Corel Painter Help | Adjusting Impasto lighting and depth

Quick links to procedures on this page:

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To modify surface lighting to adjust depth

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To adjust the intensity and brightness of a light source

Adjusting Impasto lighting and depth

Corel Painter offers surface lighting controls that let you manipulate the overall depth effect that impasto creates. The changes that you make to the surface lighting can increase or decrease the depth, or perceived thickness, of the brushstroke. These controls are global — they affect all the Impasto brushstrokes on all layers.

You can modify the impasto effect by increasing the appearance of depth.

Setting light position and color

You adjust surface lighting by adding, removing, or changing the position of a light source. The lighting sphere shows all of the possible surface angles and how the lights illuminate them. The light indicators on the sphere show the current positions of all of the light sources. You can adjust the brightness of the sphere, so that it’s easier to see light positions. It does not affect the lights themselves. You can also show or hide the light indicators on the sphere.

The lighting sphere with a light indicator.

In addition, you can change the color of a light source. For example, you can have multiple colored lights interact with the depth to produce different textural effects. You should keep in mind that each light interacts with all the Impasto brushstrokes, so be careful not to set up colored lights that clash with the colors in your composition or light sources that create unwanted shadows.

The image above uses two different colored light sources.

Setting light properties

You can adjust the appearance of depth, in addition to the intensity and brightness of a light source. The adjustments that you make to surface lighting affect all Impasto brushstrokes. To change the depth of individual brushstrokes, you can vary stylus settings or build up media. For more information, see Blending impasto with other layers. Just as the right lighting can bring out the deep-textured look of a brushstroke, the wrong lighting can wash out the effect altogether.

To add, remove, or modify a source

Choose Canvas

Surface Lighting.

Perform an action from the following table.


To	Do the following
Add a light source	Click on the lighting sphere where you want to add a new light source. A new light indicator (small circle) appears where you click.
Delete a light source	Click on a light indicator and press Delete.
Change the light position	Drag a light indicator to a new position on the sphere.
Change the light color	Click a lighting indicator, click the Light color button, and then choose a color from the Color dialog box.

To modify surface lighting to adjust depth

Choose Canvas

Surface Lighting.

In the Appearance of Depth area, adjust any of the following sliders:

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Amount — increases or decreases the visibility of brush striations in brushstrokes. The highest value displays more striations to create the illusion of more texture and increased depth, whereas the lowest value displays less striations to creates the illusion of a smooth texture and no depth.

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Picture — controls how much color appears in the image. At its lowest value, all color is washed out, leaving only the highlights.

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Shine — controls how much highlight appears on the surface of brushstrokes. Higher Shine values make the brushstroke look metallic.

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Reflection — maps a clone source image or pattern onto the texture at a variable percentage. For more information, see Creating reflection maps.

To adjust the intensity and brightness of a light source

Choose Canvas

Surface Lighting.

In the Light Controls area, adjust any of the following sliders:

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Brightness — controls how much light the light source contributes to the overall lighting color

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Conc (concentration) — adjusts the spread of the light over the surface

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Exposure — adjusts the overall lighting amount from darkest to brightest

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