5.3 The Paths sidebar

[Install Version Only]

The Paths sidebar on the right hand side of the EzyPath interface displays only one tab concerning itself with the paths that are contained within that image.

The list box at the top of the pane labelled ‘Image paths’ displays the names of all the paths that are contained in the image. Clicking on an image path name will select the path in the image paths list box, and the shapes that are displayed over the image will update to only those shapes that are contained within that selected path. When selecting an image path in the list, the ‘Path details’ box at the bottom of the sidebar will also update to reflect the details of that path.

A discussion of paths as layers has already been described in this documentation, but this section of the interface is where this layering is controlled. By default one layer exists for each image, but new image path layers can be added to the image by pressing the ‘Create new image path’ button at the top of this sidebar. Doing so causes EzyPath to hide any shapes that were on the path that was being worked on, and a new path is added to the top of the image paths list, as well as default values to the path details box at the bottom of the sidebar. This path is now at the top of the layer stacking order and any shapes drawn on it will therefore appear on top of any other shapes on paths beneath it.

Beneath the image paths list are two buttons ‘Move up’ and ‘Move down’. These buttons allow the user to control the path layer stacking order. By selecting the top path and pressing the ‘Move down’ button repeatedly the top layer can be moved to the very bottom of the stacking order, meaning that any shapes on that path when painted will appear under any shapes on paths painted above it.

This can be seen visually if say three paths are created and a shape that occupies roughly the same area of the image is created on each of these paths. If the user toggles the preview mode by clicking the ‘Preview’ button on the EzyPath browser bar, the three shapes are displayed, the green shape being the current layer and the blue shapes represent the other two layers. Moving the layer up and down using the ‘Move up’ and ‘Move down’ buttons reveals and hides the shapes relative to each other. So there is less of the green shape visible when the path is on the bottom layer than there is when this path occupies the top layer. This preview mode reflects how the shapes would actually be painted within EzyPaint.

TIP: You can make use of this layering technique to quickly path an image that you know will have all paths painted. Say you have a wall with a window frame on it and you wish to paint both, you would first create a layer and trace the outside boundary of the wall creating a path that encapsulates both the wall and the entire window. Then you would quickly create a mask inside that shape that roughly sits between the inside and outside of the window frame, so that the glass is not painted when we eventually paint using EzyPath. There is no need to precisely trace this mask as it will be covered in the next path. Create a second path that will sit above the other path in the layer stacking order, and to this add a more carefully defined shape round the outside edge of the window frame. When complete add a mask that closely traces the inside edge of the window frame. Define base colours for both paths (see following section) and save the paths, then switch to EzyPaint and paint the wall with a colour from ColorRite. You will notice the rough edge of the mask that overlaps the window frame, however if we now paint the window frame path itself with another colour, this issue disappears as the window frame was traced properly and this path is above the wall layer in the stack, so anything painted on it appears on top of everything else, effectively blocking out the rough edge.

The ‘Path details’ box holds several pieces of information about the path that can be viewed and changed.

Path name: This is the name of the path currently selected and being edited. This is an editable text box so the name of the path can be changed here from the default value after it has been created.

Base colour – This base colour is important as it helps to correctly paint a colour from ColorRite when one is applied. The base colour in the colour box for a path is initially set to none. To set a colour, roll the mouse over the base colour box so that the interaction hand icon appears. Click and drag from this box and the colour sample dropper icon will appear. Drag the sampler over to the image path and release the tip of the sampler over the area that BEST represents the original colour of that path.

It is very important that this base colour is properly set up, otherwise some strange painting effects may occur when painting this path in EzyPaint. If the path in question has areas of shadow and/or highlight, these areas should not be used to select the base colour from. The base colour should represent the original image path colour under normal lighting conditions. If the colour of a path can only be seen in extremes of highlight and darkness, and no mid range colour representation is available, then it is advised to select the lighter colour as this will provide better results than selecting a base colour from areas in darkness. If you do notice some strange painting on a particular path then it is advised to switch from EzyPaint to EzyPath and select a more appropriate base colour setting for that path.

A path data file cannot be successfully saved if a base colour is not selected for every created path that contains at least one shape. If you get this error when attempting to save, select each path in the list to check that a base colour has been correctly specified for that path, and then retry.

Perspective – This is a setting that will only affect textures if they are applied to this path. Essentially each texture image that can be applied to a path is viewed from a ‘head on’ angle, however some aspects of an image being pathed may not exist in this same ‘head on’ plane e.g. a wall may appear to be getting smaller in the distance as we look at it in the image. The perspective tool attempts to give the user an ‘approximation’ of the plane that a path or a shape in the path exists on, so that if a texture is applied, a more realistic look can be achieved.

Perspectives can be set for an entire path or on individual shapes. If parts of the image that exist in the same path also exist in the same plane then the entire path can have a perspective applied. If however two parts of the image that exist on the same path exist on different planes, then they should be made into separate shapes and have their own individual perspectives applied.

To set a perspective for an entire path select the path in the image paths list, but do not select an individual shape using the select tool. Roll the mouse over the ‘Entire path’ block control and notice the cursor changes to the hand icon. Click the mouse, and a grid of nine possible perspectives will be displayed. Select the perspective that best represents the perspective of the object in the image, and that perspective will be set for the entire path.

To set a perspective on individual shapes in a path, select the path in the image paths list, and then select an individual shape using the select tool. Roll the mouse over the ‘Individual Shape’ block and notice the cursor changes to the hand icon. Click the mouse, and a grid of 9 possible perspectives will be shown, select the perspective that best represents the perspective of that shape in path, and that perspective will be set for that shape. Repeat this process for all the other shapes in that path as required, otherwise they will default to the perspective shown for the ‘Entire path’. Be careful not to set the ‘Entire path’ perspective when setting perspectives for individual shapes, or all the shapes in that path will have their perspectives reset to this value.

While these nine representations of perspective cannot offer every single perspective angle, they do provide some good approximations that aid visualisation of textures.

Delete image path – The last control available on the Path details dialog is the ‘Delete image path’ button, pressing this button will delete the current image path, via a dialog box asking for confirmation. This deletes the path along with any of the shapes that existed on this path. If the last path is deleted then it is removed in the same fashion as other paths, but a new blank path is added afterwards, as each image is required to contain at least one path.

TIP: If you accidentally delete a path or a shape from a path, do not save the path file, and exit EzyPaint. When you restart and reload the file it will be in the same state as it was when it was last saved before the mistake.