Drawing with the Brush Tool

The Brush tool is pressure sensitive and can create a contour shape which gives a thick and thin line effect, as if the drawing was made with a paint brush.

With the Brush tool, you can draw as vector or bitmap, depending on your preference. When you add your drawing layer, you can simply select the vector or bitmap option. If you use vector, you will be able to enlarge your drawing and zoom into it without losing quality or resolution. You can also use the Contour Editor and Select tools to resize and modify lines. If you draw with bitmap, you will not be able to scale your drawing beyond 100% of its resolution without encountering pixelization issues.

You can create your own brush styles. A variety of brush styles are provided allowing you to create and save your own.This way you can create brushes with precise sizes and parameters and save them so you can draw and design. Renaming a brush can make it easier to identify and access the brushes you use most frequently.

A dynamic brush can be created for drawing using patterns created from your artwork. Create a new dynamic brush to copy a pattern you have drawn to reproduce it quickly. You can create dynamic brushes using a single or multiple patterns that will automatically switch through the patterns as you draw.

How to draw with the Brush tool

1.

In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the cell on which you want to draw.

2.

Select a drawing from the Drawing Thumbnails panel.

3.

In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush tool or press Alt + B.

4.

In the Colour view, click a colour swatch to select a colour.

5.

In the Drawing view, start drawing.

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Hold Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (Mac OS X) to force a line to join the start and end of the shape while drawing.

The last colour you select while using the Brush tool is recalled the next time you select the Brush tool.

How to select a brush style

1.

In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush tool or press Alt + B.

2.

In the Tool Properties, select a brush style from the Brush Presets section.

How to modify the brush settings

1.

In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush tool or press Alt + B.

2.

In the Tool Properties view, the preview area displays the stroke that will be produced after you customize the different parameters in the Tool Properties view. Click the arrow button.

The Brush Properties window opens.

This is where you set the minimum and maximum sizes of your drawing tool which will produce the thick and thin effect on your stroke. This works with the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.

Parameter	Description
Maximum Size	Sets the maximum width of the line.
Minimum Size	Sets the minimum width of the line in relation to the maximum size.
Smoothness	Lets you modify the central line smoothness of the line. This parameter smooths the initial movement of your line. Increasing the value will result in a smoother line with fewer control points.
Contour Smoothness	Optimizes the contour line smoothness of the line. This parameter will smooth the contour of the line once it has been traced; the higher the value, the fewer control points will compose your line.
Tip Shape	Lets you select a tip shape from round and square ones to star shaped.
Texture	See How to draw with textured lines

How to create a brush preset

1.

Make sure your current brush has the settings you want in the preset you are will create.

2.

Do one of the following:

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In the Brush view, click the New Brush button.

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From the Brush menu, select New Brush Preset.

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In the Properties window of the tool you are using, click the button in the upper-left corner.

3.

In the New Preset window, type a name for your new brush preset.

The new brush is added to the end of the list of brush preset.

Brush presets cannot be updated. However you can select a preset, which applies those properties to the current brush. Then you can modify the properties, and create a new preset with the new properties. If desired, you can delete the old preset.

How to rename a brush

1.

In the Tool Properties view, select a brush to rename.

2.

From the Brush menu, select Rename Brush.

3.

Type in a new name for the brush.

How to delete a brush preset

1.

Select the brush preset you want to delete.

2.

Do one of the following:

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In the Brush Preset view, click the Delete Brush button.

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From the Brush Preset menu , select Delete Brush.

How to create a new dynamic brush

1.

In the Tools toolbar, select a drawing tool.

2.

In the Camera view, draw the pattern you want to use as your dynamic brush stamp.

3.

In the Tools toolbar, click the Select tool and select the parts of the drawing you want to repeat.

4.

In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush tool or press Alt + B.

5.

In the Tool Properties view, click the Add Dynamic Brush button to add your selection as a new dynamic brush preset.

6.

From the Brush menu, select Rename Brush.

The Rename Preset dialog box opens.

7.

Type in a name for the new dynamic brush and click OK.

8.

In the Drawing view, start drawing with your dynamic brush to quickly repeat a pattern.

9.

To adjust the scale of your pattern to make it bigger or smaller as you stamp it, adjust the Maximum Size value in the Tool Properties view.

How to create a dynamic brush with multiple drawings

10.

In the Drawing view, draw your pattern.

11.

In the Tools toolbar, select the Select tool.

12.

In the Camera view, select all the drawings you want to add to your new dynamic brush.

13.

In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush tool or press Alt + B.

14.

Click the Add Dynamic Brush button to add your selection as a new Dynamic Brush preset.

15.

From the Brush menu, select Rename Brush.

The Rename Preset dialog box opens.

16.

Type in a name for the new dynamic brush and click OK.

17.

In the Drawing view, start drawing with your dynamic brush to quickly repeat a pattern. When you use this brush, you will cycle through the drawings.