How the Image Hose Works

The Image Hose is a brush. To use it, you must first load it with images. The images are kept in special nozzle files. On a garden hose, you attach a nozzle to control the flow of water; in Corel Painter, you attach a nozzle to the Image Hose to control its medium — images.

A nozzle file can contain any number of images. Usually, the images are similar and form a logical series — that is, the images progress along some order. For example, the images might increase in size or advance in angle. It is not necessary for images to progress in a logical series, but the Image Hose is more effective when they do.

“Indexing” refers to the method used to select particular images from the many images in a nozzle file. Which method (indexing rule) to use for selecting nozzle images is controlled by modifying the Image Hose settings. You can hose images sequentially, at random, or based on pressure, stroke direction, or several other factors.

The images are indexed so that Corel Painter can locate and paint specific images on request. As you paint with the Image Hose, you can request specific images from the nozzle index by varying your input value. Increasing an input value takes images from later in the series. For example, you can set up the nozzle so that by pressing harder with a pressure-sensitive stylus, you paint with larger images.

You control the images themselves in the nozzle file. If you want more variety in the images, create more images in the nozzle file. For more information about designing and creating nozzle files, see Creating, Loading, and Saving Nozzles for the Image Hose.

As your Image Hose requirements become more exacting, you can create complex nozzles that involve two progressions — for example, images getting larger and changing angle. In this case, you’ll use one input factor to determine image size and use another factor to determine image angle. This creates a 2-Rank nozzle.

A 2-Rank nozzle progresses in two dimensions. In this example, the first rank changes angle, and the second rank changes size.

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