all icons

Opacity slider for each layer

Check box for each mask layer that allows you to retain the link between the mask and the image layer while temporarily disabling the mask.

A toggle button Display all/current layer that reproduces the behavior of "isolate layer" from v12.0. The default is Display all. Clicking the button sets it to Display current layer and only displays the content of the active layer in the view windows. Clicking it again returns to Display All.

Three new toggle buttons on the separator bar between images and mask layers:

Mask Visible: Makes all the masks linked with the active layer invisible, but keeps them enabled.

Mask Disable: Disables all the masks linked with the active layer.

Mask Filter: Shows only the mask layers linked with the active layer in the Canvas Layer Editor.

Ability to toggle on or off the layer thumbnails. They are turned on by default. To turn off the thumbnails (providing more space for the layer names), choose Preferences > General Preferences

, and turn off Show thumbnails in Canvas Layer Editor in the Paint section.

Layer Modes

You can now choose from a list of modes that will determine how one layer interacts with another. In the following illustrations, two layers have been used: one with a picture of a watch, and another with three swatches: one dark red, one bright yellow, and one graduated strip from dark to light. This layer with swatches is on top of the watch layer, as follows:

We'll refer to the top layer as the "mode layer" and the layer with the watch as the "base layer." The illustrations that follow show what happens to the image when the mode layer is changed.

Normal

Multiply

This mode looks at the color information on each layer and multiplies the mode layer's color by the other layers underneath it. The result color is always a darker color. Multiplying any color with black produced black. Multiplying any color with white leaves the color unchanged.

Lighten

Looks at the color information on each layer, and selects the lighter color. If a color on the base layer is darker than the color in the same place on the mode layer, the resulting color shown is the mode layer's color. If a color on the base layer is lighter than the color in the same place on the mode layer, the mode layer will show the lighter color on the base layer.

Darken

Selects the darker color. If a color on the base layer is darker than the color in the same place on the mode layer, the resulting color shown is the base layer's color. If a color on the base layer is lighter than the color in the same place on the mode layer, the mode layer will show the darker color on the mode layer.

Exclusion

Subtracts the lighter color from the darker color. If there is white on the mode layer, Exclusion results in inverted colors where the white was. If there is black on the mode layer, no change happens.

Screen

Multiplies the inverse of the base layer and mode layer's colors. Black on the mode layer leaves the colors of the base layer unchanged, and white on the mode layer obscures the base layer.

Overlay

Overlays the base layer with the colors of the mode layer, while still keeping the highlights and shadows of the base layer. The two colors are mixed together.

New "Flip" icon in Paint window

This icon lets you view the active canvas from behind. It behaves as a toggle. Only the active canvas in the Paint window is affected.

New "Color Value" hotkey

You can now assign a hotkey to the color value in the Special:Paint section of the Hotkeys/Menus window (Preferences > Interface > Hotkeys/Menus

New interface for Cintiq Support

When using AliasStudio to sketch in conjunction with the new Cintiq 21UX screen, you can access common sketching tools directly on your display without having to reach for the keyboard.

Pressing a pre-assigned key on the Cintiq invokes a hot spots interface on the Cintiq screen, which is a collection of icons, each referencing a specific tool.

To sketch using the hot spots interface

Create a canvas

Choose a brush tool.

Position the cursor over the canvas.

Press and hold the space bar to bring up the hot spots interface. (This key can be re-assigned to a Cintiq key).

Choose a brush mode by clicking one of the icons along the top bar of the hot spots interface. (The default is paint).

Press the stylus on a tool within the circular area of the hot spots interface to adjust the corresponding brush parameter.

Slide the stylus left and right (or up and down) to customize a brush parameter or pan/zoom the canvas.

The Brush Min/Max Radius icon adjusts the Minimum Radius with an up or down motion, and the Maximum Radius with a left or right motion. You have to release the stylus and press down again to change from one to the other (just like the R hotkey).

While you adjust a brush parameter, you receive visual feedback showing the result of your action, as well as the current numerical value of the parameter.

While still holding the space bar (or Cintiq key), draw a few strokes on the screen to test the new brush settings.

When satisfied, release the space bar (or Cintiq key) to remove the testing strokes and turn off the hot spots interface.

The hot spots interface will only work if the cursor is over a canvas and a Brush tool is selected.

Use the tools along the bottom bar of the hot spots interface to perform various other functions such as changing the brush color, turning on predictive stroke mode, etc.