Using Real-DRAW Pro

What And Where Is It?

Real-DRAW Pro is the licensed and full version of a powerful Windows graphics program. It not only handles 2D and bitmap functions, but adds 3D lighting and texture control. It is located under Start | All Programs | Engineering Software | Real-DRAW PRO.

Getting Started

Here’s a diagram showing the location of items referred to later in this document. (The arrows come from the Real-DRAW program; see Arrows below.)

realDraw screen

What Can I Do with Real-DRAW?

Real-DRAW is a powerful and complex program. This introduction covers only basic functions like drawing, adding text and shapes, applying textures, applying bevels, lighting and shadows, using transparency, and manipulating layers. Read the Real-DRAW manual by going to Help | Help when running the program.

A note about this program: When selecting text or an object, you may need to go to the cursor icon at the top of the left hand toolbar first. This is a selection tool and will not interfere with your current drawing or effect.

Drawing with a Brush

Open a new document (File | New) or an existing document (File | Open). If you want to experiment with the sample files that come with Real-DRAW, open anything in the Samples folder (c:\Program Files\RealDRAW\Samples). You'll get a message that access to the file was denied, but the file opens. Click the Paint New Bitmap

button (the 7th one down) on the left-hand toolbar to open the Brushes Palette.

realDraw brushes palette

The icons on the left of the palette, from top to bottom, stand for Brush, Rubber Stamp, Clone, Erase; the tiny dropper at the bottom is used to select a color from the image. Select a brush. (The default is a softer brush; the one just next to it is a harder brush if you want a clearer image.)

If you want to draw on a specific layer or image that’s open, instead of using the Paint New Bitmap button, use the Paint on Object button instead. It’s the paintbrush second from the top on the left-hand toolbar.

Drawing Properties

The Brushes palette sets what pattern the brush leaves. Mode allows you to select a blend mode. This is particularly useful if you are painting on top of something else. Try the different modes. If you don’t like a particular effect, go to Edit | Undo and select Normal mode again. The slider bar beneath that selection box is for transparency. The further right the slider is, the more opaque your drawing will be. As you move the slider left, the brush stroke is more transparent, showing more of the image beneath the brush.

Set changes the set of brushes available. The Default Set is the list you see in the Library (directly below Set), which is what is available when you open the Brushes palette. To use a brush, select it in the Library and paint on the image. Airbrush includes softer, more transparent brushes. Live Painters 1 and 2 give a choice of brushes that give effects like actual brushes and some other effects. The Nozzles are pictures that will be drawn on top of the image. For example, the tree nozzle can be used to place one tree on the image with a click, but if you draw with the nozzle, you can create a line of trees or a forest.

Using the Color & Texture Palette

To choose a color, go to View | Properties | Color Bar or use the

icon from the right-hand toolbar. This brings up the Color & Texture Palette. Click on the colored area in this palette to select a color. Or select one of the textures in the Texture drop-down box.

Adding Text

Click the button on the left-hand toolbar that has Aa , the text icon:

. Then click where you’d like to add the text on the image. The Text Object window shown below opens, showing options for the text: font, size, etc. These options apply to whatever you type in the Text Object window. You cannot have different styles or sizes in the same text entry.

realDraw text object window

To change the font, click on the font drop-down box. As you hover over the font choices, a preview is shown just to the side of the font drop-down box. Click on a font to select it. Note that these changes do not show as you type the font; they show only after you exit the Text Object window.

To change the font size, either click in the size selector box and type in the font point size, or click the down arrow just to the right of the box. This brings up a slider to make the font larger or smaller. As with the font style, font size is not previewed in the Text Object window.

Other options are to make the text bold or italic or to change the text alignment to the left, the center, or the right.

The Character Map button at the bottom right shows the entire character set for the selected font, including special characters, such as ©, ™, ?, °, ç, and ñ. To use a character in the map, click on the character desired, then click OK.

When you are finished entering your text and all associated options, click OK. To move the text, click it once to select it. Then click and hold as you drag the text to the desired position. To change the color, make sure the text is selected, then use the Color & Texture Palette to select a color for the text.

Adding Shapes, Lines, Arrows

Real-DRAW includes a tool to make basic shapes: circles, rectangles, and stars. These are found on the left-hand toolbar of the Real-DRAW program as a circle outline, a rectangle outline, and the star outline. The default is a filled shape. To use shapes, click on the desired shape button, then click and hold on the image where you want the upper left corner of the shape to be. Drag the mouse down and right to form the shape, then release.

If you click and hold on the little arrow in the lower right corner of the circle and rectangle icons, you can choose a rounded-edge filled rectangle or a frame. Under the circle, there is a torroid, which is a circular frame. Use the frame and torroid to frame other objects or text. When using the frame or torroid, once you have created the base shape, another smaller shape appears inside the base shape. Size it by moving the mouse, then click to complete the drawing. The distance between shapes will be filled, while the area within the smaller shape will not be.

To add a line, click the line icon on the left hand toolbar: , then click at the starting point of the line on your image. Move the mouse to the endpoint, left click, and then right click to end the line. If you continue to move the mouse and click, you'll create a polygon, as described below.

To create your own outlined polygon shape or a jointed line, use the line tool to create the first line as above, but without right clicking. Drag the mouse from that point to create the next line, click, then create from there. To simply create the lines, click the right mouse button when finished. To create a filled shape, bring the last line to meet the first point of the line drawing and click. (The endpoint will be the same as the starting point.)

