When making selections on the canvas level, and painting on the
layer above, suddenly the entire layer goes dark gray. I can see the selected areas
(crawling ants) through the gray but can't get rid of the gray. If I close the file and reopen, the
image is normal, and opens with the most recent saved version.
HI Louie,
Which version of Painter? Are you on a Mac or a PC? Has it always had this behavior or has it shown up recently? If you close and re-open, and create a new selection, does the grey return?
Stephen,
I'm using Painter 2022 on an iMac. I'm not a beginner, having used Painter for many many years.
If I close, which I have to, and reopen, the file is fine. It opens as the last saved version. But it's very disruptive if I've made additions that can't be saved. I have the canvas, on which my key image appears, and one gel layer on which I paint or fill selections I've selected from the canvas image. Perhaps I should drop the top layer and just work on the canvas? I feel like there's an issue between the 2 layers. It happens rarely, mostly I have no problems. The gray appears in big blocks and if I click elsewhere another block appears, and ultimately the whole thing ig blocked out. Something to do with visibility?
Thank you
Hi Louie,
Yeah really hard to tell as I've never experienced this before myself. Is you iMac a newer computer? Do you know if it's using an M1 chip?
I have a Macbook pro so I tried the following:
1. Created a new document
2. Filled the canvas with a pattern (hoping this will help show the blocks better than a white canvas)
3. Created a new layer and selected Ink : Buildup > Dry Grainy
4. Painted on the layer > Got a prompt to convert to Gel. I said ok to converting to Gel, then continued painting
5. Added a rectangular selection. Painted within the selection
6. Applied a feather to the selection. Painted within the selection
7. Created a new layer and selected a different color
8. Painted on the layer and converted to Gel. Painted with a rectangular selection and a feathered rectangular selection.
In all the above steps I was not able to see any grey blocks. But maybe you have some different steps? If so, can you share them? I am happy to try them on my Macbook...
Thanks for your help Stephen,
I decided to drop the gel layer, as for this project I wasn't overlaying colors much. Once I did that, no further problems. I've used this layering process many times before, but this time I feel like I'm clicking on something that creates this loss of the canvas image. I'll have to be more alert to every move and maybe I'll see what's happening. For now, thank you again for your efforts. If I figure it out I'll let you know!
Sure thing Louie, indeed the steps can be tricky to track down so thanks for sharing here and yes if there's some new info let me know and I can have a look. Glad you at least have a work-around so you can keep painting, that's the most important part!