Using a Custom Palette Effectively When Working With Nozzles in Painter 6 & 7

Custom palettes are much like Painter’s standard palettes. You can move, resize, or close them to save screen real estate and Painter keeps custom palettes from one session to the next.
You can save a custom palette to a file if you wish to remove it from the program and load it again. This feature is useful when you have to reinstall Painter in case of a program crash. Saved custom palettes cannot be used in another version of Painter.

To Create a Custom Palette:

1.  Choose Window > Custom Palette > Add Command.

2.  Choose File > Save As. This command is one I use all the time so a mouse click is saved each time. You don’t need to add it in version 8.1 because you can use the shortcut keystroke Ctrl + Shift + S to access the Save As dialog. It may not seem like much of a difference at the moment. This menu command is loaded into a custom palette when you click OK. You will see a Custom Palette in your workspace named Custom-1.

3.  Choose Window > Custom Palette > Organizler. This is where you edit and delete unwanted palettes.

4.  The Custom-1 palette is highlighted in the Custom Palettes window. Click on the Rename button. Rename the palette to Nozzle Production or whatever you wish it to be. Click on the Done button. Now you are ready to add more items to the palette.

 

5.  Add brush shortcuts to the palette by selecting the brush category icon and dragging it onto the palette. I added the Image Hose and Airbrush icons because they are the ones I use most often.

6.  Choose Window > Custom Palette > Add Command. I suggest you add the following commands from the Nozzles command menu: All commands except Make Nozzle From Movie unless you plan to do a lot of those types of nozzles.

 

Go to the Layers palette and add these commands from the Layers menu. New Layer, Group, Select All, Collapse, and Delete Layer.

From the Masks command menu, add New Mask, Auto Mask, and Delete Mask.

7.  You can arrange the icons and buttons the way you want them by holding down the Ctrl key as you drag them.

  a)  I arranged mine using the ones I use most often. I placed the two brush icons at the beginning of the first row followed by the Load Nozzle and Set Nozzle Scale buttons.

  b) The second row consists of 3 buttons, the New Layer, Select All, and Group commands.

  c) The third row buttons are Drop and Select, Collapse, and Delete Layer.

  d) The fourth row contains the New Mask, Auto Mask, and Delete Mask buttons.

  e) The fifth row has the Make Nozzle From Group button, followed by the Add Nozzle to Library, and Check Out Nozzles buttons.

  f) The final row of buttons are the Nozzle Mover and Save As buttons.

My palette looks like the example on the right. This arrangement works for me but you might like them another way. If you wish to delete a command button or icon altogether, first drag it out of the custom palette. A new custom palette named Custom-2 will appear in the work- space.  Go to Windows  > Custom Palette > Organizer and select the name of the custom palette that corresponds to the newly dragged out icon and then hit the Delete button in the Custom Palette Organizer.  

In my example there are 7 command buttons that are grayed out. They appear this way because they are inactive. For instance, if you were to drag the apple layer from the Image Portfolio onto the empty canvas, the Select All, Group, Drop And Select, and Delete Layer buttons would become active. If you drag the orange layer onto the canvas and click on the Select All button, and then the Group button, all but the mask commands are now active. You can easily see by following this example that you will increase your graphics production, help fine tune your workflow, and aid the longevity of your physical well being. Less clicks or mouse/stylus movement means less stress and longer pain free moments in you work day.
8.  To save the finished custom palette choose Window > Custom Palette > Organizer. Highlight Nozzle Production in the Custom Palette list and click on the Export button. Navigate to the folder you want to store your palettes in and click on the Save button.
9.  Whenever you need to install the palette again in the case of a catastrophic program crash just click on the Import button and select the custom palette file.
Painter 8.1:  This version works the same way as 6 & 7. Unfortunately none of the nozzle commands can be added to a custom palette. The best you can do is to add the brush icons and the layer and mask commands. Even with these minimal commands you will, not only save time, but also see the results in your workflow.