Deep Paint 2.0 Tutorial

[Photomaster]

To read the Deep Paint 2.0 tutorial, I have created, go HERE

This tutorial will get you up and running fast in this remarkable, free program.

[Alcar]

Your tute was very well done. Many thanks for sharing this with us.
Alan

[patriciakay]

Hi Photomaster,
Thanks for the Deep paint tutorial...i am finding it most helpful...looking forward to sharing your knowledge..

Kind regards Patricia Kay

[Photomaster]

Screen Shots that accompany the Deep Paint Tutorial located HERE

Images L to R are 1-5. SS-#1-#5 are indicated in the tutorial.

[raniday]

Thanks, Photomaster. Some of us have been playing with Deep Paint, occasionally. Maybe your tutorial will lure us back into it

[Ken45140]

I have been spending a lot of time trying to get going even a little bit with Deep Paint; it seems to have a LOT of power, but without a manual and directions, it is learning by lots of trial and error.

I did find a series of tutorials that helped (I have only tried the first several); there seem to be a number of basic commands and techniques that are still not clear to me (this is where the trial and error comes in).

Anyway, try these series of tutorials. You can check out the domain name once you get there.

http://tinyurl.com/8xxo7
http://tinyurl.com/a8q3o
http://tinyurl.com/cjcm6
http://tinyurl.com/du4wo
http://tinyurl.com/7v6z9
http://tinyurl.com/ccph5
http://tinyurl.com/865rp

I have searched and searched for an original manual for the 2D program, but have been unsuccessful. After all this time, I am questioning whether I should continue to invest learning time in an unsupported and not-well-documented program.

For those who have tried it, how does it compare to Painter or Painter-Essentials. I just purchased a Wacom Intous and it is coming with Painter-Essentials. I would appreciate some comments.

Ken

[DannyRaphael]

Photofixer...

Great tutorial (I just noticed it). I've asked our webmaster (and site owner) to give you a hand on the screenshots.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ken:

Fabulous set of links on DP tutorials.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BIG thanks to both of you.

~Danny~

[Ken45140]

Hi PM---when you get back and get caught up, write here about what kind of documentation you have for Deep Paint. As I mentioned, I would really like to get ahold of an original manual or something that talks more about the tools etc. Meanwhile, I plan to continue my trial and error learning aided by your tutorial and the ones I have shown above.

Thanks,

Ken

[Photomaster]

I began learning Deep Paint by reading the tuts that you referenced above. I also used the HELP feature in Deep paint. That coupled with the knowledge gleaned from a few thousand hours spent learning other paint and graphics programs allowed me to learn Deep Paint in just a few sessions. I must stress the importance of reading the HELP file and practice, practice, practice. Go to HELP often if you get stuck. Work with multiple paint layers and if something doesn't go right, clear the layer and start again.

Watch your brush settings carefully and pay attention to which layer you are using. It is easy to screw-up. Don't be afraid to experiment with different brushes and mediums on the same painting. Try brushes other than the cloners. Many can be set to act as a clone brush for the layer below or from the image composite.

This an amazing program so don't be put off by the learning curve. Your perseverence will be amply rewarded.

Watch for future advice on how to bring your full sized painting into Photoshop with Lighting Effects intact! From here, the sky is the limit.

I'm enjoying the Texas sunshine. Attached is a panorama of 5 shots taken at sunset last night. Stitched together in PS. Shot on Mustang Island North of Corpus Christi.

[byRo]

I've been trying to fix the images in the tutorial, but no luck yet - just little black boxes and red X's.
I'm passing the details on to Doug.

Rô

[Ken45140]

Today I created my first Deep Paint(ing) using my newly acquired Intuos3 tablet. Amazing difference painting with the tablet/pen vs the mouse. Much easier, quicker, and the pressure seemed to contribute to the result (even thou I have not played around with pressure settings in DP).

Along with the tablet came a copy of Painter Essentials2, and I used it to create PhotoArt from the same image. I've attached both results below for side by side comparison for those interested. (CM3.jpg produced in DeepPaint)

While I have not spent a lot of time with PainterE, it has been enough to know that Deep Paint has orders of magnitude more adjustments, flexibilities and features. I suspect I will continue to try both but emphasize building up experience with Deep Paint. Perhaps it will become clear what strengths PainterE has for certain images/situations vs DP.

