NO FLIP CANVAS ?! Really?

[arturjutkowiak]

Fast "flip" is one of the most important features for every artist to have!
I will not update from 4.5 to 5 until it will get fixed.



cheers

[Rondo]

when you "select layer content" in the layer panel, you are presented with a menu giving you the possibility to flip left to right and up and down,in the same menu is the rotate option. Hope this helps?;)

[arturjutkowiak]

when you "select layer content" in the layer panel, you are presented with a menu giving you the possibility to flip left to right and up and down,in the same menu is the rotate option. Hope this helps?;)

Thanks, no. I want FAST keyboard shortcut:

H: horizontal flip

V: vertical flip

[Rondo]

have you checked the set key short cuts in the "edit" menu? (bottom)

[Enug]

Thanks, no. I want FAST keyboard shortcut:

H: horizontal flip

V: vertical flip

You have that in AR5 - H: horizontal flip, V: vertical flip - only stays 'flipped' while holding down the key.

[HannahRage]

As mentioned above, H and V will flip the view. To flip the content, select the paint using Transform (there are several ways depending on what you want to select and how you like working), then you can either use the menu options*, or just press H and V as needed and it will flip the active content.


* (ArtRage 5 has a much better menu with quick flip buttons and the option to set scale and rotation number. You might want to download the demo and play around if the Transform workflow is important to you)

[DarkOwnt]

How does one flip the entire content of the canvas - all layers?

[markw]

Hello DarkOwnt,
Go to Edit > Transform All Layers…
Once the Transform dialog box is up, hit the H or V keys.

[DarkOwnt]

Thanks markw...

Does not seem to flip entire content (paint and empty) canvas, just the sub-selection of painted areas.

Does this mean I need to fill a layer to cover the entire canvas first?

[markw]

Sorry DarkOwnt but I’m not sure what you mean there:confused:
Transform All Layers effects all content/layers making up the picture.
Could you expand a bit perhaps about what’s not working as you expected?

In the meantime, one more thing…
I would also say, that if you want a slightly quicker way to flip your painting, and if your tablet preferences will let you, you could set one tablet key to send AR all the commands at once, necessary to flip the whole painting.
On my Intuos4 tablet I have set an onscreen key that will send the following 3 commands to ArtRage; Shift+cmd+A (Transform All Layers…), H (Flip horizontal), Enter (confirm Flip Horizontal command)

Note; By default AR dose not have a shortcut set for ‘Transform All Layers…’ so you will need to set one in AR’s ‘Keyboard Shortcuts’ preferences first.
93232

[DarkOwnt]

Sorry DarkOwnt but I’m not sure what you mean there:confused:
Transform All Layers effects all content/layers making up the picture.
Could you expand a bit perhaps about what’s not working as you expected?

In the meantime, one more thing…
I would also say, that if you want a slightly quicker way to flip your painting, and if your tablet preferences will let you, you could set one tablet key to send AR all the commands at once, necessary to flip the whole painting.
On my Intuos4 tablet I have set an onscreen key that will send the following 3 commands to ArtRage; Shift+cmd+A (Transform All Layers…), H (Flip horizontal), Enter (confirm Flip Horizontal command)

Note; By default AR dose not have a shortcut set for ‘Transform All Layers…’ so you will need to set one in AR’s ‘Keyboard Shortcuts’ preferences first.
93232

If I start a composition with only a third completed, say on the left hand side, and I want to do a horizontal flip (left<->right) the result is what I've done so far stays in the first third i.e. on the left hand side. I want the entire composition to maintain its ratios and positions with respect to the entire dimension of the canvas ... so that when I flip it mirrors and ends up on the right hand side. So I guess I need to lay down paint to trick AR into thinking the whole canvas is being used.. prior to flipping?

[HannahRage]

Ah, yes. ArtRage is selecting the actual paint, not the entire empty background. You don't need to fill the whole background, just put a tiny pencil dot in the far corners or something ;)

[nekomata]

If I start a composition with only a third completed, say on the left hand side, and I want to do a horizontal flip (left<->right) the result is what I've done so far stays in the first third i.e. on the left hand side. I want the entire composition to maintain its ratios and positions with respect to the entire dimension of the canvas ... so that when I flip it mirrors and ends up on the right hand side. So I guess I need to lay down paint to trick AR into thinking the whole canvas is being used.. prior to flipping?
you can create a placeholder layer, fill it with white and set to multiply when planning your next painting, that way you'll always have an invisible canvas-sized reference for the transform tool to grab before flipping.
depending on your image size (and artrage version, 5 is slightly faster when performing calculations) this might impact performance tho.

[DarkOwnt]

I don't mind a filled background layer similar to a color I would want for the canvas, or some color gradient or filled with loose blocking color... but corner "dots" would work. LOL :)

[RedSaucers]

I use a free keyboard mapping tool called Autohotkey to check the current key state of the h key, if it is up then set it to constantly down otherwise set it to up.

This means I can map just a single keyboard key to flip the canvas instantly and let the Autohotkey script take care of the logic!

I can create a tutorial if anyone is interested.

[markw]

Forgive the late reply here. I have very limited internet access at the moment.

Any way, thanks for the clarification DarkOwnt.
Yes all areas of paint are aggregated together and it is around the centre of this “aggregated” group that the flip is centred.
So yes, a solution would be to flood fill a layer entirely and just leave it turned off and out of sight.

I think perhaps my painting workflow has made this “aggregating” of layers not so noticeable for me, as I habitually put down a layer or two of a thin wash of colour over my entire canvas before starting a subject. A hangover from physical painting I suppose!
Add to this that I will most likely also have a layer or two at the top of the layer stack filed with something textural and set to Overlay to give the paint below it a bit more “texture”.
And sometimes a solid black layer above everything set to Colour blend mode which I can toggle On/Off to check values with.
All of which means that for me the “flip” always happens around the true centre of the canvas.