In this video we're going to be looking at the new, to Painter 2016
Enhanced Layer Blending brush technology.
And like the name implies, we're going to be working with enhanced blending on layers.
So we're going to use documents that have layers in order to see this.
Now what I primarily want to point out to you is what's going to matter
when we're working with this, is the alpha transparency.
So if I turn off my canvas real quick,
You can see on this layer that I have right now, I have alpha transparency all the way around.
I also do not have the 'Pick up underlying color' or 'Preserve Transparency' set yet.
I want to go ahead and just work with this as a standard type of layer first,
and then we'll see what those options do next.
So I'm going to come back over here and turn my canvas back on,
so that we can just focus on what's going on here.
And I want to go back to a previous version of Painter in terms of my Brush Library
So we can see how old brushes used to handle this.
So I'm going to come over and change from my Painter 2016 Brush Library
over here to the Brush Library of Painter 2015 brushes
and this is going to allow me to see how things used to be in a previous version of Painter.
So if I come over her and I choose from my Painter 2015 brushes, the Blenders category
and I come down here to 'Grainy Water'
What I want to do, is I want to be blending on my Layer 1.
uitilizing this Grainy Water brush, without the Enhanced Layer Blending,
so that we can see exactly what we used to get in Painter.
S o if I come over here and I begin to blend, you can see what we get is this white stuff
that's blending at the outer edges where we're hitting alpha transparency.
As a matter of fact, if I come over here and I just paint in the middle of nowhere,
You can see I still get the white, even though I'm not touching anything
that has any kind of opacity on this particular layer.
So again, not ideal at all. Let me go ahead and CTRL+Z to undo those guys a couple of times
I'm going to come over here to Window and I'm going to come down to Brush Control Panels
and I'm going to come over here to 'Blending'.
Blending is the control panel that is going to allow us to access the Enhanced Layer Blending options.
This is a new name for an old control panel that we used to have in previous versions of Painter called the Well.
It still has all the same settings that the Well used to have in it, but it just has a couple of new options in it.
The most important of which is the Enhanced Layer Blending option.
So again remember, if I come over here and I start blending, I'm going to be getting that white
where I'm hitting alpha transparency. Let me go ahead and undo that.
If I turn on Enhanced Layer Blending, what you're going to see is, that I do not get the white.
Instead I'm able to pull the local color out, in to that transparent space
and I'm able to work with it in transparent space.
If I start in a transparent area where there is no opacity, you can see I don't pull up anything.
There is nothing that is being pulled up. This is not like Pick up underlying color,
instead what we're doing is, we're pulling those opaque pixels out in the transparent space.
And we're blending them in the transparent space.
This is a very important distinction because if I come over here and I undo a couple of these strokes,
and I turn on 'Pick up underlying color', you'll see I get a very different result,
the reason why, is because we're pulling up that green from the background
and we're using that in our transparent space. So again, very different results
that what we would get with 'Pick up underlying color'. An important distinction to make.
I might go ahead and undo those brushstrokes, so that I get back to a clean surface here.
And then what I want to do is, I want to come over and see what happens
when we're working with the 'Preserve Transparency' , without the Enhanced Layer Blending.
So if I just come over here and I work with this in the old mode without the Enhanced Layer Blendig
What you're going to see is, instead of white, what I'm getting is black
where ever we're hitting that transparent portion of the layer.
And again, the reason why is, because we're working with 'Preserve Transparency'
which is locking the transparency of those pixels, maintaining clean, hard edges
but we're pulling in this black and this is definitely not a good thing.
I go ahead and I undo that and I come over here and I turn on the Enhanced Layer Blending,
what you'll see is that I'm able to blend now, but I don't get that black.
So the idea here is, that you would use the Enhanced Layer Blending
when ever you're working on a layer, whether you're working with the 'Preserve Transparency' option on or off,
without the 'Preserve Transparency' you won't be getting this white stuff
and with the 'Preserve Transparency', you won't be getting this black stuff.
So, regardless, which ever way you're wanting to work, the idea here is that Enhanced Layer Blending
is going to resolve the white problem here or the black problem here.
It's definitely a good thing. Now the important thing to understand is,
that pretty much all of the brushes that are within the Painter 2016 Brushes Library,
already have this enabled. But if you want to bring in any older brushes, from Painter 2015
or previous that you may already have, then you're probably going to want to come in here
to the Blending control panel, and turn on Enhanced Layer Blending
so that you can enjoy this new technology within Painter 2016.