CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide part 51 docx

● Curve and Node Command Buttons By default, path segments that make up the mesh fill are curves, bound by nodes that have the smooth property at intersections and the cusp property alon

actions to move fill areas are done exactly the same as for Bézier curves For information on how to do this, see Chapter 11

Mesh Fill Options

On the property bar, when the Mesh fill tool is used and an object is selected, you have control over the following attributes of your mesh-filled object:

● Resolution of the Patches By default, a new mesh fill is created on an object with two horizontal and two vertical sets of patches These patches are linked at the edges

by paths and at their vertices by nodes You can use the numerical entry fields or the spin boxes with these fields to increase or decrease the number of columns and rows

of patches If you right-click a node or a path segment, you have the option to create

a node or an intersection by choosing from the pop-up menu

● Add Intersection/Delete Node When you’ve clicked a path segment and a marker appears, this is your opportunity to add an intersection, either by clicking the Add Intersection button, or by pressing+on the numerical keypad When you add an intersection, you add a row or a column to the mesh fill, depending on whether you’ve added a point to a vertical or a horizontal mesh path segment You must first select a node to then delete it, and doing so by clicking the Delete Node button or by pressingDELETEon your keyboard removes both the mesh node and its associated intersecting path segments—reducing the number of columns or rows of mesh patches Deleting nodes can yield unanticipated results, so give some thought before you delete a node

● Curve and Node Command Buttons By default, path segments that make up the mesh fill are curves, bound by nodes that have the smooth property at intersections and the cusp property along the edges of the object To change a path segment to a line, you use the Convert To Line button; click Convert To Curve to create the opposite property Nodes can be changed to cusp, smooth, and symmetrical properties by clicking the associated property bar button; the commands can also be found on the right-click pop-up menu when your cursor has selected a node

● Curve Smoothness Suppose you’ve added far too many nodes to a path segment, and your mesh fill looks like a bad accident in one area If you marquee-select the nodes that bind this path segment, the Curve Smoothness slider and numerical entry field act like the Node Reduction feature in CorelDRAW You reduce the number of superfluous nodes (CorelDRAW decides on the meaning of “superfluous”—you have no control) by entering a value or using the slider

● Selection Mode By default, you can select nodes in Rectangular mode, which

means you marquee-drag a rectangular shape with your cursor to select nodes, and

then change their properties such as color, position, and transparency Your other

selection choice is Freehand mode; your cursor behaves like a real-world lasso, and

you are unconstrained by a selection shape for nodes Additionally, you canSHIFT

-click and select non-neighboring nodes to edit When using Freehand mode, patches

cannot be selected—selecting patches by clicking within them is only available in

Rectangular selection mode

● Transparency When selecting using Rectangular mode, transparency can be

applied to a patch by clicking the patch once with the Mesh fill tool, and then using

the numerical entry field or the slider to assign from 0 (no transparency) to 100

(completely transparent) to the patch You can also set a transparency value to a

mesh fill node by selecting it and then using the Transparency controls Transparency

on a mesh fill has no blending mode like the Transparency tool offers for entire objects—

transparency is applied in Normal mode However, once your mesh fill object is

completed, you can use the Transparency tool on the toolbox to assign the object

different types and modes of transparency as a single object

● Smooth Mesh Color This is a toggle on/off button that can produce smoother

color blends in your fill without changing the position or properties of the mesh

nodes and curve path segments

● Color Eyedropper When a patch or node is selected, you can choose a color

anywhere on your Windows desktop by dragging the Color eyedropper over to any

point You can also sample from objects on your drawing page, but that might not be

as much fun!

● Color Palette You have a mini color-palette flyout on the property bar with which

you can select colors for selected nodes and patches Click the flyout button to

access the default color palette, or choose from other preinstalled CorelDRAW

palettes Clicking a color well on the (regular) Color Palette applies color, too

● Copy and Delete Mesh Fill Properties These buttons are common to most all

effects in CorelDRAW; use them to copy a mesh fill to a different object on the

page, or to remove the mesh fill effect from an existing object

When working with the mesh fill, you’ll get far more predictable results if you apply

colors to the nodes instead of dropping colors onto patches Also bear in mind that

regardless of how you create a shape, the mesh fill makes the object “soft”—the control

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nodes that make the closed path of the object are also mesh fill nodes So, unavoidably, if

you want to move a node you’ve colored in at the edge of the object, you’re also moving the

associated path segment This is fun and creative stuff, actually, and if you need the fill to be

soft with the object’s original shape intact, you can put your finished object inside a

container by using the Effects | PowerClip feature

You cannot mesh fill a combined shape; an object made by subtracting a circle from

a rectangle so it looks like an awkward doughnut will not take a mesh fill, although the property bar will offer you mesh fill options.

