How to set colour for brush etc tools

[IanWilson]

I want to create a trick photo like this.

 

 

that is a double exposure of my grand-daughter blended into one image.

 

I did that with Photoshop Elements, using the two original photos as two layers, adding a layer mask to the top layer, and painting on to the layer mask to reveal part of the layer beneath.

 

So I thought that I ought to be able to do the same thing with Affinity Photo Beta, and I did just about succeed. But I could not find where to change the colour I was using with the brush, so if I painted too much I had to undo it all and try again instead of just being able to toggle between foreground and background colours to adjust the mask. 

 

I assume you must be able to do this, like in almost every similar app, but I can't see where to do it.

 

Help!

 

Ian

[MEB]

Hi Ian,

Select the Paint Brush Tool, set the foreground and background colours to black and white, then paint over the image. Black will hide the image (make it transparent), white will make it visible (opaque). To switch between them while using the Paint Brush Tool press X. Make sure you have the mask selected in the Layers panel (click on its thumbnail to select it), otherwise you will paint with white and black over the image.

[IanWilson]

Hi Ian,

Select the Paint Brush Tool, set the foreground and background colours to black and white, then paint over the image. Black will hide the image (make it transparent), white will make it visible (opaque). To switch between them while using the Paint Brush Tool press X. Make sure you have the mask selected in the Layers panel (click on its thumbnail to select it), otherwise you will paint with white and black over the image.

Thanks, but the basic thing I haven't found (I am sure it must be hiding in plain sight!) is where you set the foreground and background colours to black and white. Useful tip about using X to toggle though. 

 

Ian

[MEB]

Hi Ian,

You can change them on the Colour panel on the right of the interface (menu View ▹ Studio ▹ Colour):

- using the colour wheel (or other visualisation mode - check the menu on the top right of the Colour panel - there's options for Wheel, Sliders or Boxes);

- double clicking the two foreground/background circles on the top left of the Colour panel (it will open a colour chooser dialog to pick/select your colours with more precision);

- or you can also use the same two circles in the Toolbar if you set it up to show two columns (View ▹ Customise Tools..., then select two from the Number of Columns on the bottom left of the panel).

Let me know if you still have trouble.

[IanWilson]

OK - it was finding my way to the Colour panel that I had missed. Obvious really.

 

Thanks.

 

Ian

[MEB]

You're welcome  ^_^

[Dominique_R]

Hello,

Is there a possibility to display/locate the brush color indicator (black/white or other color for front/back) separately from the Color tab? The right hand part of the interface is pretty crowded with the histogram, the layers panel (which need to be tall), and the History panel at the bottom, so there isn't a lot of space to fir that Color panel and it's not very practical to have it hidden as a tab along with Histogram, Swatches, etc.

And typically, you don't want to waste precious screen real estate by having the panel floating around...

Basically, would it be possible to move the two little spheres to the bottom of the Tools bar on the lft hand side, where there is still plenty of space... yes, just like in You-know-what... :o)

[MEB]

Hi Dominique_R,

Go to menu View ▸ Customize Tolos and set the number of colums to two (bottom left). You will also get a colour switcher added to the bottom of the tools bar on the left.

[Dominique_R]

Splendid! That's much better, even if a little real estate is being lost to the left. Many thanks!

(BTW, I have begun reading the 644-page PDF manual...!)