How do I make the brush NOT taper at the start?

fluffy · 2020-07-08 04:58:24

When I'm drawing linework, I want the brush width to reflect the amount of pressure I'm applying, rather than slowly tapering up from 0 pixels at the start. Is there any way to get this? It's really annoying to not be able to start out at my actual full brush width.

2020-07-08 15:27:02

Hey there, this looks to be a bug, actually! We'll see if we can fix it in one of our upcoming updates.

fluffy · 2020-07-08 16:26:31

Oh, that’s good to hear! This was the main reason I had to go back to Photoshop for my comics.

I noticed while experimenting with it that there seems to be a huge smoothing factor on the tablet pressure, so for example brushes aren’t responsive to rapid intentional pressure changes. I can see why some folks would want this but it would be excellent if this smoothing factor could be configured in some way.

fluffy · 2020-11-20 01:24:06

I finally checked out the latest version, and while the taper distance has been decreased substantially, it's still there. This makes it still not very useful for doing comic line work.

Madame Flower · 2021-10-08 16:39:41

by Andrius 2020-07-08 08:27:02 Hey there, this looks to be a bug, actually! We'll see if we can fix it in one of our upcoming updates.

Sorry for reviving an old thread, but the involuntary tapering doesn't seem to have been fixed yet!

I really want to use Pixelmator Pro for some inking, but this issue keeps pushing me away
And if this tapering is not a bug but a feature, I'd like an option to toggle it off!

EllenM · 2021-10-08 17:36:53

Can you tell what brush and settings you use?

fluffy · 2021-10-08 18:30:26

Yeah this is still the reason I'm not using Pixelmator Pro for anything. Very disappointing.

Madame Flower · 2021-10-09 02:25:43

by EllenM Can you tell what brush and settings you use?

I used Hard Basic (30px) with 100% Size by Pressure in the demonstration image! The tapering happens on every brush with any percent of Size by Pressure, though...

Aurelija · 2021-10-11 10:16:41

by Madame Flower 2021-10-08 23:25:43 100% Size by Pressure

Did you mean 0% Size by Pressure here, by any chance? Size by Pressure at 100% is supposed to work like this:

So what you'd need is the Size by Pressure set to 0% to start with the full width of a brush:

fluffy · 2021-10-11 16:51:29

That’s not a suitable solution to the problem. Folks posting in this thread want pressure sensitivity, we just don’t want there to be an artificial taper at the beginning of the line that doesn’t respect the actual tablet pressure being applied.

Aurelija · 2021-10-13 15:37:52

by fluffy 2021-10-11 13:51:29 That’s not a suitable solution to the problem. Folks posting in this thread want pressure sensitivity, we just don’t want there to be an artificial taper at the beginning of the line that doesn’t respect the actual tablet pressure being applied.

I understand that. I'm new to this thread and I just wanted to learn a bit more about the issue. Seeing that it hasn't been fully resolved before, I suspect there might be some limitations of the current Pixelmator Pro painting engine that are getting in the way. I'll try to ping the team about it.

nioone · 2021-11-07 08:09:51

I also encountered the same problem, it was too uncomfortable

Aurelija · 2022-01-20 11:12:17

Hey everyone! So we’ve been looking into this painting issue with the team and we think we've come up with a potential fix. We'd very much appreciate your help in testing it! You can drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll send you the test version.

fluffy · 2022-01-21 21:23:40

I got the test version and it doesn't do anything to address the issue being discussed. Lines still taper slowly from the start and ignore pressure entirely until they get to a certain point. Is there some way that we users can better explain what the issue is? It feels like there's a fundamental misunderstanding of what we're saying.

Thanks.

Mika · 2022-01-23 04:05:20

In all its greatness, Pixelmator Pro does indeed lack many advanced features in painting so it is one of the few cases I use other apps. The lack of advanced dynamics and stamp features among other parameters that I'm used to seeing in brushes from Photoshop is a big pain point.

For comparison, I use Artstudio Pro and Krita, which replicate Photoshops brush tools identically and in some ways refine them. If the team ever want to improve brushes, I recommend these two apps as starting points.

fluffy · 2022-01-23 04:09:12

Yeah, I've mostly been using Clip Studio Paint for drawing comics, but I'd love something with a better UI. Unfortunately, while Krita has amazing painting tools, the rest of it is not really suitable for a comics workflow (especially where text is involved).

Aurelija · 2022-01-26 09:32:08

fluffy, thanks for taking the time to test this build. If possible, could you also share the model of the graphics tablet you've been testing this with? The issue itself is pretty clear to us but fixing it isn't really that easy. Any changes to the painting engine require extensive testing on different Mac setups and tablets as there are many different nuances that may come up. That's why we asked you guys for help. Obviously, this particular fix didn't work for everyone, although we did see improvement when testing internally. We'll have to dig deeper into this.

by Mika 2022-01-23 02:05:20 In all its greatness, Pixelmator Pro does indeed lack many advanced features in painting so it is one of the few cases I use other apps. The lack of advanced dynamics and stamp features among other parameters that I'm used to seeing in brushes from Photoshop is a big pain point.

Having the option to create brushes/stamps from full-color images would be a cool addition, for sure. We can keep this in mind for future painting engine improvements. As for other brush dynamics/features, are there any particular ones you use in other apps that you don't find in Pixelmator Pro?

fluffy · 2022-01-26 17:21:35

I'm using a Wacom Intuos Pro. This is the only program which has had any trouble directly tracking the pressure from this tablet. It seems to me like there's just some really big, unwanted smoothing factor being applied to the pressure.

Aurelija · 2022-01-27 10:26:12

by fluffy I'm using a Wacom Intuos Pro. This is the only program which has had any trouble directly tracking the pressure from this tablet. It seems to me like there's just some really big, unwanted smoothing factor being applied to the pressure.

Got it, thanks! It is possible that it's something smoothing-related but it's difficult to say for sure at the moment. There's quite a bit of code to go through. Honestly, this fix is looking to be a separate painting engine project on its own.

Jimbo724 · 2022-02-04 20:05:37

Can you back over the point to give it full thickness?

fluffy · 2022-02-04 20:11:19

Technically, yes, but it's far from ideal.

Adam Lindsay · 2023-05-11 22:45:47

Are there any updates on this? Still an issue in 3.3.2 and so I still can't use the app for any serious inking work even though I really want to

Teo Reat · 2024-06-28 08:12:08

Hi, are there any solutions to the problem? I recently bought the program, but the bug that is discussed in this topic still remains.

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How do I make the brush NOT taper at the start?