Ken

[stuart]

Ken,
Thanks for the pics and the answer to my question about DP not "filling" all the brush strokes.
1. First of all, which of the pics above is DP (the one on the left or the one on the right side of the monitior as you look at it) ?
2. What is your brush technique to get this type if result ? If I do a careful clone it looks like a dup of the original pic and if I' m not careful it looks like a maze of brushstrokes.

3. Using Fine Detail with the mouse seems to fill in all the paint stroke. However, with my new Wacom Intuos, there is lack of fill (many uncovered spots) unless I really press on the pen or tilt it in unusual ways. I am using the default settings on the Wacom. Any ideas ?
I also have Painter 9 but Deep Paint 2 seems to give watercolor effects a lot easier, so I will stick with trying to make it work

Stuart

[Ken45140]

Stuart: Thanks for replying. If you hover your mouse over the righthand thumbnail, you will see it say "CM3", that is the Deep Paint version. The other one has text on it which says "Painter Essentials", although it is hard to read.

As far as your comment about me answering about DP "filling" the brush strokes...not sure where I did that, but it is a reality. What that means is that when I take the first basic ClonerEx brush, top of the list on Cloner Ex list (which I start with most of the time), and work it back and forth, there is a random orientation of the oval. Sometimes it is vertical, then horizontal, then on an angle. I am not sure which of the detailed brush settings controls that, but nonetheless, it happens. If you go back and forth (low pressure), you should get a lot of overlapping ovals. Eventually things get covered, but there are inevitable white (uncovered) spots between the overlapping ovals.

I have found that if I keep stroking to try and totally fill in all of the spaces, that I am changing colors, which I don't want after a point. (Yes, you can minimize this by putting the slider for abstract color closest to the right--matching the image colors). So, what I did in this picture and another I just completed, is to switch to a regular paint brush, and paint in the small white specks or spaces that have not been filled in. Switching frequently to the eyedropper then back to the brush gets it done.

Funny you say you just got an Intuos--we must have ordered on the same day. I still have a lot to learn. Stroking back and forth is easier and quicker than with a mouse, and pressure definitely helps fill in, but I think the effect is "better" if I take many more lighter strokes. Many of the spaces will eventually fill in---I also play with the opacity or strength setting, quite frequently. This is the part, I believe, where only experience will show what works better and what does not work so well. And these will be different depending on the image.

The last thing I will mention is that since I am still in the "playing around" mode, I have not gotten systematic about trying different brushes and different brush settings apart from images. I think I need to do a lot of work just paining on plain canvas and cataloging the effects, eventually segregating the ones I like. (Have you explored all the levels of settings that can be applied to most brushes!! Amazing!) Maybe more will join in the discussion with what they have tried and learned and thus shorten the learning cycle somewhat. You can buy dozens of dozens of books on PS to help you climb that learning curve; no such books here with Deep Paint.

Keep sharing your experiences and learnings, and post some images when you are ready.

Thanks,

Ken

[byRo]

Originally Posted by Ken45140

...Deep Paint has orders of magnitude more adjustments, flexibilities and features...

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that you are comparing the "Full-blown" version of Deep Paint with the "watered-down" freebie Painter.
Although I do agree that the price may be the same.
Painter IX does indeed have a myriad of adjustments, almost too many.

Deep Paint vs.Painter....
As in many Arty things, I'd say much depends on your particular taste and style. My personal opinion is that Deep Paint is direct, quick and fun - especially if you like doing "Deep" painting as I do.
Painter on the other hand has done such a good job of translating Painting to the digital world that it also seems to have imported some of the difficulties.

Rô

[stuart]

Thank you for the reply. Someone who has posted here on DP wrote me that checking the Fine Detail box mitigates the fill problem to some extent. I question if DP2 was designed for the Intuos.
In any case, my big question is what type of technique are you using to get somethng that looks like a painting rather than just a duplicate of the underlying photo in the clone mode ?
Yes, moving the slider toward abstract color helps in the color department but is not appropriate for all subjects (eg portraits).

Stuart

[byRo]

Originally Posted by Ken45140

...... no such books here with Deep Paint.

