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Thread: Weird blue outlines with Lock Transparency

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Posts
    2,223
    Thank you for the extra info
    I've sent you a PM with a Dropbox upload link you can use to send me the file.
    Hopefully I'll find some time tomorrow to prod & poke it around!
    Maker Of Replica Macoys

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  2. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2021
    Posts
    9
    Amazing thank you! I've popped two ptg files in there where the issue was happening I hope this helps!

    I am using a Dell with OS Microsoft Windows 10 Home (Version 10.0.19041 Build 19041), meant to add this in my previous post

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Posts
    176
    Interesting issue! I reproduced your workflow, but it doesn't happen to me as far as I can see. I'm on Windows 10 Home (Version 20H2), on a Dell Computer too. Think Mark will find out what's wrong.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2021
    Posts
    9
    No problem! Interesting that its the same set up but different outcomes! As a software tester myself I understand how awkward replicating issues can be

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Posts
    2,223
    Thanks for the files
    I’ve poked, prodded and experimented some and think two factors have converged to give you that visible haloing.

    So,
    I’ve tried this “blend mode over painting” method in all versions of AR from v3 to the current one v6. And this anomaly has always, at least in the Mac version of AR, been around, lurking in the shadows!
    In low res paintings ‘Lock Transparency’ seems to consistently give the most visible haloing of semitransparent pixels on paint edges when overpainting them with a blend mode capable tool.
    ‘Selection from Layer’ and ‘Stencil from Layer’ may be 50% or so better, perhaps more, at reducing the haloing. But it never totally goes away if you zoom in deep enough.
    (As a slight aside here, I would consider always having ‘Force Whole Pixel Alignment’ turned on in AR’s advanced preferences.
    As this might help avoid accidentally making additional semitransparent pixels if cutting and pasting elements prior to overpainting them.)

    Sadly I haven’t been able to find a way of entirely preventing the haloing from happening and I think the best we as users can do is to mitigate the conditions that might lead to it.

    The biggest factor I think in how visible this unwanted haloing is when using this “blend mode over painting” method, is the pixel density in the overpainted areas. The lower the pixel density, the more obvious the haloing seems to become.
    If you increase your starting number of pixels the proportion of semitransparent ones to solid ones in a given area drops significantly, making the haloing anomaly much harder to see, if at all, without zooming deeply into the canvas.
    (And putting aside this particular issue for a moment, having more pixels making up an image will allow making any fine details in general much easier. It just gives you more to work with when it comes to those areas that need it!)

    I think why this issue has perhaps not been reported before to my knowledge, could be a combination of not many people using this “blend mode over painting” technique and/or working at higher pixel density’s.
    The attached image shows your sample canvas, represented in light blue, in relation to the size range of canvases I might have chosen for a similar painting. With the mid and dark blue areas being around the minimum and max size range I would be thinking of working with.

    I habitually set my canvases up with printing the final image in mind (which is how I arrived at the sizes in the attached image) and how great a pixel density I will need to maintain quality of details if printed at around 16, 17 inches across and viewed close to.
    But even if printing your work is not your intended end point, creating your canvas as if you were will always give you a good pixel density to work fine detail with and the option later to print the painting if desired.
    If the finished image needs to be smaller it is always better to start big and reduce down than trying it the other way when it comes to maintaining quality.

    I hope some of the above is helpful to you, though I know it maybe isn’t entirely what you wanted to hear

    Lastly, can I say I like that Tokyo example file, nice lighting and very atmospheric of the days end!
    (Sorry, any other readers of this will just have to use their imaginations at this point!)

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Maker Of Replica Macoys

    Techie Stuff:
    ArtRage Vitae 7.1.4 ~ 15" Macbook Pro
    ~ macOS 10.15.7 ~ 4 Core i7 3.1GHz CPU ~ 16GB RAM ~ Wacom Intuos4 M
    My Animal Paintings In The Forum Gallery
    On Instagram

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2021
    Posts
    9
    Although it is not quite the solution I was hoping for I didnt realise that the painting method I used was so odd, that's an interesting take-away from this! I shall try to make the canvases bigger! Since the previous post i had done another painting on a larger canvas and using a slighly different method of painting where I use lineart, so the haloing effect is lessened by the edges being hidden by the lineart. But hopefully the larger canvas will mean I can paint using my old method!

    Thanks for all your time spent on this by the way, I appreciate it!

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