Brush hardness keeps changing

[Announcement]

Hi all,

just a quick question from me. I'm an avid user of the brush to fine paint masks and the like, and resize it frequently according to what I need. However, the brush hardness keeps changing incrementally each time I resize the brush. I've looked in the "more" brush submenu, but I can't find any settings or boxes to tick that forces the hardness to remain constant. Is there a way to do this? The constant changing of hardness is driving me crazy.

[Ron P.]

9 minutes ago, Announcement said:

Hi all,

just a quick question from me. I'm an avid user of the brush to fine paint masks and the like, and resize it frequently according to what I need. However, the brush hardness keeps changing incrementally each time I resize the brush. I've looked in the "more" brush submenu, but I can't find any settings or boxes to tick that forces the hardness to remain constant. Is there a way to do this? The constant changing of hardness is driving me crazy.

What method do you use to resize your brush?

• The Square Brackets.. [ ] ?
• If on Windows, Holding down the CTL + ALT keys while Dragging?
  • If so, You need to make sure you drag Side to Side (Left-Right or vice-versa) for Resizing. Dragging Up-Down changes the Hardness.
    • A lot of the brushes in AP V2, the Hardness adjustment is set in the brushes and can not be changed.

[Announcement]

3 minutes ago, Ron P. said:

What method do you use to resize your brush?

• The Square Brackets.. [ ] ?
• If on Windows, Holding down the CTL + ALT keys while Dragging?
  • If so, You need to make sure you drag Side to Side (Left-Right or vice-versa) for Resizing. Dragging Up-Down changes the Hardness.
    • A lot of the brushes in AP V2, the Hardness adjustment is set in the brushes and can not be changed.

Oh my god, is that all there is to it? I never put those two together at all, holy crap what an idiot I am. Is there any way to disable hardness adjustment while using ctl alt? I did a bit of testing just now and neither setting seem to be particularly sensitive to vertical movements, but I still keep changing the hardness accidentally and would prefer to disable it altogether if at all possible.

[Ron P.]

What Version of AP are you using? In V2, most of the brushes, the hardness can not be altered. One exception are the Basic Brushes. In V1, we can alter the hardness for about all of them.

There's no way to disable this that I'm aware of. Use the Square Bracket Keyboard shortcut will help eliminate the accidental hardness changes.

[Announcement]

2 minutes ago, Ron P. said:

What Version of AP are you using? In V2, most of the brushes, the hardness can not be altered. One exception are the Basic Brushes. In V1, we can alter the hardness for about all of them.

There's no way to disable this that I'm aware of. Use the Square Bracket Keyboard shortcut will help eliminate the accidental hardness changes.

V2. And yes, I use the basic brushes to do my masks, and the hardness is adjustable.

Brackets would be a great solution if I was in the US and only used English for communication, but my native language and related keyboard layout is different and the brackets are hidden behind alt gr + 8/9. I could change the keyboard layout while working in Affinity, but then I'd have to keep changing back and forth as I am usually in and out of Affinity frequently to respond to emails and other written correspondence while working on my images. As much as forced hardness adjustment annoys me, forgetting that I'm on a different keyboard layout when I need to respond to something would probably annoy me more. 😅

The best solution for me, I think, is going to be to keep hardness adjustment through vertical scrolling in mind when I resize. Now that I'm aware I'm sure I can at least limit the problem considerably, which is going to help a lot. 🙂 Thank you so much for your swift responses and help!

[Ron P.]

I understand, and wouldn't expect or want someone to constantly change keyboard layouts. I know I wouldn't do it.

I use an old pen tablet (Wacom), and it seems easier to control the dragging vs my mouse.

Also are you aware that while Holding down the ALT key and then pressing the Left Mouse a second, or third time, cycles through the various properties of the brush?

Keyboard Shortcuts-Online Help  (Change the drop-down menu to Painting) to see the shortcuts and what they will do.