The following tutorial guides you through the creation of a mesh fill within a shape that’s been created for you, with the finished example on the right of the page in Shiny Sphere.cdr The goal is to create a mesh fill that gives a simple circle object the appearance of being a dimensional, highly reflective sphere, complete with a soft cast shadow beneath it

Take a look at Figure 15-11 before you begin these steps; it’s not only a comprehensive visual guide for the steps to follow, but also is a handy reference to accompany your

independent mesh fill adventures

FIGURE 15-11 Mesh fills use control handles very similar in appearance and function to the

paths you draw with the Pen tools and edit with the Shape tool

Mesh patch

Mesh lines Mesh points

Drop color

over a point.

Drop color over a patch.

Ellipse object with linear transparency

Blending Colors Using the Mesh Fill

1. Open Shiny Sphere.cdr, select the top circle at left, and then choose the Mesh fill

tool A default mesh fill grid is applied to the object: 2 rows, 2 columns Increase the

resolution to 4 rows, 4 columns for starters

2. In a lasso marquee–drag motion, select the horizontal nodes along the center of the

sphere, and then click the black color well on the Color Palette

3. Marquee-select all the nodes below the horizontal center nodes you selected in step 2,

and then choose a rich brown from either the Color Palette or from the flyout palette

on the property bar

4. Select only the bottom center node, and then click a lighter brown

5. Choose the Freehand selection mode from the property bar, then select the five top

nodes that define the top edge of the circle, and then fill them with a purple-blue

medium color Select the first row, the five nodes below the top circular edge nodes,

and fill them with a light blue

6. Click the second node in this row, and fill it with a deep gold color to suggest a

sunset on the horizon of the little desert painting you’ve created Often, traditional

airbrush illustrators have created photorealistic chrome spheres using the reflection

of a desert as the primary visual content You’ve done this; now it’s time to distort

the desert scene to suggest the dimensionality of a 3D sphere

7. Select the gold node and drag it down a little

8. Select, one by one, the nodes that are colored black, and create a slight wavy effect

9. Select the light brown node at bottom center, and move its control handle up a little

10. Finesse the color nodes to suit your personal artistic taste Then select the bottom

oval, apply a white fill, and apply the default 2 by 2 Mesh fill grid

11. Click the center node with the Mesh fill tool, and then click black on the Color

Palette You now have a feathered, soft drop shadow that would take two of three

additional steps to get right if you’d used the Drop Shadow tool on the toolbox The

Drop Shadow tool is often, but not always, the right tool for creating a shadow

effect

12. With the Pick tool, drag the oval highlight object currently over the completed

example at right; tap the right mouse button before releasing both buttons to drop a

copy on top of your shiny sphere at left

After a mesh fill has been applied to an object, the object cannot be filled with any

other fill type unless the mesh fill effect has first been cleared To clear a mesh fill

applied to a selected object, click the Clear Mesh button in the property bar.

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Sampling and Applying Fill Colors

After you’ve experimented and come up with a lot of interesting and valuable fills you’ve applied to objects, a natural question to ask is: I’ve got this once-in-a-lifetime, truly

excellent color (or texture), and I want to use the fill on other objects How do I do this? Version X5 has integrated the color-sampling process and improved it so that a single tool now can be used to sample a color and apply that color to a different object Additionally, when an object fill has more than one color—such as fountain fills—you have the Attributes eyedropper at hand to sample and duplicate any fill to a new object or group of objects

To use the Color eyedropper tool:

1. Make sure your view of the page includes both the object that is filled with the color you want to copy, and the target object Zoom out or pan your view if necessary

2. Choose the Color eyedropper tool from its group on the toolbox

3. Click over the object with the color you want to sample The cursor changes to a paint bucket, as does the function of the tool

