From Photoshop to Painter

[LAGtheNoggin]

I'm tired of Photoshop's lack of crisp lines, I'm tired of no easy rotate image tool, and I'm tired of not being able to drag the page around like a five dollar whore. I've held back on learning Painter for a long long time, mainly due to my snobbishness (everyone uses Photoshop, it must be the best!) and an uber knowledge of shortcuts and inside and out-ness of Photoshop, but like I said, I'm tired of too many photoshop short comings when it comes to drawing - it's now time to get learnin'.

Anyone else use Painter 8? Anyone with tips considering my Photoshop to Painter knowledge? I'm mostly looking for explanations on the differences between the programs, differences between tools and differences between shortcuts. Oh yes, please be generous on the shorcuts. Currently my largest frustration is the speed at which I can navigate the program, I'm so used to lightning fast Photoshop... >sigh<

Painter tutorials would also be of benefit.

[Esoterik]

I'm a Painter 8 whore. I love it to death and do most of my stuff with it. Of course I use Photoshop for effects, and color adjustments and things. Also, I use photoshop if I'm ever doing your standard comic coloring, ie, flatting, shading, highlighting (the lasso tool is better in Photoshop).

I ink my comic using Painter's ink pens. (well, once my comics went to B&W). The pens rule. They're very crisp, almost vector-like, but still organic looking.

One thing that is kind of weird is getting used to the shortcut keys. For example, the paint bucket tool is "k" instead of "g". Also, "m" is zoom, not "z". One you get used to a couple things like that, though, it's pretty much exactly like photoshop. And the rotate canvas tool is a freakin' godsend.

If you like drawing totally digitally, Painter is the way to go (in my opinion). It's much better for sketching and drawing. Depeding on what kind of coloring you need, it can be awesome too.

My deviantArt gallery (link in sig) has a bunch of stuff, which was mostly done in either Painter and then Photoshop, or entirely in Painter.

Sorry to ramble but I love this program so much. Best $230 bucks I ever spent. Let me know if you have any specific questions, Lag. I'd be happy to help

Edit: I have a couple of painter tutorials too, lemme know if you want the links.

[Phalanx]

I'm tired of Photoshop's lack of crisp lines, I'm tired of no easy rotate image tool, and I'm tired of not being able to drag the page around like a five dollar whore.

Erm... Try getting rid of anti-alias if you want crisp lines on Photoshop. Or as Yarps has finally hammered into me: Use the vector shapes option.

Also, for easy rotating in Photoshop. Select the section you want to rotate, and hit Cmd+T or Ctr+T if you're on a Non-Mac. Then you can resize, skew or rotate on the fly! You can even pick the point of rotation. Easy peasy with the Transform tool.

Besides you get to go cheesy by yelling: "Photoshop! TRANSFORM!" while you do this

I'm not sure about the 5 dollar whore thing. Have you tired hitting the 'F' key and changing the various frame modes? It makes for easier dragging that way.

[LAGtheNoggin]

Hurrah, Painter user! I had lots of questions but it seems my night asleep's stifled them... I'll try and remember them through the day. For the meantime; Yes, tutorials would be most appreciated ^.^

I've got one question though; What's the differences between Normal Layer, Water Colour Layer and Liquid Ink Layer? They're really quite confusing...

Oh, and is there is an Full Screen Expert Mode (F) like Photoshop? I can maximise and tab everything off, but that doesn't feel the same...


[quote="Phalanx"][/quote]
Ping, you evidently haven't tried Painter to any great degree. Photoshop really isn't the best program for digital drawing.

Why should I have to draw at a resolution that isn't my final product? Why should I have to use vector shapes? Why should I have that hasssel with a basic drawing or sketch? Simply enough, I shouldn't.

As for easy rotation in Photoshop, again, you haven't tried Painter. Everytime you Transform rotate something in Photoshop, you will loose image quality, so much so that by the hundreth rotation you'll end up with a blurry mass. Painter still supports Free Transform but it has a serperate Page Rotate (shortcut E) option that is done on the fly and does not affect the final work. Like Esoterik said; A God send.

Dragging around; Yes, I often work in Photoshop full screen mode (F) and tab everything off, but in Photoshop you can't drag the page around unless it outsizes the monitor, and even then you can't drag it around much. In Painter I can drag the page everywhere (ie, move the corner of the image into the centre of the screen, or even drag the entire image off screen), very useful when your 'Wacom Wrist Hotspot' happens to be in a particular location. Admitely, in Photoshop you can put the image in a window and drag it around by the bar, but it's no match and too much hassel.

Sorry to berate at you, I know you're trying to help and photoshop is a good program, it just sucks a bit when it comes to drawing.

[Esoterik]

The normal layer is... well, your normal layer. Most stuff goes on this.
The water color layer is for watercolors (not surprisingly). If you want to use watercolors, you'll have to make a watercolor layer (or if you just start drawing with the watercolor brushes it will make one for you).

The reason is because of painter's real-time water feathering and diffusion. With digital water color, you don't need to make a separate layer, because it applies the diffusion after the stroke is made, not while you're making it.

The liquid ink layer is much the same. It's only used for liquid ink pens. It differs from the normal pen tool in that, for example, if you make an "x", the ink will form a bevel (or "glob") in between where the lines cross, much like real ink.

Painter needs the discrete layers for these two because of the way they interact and the calculations it has to do with them.

