Paint 3d 3d Shapes

[Pavan Outlaw]

Itseems like a useful feature, but I'm not sure how it'd be done without either making surprising UX or doing some work, and I know what time Rick can afford on this project he's spending on higher-priority items.

I like the way Blender would do it, which is to type X or Y for the axis, followed by a number and enter to confirm. It's super-useful, but since that's not an established pattern here, it would be no better and probably worse than setting the size with a button in the tooltip area.

Thanks for the suggestion, that partially works. Grabbing corners changes height and width. Grabbing top and side markers is a bit fiddly to exactly grab, but I can adjust with arrows as you suggest, but the accuracy seems to be 2 pixels - so not perfect but an improvement.

Ego's suggestion to grab corner and use arrows is sometimes useful, but actually lines and shapes change size in increments of up to 3px depending on zoom level. I really want precise sizes to 1px. The only way I can do this is to keep moving the mouse until it is correct. This frequently fails and I have to start again.

Just speaking for myself and my flow here. I also do tons of resizes to get just the right sizes, ratios, perspectives...and I have found manual resizing(often times while holding Shift) easy and quick.

This is something that can be done via g'mic plugin. Only problem is that it is a clumsy solution as it requires loading gmic-qt and not to mention coding(I prefer to code other filters). Your other option is to code up a pdn plugin. It's one or the other, either are clumsy.

I am away from this forum for undetermined amount of time: If you really need anything related to my PDN plugin or my G'MIC filter within G'MIC plugin, then you can contact me via Paint.NET discord, and mention me.

Another thing to do is enable ruler on and draw a series of line with antialias turn off, 1 pixel size, and create different grid of colors, or to save time, use this plugin, to establish position of grid:

If you like more geometric shapes, you could include things like a simple mug or bowl, or a little box. Try to stay away from anything that will tempt you to get caught up in details or worries over getting the right proportions, so you can stay focused on the main point of the exercise.

However, you can change value and color as you go. If you have objects of two different colors, the colors will bleed into one another, but that will actually work to your advantage. By the same token, the color of the objects will bleed into the shadow areas, and that also is a good thing. (To see a more dramatic example of how this works in multiple colors, you might want to watch the Bowl and Lemons demo from my Watercolor Jumpstart class.)

For most of my work in Illustrator, I use basic shapes. I draw a rectangle; move around the anchors; subtract a circle from the middle; etc. When I'm done, I've got a drawing made up of lots of individual shapes (objects) that compose a picture.

I've recently been given an illustration that the artist did with Live Paint. I've never used that feature myself, but it reminds me of virtual stained glass. The outline of all the shapes is one big piece, then the colors were filled in one by one. The problem is that I can't seem to manipulate parts of the illustration like I can with individual objects.

You can use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to manipulate the original objects that went into the Live Paint object. Also, Object > Expand... from the menubar will break the Live Paint object up into component shapes, as if the object were 'flattened', which you can then manipulate. They'll probably be within a couple nested groups, so you'll have to Ungroup a few times or use the Direct Selection Tool to get at them.

Hopefully simple question: I need to draw a bunch of shapes that need to have the exact same dimensions. The most straightforward idea I have is to draw one shape exactly the way I want it and then copy & paste. The problem is: how do I copy and paste a shape onto the same layer? I can't figure out how to do this. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Given that the majority of my work will be drawing and copying shapes onto a layer over a background (and then discarding the background) I guess I need to look for a different tool. Sad actually because paint.net is otherwise absolutely fantastic!

You need to make your shapes on their own layer. In any photo editor having objects or shapes on their own transparent layer is important. So, do not draw on the white layer, add a new layer, make sure it's the layer you're on by clicking on it, and then draw on it. You will want to draw each object on it's own layer and then merge the layers down. You can find working with layers in the documentation, if you need a link just ask.

Also, note, be sure when you copy you use copy (ctrl + c) not copy merged (ctrl+shift+c).

