Smooth Draw 3.1.3

Digital freehand drawing software

SmoothDraw is a basic and simple digital drawing software which can be used to either create images or retouch photos if needed. SmoothDraw is not as complicated and does not have as many features as Adobe Photoshop, but has its own set of features that we are going to tell you about.


Creating and resizing the canvas

Stating up SmoothDraw will give you a canvas with width and height of 800 x 600 pixels by default. To change this according to what you want to set it at, click on Canvas on the menu bar and select Resize. Either use the arrow keys or type in the width and height for the canvas size. By default, width is directly proportional to height, so if you input the value of width as 1024, you will get the height as 768. To create a canvas with custom values uncheck the option 'Keep Width/Height Ratio'.


Change the size of the canvas

To increase the size of the canvas and at the same time move the image position on the canvas, first increase the size of the canvas. Make sure the option 'Resize canvas but keep image size' is selected. Below that there is a nine cell block, which represents the position of where the image will remain on the canvas after resizing. Click on the appropriate cell where you want the image and click on 'OK'.

To resize the image so that it fits on the canvas, first put in the values for width and height. Next, select 'Resize image' instead of 'Resize canvas but keep image size'. This will either stretch or shrink your image directly to the canvas size you have created.


Layers

The Layers window is located as the last section on the Left Panel. By default, when you open an image, the background layer is displayed in the layer window. To create a new layer click on the 'Commands' button in the layer window and then select 'Add New Layer'. A new layer will be created above the background layer.

To hide this layer, or the background layer, click on the 'Eye' symbol next to the name of the layer.

To move the layer order up or down, first select the layer in the layers window and then click on the up or down arrow.

There are basic blending options that you can add to the layers which include - Normal, Multiply, Screen and Overlay. To change the layer blending options, first click on the Layer Properties button, located next to the Commands button. In the layer property window, you can select the blending mode. A one line description of the blending modes is also present alongside.

Changing the opacity of the layer is also possible through the layer properties window. Either adjust the slider or put in a value for the Layer Opacity. Adding a name to the layer is also possible, just type the name in the box next to Layer Name, in the Layer Properties Window.

Brushes and Presets

SmoothDraw has a set of preset brushes, which include Pen, Leaky Pen, Digital Pencil, 2B Pencil, Dry Media, Felt Pen, Saturated Writing Brush, Digital Airbrush, Fine Spray Airbrush, Graffiti, Bristle Brush, Kind of Water Colour, Cartoon Fill, Light Hash Brush, Dark Hash Brush and Clone Brush. There are also shape presets which include Star, Grass and butterfly. There is a row of these brushes and shapes located below the menu bar. To use the Clone Brush, first select it from the row of brushes. Next hold down the Ctrl key and select a point on the image that you want to start cloning from. Release the Ctrl key. Each brush stroke that you take will now have that point as the starting point.

To add images as shape presets, first select Image Hose from the line of presets. Next click on the image which will be displayed on the Paintbrush section of the Left Panel. Select the desired image and next when you use that preset, the image will be displayed on the canvas.

Saving

To save the image that you have made or manipulated, either go to File on the menu bar and then click on 'Save As'. This will give you more options and formats to save your image. By pressing [Ctr1] + [5] or clicking on 'Save' from File in the menu bar, you get quickJPEG save options. The window that pops up displays JPEG options. . There is a preview window on the right and Quality vertical slider on the left. Adjust the. quality of the image by moving the slider from Bad to Superb. The quality that is selected will be displayed in the preview' window.

If the images are going to be used for web sites, put a check next to Progressive as this will lower the size of the image.