User Guide

Canvas 12 User Guide
Width and Height Enter the pixel dimensions for the paint object. When you change a
value, Canvas adjusts the others to maintain the size and proportions of
the original objects.
Res Choose pixels per inch or pixels per centimeter in the pop-up menu. The
value shown after “Size” is the amount of data in the image, based on the
mode, resolution, and dimensions.
Anti-Alias Blurs edges while rendering to make the edges of text characters and
vector objects appear smoother in the resulting image. Choose Fine,
Medium, or Coarse in the pop-up menu.
Coarse uses 16 shades for anti-aliasing and is the fastest option.
Medium uses 64 shades for anti-aliasing. Fine uses 256 shades for anti-
aliasing. Fine produces the softest edges and is the slowest option.
Mask Select this option if you want the resulting paint object to have a visibility
mask or a channel mask. Then choose the type of mask.
Transparency creates a channel mask. The channel mask is based on the
silhouette of the rendered objects. In other words, if there are spaces
between the objects, the channel mask will create transparent spaces.
Visibility creates a visibility mask in the paint object. The result is a clear
background in areas not covered by objects.
If you do not select Mask, areas not filled by rendered objects within the
paint object’s bounding rectangle will be white and opaque. If you select
Mask and either Transparency or Visibility, areas that are not filled by
rendered objects will be transparent.
Rendering with the Camera tool
You can use the Camera tool to create a paint object from any area in a document. The Camera tool
renders the area you select. You can set the resolution, color mode, and other options for the
rendered image. Using the Camera tool is like taking a snapshot of the screen. You simply use the
Camera tool to select a rectangular area for rendering. You can include all types of objects and parts
of objects in the rendering, without selecting the objects first.
The Camera tool is useful whenever you need to convert objects to an image, such as for creating
Web graphics. The Camera tool functions like the Image | Area | Render command. The Camera tool
lets you control the exact area to be rendered, while the Render command renders a rectangular area
that includes all selected objects.
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