How to fill with solid color a new canvas (File/New Canvas) or extended canvas (File/Canvas Size)
In PhotoRAW 2019.5 there are two new menu functions (File/New Canvas) and (File/Canvas Size). This creates a transparent canvas area, which I would like to fill with a solid color, say white or black. Can't seem to figure out how todo it, as I was already able to do in PhotoRaw 2018.5. This functionality existed in Photo Raw 2018.5 under Layer/New Colour Fill Layer... and Layer/Edit color Fill Layer.
Because of that I have to keep both versions on my system. I use that to usually fill the extended portion of the canvas or fill the canvas that has been exposed when using the transform tool. Then I am able to clone whatever I wish in these areas. I also use this to extend the canvas in one direction (Height or Width) before applying a frame which do not self adjust to the 4/3 ratio photos. This way it does not crop horizontally or vertically my photos.
Is this functionality being worked on, or is this somewhere in the new app? If not is there a workaround that I can use in the meantime, while they add back in this lost functionality between two versions?
Thanks!
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You can't colour the canvas itself, but you can add a colour fill layer at the bottom of the Layer stack. I keep these steps in my 'tips' file. They are written for beginners so if you know what you're doing you'll see that it's easy to do.
To make a color fill layer:
1 Create a new layer without any filters. You can duplicate the existing or add a new one.
2 Drag it below your existing layer
3 Make sure the new layer is selected
4 Go to local adjustments and click paint with color
5 Select any color
6 Click the local adjustment masking options and select invert.
7 Reselect your original layer to keep working1 -
Thanks Rick, I've been trying to figure out how to do this. Now, I've have the technique to give me what I was looking for and gotten it to work.
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I am struggling with adding a new layer in ON1 RAW 2020. The only options that appear are to duplicate the original layer or add an image from file. Does that mean you have to select one or the other, and then paint out the content, or am I missing something?
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Yes, that's right.
Either method will work. Any photo will do because all you need it to do is create a new layer, and then you're going to mask out the entire image anyway. You can't create a new layer in On1 without adding an image to it, so this is a work around to that limitation.
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What is it you want to use the new layer for? You cannot create an empty layer, they must have some content in them.
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Thank you. It seems a slight odd way to do it, but as long as it works. :)
I wanted to add a new white layer to create a white background. Then add an image which I could shrink and move around, leaving a white border with a wide bottom edge on which I could write with the text tool.0 -
How does it impact on final file size? I suppose I will double (original picture Raw + addend layer = additional picture Raw)
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Yes, the new .onphoto file will be larger because it contains multiple images. How much larger is best determined by simply creating one and looking at its size.
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If you also have PR 2019 you can create a blank layer and fill it with any color; save it and use that file in 2020.
If not - here's an 11x14 white jpg
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Thank you, I will create a low resolution texture White and one Black to use as background canvas...
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Hi
It is really about time that ON1 made it easier to create a new canvas and to then fill it with colour.
Please can we have an option to allow us to save a new canvas, and to fil it without having to first add another image. I know that it works, but it is not intuitive. And Photo Raw should be easier to use than it's competitors?
Best wishes David Price
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A canvas is just like an easel, there is no surface upon which to draw until you put up a piece of paper.
Once you've created a blank "canvas" of whatever color, Export it for future use or save it as a Preset.
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We HAD color fill layers. They were taken out the same way Smart Albums were.
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Hi Brian & Rick
Sorry, I logged off for a bit, because we had a fairly intense Thunderstorm. When the lights start to flicker, I start to worry about power surges.
I am almost tempted to say, "then why do they call it New Canvas, should it not be renamed as New Easel?" :-) Hands up I don't understand the technical limitations that come with a New Canvas. Unlike my Kids, I am not a coder. But, the point that I am trying to make to ON1, is about accessibility for new users. i.e. The Coders know exactly how it should all work, because they designed it. So, to them it is obvious. But, as Photo Raw becomes ever more clever, (and the learning curve becomes ever steeper), there is a risk that it could become more and more intimidating to new/inexperienced users.
Now I like the fact that Photo Raw is becoming more capable, because it means that I can use it to do more and more things. But, sometimes I wish the coders would stop and wonder what it would be like if they didn't know what they know.
... I know how to use the Local Adjustments to produce a Colour Fill Layer. But, would it really do any harm to add a button to the Local Adjustment layers. So that a New User, (who is looking for colour fill), could press the button and have the mask automatically inverted and be presented with a colour picker?
...I know now, that having created a new canvas, I have to add an image to it as a layer. Or I can't do anything with the new canvas. I have worked out by looking at videos and reading the PDF guide, what I needed to do, to produce a white layer, onto which I could paste, an image, a set of company logos, and some text... to frame the central image. But could this not have been made a little more obvious/intuitive? Could there not be an option to allow you to select and use a Local Adjustment, without having to first read the manual and realise that you need to add a sacrifical image?
I want Photo Raw to succeed, and I am worried that if new users find themselves to be perplexed. That they might well throw in the towel and walk away from ON1.
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Again, we had exactly that. It didn't need local adjustments, it just worked on its own. It was taken out of the program a couple of years ago.
The Local Adjustments method is a workaround that we had to develop to get that function back.
From the 2017 User guide:
Creating Color Fill Layer
To create a Color Fill layer, press the Fill (Paint Bucket) button in the Layers pane. The Color Fill Layer dialog will appear. With this dialog you can select a preset or manually adjust the color, blending mode and opacity of the Color Fill layer.0 -
[W]ould it really do any harm to add a button to the Local Adjustment layers. So that a New User, (who is looking for colour fill), could press the button and have the mask automatically inverted and be presented with a colour picker?
Once you create one you can save it as a Style in the Local Adjustments panel for the one button access you want. Save it as a Preset and market it for new users. ;)
Do you know about the ON1 Photo RAW Project page? Add your idea there as a suggestion for other users to vote on. If it gains enough traction the company will put it in the program.
Canvas is what grapics program's working area has been called historically. I'm not sure where it first came from.
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