User Guide

Customizing Brushes 205
Dab Types
Dab types are methods of media application. To produce “computed” brush strokes,
Corel Painter uses rendered dab types that are computed during the stroke.
Earlier versions of Corel Painter used “dab-based” media application, in which brushes
applied small dots of media to create brush strokes. With Spacing between dabs set
small, strokes appear smooth. If you zoom in close enough, you can probably tell that
the brush stroke is made up of tiny dabs of color. If you make a rapid brush stroke or
set large spacing between dabs, strokes can become trails of dots.
Rendered dab types create continuous, smooth-edged strokes. They’re fast and less
prone to artifacts than dab-based media application. In fact, you can’t draw fast
enough to leave dabs or dots of color showing in a stroke, because they’re just not
there. Rendered dab types allow rich new features that were not possible with
dab-based media application.
The Scratchboard Tool variant of the Pen brush category illustrates the smooth
stroke that can be accomplished with the Corel Painter rendered Dab Types.
Corel Painter brushes use dab-based or rendered dab types:
Dab-based Dab Type Description
Circular Dabs are controlled by the sliders in the Size
and Angle areas of the Stroke Designer.
Single-Pixel Consists of one pixel only. You can’t change
its size. You use single-pixel brushes when
you zoom in for editing at the pixel level.
Static Bristle Controlled by the sliders in the Size area of
the Stroke Designer. When you select the
Static Bristle dab type, the preview grid
displays a bristly profile.