It's all about layers, at the end of the day. They are important and many people create their works by using many, many layers before they merge down. It takes practice and often you need to keep track of them by giving them names. In the example I've posted below, you will see 3 layers with the stars. You could merge them down to each other and then have three on one layer, you could then duplicate that layer and move them them again to meet up with the first three, so you'd then have six ............ and so on.

Here is what I want to do: turn a screen shot into a screen portrait. That means draw a new image based on a background (the screen shot). After cropping the screen shot to the dimensions I needed I added a new layer. On that layer I drew a rectangle for a text box and a line for a text box label. There are multiple label / text box combos that are all sized the same. That is the reason why I want to copy and paste the shapes versus drawing the exact same over an over again. That though seems to be easier to accomplish than adding a new layer for each shape and then merging the layers.

Thanks for all your replies. Is there a suggestion box somewhere where I can propose adding an easier means for copying shapes? I dug up my PSP6 copy (the one from Jurassic Park) and there copying and pasting shapes is as easy as copy and paste, even on the same layer. PSP6 is just, well, old and crusty.

Ok, here is another way of doing things. You can make your shape on it's new layer, then duplicate the layer, do what you want to the shape such as flip or rotate the layer, or use the move selected pixels tool to edit the shape, then merge the layer down.

Also, here are some plugins that might interest you :

Shapes Render Plugin (when using, uncheck "do a gradient" to make lines all one shade of color)

Align Object Plugin

The Object Align plugin is part of this plugin pack.

(how to install plugins? see here.)

To create a shape, click on the shape type in the Tool Bar menu and drag the shape out on the canvas. The shape will be created in Edit mode. In Edit mode, the shape is not fixed and can be altered in size, orientation, fill and color along with antialiasing options and blend modes. All these options are available from the Tool Bar when the Shapes Tool is active. Click the Finish button in the Tool Bar to commit the shape to the active layer.

Before a Shape is committed to the canvas, it can be moved anywhere on the canvas. Click and drag the pulsing four-arrows-in-a-square icon (see diagram below) using the Left Mouse Button to reposition the Shape.

The Rotation Point determines the center of rotation. It looks like a circle with a cross inside it (see diagram below) and is initially located in the center of the Shape. Click and drag the Rotation Point to relocate it (it can be moved outside the Shape or even off-canvas).

Rotate the Shape about the Rotation Point using the Right Mouse Button to click and drag. An alternative is to position the cursor just outside the Shape when it will become a double headed curved arrow (see diagram below). This indicates the Shape can be rotated about its center by clicking and dragging using the Left Mouse button.

Shapes are able to be drawn in three distinct modes; Shape Outline, Filled Shape and Filled Shape with Outline. The first two options use the Primary Color if the Left Mouse button is used or the Secondary color if the Right Mouse button is used. In the Filled Shape with Outline mode, the fill will be the Secondary color and the outline the Primary color if the Left Mouse button is used. The Right mouse button reverses this coloration.

Brush size measures the size of the shape outline.

The keyboard keys [ and ] increase and decrease the size of the outline by one. If the Ctrl modifier key is added, the outline width will change by 5 per combination keypress.

Shapes can be applied using a Blend Mode selected from the Tool Bar. The Shape will be applied in accordance with the other parameters then reinterpreted as if the pixels were on their own layer with the layer blend mode set.

This setting determines if the selection boundary should be aliased (pixelated) or antialiased (smoothed). If aliased/pixelated is used, selection boundaries will be snapped to the nearest pixel, resulting in a jagged or stepped appearance when shapes meet these edges. If antialiased/smoothed is used, the selection boundaries will be antialiased so a meeting between the shape and the boundary will be smoother.

You can make any shape you want by adding a mesh shape to your object, selecting it and unwrapping by Project to View, scale and position the resulting UV in the UV editor in relation to the rest of your UV, and then paint it in the 3d view using Face Selection Masking. Not perfect, but actually quite useful. You can delete the mesh after and go about your manual painting process again if you want, or you can separate by selection so that you can hide it from view.

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