Adding Drawings to Your Image

You can use the Drawing Tools in Edit mode to add lines and shapes, such as squares, circles, and arrows to your image. You can also adjust the width, feathering, and blending of your brush, which is useful for creating subtle and dramatic drawings.

To Draw on Your Image:

  1. In Edit mode, at the top of the panel, select from the following tools:

    2. Hand

    Use the Hand tool to exit out of any other drawing or selection tool. If you have a scrollable image, the Hand tool also allows you to pan it.

    Rectangle

    Drag over the image to create rectangle. Press Shift as you draw to create a square. To fill your shape with color, ensure that the Fill checkbox is checked.

    Ellipse

    Drag over the image to create an ellipse. Press Shift as you draw to create a circle. To fill your shape with color, ensure that the Fill checkbox is checked.

    Line

    Drag over the image to draw a straight line. Press Shift as you draw to create a vertical or horizontal line.

    Arrow

    Drag over the image to create an arrow. Press Shift as you draw to create a vertical or horizontal arrow.

    Polygon

    		  

    Click to set the corner points of a polygon, then double-click to connect the start and end points to complete the polygon. To fill your shape with color, ensure that the Fill checkbox is checked.

    Curve

    Drag over the image then release. Next, move your mouse to create the curve and click to set.

    Brush

    Drag over the image to draw a free-flowing line. Left-click with your mouse to draw with the foreground color, and right-click to draw with the background color.

    Use the Opacity slider to adjust the amount of Opacity that is applied to the canvas.

    Use the Flow slider to adjust how fast the effect builds up with each brush stroke.

    Click on the Brush Settings button to make changes to the brush including general settings, shape dynamics, and color dynamics.

    Use the mouse wheel to adjust nib width or use the Size slider at the top of the panel, next to the Feathering slider.

    Use Ctrl + mouse wheel to adjust the amount of feathering or adjust the Feathering slider at the top of the panel, near the Opacity slider.

    Jitter applies elements of randomness to your brush, controlled via the Brush Settings menu.

    You can undo and redo each brush stroke individually using the Undo and Redo buttons at the bottom of the Filter Menu.

    Fill

    Select the Fill button, and click on a pixel to shade every pixel of that same color value with your selected color. Your selected color is defined in the color box, as described below. Use the Threshold slider to adjust the number of pixels to be included or excluded. The Threshold slider sets how similar a pixel needs to be to the one you clicked in order to be included in the selection. Check the Connected checkbox in the Context Bar to fill all of the connected pixels of the same color.

    Gradient

    Use the Gradient tool to draw gradients across your image, or use the radial option to draw a gradient around an area. Select the Gradient tool, then configure your color, opacity and blend mode using the Context bar. For a radial gradient, select the Radial Gradient button in the Context bar. Then draw your gradient by dragging across the image. To discard your gradient, press the Discard button in the Context bar. Rearrange your gradient as desired, then press the Commit button in the Context bar. You can undo your commit by pressing Ctrl + Z, selecting Edit | Undo, or by using the History Window.

    Eye Dropper

    Use the Eye Dropper tool to select colors from your images. Click a color in the image, which will appear in the color boxes at the top right of the panel. You can then apply this color using the drawing tools, such as the Brush tool.

    You can select the background color (bottom of the color boxes) by right-clicking on your image.

    You can select a color from outside of the application by left-clicking on your image and dragging your cursor to the color outside of the application. When you release your mouse button, the color will be selected and shown in the color boxes at the top right of the panel.

    Eye Dropper also displays the luminance value of the highlighted pixel.

  2. Select from one or more of the following options (Note: options vary depending on the tool selected):

    Color

    Select a color by clicking the color boxes at the top right of the panel to open the Foreground or Background Color dialog, which displays a dialog of swatches to choose from. If you are drawing a solid shape, such as a rectangle, the top (foreground) color box defines the color for the outline of the shape. The bottom (background) color box defines the color that fills the center of the shape. If you want your shape to be a solid color, set both color boxes to match.

    You can reset to black and white by pressing the reset button directly next to the color boxes.

    Nib Width

    Drag the Nib Width slider to set the diameter of the brush measured in pixels. You can also adjust the nib width with the mouse wheel or by right-clicking on the image to reveal the Nib Width sliders.

    Feathering

     

    Select the Nib Width button to reveal the Feathering slider. Drag the Feathering slider to set the blurring radius of the brush. You can also right-click on the image to reveal the Nib Width and Feathering slider. Or, you can also hold down Shift while using the mouse wheel to adjust the feather radius, represented by the dotted circle.

    Spacing

     

    Drag the Spacing slider to set how far apart each brush segment will be. This slider specifies the percentage of the size of the nib width, which determines how smooth or choppy the strokes will appear.

    Use Auto Spacing: check the Use Auto Spacing checkbox to allow ACDSee to choose a spacing percentage based on the nib width and feathering settings, which will create a smooth-looking stroke.

    Fill

     

    Check the Fill checkbox to fill the shapes you draw with the selected color.

    Opacity

     

    Drag the Opacity slider to specify the transparency of the brush strokes.

    		  

    Blending

     

    Select an option from the Blending drop-down menu to affect how your brush strokes blend with your image as you draw.

    		  
  3. Drag over the image to draw.

You can right-click a slider to reset to the default value.

Drawing Straight Lines:

Hold the Shift key while using any brush to draw horizontal or vertical lines. For example, holding Shift, then clicking and dragging horizontally will lock the cursor into horizontal only so long as shift is being held. Release Shift to return to free hand brushing. You can even release Shift to return to free hand brushing, then press it again while still drawing the same line to unlock and re-lock the brush at will.

Drawing Diagonal Lines:

Using any brush, you can create straight diagonal lines by placing two points on the image. Place the cursor where you want the line to begin, press and hold Shift, then Left-Click on the image to create a point. Let go of Shift, and move the brush to where the line will end, press and hold Shift, then Left-Click again to create a second point. A straight line will fill in between these two points.

See also: