Making smooth, rather than jagged lines using the paintbrush

[mark88]

Hi,

 

I'm a total newbie, I just downloaded this program today for the first time.  I downloaded it because I am trying to draw over photographs using paintbrush.  Using ms paint, the lines/curves were very jagged.  Using paint.net, the lines/curves seem noticably better (right?), but I can still see some jagged edges.  Is there any way I can reduce or eliminate this, while still being able to freely move the mouse around and draw whatever I like? 

 

I have noticed that reducing the "hardness" seems to help, but then the line gets a little fuzzy.  Is this the best way to reduce jagged edges... to find a good spot on the "hardness" scale, where its not too fuzzy but not too jaggy?  Or are there other, better ways?

[david.atwell]

How far are you zoomed in?

[mark88]

Not zoomed at all.

 

I do definitely notice that the jaggies pretty much disappear as you lower the hardness.  I guess thats the key?

[Red ochre]

Have you accidentally turned anti-aliasing off? instead of

 

(OK the forum Icons aren't working  so the two icons shown look the same just try clicking the zigzag angular version into the smooth one shown.)

[mark88]

Hi,

 

thanks for your comment.

 

I checked, its set the right way.

 

I'll attach a test of what im getting.  The % is what the hardness is set at.

 

Does this look normal to you?  

 

It occurs to me that using a mouse, maybe this is the best it/I can do.  For sure its better than microsoft paint, right?

 

Is there another way I can draw, without using the mouse, that might be easier?  This is a WIndows 7 PC, without a touchscreen.  Maybe something like a stylus and a trackpad, where I could look at the screen and draw with my hand... though that might be awkward, I dont know...?

 

[Eli]

I do not have steady hands so when I want my lines to look smooth I use the Line/Curve tool or Tr's SplineMaster effect.

[Rick Brewster]

Yeah what you're seeing is the jaggedness of raw mouse input. Paint.NET doesn't apply a smoothing algorithm to the mouse input, which ends up as a sequence of points (x,y) that form a polyline.

[Red ochre]

There is a freeware program called Krita that has brushes with smoothing and works with a Wacom tablet.
Here:
https://krita.org/
Perhaps that's overkill?

Also my 'gossamer' plugin can be used to 'smooth out' lines after they are drawn....but may not be the easiest effect to use.

[mark88]

Hi all,

 

Thank you very much for your helpful replies!

 

The drawings I want to make will be over photographs that I want to remain unaltered.  So, for this reason I am thinking that gossamer might not be what I am looking for because it would alter the background as well, right?

 

The line/curve tool might not be as flexible as I'd like... as I'd like to be able to make a line "freely".  ALthough I dont have paint.net installed on the computer I'm currently writing on so I'm not sure, will try it later.

 

How about TR's spline master effect... that looks promising?  Can you use it while freely drawing with the mouse?  If so... I;d appreciate advice about how to get and install it, if it isnt already installed in paint.net.

 

And thank you again for your help.  I may have some other questions as well, as I plan to use paint.net for a project I'm working on.

 

BTW I have to say, looks like the ipad pro would be an awesome device to draw on with their pencil stylus.  But it aint cheap!  I guess Im considering getting a stylus to work with the ipad air.  I'd like to see if I can be successful with paint.net and a mouse first, though.

 

Is it common for people to draw high quality pictures on a computer with a mouse, or is it almost always with a stylus?

Edited January 5, 2016 by mark88

[mark88]

So I investigated TR's spline master effect.  Hm!  Inetresting.  So, this is something with which I can create a line drawing, and then overlay it onto various photos, rezing as I see fit?  Cool...  how do I get and install it?  

 

Is this something I can also do within paint.net, without using TR's spline master effect... creating a line drawing and overlaying it onto various photos at different sizes?  For example, a stick figure of a man, exactly the same figure, but pasted onto different backgrounds, at various sizes...?

 

thank you!!

[Eli]

As many people, I started with MS Paint but quickly I changed to Paint.net. The power of layers and the support from plugin/effect developers make of Paint.Net an excellent Image editing program and yet it is easy to use.

 

 

There is a search engine if you need help. If you have a question or help there is probably a discussion about it somewhere in the forums.

 

There is also a Paint.Net Documentation that explains the tools and menus.

 

----

You need to download the effec first : TR's SplineMaster

 

To install it folow this tutorial : How to install Paint.Net plugins.

[mark88]

Fantastic, thank you!

 

Yeah, I can see altready that paint.net is a great program.  I've already decided that I will use it for my project.

 

I have another question, I'll open a new thread about it!

Edited January 5, 2016 by mark88