Using Stencils and jagged edges

[Breezy]

Hi all!! Finally been using more of Artrage features and learning all about stencils and what I've been missing out on!! I love it, but I notice a lot of my stencils edges are jagged once I paint it in or fill it. I make sure to check the anti-alias feature. I have to smooth it out with a blur tool or even redraw the edges so it doesn't look so crazy. What am I doing wrong? Is it a matter of stencil size? I make them usually 500px by 500px but maybe I should go bigger?

Thanks for your advice!

[markw]

Hello Breezy,
Sadly nothing springs strait to my mind to explain or fix this for you
So…
Can you give any more details?
How were you’re problem stencils made?
It generally shouldn’t be an issue, but at what size are you using them and on what size canvas? i.e. how large an area of the canvas are you covering when using them?
Are you able to post any screenshots of what you are seeing?
Are you able to post any sample stencils that are misbehaving for you?
Are any of the stencils that ship with ArtRage displaying this problem?

[Breezy]

Hello! Thanks for the reply. Your post got me thinking my stencils must be too smal so I experimented with larger ones and it seems better now. I need to go big for everything! :-)

Hello Breezy,
Sadly nothing springs strait to my mind to explain or fix this for you
So…
Can you give any more details?
How were you’re problem stencils made?
It generally shouldn’t be an issue, but at what size are you using them and on what size canvas? i.e. how large an area of the canvas are you covering when using them?
Are you able to post any screenshots of what you are seeing?
Are you able to post any sample stencils that are misbehaving for you?
Are any of the stencils that ship with ArtRage displaying this problem?

[markw]

Glad you found a solution!

[sueellen]

How big does the stencil need to be to avoid jagged edges? I have long had this problem. I hope I load this image properly: the two bottom circle section edges are the included-in-ArtRage circle with anti-aliasing on. They have jagged edges and a skipped bit. The top circle I used smoothing at 7, and then gave my line some time to "settle". I have done this for years. A stencil that I have made is far worse. To work around the problem I do a guide with line smoothing, then fill in with the stencil mode.
If I try to make a stencil other than the size I need in my painting, I don't have good control over the line size after transforming to the overall size of the object I need in my painting.

[markw]

Yes, I see what you mean sueellen, though I’m not sure that the stencil itself is necessarily the culprit here.
Like you I found that the Pen or Custom Brush tools with a bit of Smoothing, 5%+, generally give better results without those odd bumps.
For me I found that those bumps tend to happen more at the cardinal positions with AR’s circular stencil at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock .
It suggests to me that it may be more related to how AR is doing the antialiasing maybe as the stroke passes near those points?

[sueellen]

Yes! Those are the points where it happens. I will continue to use my work-around with smoothing, as it has worked for me and I know now that it's not something I'm doing wrong. Thanks.