Reference > Properties >
Paint Tools properties

The following describes the properties for the items that appear on the Paint Tools tray.

NoteSome tools use only a subset of the properties listed below.

General

Color

  Displays the current color for the Paint Brush. Click the color tile to display the Color Chooser window and modify the color assigned to the Paint Brush.

Affect

  Specific to the Dodge and Burn tools. The presets let you bias the lightening (Dodge) or darkening (Burn) effect that occurs within the specified tonal range in the areas you stroke:

  NoteRepeated strokes of the tool in the same area of an image build up the effect.

Midtones

  Affects the mid-tones (gray value range) on the texture image.

Highlights

  Affects the light gray to white values on the texture image.

Shadows

  Affects the darker gray to black tones on the texture image.

All

  Affects all tones on the texture image.

Exposure

  Specific to the Dodge and Burn tools. Controls the amount of lightening or darkening that occurs on the affected pixels for each stroke of the brush depending on the Affect setting.

Blur Strength

  Specific to the Blur tool. Determines the size of the circular area (in pixels) that is sampled to determine the amount of blur. The larger the radius, the greater the amount of blur. See Blur detail in painted textures.

Contrast

  Specific to the Contrast brush. Controls the difference between light and dark pixels. A positive value increases the contrast, negative values reduce it. The range is -10 to 10, default is 1.

Amount

  Specific to the Sponge brush. Increases or decreases the color saturation for pixels in an image as you stroke. A positive value decreases pixel color saturation, while a negative value increases it. The range is -1 to 1, default is 1.

Hue Shift

  Specific to the Hue Shift brush. Specifies the amount in degrees to shift hue values around the color ring relative to their current value. For example, a Hue Shift setting of 90 degrees shifts a red pixel hue to green (based on a counter-clockwise direction around the color ring). You can enter positive or negative values ranging between 1 to 180 degrees and also use the Color Chooser for reference. See Color Chooser window.

Size

  Sets the radius of the tool. Size is measured in world space units (for example, a default Size of 100 = a radius of 100 centimeters). Hotkeys: press b and drag, or press the square bracket keys, [ to reduce size and ] to increase size.

Strength

  Determines how much the tool applies with each stroke. Hotkey: M + drag or press ; (to reduce strength) and ' (to increase strength).

Mirror

  Reflects a stroke from one side of a model to the other, along the specified axis:

Off

  Strokes are not reflected.

X

  Reflects strokes across the world space X-axis.

Y

  Reflects strokes across the world space Y-axis.

Z

  Reflects strokes across the world space Z-axis.

Local X

  Reflects strokes across the local space X-axis.

Local Y

  Reflects strokes across the local space Y-axis.

Local Z

  Reflects strokes across the local space Z-axis.

Tangent

  Reflects strokes across the topological center line of a topologically symmetrical model. To use tangent space mirroring on a model, you must first define the model's topological center. See Set a topological axis.

Use Stamp Image

  Turns on the selected stamp for the tool. Stamps modify the strength of the paint brush according to the gray scale values in the stamp image. The darker the overall values the lower the strength of the tool. Not all paint brushes work with stamps.

Orient To Stroke

  When on, the stamp orientation follows the direction of your brush stroke.

Rotate

  Rotates the stamp image clockwise.

Horizontal Flip

  Flips the stamp image horizontally.

Vertical Flip

  Flips the stamp image vertically.

Randomize

  Turns the Randomize options for the tool stamp on or off.

Random Horizontal Offset

  Randomizes the horizontal position of the brush tip dynamically through the stroke.

Random Vertical Offset

  Randomizes the vertical position of the brush tip dynamically through the stroke.

Randomize Rotate

  Randomizes the rotation of the brush tip dynamically through the stroke.

Randomize Scale

  Randomizes the size of the brush tip dynamically through the stroke.

Randomize Strength

  Randomizes the strength of the brush tip dynamically through the stroke.

Horizontal Flips

  Randomly flips the position of the brush tip along its X axis dynamically through the stroke.

Vertical Flips

  Randomly flips the position of the brush tip along its Y axis dynamically through the stroke.

Stamp Spacing

  Controls the stamp frequency/continuity on a stroke. Depending on the Size and Falloff settings for a tool, the Stamp Spacing can be set to a higher value to refine the tool behavior and improve the appearance of the stroke. The default setting is 6.25 and ranges between 0 and 100. The higher the setting, the more gaps appear on the stroke, depending on the tool settings.

Steady Stroke

  Helps to produce a smoother stroke by filtering mouse/stylus movement. When on, a vector displays on the tool cursor and no stroke appears until you drag a distance equal to the length of the vector. The length of the vector is set by the Steady Stroke Distance property.

Steady Stroke Distance

  Sets the length of the Steady Stroke vector on the tool cursor.

Falloff

Falloff

  Specifies how the tool effect diminishes (or not) from its center point to its outer edge. The falloff is represented as a curve that can be edited.

  Falloff presets are available in the Falloff tray.

Snap

  Constrains points to the grid.

Store To

  Saves the current falloff curve to the tray.

Falloff image

  Right-click the falloff image in the Properties window for the following options:

Insert Point

  Inserts a new point under the cursor.

Select Point

  Selects the point under the cursor.

Delete Point

  Deletes the point under the cursor.

Advanced

Remember Size

  Preserves the size of the tool after use. When off, the brush inherits the size of the previously used brush.

Orient To Surface

  Orients the tool cursor display (in the 3D View) along the normal of the face under the center of the cursor ring. Influences cursor display only, does not influence the effect of the brush on the surface.

Pen Pressure

Min Size

  Specifies how small the tool is when the lightest pressure is applied to the pen, expressed as a percentage of the tool’s Size property. For example, a Min Size of 100 indicates there is no size variance, regardless of the pressure applied.

Min Strength

  Specifies how weak the tool strength is when the lightest pressure is applied to the pen, expressed as a percentage of the primary tool Strength value. For example, a Min Strength of 100 indicates there is no strength variance, regardless of the pressure applied.

Related topics

Painting basics

Paint Tools tray