Marcus Chen
PaintTool SAI has a unique feature that allows users to view the centre of their stroke easily. Instead of the typical arrow-shaped cursor, SAI uses a small dot. This dot is surrounded by a ring that indicates the width of the selected brush size. This feature is particularly useful when creating intricate designs or when precision is required. Additionally, SAI offers the ability to toggle the display of the circle cursor in brush tools, providing even more flexibility for artists.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Cursor type | Circle, triangle/dot, arrow |
| Canvas | Can be zoomed, rotated, flipped, scaled, and cropped |
| Layers | Can be added, shown, hidden, cleared, deleted, merged, and moved |
| Tools | Pen, pencil, airbrush, brush, water brush, water colour, marker, bucket, colour, sketch, blur, select, deselect, magic wand, free distort, linework, and more |
| Settings | Edge shape, size, min size, density, texture, advanced settings |
| Files | Can be opened, saved, and exported |
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What You'll Learn
Navigating the interface
Paint Tool SAI is a Windows application that can be daunting for beginners to use. However, the program has a lot of functionalities and customization options to help you create your masterpieces.
When you first open Paint Tool SAI, you will see the canvas in the middle of the screen. On the side of your window, you will see a large grey box with a small purple box inside it that says "Layer 1." This is the Layer Panel, and it is where you can add, hide, clear, or delete layers. You can move the Layer Panel to the left or right of the canvas.
On the right side of the canvas is the Color and Tool Panel, which you can also move to the left or right. Here, you can select the color you want to use and the tool you want to work with, such as a pencil, airbrush, brush, watercolour, marker, bucket, and more. You can also add custom brushes by right-clicking on the empty grey boxes underneath the default brushes.
At the top of the program is the Window (W) tab, which has a menu with all your customization options laid out. The Quick Bar is also located at the top of the canvas, just under the tabs. This toolbar provides quick access to basic but necessary tools such as Undo, Redo, Invert and Clear Selections, Rotate and Flip the canvas, and Change the Stabilizer.
At the bottom of the canvas is a list of open files, allowing you to select which one you would like to view without using shortcuts.
To open an existing canvas, go to the 'File(F)' tab and select the 'Open(O)' option. You can also alter the canvas by going to the 'Canvas (C)' menu. This menu also allows you to adjust the hue, saturation, and luminosity, as well as the brightness and contrast of your artwork.
Paint Tool SAI also has built-in textures that add detailing to your art, and you can create your own textures or download them to add to the texture folder.
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Using the Layer Panel
Paint Tool SAI has two main panels: the Color and Tool Panel on the right and the Layer Panel on the left. The Layer Panel can be moved to the right or left of the canvas, and you can also hide the navigator and paint effects.
The Layer Panel allows you to add more layers to your artwork. Layers are like sheets of glass that you can paint on and stack on top of each other to make a picture. They enable you to change parts of an artwork without affecting the rest and alter how things overlap. You can also adjust the opacity of a layer, which determines how much you can see through it.
To add a new layer, click on the icon of a blank page with a folded corner above the list of layers. You can also create a "New Linework Layer," which is a special type of layer with different tools. The "New Layer Set" button lets you create folders to organize groups of layers and control them as a single entity.
You can merge layers by using the options underneath the new layer buttons. If you're unhappy with a layer, you can clear or delete it. Additionally, you can toggle the visibility of a layer by clicking on the eye icon next to it.
The Layer Panel also provides access to the Drawing Tools panel, which includes tools like Sketch for quick, rough line art, and Pen for smoother lines. The Blur tool blends colours, while the Color tool blends like real watercolours. You can customize these tools by adjusting settings such as Edge Shape, Size, Density, and Texture.
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Customising the workspace
Paint Tool SAI offers a range of customisation options for your workspace. To access these options, select the 'Window (W)' tab at the top of the program. This will bring up a menu with all your customisation options.
You can move the Layer Panel, which is located on the left, and the Color and Tool Panel, which is on the right, to either side of the canvas. The Quick Bar, located at the top of the canvas, allows you to undo, redo, invert and clear selections, rotate and flip the canvas, and change the stabiliser. You can also zoom in and out of the current view, and close the current or all views.
