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Software Review: Alias
SketchBook Pro |
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The "lagoon" is the heart of the interface,
where most of the tools are accessed. |
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It has been with great delight that I
had the opportunity to test Alias Sketchbook Pro, an application designed
with the Artist in mind (I tested this application on a Pentium 900
with 640 MB of RAM, a Quadro 4 video card, an IBM 19” monitor and a
Wacom Intuos 9x12 tablet).
SketchBook Pro offers a straightforward learning curve, where I got
up to speed in only a few hours. Part of the reason for this is the
simplicity of the interface (a.k.a. the “The Lagoon,”), which you can
position at the lower left/right corner depending on whether you’re
left/right handed. Selecting a tool is a simple process. When you press
the pen stylus onto a tool, additional tools appear. From there, simply
stroke or flick your pen through the tool you wish to use.
Note: Be sure you keep your pen in contact with the
tablet until the end of your stroke, otherwise the screen may not update
until you touch the tablet again with your pen. With a bit of practice,
the stroke with become an automatic gesture on your part.
Also, be aware that the barrel button on your pen is not used by this
application. |
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The Edit Brush dialog box offers control over the type
and properties of your brush. |
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To select a brush, press down on the brushes icon then
draw your stylus over the brush you wish to use. Choices are the default
marker, pen, brush, airbrush, pencils, and eraser. Another option is to
choose the Brush Selector, which brings up a dialog box with two tabs
at the top. The default tab offers several preset brushes and you can
copy any of those over to the custom tab for further refining. Click to
select a brush, then click on the Edit button at the bottom of the dialog
box. This brings up the Brush Editor which offers controls such as type
(pencil, pen, airbrush, etc.), edge quality (soft, solid, hard), size,
opacity, roundness, stamp and spacing. |
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Layers are a key feature that allow you to experiment
with blending and transparency. |
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A key feature to the flexibility of this software is a
nearly limitless supply of transparent "layers." These layers
allow you to draw on top of a background image or document, and add notes,
comments and/or sketches. As an example, let’s say you were working on
an architectural project. You could open an image file, make a series
of notations on it; then email the entire file to a client or colleague.
Other layer options are layer order, merging, hide, lock, etc. |
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This drawing is only a sample of what you can do with
SketcBook Pro. |
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A portion of a drawing created with Sketchbook Pro. This
image was created using a tranparent image on the bottom layer, with two
layers above, one for the background and one for the figure itself. Once
the basic shape of the figure was drawn in, the background layer was made
fully transparent so I could concentrate on refining the drawing. |
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