Smudge Brush Tool still produces artefacts with certain brushes

[Frozen Death Knight]

It is still possible to create the square artefacts that rip through the opaque colours to create transparency in the Alpha channel. Down below is an example using the Analog Ink Nib in the Inks category.

[Chris B]

The best I can do is this:

It's nowhere near as bad as yours. How have you got the document set up @Frozen Death Knight

[Frozen Death Knight]

33 minutes ago, Chris B said:

The best I can do is this:

It's nowhere near as bad as yours. How have you got the document set up @Frozen Death Knight

Linux Testing.afdesign

Here you go, my file with some history saved. Try different brush sizes and using a tablet pen with pen pressure if you are having issues replicating it. Also, ignore the "Linux" part in that name. I was running Affinity on Wine when I saved this file, but I found this bug originally on Windows when I was trying the Beta out. It is most certainly a Windows bug.

[Chris B]

Thanks for the file.

I have re-opened the original bug report.

[Chris B]

Hey @Frozen Death Knight

We have made another attempt at fixing this. Would you mind giving it a good go once you get the next beta build please? I've spent some time testing it and it does look fixed but I would appreciate your expertise and opinion. 

Cheers!

[Frozen Death Knight]

5 minutes ago, Chris B said:

Hey @Frozen Death Knight

We have made another attempt at fixing this. Would you mind giving it a good go once you get the next beta build please? I've spent some time testing it and it does look fixed but I would appreciate your expertise and opinion. 

Cheers!

Thank you! Will take a look once I have the time.

[Art51]

@Chris B I wonder if this bug is related to the bug in the thread below? Both seem to be exhibiting rendering issues, albeit the brush artefacts I am experiencing only occur when hardware acceleration is off (still an issue in 2.5.7 by the way).

 

 

[Frozen Death Knight]

@Chris B Had the time to test now. It is a lot better. The square artefacts are all gone now.

The Analog Ink Brush works as it should, so no complaints there:

The Dynamic India Ink Brush doesn't produce any square artefacts, but I somehow managed to make the layer transparent with it. This is however inconsistent and when I tried again it worked better than in this worst case scenario:

Here's an example of tiny grey imperfections in the Alpha channel when using this brush:

So yeah, it's much better and a lot closer to what I would expect out of this tool. Some issues with transparency on opaque layers still, but way more usable compared to before. Good job!

[Chris B]

Thanks! I really appreciate putting the time into this. I'll look into the transparency bit you mentioned but I'm glad we are getting somewhere  

[Frozen Death Knight]

On 2/19/2025 at 12:29 PM, Chris B said:

Thanks! I really appreciate putting the time into this. I'll look into the transparency bit you mentioned but I'm glad we are getting somewhere  

No worries! Anyway, I found a custom brush of mine called Round Smudge that produces squares in the smudge when I tilt my tablet pen to adjust the brush size.

[Chris B]

Can you share the brush with us? I'm happy to log this if we can get hold of it and reproduce.

[Frozen Death Knight]

5 hours ago, Chris B said:

Can you share the brush with us? I'm happy to log this if we can get hold of it and reproduce.

Here you go!

Square Artefact Brushes.afbrushes

[Chris B]

Are you resizing the brush whilst the pen is down and still painting? That's the only way I can reproduce this. If I just smudge with the brush you supplied it seems fine.

[Frozen Death Knight]

7 hours ago, Chris B said:

Are you resizing the brush whilst the pen is down and still painting? That's the only way I can reproduce this. If I just smudge with the brush you supplied it seems fine.

Yes, I resize it by tilting my tablet pen when brushing. Seems like a pretty normal thing you would want to do for certain brush effects.

[Art51]

There seems to be something amiss in the brush engine with regard to tilt.

In the post I made above regarding the artefacts in the pencil brushes, it concerns the brush being used with tilt (causing the brush stroke to increase in diameter). The artefacts don't appear when tilt isn't employed. Also, in that example, the artefacts don't appear when hardware acceleration is on.

[Chris B]

I cannot for the life of me reproduce this issue on my Intuous Pro with your brush. I've painted a thousand strokes and not a single rendering issue occured. Tilt is enabled as I'm using your brush - it's absolutely fine.

I only get the issue when resizing the nib using [ and ]

I've tried with OpenCL on/off and numerous image formats and sizes. 

I'll take this tablet home with me to try again tomorrow. 

[Chris B]

We're having an issue with the Smudge Brush Tool atm which is why I think I cannot reproduce this. The tool doesn't allow me to keep a brush selected or edit it etc.

We'll hopefully get this sorted soon.

[Chris B]

@Frozen Death Knight

I've tried this in a new build and it seems to be OK now using your brush.

I have spent a good 30 mins on countless images, colour modes and whatever else. 

If you're still seeing this when you get the next beta, could you please let me know. Also, it might be handy to know what tablet you're using and what driver. I've been using an Intuos Pro small PTH-451 and the Low precision mode in Settings—though it doesn't seem to make a difference what mode I use.

[Frozen Death Knight]

On 3/3/2025 at 12:44 PM, Chris B said:

@Frozen Death Knight

I've tried this in a new build and it seems to be OK now using your brush.

I have spent a good 30 mins on countless images, colour modes and whatever else. 

If you're still seeing this when you get the next beta, could you please let me know. Also, it might be handy to know what tablet you're using and what driver. I've been using an Intuos Pro small PTH-451 and the Low precision mode in Settings—though it doesn't seem to make a difference what mode I use.

Hey again! I tried the latest Beta builds and unfortunately the issue still exists with certain brushes.

As for my hardware, I use a Wacom Cintiq 13" HD that I bought back in 2013. I have used the latest Wacom drivers provided by the manufacturer. I use High Precision instead of Windows Ink.

[Art51]

On 2/26/2025 at 7:32 AM, Frozen Death Knight said:

Yes, I resize it by tilting my tablet pen when brushing. Seems like a pretty normal thing you would want to do for certain brush effects.

A mobile camera video (as opposed to a screen recording) of your screen which includes your stylus and use gesture would be helpful in order to explore how the above example can be replicated.

Also, it is difficult to discern from the videos above what resolution you're working at and how large the brush is in relation. Specifically, when tilting, is the brush growing from small to (relatively) very large?