The File (F) tab allows you to open existing canvasses from your gallery, and create new canvasses by selecting 'New'. You can name your canvas and choose its size. The program offers a range of default brushes, and you can also add your own custom brushes.
The Layer tab allows you to add, show/hide, clear, or delete layers. The Filter tab lets you adjust the hue, saturation, brightness, and contrast of your work.
You can also adjust the view of your canvas. The Navigator, located in the top bar of the Layer Panel, shows how you are currently viewing your canvas, with a red outline. You can rotate and zoom in and out of the canvas here. You can also hide everything but the canvas, although this will require you to turn this function on and off to change tools or add layers if you are unfamiliar with the short keys.
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Selecting tools
Paint Tool SAI is a paint tool for Windows that offers a wide range of options for users to create digital art. The program has two main panels: the Color and Tool Panel on the right and the Layer Panel on the left. The Quick Bar at the top provides quick access to basic tools for illustrations.
To select an area in Paint Tool SAI, you can use the "Select" and "Deselect" brushes, as well as the dotted square, dotted lasso, and "Magic Wand" tools. These tools allow you to select areas to move, rotate, scale, or paint within specific boundaries. The "Select" and "Deselect" brushes function like regular brushes, allowing you to cover areas you want to select or deselect. After making a selection, you can move to another layer and continue painting within the selected area until you clear the selection using the "Clear Selection" option on the Quick Bar.
The "Dotted Square" tool provides additional transformation options when used in conjunction with the "Select" brush. With this tool, you can transform, scale, deform, rotate, and flip the selected area.
The "Magic Wand" tool, also known as the "Select Similar Pixels" tool, allows you to select areas with similar colours or textures. This tool is especially useful for making complex selections that involve areas with similar visual characteristics.
In addition to the selection tools, Paint Tool SAI offers a range of other tools to aid in the creation of digital art. The Scale and Rotate tools, for example, have similar functions to Transform, allowing you to change the perspective and proportions of the selected area. The Free Distort tool provides even more flexibility by enabling you to adjust the perspective and proportions independently.
Furthermore, Paint Tool SAI offers the ability to flip your artwork horizontally or vertically and rotate it in 90-degree increments. These options can be accessed from the Canvas (C) menu, along with other canvas-related adjustments.
The program also provides a Drawing Tools panel with various brushes, including the Pen, Sketch, and Water Brush (also known as the Blur tool). Each brush has its speciality, such as the Pen for smooth lines and the Color tool for blending colours. You can customise these tools by adjusting settings like Edge Shape, Size, Density, and Texture to create a wide range of effects.
To summarise, Paint Tool SAI offers a comprehensive set of selection tools and other artistic instruments to facilitate the creation of digital art. By utilising the selection brushes, transformation tools, and various canvas and brush options, users can precisely manipulate their artwork to achieve their desired results.
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Saving and exporting
To save your work in Paint Tool SAI, you can use the File tab and select "Save" or "Save As" to save your canvas as an image file. You can also save your work as a .sai file, which is useful if you need to make edits later. Additionally, you can export your work as a .psd file, which can be opened in other programs like Photoshop.
If you are using SAI for animation and need to save your layers as separate images, you can do so by turning off all layers except the one you want to export, and then saving that layer as a .jpg or .png file. Repeat this process for each layer.
Paint Tool SAI offers various image formats for saving and exporting, including .jpg, .png, and .psd. When saving as a .jpg, you can adjust the quality settings, such as the compression, luminance quality, and color components quality, to ensure the best output.
It is always a good idea to save your work before closing Paint Tool SAI to avoid losing any progress.
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Frequently asked questions
When you open Paint Tool SAI, a canvas will appear in the middle of the screen and you can start drawing.
You can centre the canvas by selecting 'Window(W)' at the top of the program. This will bring up a menu with all of your customisation options.
You can toggle the circle cursor in brush tools by selecting 'View' and then 'Circle Cursor'.
Paint Tool SAI uses a small dot as a cursor, which makes it easier to see the centre of your stroke.
