New Presets for Krita 2.4

For krita 2.4 release, we’ve tried to get a good pack of default presets.
The goal is to get some good tools out of the box, and to show special features and engines.

A few weeks ago I made a first selection from my presets, and those from David Revoy and Ramon Miranda (and a few others from developers). It was already a good set, but some were too much identical, and name organisation wasn’t very good to find what you need.
So I’ve cleaned the selection (removed around 1/4 of all presets), corrected problematic icons, and most important renamed all presets to be classified in categories (with maximum 4 categories to not have too long names). Those can be used as tags in the presets search engine to display only the category(ies) you need.

There are 12 “first level” categories:
-Basic (presets using a simple round tip)
-Block (presets using a block/square tip)
-Curve (presets using Curve engine)
-FX (presets with special blending modes for fx)
-Grid (presets using Grid engine)
-Hatch (presets using Hatching brush)
-Pencil (pencil-like presets)
-Rake (presets using a rake tip)
-Shape (presets using current experimental engine to-be-renamed shape engine)
-Sketch (presets using Sketch brush engine)
-Splats (presets using Spray engine and other splats)
-Textured (presets using a textured tip)

Then 2nd part of the name can be:
-paint (for painting presets)
-shade (for shading presets)
-mix (for mix paint presets)
-smudge (for smudge presets)
-Erase (for eraser presets)
-Ink (for inking presets)

Then there can be as optional 3rd part of the name:
-Tilt (for presets using tilt -ascension and declination sensors- that are not available on all tablets)
-Over (because it’s a kind of special painting mode)

Finally, last part of the word can be any adjective, number or reference to identify it.

So check it in next Krita update, or now if you build it yourself ;.)
I hope you’ll find it useful!

Posted in FLOSS, Illustrations, Misc. | Tagged as: , , , , ,

ArgyllCMS – trying to make color calibration easy

Here are the steps I use to calibrate my monitors using argyllCMS on linux, I hope it can help people to do the same:

First, install argyllcms.

Plug in your colorimeter, and place it on your screen.
I use to turn off the light in the room during the process, but I’m not sure if it’s necessary or even a good idea.

Try to set your screen settings to default, to get the most neutral brightness/contrast.

Then open the terminal and run this first command:

dispcal -v -qh -yl -t 6500 -g 2.2 my_profile

-v is verbose mode to display more infos
-qh for quality high
-yl for LCD screen. Use -yc for cathodic screens.
-t 6500 for a white point at 6500°. Recommended for photography and most graphic work.
-g 2.2 for a gamma at 2.2
my_profile is the base name of the generated file

note: to make it simple, this step measure how your screen display is correct compared to what you want (the options). At this step these measures can help you to fine-tune the screen hardware settings closer to what you want, but it’s often better to leave those settings to default.
Generates a my_profile.cal file.

When the first command line process is finished, run this second command line:

argyll-targen -v -d3 -G -g50 -f600 my_profile

-v is verbose mode
-d3 for RGB screen
-G for Good points choice instead of fast
-g for gray points
-f600 to generate 600 patterns. the more patterns, the better is the profile but the longer it is. Doc recommend a value between 200 and 600.
my_profile same base name for the profile you work on.

note: this step generates a set of patterns to use for profile creation.
This step is fast and generate a my_profile.ti1 file.

When the second command process is finished, run this third command line:

dispread -v -yl -k my_profile.cal my_profile

-v for verbose mode
-yl for LCD. Use -yc for cathodic.
-k my_profile.cal to use the file generated in first step
my_profile base name for previous .ti1 file used and .ti3 generated

note: this step is a bit long. Generates a my_profile.ti3 file.

Then the fourth step to create the .icc file, run this command:

colprof -v -A “Brand” -M “Reference” -D “Profile infos” -qh -al my_profile

-v for verbose mode
-A to fill info Brand/manufacturer of the screen (optional)
-M to fill info Ref. of the screen (optional)
-D to fill infos on the profile setup (optional)
-qh for quality high
-al for a table-based profile (bigger file than matrix-based but more accurate; use -as if you still want a matrix-based profile)
my_profile is the base nam of the .ti3 file used and the .icc file generated.

Then you have the .icc profile of your screen. Use gnome-color-manager or your other desktop manager to load it on your screen, or use the command-line :

dispwin -I my_profile.icc

(this install profile for display and use it’s calibration, for multi-monitor setup you may add an option to precise which screen to use)

That’s it, have fun! :.)

Posted in FLOSS, Misc.

Mypaint 1.0.0 released

Today Mypaint has reached 1.0.0

Congrats Mypaint team, good work! :.)

Official announcement

Posted in FLOSS, Misc.

Krita DVD and comics released, and other great news

Hey,

As you may already know if you follow the news on Krita.org , the DVD tutorial “Comics with Krita” and the comics coming with it have been released. Last week-end, I’ve signed all pre-ordered comics and they’ve been sent this week, so you should get your order soon (if you haven’t already!). And for those who missed the pre-order, the DVD+comics pack is still available, grab your copy while you can 😉 RIGHT HERE

 

And another great news, today we (well, mainly boud) finally fixed the remaining bug with wacom tablet on latest Ubuntu, that is a big step closer to a clean 2.4 release…

Also I’ve finished to sort all presets we had (total 108 presets, including some from David Revoy, Ramon Miranda, developers and of course mine) with coherent icons set to include it to master, so now we’ve great presets out-of-the-box!

+ added 42 tone patterns

Check this out!

Posted in Comics, Misc. | Tagged as: , , , ,

Krita 2.4 Beta release – Visual tour

Hi!

The Calligra suite 2.4 Beta1 is just released, including Krita 2.4 Beta1.

This release includes many new features, enhancements and bugfixes. Some major news:

BRUSH ENGINES:

Preset blend and management

  • Now you can manage presets in the preset editor
  • Blending modes for painting can be saved into preset (including Erase mode)

 

Opacity and Flow

  • Opacity can be saved into preset
  • New Flow parameter (similar to Photoshop Flow)

 

SketchBrush

  • Improved Sketch Brush : sensors available on density, line width and offset parameters

 

Color Source

  • New color sources (pattern, gradient, random…)

 

Color Smudge

  • New “Color Smudge” engine

 

Curve Brush

    • New Curve brush based on latest Harmony engine

 

Favorites Popup

        • Favorite brush presets in right-click pop-up palette

 

DOCKERS:

History Docker

        • New history docker

 

Channel Docker

        • New Channel selection docker

 

Hexadecimal Color

        • Specific color selector now has hexadecimal input

 

Image Docker

        • New Image Docker to load reference pictures

 

Art Color Selector

        • New Artistic Color selector with separated hue, saturation and light

 

Tasks set

        • New “Task Sets” Docker to record a list of tasks and repeat it easily

 

CORE:

Blending Modes

 

  • New Blending modes for layers and painting (including photoshop-compatible modes)

 

Top bar

  • Toolbar shortcuts for Opacity, Flow and Size
  • Save/Load Workspaces

 

Multihand

  • MultiHand tool (featuring mirror, symmetry and translate modes)

 

Line Tool

  • Line tool now has pressure and tilt sensors available

 

Split

  • New feature in Image menu: Split an image in a set of rectangles

 

ghns

  • Get Hot New Stuff (GHNS) to share brush presets, patterns and gradients

 

Canvas only

  • New feature in View menu: “Show canvas Only” mode

 

incremental

  • New feature in File menu: “Save incremental version”

Pipe Text

  • New Pipe mode for the Text-painting tool that spray letters on stroke

But this is only the visible top of the Iceberg! Look at the full changelog HERE or the announcement HERE for more details…

Posted in Misc.