The Ultimate Guide to Rulers 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 create stunning artwork. One of the most useful features in Clip Studio Paint is the ruler tool, which allows artists to create perfect shapes, lines, and curves with ease. In this comprehensive guide, we will cover the importance of using rulers, how to get started with them, and the various types of rulers available in Clip Studio Paint.
Importance of Using Rulers
Rulers are an essential tool in Clip Studio Paint, allowing artists to create perfectly straight lines, unlike the stabilization tool which can produce wavy lines. Rulers are also useful for creating perfect horizontal and vertical lines, making them an essential tool for any digital artist.
Is Using Rulers Cheating?
Some artists may think that using rulers is cheating, but this is not the case. Rulers are a built-in feature in Clip Studio Paint, and not using them would be a disservice to one's artwork. Digital art is a form of art, just like real-life art, and using rulers is equivalent to using them in real-life art.
Disclaimer
This guide is based on Clip Studio Paint version 1.1.3.2, which does not have access to fisheye perspective with the perspective ruler. A future guide will cover fisheye perspective in Clip Studio Paint 2.0 or later.
Getting Started with Rulers
To use rulers in Clip Studio Paint, you need to know how to access the object tool. The object tool can be accessed by pressing "o" or going to the operation menu. The object tool allows for the editing of rulers once they are created.
Working with Rulers
Undoing Mistakes
To undo a mistake while working with rulers, simply right-click to go backwards by one step.
Ending a Ruler
There are two main options to end a ruler: clicking off the last point and double-clicking to end, or pressing Enter to end the ruler.
Control + Alt Trick
Pressing Control + Alt allows you to move one end of the toggle while keeping the other end fixed, making it useful for creating sharp vertices on curves.
Properties Menu
The properties menu offers several options for customizing your rulers, including the "Close Line" option, which automatically closes the line when ending the ruler. This is useful for creating and filling shapes without worrying about the last line.
Control Key
Holding the Control key allows for free dragging of points and toggle lines, making it easier to adjust your rulers.
Line Tools
Clip Studio Paint offers several line tools that can be used to create different types of lines and curves.
Polyline Tool
The polyline tool creates straight lines, with no curves. The Control key still works for moving points.
Spline Tool
The spline tool always creates a curve, and clicking and dragging doesn't make a difference - you must click to create a point.
Quadratic Bezier Tool
The quadratic Bezier tool creates a curved shape with a triangular shape around the curve, making it useful for working in 3D spaces.
Cubic Bezier Tool
The cubic Bezier tool creates a curved shape with a toggle button for changing orientation, making it more free-form than other curve tools. It is the most commonly used curve tool.
Figure Ruler
The figure ruler creates rulers in the shape of shapes (rectangles, circles, ovals, polygons). The aspect ratio can be adjusted to create perfect squares, circles, and polygons.
Polygon Tool
The polygon tool can change the number of corners by pressing the drop-down menu. Rotation can be adjusted by dragging the shape while holding Shift, and the roundness of corners can be adjusted in the properties menu.
Concentric Circle Ruler
The concentric circle ruler is useful for creating perfect concentric circles, especially for designs with round objects or circular shapes. It can be used to create a speaker or disc effect. To create a perfect circle, press the "Keep Aspect Ratio" button and set the aspect ratio to 1:1. The concentric circle ruler allows drawing anywhere around the perfect circle, unlike the figure tool which only allows drawing on the circle.
Perspective Ruler
The perspective ruler is the most challenging and complicated ruler to use in Clip Studio Paint. It can be created in two ways: using the tool menu to create a line and set it to an arbitrary angle, and then creating another line that intersects with it to create a vanishing point, or going to Layer > Ruler > Create Perspective Ruler and choosing between 1, 2, and 3-point perspective.
The perspective ruler consists of a horizon line (eye level) and vanishing points that shapes lead towards. It can be used to draw shapes in perspective, such as rectangles and cubes. The perspective ruler has various tools and options, including the Add Vanishing Point tool, Add Guide tool, and Fixed Vanishing Points tool.
Drawing with Rulers in Perspective
Snap to Grid vs. Vanishing Point
When drawing with a grid, it can be difficult to draw between grid lines. Turning off "Snap to Grid" allows for more freedom in drawing, but the grid will not work. Vanishing points can still be used even when the grid is not working.
Transferring Rulers between Layers
To transfer a ruler to another layer, click on the ruler icon on the layer and drag it to the new layer. The ruler will switch to the new layer, but the layer order will remain the same.
Filling in Rulers with Uniform Lines
To fill in a ruler with uniform lines, go to "Layer" > "Ruler" > "Fill Ruler". Choose the width of the line and adjust anti-aliasing as needed. This feature is useful for creating perfect shapes and lines, especially for logos or precise drawings.
Using Symmetry Ruler to Fill in Shapes
To fill in a shape with symmetry, turn on "Snap to Symmetry Ruler" in the properties menu. Use the fill tool to fill in the shape, and the symmetry ruler will ensure that the shape is filled in perfectly.
In conclusion, rulers are a powerful tool in Clip Studio Paint that can help artists create stunning artwork with ease. By mastering the different types of rulers and line tools, artists can create perfect shapes, lines, and curves with precision and accuracy. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced artist, this guide has provided you with the ultimate knowledge of rulers in Clip Studio Paint.