As for tutorials, I have a few.

http://homepage3.nifty.com/devilkitten/how2menu_e.html This one's by a Japanese artist so the english isn't that great. Hopefully you can understand it. It's not step-by-step, and is a little difficult to follow, but overall it's pretty good.

http://www.paintercreativity.com/articles/There's a bunch of stuff here, but I don't know how good it is. If nothing else, it should give you a grasp of the program. I haven't tried any of these.

[Turnsky]

bah, it is not the tools, but the skills behind them..

a friend of mine made this in photoshop 7: http://www.deviantart.com/view/8681869/

let that be a reminder to you, that painter, and photoshop may not be alike, and have different stuff to them, doesn't make you any more or less skilled.

[Esoterik]

bah, it is not the tools, but the skills behind them..

a friend of mine made this in photoshop 7: http://www.deviantart.com/view/8681869/

let that be a reminder to you, that painter, and photoshop may not be alike, and have different stuff to them, doesn't make you any more or less skilled.

Jakkal is crazy talented. I don't know how she does those.

[Esoterik]

But yes, you're right. You can do incredible things with photoshop, and same with Painter. It's a matter of what is easier for you.

For myself, I find painter to be more intuitive, and I like the brushes more. I know a lot of people who prefer photoshop. It's just preference.

[LAGtheNoggin]

bah, it is not the tools, but the skills behind them..

It is the tools when they're not doing what you want them to do.

a friend of mine made this in photoshop 7: http://www.deviantart.com/view/8681869/

Good for them, it looks awesome. However that's not the look I want, in fact, staring at that picture I can't help thinking "Jeeze, that'd look really really nice if it was done in Painter..."

let that be a reminder to you, that painter, and photoshop may not be alike, and have different stuff to them, doesn't make you any more or less skilled.

Actually you'll generally find yourself using both programs, now that does make you more skilled. Uhm, resum

[LAGtheNoggin]

Oh, and thanks for the tutorials! Is this one about the custom palette a Mac only option? I can't seem to find the buttons in my *ahem* copy... Would be a great option to have though, I love custom buttons, reminds me of Maya ^.^

Also, for those who are wondering why I want Painter; I want lines like Lyx's. She uses Painter and I can't emulate her lines with Photoshop, I've tried but they always come out blurry.

[Turnsky]

that's true..

i should give painter a go, i think i've got a version that came with my graphics tablet.

[YarpsDat]

Why should I have to draw at a resolution that isn't my final product? Why should I have to use vector shapes?

I always figured you get bonus quality that way.

For example, if I can mouse-draw some details. And they will look like shit. But then I resize to 33% and they magically start looking like details.
It's like... magical.

The painter's Page-Rotate sounds pretty nifty, though.

The liquid ink layer is much the same. It's only used for liquid ink pens. It differs from the normal pen tool in that, for example, if you make an "x", the ink will form a bevel (or "glob") in between where the lines cross, much like real ink.

Cool.
Do you have to wait with erasing till the ink is dry too?

[LAGtheNoggin]

Why should I have to draw at a resolution that isn't my final product? Why should I have to use vector shapes?

I always figured you get bonus quality that way.

For example, if I can mouse-draw some details. And they will look like shit. But then I resize to 33% and they magically start looking like details.
It's like... magical.

Yea~~h, I know, that's why I next said "Why should I have that hasssel with a basic drawing or sketch?" for most important works you want to work uber size, always. But for things like 3D skins I really don't have the luxury, working on a 2048 by 2048 picture is already too large for my monitor and rig to easily handle... Blgh, stupid giant textures. And they're thinking of bringing in 4096! 4096! It takes a minute just to apply a Clouds filter over that @__x

[Esoterik]

Oh, and thanks for the tutorials! Is this one about the custom palette a Mac only option? I can't seem to find the buttons in my *ahem* copy... Would be a great option to have though, I love custom buttons, reminds me of Maya ^.^

Also, for those who are wondering why I want Painter; I want lines like Lyx's. She uses Painter and I can't emulate her lines with Photoshop, I've tried but they always come out blurry.

Yeah, that's in the free 8.1 upgrade that's downloadable from the website. I haven't done that yet, though.

And yes, Painter will get you those crisp lines like Chainroaker. Looks mostly like the pen tool to me, but I might be mistaken.

[Esoterik]

Cool.
Do you have to wait with erasing till the ink is dry too?

Actually, you can't use the standard erasers on the liquid ink layer (unless you merge it with the canvas, so I guess that's what "drying" would be). There are some liquid ink resist tools (like wax) that the ink won't make a mark on.

[Alaina]

I just watched the Interactive Tour for Painter 8, and am now fully convinced that this is the program that I've been waiting my whole life for!

Sorry Photoshop, but it just wasn't meant to be. Don't worry, it's me and not you.

No wait...it is you.

[Esoterik]

I just watched the Interactive Tour for Painter 8, and am now fully convinced that this is the program that I've been waiting my whole life for!

Sorry Photoshop, but it just wasn't meant to be. Don't worry, it's me and not you.

No wait...it is you.

Excellent... another convert.

Photoshop is still an excellent tool, but I prefer it for image editing, not image creation. Painter is better for starting a pic from scratch.

[LAGtheNoggin]

I just watched the Interactive Tour for Painter 8, ...

Do you have a link? Might be useful if it shows you around Painter 8 and how it's used...

[Alaina]

There are a few tutorials on the Corel site and even some Tips and Tricks, but the Interactive Tour just shows you how awesome Painter is, where basic toolbars are located, but not how to use it.

[Jakkal]

I know this is dredging up an old topic, but I thought I'd toss my 2