Corel Painter Help | Grain controls

Quick links to procedures on this page:

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To set grain

Grain controls

Grain lets you control the amount of paper texture that brushstrokes reveal. You can set the level of grain that you want to reveal (Grain slider). You can also use the Expression settings to link grain to various stylus or mouse movements. For more information, see Expression settings. For example, you can link grain to pressure. Increasing pressure causes the pencil to "dig into" the paper and produce a grainier brushstroke. You can also link grain to audio input from your microphone, or internal audio such as streaming music. For more information, see Audio Expression.

Using Audio Expression to vary grain

You can also adjust the Min setting to specify the range of variability that you want the expression to apply. The Min Grain setting represents a percentage of the Grain setting and it must be linked to an expression to have an effect. For example, if you choose the Pressure expression on the Grain panel, set the Grain slider to 100% and set the Min Grain slider to 10%, the amount of grain revealed will vary from 10% to 100% every time you apply pressure during a brushstroke.

Normally, when you make a brushstroke, the paper grain is fixed. Strokes repeated over an area bring out the same grain, but you can specify to randomly move the paper grain for each dab of each stroke (Random Brush Stroke Grain and Grain Jitter). You can also use the Smoothness slider to smooth the grain jitter in a brushstroke for a more organic look.

Brushstrokes with Random Brush Stroke Grain disabled (top) and enabled (bottom)

In addition, you can use the paper’s brightness and contrast settings to control brush–grain interaction. For more information, see Working with paper texture and grain and Expression settings.

To set grain

Choose Window

Brush Control Panels

Grain.

Move the Grain slider to adjust the penetration into the grain.

You can also
Link the grain settings to a specific stylus or mouse movement	Choose an option from the Expression list box.
Set the percentage of variability that you want the expression to apply	Move the Min Grain slider.
Adjust the angle of the Direction expression	Move the Direction slider.
Adjust the amount of variation that is applied to Grain	Move the Grain Jitter slider.
Smooth the grain variation	Move the Smoothness slider.
Randomize the brushstroke grain interaction	Enable the Random Brushstroke Grain check box.

When adjusting Grain Jitter, make sure the Min Grain slider is not set to 100%. Setting the Min Grain to 100% stops Grain Jitter from occurring.

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