Creating shapes & using composition modes

In this lesson you'll use VizPaint2D's shapes tool to create rectangles, ellipses, polygons, and freehand shapes. You'll also start using VizPaint2D's composition modes to layer elements and modify hue, saturation, and value.

To clear the canvas:

Select paint(TM)clear.
The clear tool is displayed.

Figure 67 Using the clear tool
Click on the pull-down menu at the top of the palette tool and select continuous.
The palette tool updates to display the continuous palette.
Click on the color black.
The color swatch in the continuous palette tool updates to show the color you selected. You will use this color when you clear the canvas.
In the clear tool:

click whole
adjust the opacity to 0
click on the color selector
click clear
The entire canvas is cleared using the black color. When you perform the clear operation at a very low opacity, it acts like an erase operation.

To create a square:

Select paint(TM)shapes.
The shapes tool is displayed.

Figure 68 Using the shapes tool
Click anywhere in the canvas. Move the pointer up and to the right. Click to finish the shape.
A square outline tool is displayed on the canvas, showing the size and position of the newly created shape.

Once you've created a shape, you can adjust its position and size using the handles on the outline tool (described in figure 69) as follows:

click and drag on the solid move handle to change position
click and drag on the scale or stretch handles to change size
)

Figure 69 Shapes outline tools

Click on the shapes fill tool color selector (see figure 70) in the small tool to the right of the shapes tool.

This activates the color selector. The color currently displayed in the palette tool's color swatch appears in the shapes fill color selector. To select a different color, click on a color in the palette tool.

Tip: The shapes fill tool is displayed to the right of the shapes tool. If it is not displayed, click the fill modify button.

	Tip: The shapes fill tool is displayed to the right of the shapes tool. If it is not displayed, click the fill modify button.

Figure 70 Shapes fill tool

Click draw.

A square is drawn using the selected color.

Click outline.

The shapes outline tool is displayed.

Figure 71 Shapes outline tool

Pick white as the current color.

Click draw.

This time, VizPaint2D draws the square with a white outline.

To create a circle:

Select shape(TM)ellipse.
Click create.
Click on the canvas. Move the pointer up and to the right. Click to finish creating the shape.
A circular outline tool is displayed on the canvas.
Click the fill modify button.
The shapes fill tool is displayed.
Select a new fill color by:

clicking on the shapes fill color selector to activate it
selecting a color from the palette tool

Click the outline modify button.

The shapes outline tool is displayed.

Select a new outline color by:

clicking on the shapes outline color selector to activate it
selecting a color from the palette tool

Click draw to paint the circle.

VizPaint2D draws the circle with the new fill and outline colors.

Creating a polygon:

Select shape(TM)polygon.
A new option, edges, is displayed in the shapes tool with a text box for entering the number of edges. The default is 3.
In the edges text box, enter 6.
Click create.
Click on the canvas. Move the pointer to create a six-sided polygon on the canvas. Click to finish the shape.
Click draw to paint the polygon.
Your canvas should now look something like this.

Figure 72 Creating polygons with over composition mode
In the areas of overlap, new shapes were drawn over existing ones. (To demonstrate this, move the outline tool over a shape and click draw.) Until now, you have been using the over composition mode.

To change composition mode:

Choose a different composition mode by selecting mode(TM)under.
Click create.
Position the pointer on the canvas so that the new shape straddles both the transparent area and an existing shape.
Click the left mouse button and drag to create the shape. Click again to finish the shape.
Click draw.
The new shape is visible only where nothing existed before.
Add new shapes to the canvas by adjusting the outline tool (using the handles) or by using the create button. Draw them using the atop and erase modes.
The atop mode draws where the outline tool overlaps an existing shape. Erase mode clears everything that falls into the outline tool.
Click create and create a new shape, positioning it over the existing shapes.
Select mode(TM)hue.
The hue, saturation, value, and watercolor modes work differently from other composition modes. To see the how they differ, you need to draw over existing shapes. These modes have no effect on transparent areas.
Select a very pale color (not white) from the palette tool.
In the shapes fill tool:

click on the shapes fill color selector to activate it
click draw
The shape is painted using the chosen hue. Note that while the hue changes, the saturation (or intensity) does not. Also note that areas where the existing shape's outline color is different from the fill color are still visible in the area where the hue has been changed.

Continue creating new shapes and drawing them using the hue, saturation, value, and watercolor modes. Note the different effects of each mode.

Refer to "Composition modes" on page 362 for more information about these four composition modes.

On your own

Before moving on to the next section, try the following to become more proficient with the shapes tool:

combine different opacity settings with different composition modes
adjust the size and position of a shape using the outline tool
create shapes with the uniform and corner buttons turned off

[email protected]