(For more resources related to this topic, see here.)

Custom texture

To capture a shape, you can either create the shape on the canvas or import an image that has the shape you want to capture. Select Shape or Shape + Color from the drop-down list in the Brush Texture section and click on Capture. An ellipse appears; place this ellipse over the shape you want to capture and click on the selection. You can adjust the size of the ellipse using the brush puck so that you can capture more or less of the shape within the ellipse area. Once you capture the shape, you can tweak the spacing, opacity, and so on to get the effect you want.

When you capture Shape + Color, you will not be able to use the brush with any color other than the one assigned when you created the brush.

The following screenshot shows two textures that were created by capturing a shape and then tweaking it further by changing the spacing and rotation. On the sample screenshot labeled 1, randomize color was also selected to give an added effect to the new texture. In that same screenshot the example 2, shows how to capture shape and color. In the Custom Texture field, choose the Shape + Color option. While using the Shape + Color option, the color of the brush cannot be changed. You will notice in the screenshot that the color puck reads one color but the color of the final stroke is independent of that selection. You can vary the value by placing a layer underneath the existing layer with one transparency setting and the top layer with either a higher or a lower transparency setting:

The following screenshot shows the settings for a brush created for ink work. If you want a brush for drawing fine pen and ink lines or lush brush and ink strokes, tweak the properties until you get what you want. The settings for an ink brush are shown in the following screenshot. The size and weight of the stroke can be adjusted as needed using the brush puck and pen pressure properties:

The following drawings were created using a brush with the same properties shown in the previous sections:

Customizing the Lagoon tab and the right-click menu

Select Edit from the menu bar and go to Preferences. You will see a pop-up window as shown in the following screenshot; select the Lagoon tab:

In the upper-half of the window, you will see the lagoon to the left. You can select one of the icons in the lagoon and swap the icon image with one of the images to the right of the lagoon. This will not change any of the menu items for that icon; it will only change the icon image.

To change the menu items for any of the icons in the lagoon, select the icon image from the lagoon in the upper-half of the window. The menu items for the selected icon will appear in the lower-half of the window. To the right of the menu items is a list of all the tools and brushes available in SketchBook Pro. Select one of the items from the menu and click on any of the choices in the list to swap between the tool and brush.

The tools/view menu in the lagoon has the same set of options available to you when you right-click on the screen as shown in the next screenshot. Right-click on the canvas and the tools/view options will appear on your screen so that you can quickly select the tools. For this reason, it would be advantageous to customize this option so that the tools you use the most are available by simply right-clicking on them and selecting them. Any changes made to the right-click menu will take effect after restarting SketchBook Pro.

Stylus responsiveness

From the menu bar, select Edit and then select Stylus Responsiveness. The following screenshot shows the window that will pop up. By changing the position of the marker on the slider, you will customize how the stylus responds to the amount of pressure you apply to your brush stroke.

Select a brush and change the position of the marker on the slider. Test the brush on your canvas and see if you need to move the marker. Once you are satisfied with the response of the stylus on the screen, close the pop-up window.

Summary

In this article, we learned how to set preferences and customize SketchBook Pro.

Resources for Article:

Further resources on this subject:

• Getting Started with Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 Hotshot [Article]
• Getting Started with Blender’s Particle System [Article]
• Planning Your Site in Adobe Muse [Article]