Work with images

Step 21: Work with images

So that's the hard bit done - now load a drawing, select an area to draw, and choose a drawing style.

On Input tab, click load image and browse to an image to try. Some work better than others, but it's all to taste, so just experiment.
If your image doesn't show up right away, it might be off the screen somewhere, or too small. Click move image and you should see a ghost version of your image hovering under your mouse. Click in the centre of your machine to place it there, and click move image again to move out of that mode.
Drag resize image to control how big the image is.
Click Select Area and drag a box around the area you want to draw.
Once you've selected an area, the view will automatically switch to hiding the image, and showing the density preview. Use the smaller view buttons in the bottom of the control panel to show the image or hide the density preview.
The density preview is designed to show what detail is being captured. The circles are not representative of the shapes that will be drawn, but are representative of their intended position, size and brightness.
Drag the number spinner for grid size to change the size of the "pixels", bearing in mind that smaller ones take longer to draw (actually they are faster individually, but there are more of them).
Drag the number spinner for sample area to change the contrast of your image. This is the size of the area that is sampled when choosing the density (pixel sample area). I find I get the best results with a sample area just bigger than my grid size.

Remember, that once you've found a setting you like, you can save it to the properties configuration file by clicking save properties. If you don't, it'll all disappear when you restart and you will burst into tears.