Quite a few of us around here have had a brush* with Deep Paint, so if you have any questions fire away. You won't go long without an answer.

Rô
*sorry, couldn't resist

[Ken45140]

Ro:

Originally Posted by byRo

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that you are comparing the "Full-blown" version of Deep Paint with the "watered-down" freebie Painter.
Rô

True, those are the only two I have. I realize that the $400 (or whatever it is) program will have as many and probably more knobs, but by staying in the "Free" category, I get a comparison of features per dollar so to speak. I also want to say I am not taking anthing away from PainterEssentials and tried to say that I am sure I will learn when I should use it vs DP.

Stuart:
I am sorry, I thought I spoke to your point. I have done several (several more below). I use various cloning tools and move the abstract color and fuzziness slides to several positions. I also change the type of brush, I sometimes check Canvas Texture, and also change Feather and Strength. Under one of the menus, I also play with jitter and smooth. In the flower vase previously published, I changed all of these very little. In the ones below of the "Old Man", I changed them more frequently. These are really crummy, I think, but I am sharing just for learning and to illustrate what I have been getting. Hopefully, technique and results will improve with experience. If you look closely between OldMan01RTP and OldMan01bRTB, you will see blotchy color differences. The former was with cloning oval and little rework, while the latter had a lot of hand painting with very small brushes.

Can you share some of your work, even if not "the best"?

I also wind up with something that is definitely not just a duplicate of the image, but also has a lot of "holes" and in some cases, color "blotches" that I do not like. That is when I have done touch up with regular paint as I described previously.

But hey, I have only done a total of maybe five "paintings", so all you are hearing is what I have done, not Truth.

Thanks,

Ken

[stuart]

Ken,
Where in DP did you find these brush controls ? I have seen these in Painter but not DP. I will do some posting of DP results soon.

Stuart

[Ken45140]

Stuart: see the attached picture. An unbelieveable combination of variables that you can adjust. Hard to experiment with even a small subset of the combinations.

Ro: if some of those who you say has had a "brush" with DP could comment on which "knobs" are the most used, or the most influential, in achieving painted looks from photos, that would be very helpful. I realize most used and most influential are very hard to define...but if someone has found one or several to be "favorites" that could be quite useful.

Ken

[Ken45140]

Stuart: have you done (or could you do) a side by side comparison. Same initial image, one done in Deep Paint and one done in Painter, attempting to achieve a similar end result. Seems like hearing your evaluation of the differences and seeing the two results would be very informative.

Thanks,

Ken

[byRo]

Originally Posted by Ken45140

Ro: if some of those who you say has had a "brush" with DP could comment on which "knobs" are the most used, or the most influential...

Besides what has already been said....

Hard to separated just one or two, but I'd say that you have to be in full control of the B/S (no, that's not bullsh..) settings. These can change a soft watercolour into a dripping impasto without touching anything else.

Another place to look at is the Clone Options (stamp tool) where you get some options like "Artistic" and "Rub through". I don't remember now exactly what they do, I do remember having some fun around there.

Rô

[Photomaster]

The learning resources listed HERE are for Deep Paint 3D but will also give you some very good insights into what Deep Paint 2 can do. The first four listings will be invaluable for understanding the capabilities of this program. The first is a detailed, 40 minute video tutorial on Deep Paint. A large (40MB) download but well worth the wait. If you have played around with Deep Paint much at all you can readily distinguish difference between the two programs. One of the major differences is the absence of the Clone and Paint tabs in the 3D version.

If you like Deep Paint, run, don't walk to these learning tools.

[DannyRaphael]

Originally Posted by Photomaster

The learning resources listed HERE are for Deep Paint 3D but will also give you some very good insights into what Deep Paint 2 can do. The first four listings will be invaluable for understanding the capabilities of this program. The first is a detailed, 40 minute video tutorial on Deep Paint. A large (40MB) download but well worth the wait. If you have played around with Deep Paint much at all you can readily distinguish difference between the two programs. One of the major differences is the absence of the Clone and Paint tabs in the 3D version.

If you like Deep Paint, run, don't walk to these learning tools.

A fabulous collection of good info, PM. Thanks for pointing the way...