Learn Shi Painter
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To begin drawing, start out on the main page, which is found here. You have two options. You can either select your tools straight from the main page by using the Quick Draw Form, or you can click the link in the upper right hand corner, labeled "Draw!". Either way is up to you. Using the Quick Draw Form saves you just one click.

Once you hit "submit" with the Quick Draw Form, you'll immediately be taken to the canvas screen. Pictured below, however, is the screen you will see if you clicked the "Draw!" link in the upper right hand corner. You have almost the exact same options as the Quick Draw Form, just in a different layout. One difference is that here, you can select "PaintBBS , with palette" which is not available through the Quick Draw Form. PLEASE NOTE: You MUST select the "animations" check box to save your layer data. If you do not select this option, once you submit your image, your layers will be merged the next time you try to retouch the image. This CAN NOT be fixed. Please remember to select this option. Click "submit" to be taken to the canvas screen.

Pictured below is the default canvas screen. From here, I usually click "Resize applet to fit window", located below the canvas area, because it gets rid of unused space and allows you to work more efficiently. At the top of the screen, you have five(5) options. "Upload", "Float", "Redo", "Undo", and "Fill". -"Upload" is the last thing you want to click. It will submit your image to the board so that everyone can see it. If you have to leave your computer, but you don't want to show off your image yet, go ahead and click "Upload" anyway, and safety save the image. I'll go over that more later. -Selecting "Float" will create a new window for your drawing screen. I don't use this, but feel free to check it out. To return to normal view, just click "Float" again. -Clicking "Redo" will undo whatever you undid with the "Undo" button... -Clicking "Undo" will undo the last action you did. I try not to use this button because it can sometimes glitch and add weird shapes and such on your drawing... If you can help it, just erase or color over your mistake. -Clicking "Fill" will allow you to use a Paint Bucket tool where you can fill in large areas at one time. I never use this. -Over to the far right, it says some copyright crap by Shi-desu-chan. You can click that to go to their website.

Off to your right, you'll see a long, vertical window labeled "Toolbar". To select a tool in each category, click on the category and hold your click. Sub-tools will then be listed beneath it. Bring your mouse pointer to the tool you want, then release the click to select it. The first set of tools include the "Pencil", "Watercolor", "Airbrush", "Pen", "EPen", and "Mosiac". Click on "Pencil" and hold to see the other tools appear. I've demonstrated each tool in the picture below. To the left, I made a scribble using the tool at maximum Alpha, then wrote the name of the tool next to it, same Alpha. To the right of the name, I gradually decreased the Alpha to show how it changes when the Alpha is decreased. The Alpha is found below the color swatches(grid of square colors). It says A255 when you have the default "Pencil" tool selected. 255 is the maximum value. Selecting anything less will make the color more see-through. As you can see, with each decrease of the Alpha, the black becomes more gray, and less visible. Experiment with this to get the hang of it. On the bottom left, there is the "EPen" tool. I have no idea what this is for. It looks like it makes some sort of dusty texture. On the bottom right, I have drawn a smiley face with the "Pen" tool. I used the "Copy" tool to duplicate the smiley face. I then selected the "Mosiac" tool to censor it. That's all that that tool is for, really.

Next we have the "Dodge", "Burn", "Soft", "Text" and "Combine" tools. These tools have to be used on a color. They don't work on blank layers. -"Dodge" gradually turns the color to white. -"Burn" gradually turns the color to black. Dodge and Burn may not work on all colors. A lot of inexperienced artists use the Dodge and Burn tools for shading, though it's very frowned upon. I've seen some good usage of it before though, so if it works, stick with it. -"Soft" is a crappy blur tool. -"Text" allows you to put text on the image. -"Combine" will allow you to select a part of the canvas and combine the layers all togther in that selection. The two spheres you see were used to show why people dislike the dodge and burn tools. The sphere on the bottom was highlighted and shaded with the dodge and burn tools. The top sphere was shaded using the air brush tool. You decide which you prefer.

Next we have the erasers. -"Erase" will erase with properties similar to the "Pencil" tool. -"ESmooth" will erase with properties similar to the "AirBrush" tool. -"EraseRec" will erase with a rectangle shape. -"EraseClear" will clear the entire canvas.

Our next set of tools include "Color", "Texture", and "Font". -"Color" allows you to bring up a box to select colors from. :P -"Texture" brings up a texture toolbar. Below I've used some different textures as examples. The textures work with every tool except "Pen". If you want to go back to solids, select the very first square at the top. You can then click the "x" in the upper right corner to close the texture toolbar. -"Font" allows you to change the font settings for the text tool.

Now we have "Freehand", "Curve", "Line", "Bezier", some shapes, and "Fill". -I'm pretty sure there's not much difference between "Freehand" and "Curve". If there is, it's slight. -The "Line" tool allows you to make straight lines. Click and hold where you want the line to begin, and release the click where you want it to end to complete the line. -"Bezier" allows you to make curved lines. It's done similar to the line tool, however, once you release your click, you'll need to add two points to create the curve. Lay the first click closer to the start of the line, and the second to the rear of the line. This one requires hands on practice. -The shape and fill tools are self explanitory.

Masks. :U -"Normal" allows you to draw normally. It's seen in black below. -I used "Mask" to color in blue. On the same layer, it colored BEHIND the black. -I used "Reverse Mask" to color the Salmon Pink color. It only colored over the black, on the same layer. For those of you who are confused about layers, just know that the lower the layer, the more it'll be covered. What you draw on Layer 1 is covered by what is drawn on Layer 2. Layer 2 is covered by Layer 3, and so on.

Once you complete your image, go ahead and select "Upload". It will bring you to what you see below. ~Only mark the image as adult if it contains nudity or adult themes. ~Next is "Safety Save". If you're not done and you don't want anyone to see it yet, select "Yes, save for later". If you want it posted right away, select "No". Once you post an image, you can always go back and edit it, whether or not it has been safety saved. ~Under "Share Picture", select "No" if you don't want anyone to touch your picture. Selecting "No" will NOT hide your image. If you select "Password Protect" this will allow other people to edit your drawing if they have the correct password. Selecting "Public" will allow ANYONE to edit your drawing. Be wary of this. ~Click the "niftyToo Usage" link next to the title "Comments" to see all the code formatting you can use.

If you Safety Saved your image, or you closed your browser before submitting it, you can find your image under the "Recover Pics" link under the "My Oekaki" section. You have the option of retouching it, posting it, or deleting it. You cannot start a new image when you have an image safety saved.

All images and text are the intellectual property of Ajna and may not be used for any purpose without permission.