4. Click over the object you want to apply the sampled color to Notice that after you click, the cursor remains in the paint bucket state If you want to apply the sampled color to additional objects, you do it now However, if you want to pick a different color sample—starting the process all over again—click the eyedropper icon on the property bar The tool is now reset to sample, not apply, color Applying samples is not limited to fills: click the paint bucket cursor over the outline of an object, and you apply the color to the object’s outline

Additional options with the process of color sampling are on the property bar:

● Select From Desktop When you click this button, you can sample more than a CorelDRAW object color You select any color on your screen This means, for example, you can sample the color of the Zoom tool on the toolbox, any color on the Color Palette, and you can even click CorelDRAW’s minimize/restore button above the menu bar, move the CorelDRAW window a little, and sample from your Windows desktop

● Selected Color This is not only a good visual reference as you work, but while the Color eyedropper tool is in use, you also can drag this color well on top of any object—selected or unselected—and the current selected color is applied to that object, or to the outline of the object if your aim is precise

● Add To Palette If you want to keep using your sampled color long after you’re done with the Color eyedropper tool, click this button to add the sampled color to the Document palette, located in Window | Color Palettes | Document Palette

● Sample Size Before clicking to sample, you have the option to sample a single

point—one pixel on your monitor’s screen—or a 2×2 average area, or a 5×5 average color area The use and importance of this feature is covered next

Ill 15-20

The usefulness of sampling colors with a “big” eyedropper will become evident when

you’ve imported a bitmap and want to approximate a color you see in the bitmap for a

border or text in your composition Figure 15-12 illustrates the use of a large, averaged color

sample The background of the ceramic moon is dreadful, and a harmonious color value

sampled from the moon sculpture itself would be splendid But the color at left was taken

using a “point sample,” 1×1 pixel Bitmap images have pixels that vary from neighboring

pixel to pixel, especially with JPEGs that by their nature have noise—similar to film grain,

random distribution of color pixels that don’t belong in image areas So the 1×1 pixel

Eyedropper tool sample is a dud, even after three tries The 2×2 averaged sample (at center)

did better, but at the right, when the same area in the circle is sampled using the 5×5 setting,

a color has been sampled correctly for artistic purposes, and a nice average of a 25-pixel

area yields a suitable color for the background on the moon

Sampling Above and Beyond UniformFills

You will love to work with the more complex fills in CorelDRAW, and naturally, you’ll want

to apply one you’ve deliberately created or even stumbled upon to other objects Multi-color

fills fit into a category called Styles, and to copy them, you need to use the Color eyedropper’s

cousin tool, the Attributes eyedropper To sample and apply fills such as fountains, texture

fills, and all the others, choose the Attributes eyedropper from the toolbox, and then click

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Eyedropper

tool

Paint Bucket tool Choose color

from any point

on screen.

Point 2×2 5×5

the Properties button and choose Fill You can use the Attributes eyedropper to copy just about anything an object displays, but for making a rectangle’s fill look like that fountain-filled circle next to it, for example, you only check Fill before clicking with the tool

Ill 15-21

Alternatively, you can drag an object using the right mouse button, and drop it on top of

an object to which you’d like to apply any style of fill The pop-up menu appears when you release the right mouse button, and you then choose Copy Fill Here The position of the source object does not move using this drag technique

FIGE15-12 Increase your Color eyedropper sample size to get a general color instead of

the exact underlying pixel color

1×1 sample

2×2 sample

Sample area

5×5 sample

Choose the properties to sample.

When a shape is selected, double-clicking the Fill box in the status bar opens a

corresponding dialog where you can edit the current fill of the object and also add

it to a Preset list for safekeeping for future needs This saving option doesn’t apply

to PostScript fills, which cannot be fundamentally edited in CorelDRAW.

If you’ve had your fill, this is okay…so have your objects You’ve learned in this chapter

how to tap into CorelDRAW fills, and hopefully you’ve also seen how important fills can be

to your drawings Fills can actually contribute to the visual robustness of a composition

more than the shape of objects Take a cardboard box, for example The shape of the box

isn’t that interesting and takes only a few seconds to draw But the texture of a cardboard

box is where the object gets its character and mood

Outline properties and attributes are covered in the following chapter You can do as

much with customizing the thing that goes around an object as with the object itself.

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Outline Attributes

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