Tutorial: AKVIS MultiBrush

Color Pencil

The Color Pencil is designed to draw free-form lines with hard edges. The Color Pencil creates lines with sharp edges that do not blend with the background. Press P to quickly access this tool.

The tool's parameters will be shown in a floating box over an image (by right-clicking the mouse) and also in the Settings Panel (only if this option is selected in Preferences).

To change the value of a parameter, enter a numerical value in the field next to the parameter and press Enter (Macintosh: Return) or move the slider.

Diameter (1-500). The maximum diameter of a line that can be drawn with the pencil (in pixels).
Opacity (1-100). The opacity of the pencil's strokes in relationship to the color of the background. This parameter sets the opacity color, by which a line is drawn: at lower values, the color of the line is paler and its interaction with the color of the background increases.

Painting of a Ballerina Figure With the Pencil

Opacity = 80% Opacity = 20%
Spot Spacing (0-200). Distribution of elements, from which the line is comprised. Increasing this parameter creates a line that is composed of a series of circles, the distance between the circles depends on the parameter's value. At lower values (0-5) the line is not drawn with circles, but is solid with a smooth edge.

Drawing With Spaces

Spot Spacing = 5 Spot Spacing = 91 and 100
Aspect (1-100). Compression of a basic drawing element. At 1 the lines drawn by the pencil are flattened, at 100 they are circular, and at intermediate values of this parameter they are elliptical. The lower the aspect, the more elongated the ellipse along the angle specified by the Angle parameter.

Application of War Paint on a Native's Face

Aspect = 30 Aspect = 80
Angle (0-180). The angle at which an element is drawn.

Pattern on a Vase

Angle = 30 Angle = 140

The pencil's color is set in the Color/Swatches palettes. To choose a color bring the cursor over the spectral line (the cursor takes the form of a pipette) and click on the desired color or click on the box and choose a color from the standard dialog Select Color. In some cases it might be preferable to select a color manually, by adjusting the sliders.

In order to draw a straight line, click the left mouse button at its starting point, then, press Shift, click on the end point, and let go of Shift. If Shift is not released, a new line will be drawn to each point where the mouse is clicked.