Troubleshooting Custom Brush Tips in Clip Studio Paint
Clip Studio Paint is a powerful digital painting and comic illustration tool that offers a wide range of features to help artists bring their creativity to life. One of the most useful features is the ability to create custom brush tips, which can greatly enhance the overall painting experience. However, users may sometimes encounter issues when working with custom brush tips. In this article, we will explore some common problems and provide solutions to help you troubleshoot and overcome them.
Problem 1: Brush Tip Doesn't Appear When Registering Material
When searching for a material to register as a brush tip, it may not appear in the list of available options. This issue can be resolved by selecting the "Use for Brush Tip Shape" checkbox. Alternatively, you can double-click on an already registered material in the Materials Palette and enable "Use for Brush Tip Shape". This will make the image available as a brush tip option.
Problem 2: Brush Isn't Painting in Selected Color
Sometimes, the brush may not paint in the selected color. To resolve this issue, check if the expression color of your layer is set to "Color" instead of "Gray". Make sure to set the expression color to "Gray" before registering the brush tip. If you've already registered the brush tip as a color image, adjust the expression color accordingly.
Resolving Issues with Brush Tips in Gray
Issue 1: Creating a New Brush Tip
If you're having trouble with an existing brush tip, try deleting it and registering a new one in Gray. Select the new brush tip for your brush to paint using the desired color.
Issue 2: Creating Custom Full Color Brushes and Stamps
Clip Studio Paint also allows for the creation of custom full-color brushes and stamps. This feature will be covered in a later video.
Issue 3: Grayed Out Brush Tip Shape Check Boxes
If the brush tip shape check boxes are grayed out, it may be due to the following reasons:
- The brush tip must be a single layer.
- No masks, rulers, or guides are allowed.
To resolve this issue, try the following solutions:
- If multiple layers or a folder are selected, right-click and select "Merge Selected Layers". Note that merging a folder may switch the expression color from Gray back to color, so ensure it's set to Gray before registering.
- If the layer has a mask, right-click on the mask and select "Apply Mask to Layer".
- If the layer has rulers or guides, right-click on the ruler icon and remove them.
Resolving Issues with Registering an Image as a Brush Tip
Problem: Unable to Register Image as a Brush Tip
If you're unable to register an image as a brush tip, try selecting "Delete Ruler" to resolve the issue.
Problem: Muddy or Washed-Out Colors
Muddy or washed-out colors may be caused by gray or white in the original image, which can cause Clip Studio Paint to mix main and sub colors. Brush settings can also affect color application. To resolve this issue, try the following solutions:
- Remove gray and white values from the image by going to Edit > Convert Brightness to Opacity. This makes gray and white areas see-through, allowing the image to be registered as a brush tip.
- Check and adjust brush settings:
- Click the Wrench icon to open the Sub Tool Detail palette.
- In the Ink section, ensure Opacity is set to 100.
- Open the Opacity Dynamics and ensure all settings are disabled.
Fixing Issues with Custom Brushes in Clip Studio Paint
Blending Mode and Color Mixing
To resolve issues with custom brushes, try setting the blending mode to Normal and unchecking the Color Mixing box.
Color Jitter
Uncheck Change Brush Tip Color and Randomize per Stroke to resolve color jitter issues.
Brush Tip
Set Brush Density to 100 and click the button to ensure density is not being controlled dynamically.
Dual Brush Setup
Make sure the brush you copied from doesn't have a dual brush setup. Click where it says Brush Shape (not up here, but down here) and uncheck Dual Brush.
Tips and Next Steps
Playing with the settings can produce different effects. Further exploration of these settings will be covered in future videos. If you're still having issues with custom brushes, feel free to ask for help in the comments.