To add an arrow, click the arrow icon on the left hand toolbar. (If you cannot find this icon, click the white cursor icon, then the little arrow in the right hand corner. Then click on the arrow icon). Click on the image where you want the head of the arrow. Move the mouse and click where you want the end of the arrow. Real-DRAW then lets you add a horizontal joint to the tail if you want. If you want only the straight tail, right click. If you want the joint, move the mouse left or right to draw the line, then left click when you are finished.

For a clip art type arrow (the ones used in the first diagram in this document) click on Objects in the bottom toolbar tabs. From the drop-down menu on the left; select Arrows. (Other categories include balloons, multimedia, office, and signs.) There is a scroll bar on the right to see other objects in the same category. Double click on the arrow to use and drag it to where you want it to be. You can resize the arrow by using the squares on the box around it; click and hold when the cursor turns into a double-sided arrow, then drag the mouse to resize the arrow.

To change the color after creating any shape, click on the shape to select it, then use the Color & Texture Palette to select a color for the shape. To delete a shape, click on the shape, then press the Delete key on the keyboard.

Applying Textures

Real-DRAW Pro comes with a large variety of textures and the ability to control how much color or texture dominates in an image. To use a texture, select text or a shape or a drawn portion of your image by clicking on it. Then bring up the Color & Texture Palette from either View | Properties | Color Bar or clicking the

icon from the right-hand toolbar. About halfway down the palette there is a larger rectangle with the word "Texture" beside it. Click on the down arrow to the right and select a texture in the list to use by clicking on it. If you want no texture, click No Texture at the top of the list.

Applying Bevels

A bevel gives the appearance of seeing a flat object in 3D. A simple way to add a bevel is to select the object to which you want to apply a bevel, then click Bevel in the bottom toolbar tabs. To apply the bevel, simply click on the desired circle. There are many options; try them to see what you like the best.

The Bevel bar (right-hand toolbar, 4th item from the top) lets you select the type of bevel, the width, the intensity, and the direction of light. Using the 3D Bevel dialogue box gives you more control than selecting a bevel from the bottom toolbar.

Using Lighting

Using 3D Lights gives your 2-dimensional object the life of a 3D object. With 3D lights you can have light sources from many directions, which is quite effective when using a bevel. Select your object first by clicking on it. Then click the 3D Lights tab in the bottom toolbar tabs. Click on the circles to apply different lighting effects. Use the 3D Lights dialogue box (right-hand toolbar, 6th item from the top) to control intensity, reflectivity, and more.

Adding Shadows

Select the object you want to have a shadow by left clicking on it. Then click the Shadows & Effects tab from the bottom toolbar tabs. Click on the circles to apply differing shadow effects. Consider that any shadow should be related to light sources and directions you may have set with 3D lighting.

Using Transparency

Real-DRAW gives a variety of basic transparency effects. Just click the object, then click the Transparency tab in the bottom toolbar tabs. Click the circles to apply different transparencies. The first circle is no transparency at all and is good for negating transparency effects if you dislike them. Use the Transparency dialogue box (right-hand toolbar, 3rd item from the top) for more control over transparency.

Presets

Presets include bevel, lighting, shadow and transparency effects all in one click. To use these, click Library A or Library B in the bottom toolbar tabs. Click the circles to apply different effects. Note: These are pretty hard to undo without using the undo button. The undo button remembers only the last three actions. So if you don't like the preset, undo it after choosing to be safe.

Layers

Layers are like several thin sheets of paper placed over each other. Where there is something on one of the top layers, it covers the stuff on the layers underneath it. Each object you create is in its own layer. If you use paint new bitmap when drawing, that drawing will be its own layer as well.

To manipulate layers, open the Layers Palette by going to View | Properties | Layers or by clicking the button on the right hand toolbar.

realDraw layers palette

The palette shown is from a sample image, and shows several different layers. The options available can be changed for each of these layers, though some layers may show certain effects better than others.

These layers are listed in order, from top to bottom. To change the order of the layers, e.g., you want the lens flare on the top, click on the layer to be moved up or down, and click one of the two buttons in the lower right hand corner (move up and move down). The two buttons just to the left of those are move to the top and move to the bottom. The two arrows at the left select the next or previous layer in the list.

The mode option (where you see "Normal") contains a drop down menu with different modes for the layer. Some of these will affect the layers beneath the selected layer for special effects. The sliding bar just beneath the mode option box is for transparency. The further right it is, the more opaque the image.

Flatten Layers

Layers are useful when manipulating an object, but when you are done, you may want a flat image. If the Layers floating menu isn’t showing, go to View | Properties | Layers or click the Layers icon (4th from bottom in right-hand toolbar). Select the layers you want to combine. (When you click on the name of the layer, a blue box shows you what you are selecting.) To select more than one layer, hold the Shift key as you click on the layers. Once you have finished selecting, go to the bottom of the screen and click the Create Package button.

Other Features

Real-DRAW Pro has many other features. You can find them by accessing the help documentation under Help | Help. Here are some other things Real-DRAW can do:

HTML Slicing – Creates clickable areas of an image and rollover buttons for web pages.
Sparkles and Lens Flares – Objects to add light effects

Texture Size and Rotation – Allows manipulation of the size of textures and the angle at which they are at on an object.

Shape Tool – Can reshape an object, even curving it

Screen Captures

and more!

Help

Real-DRAW PRO comes with extensive help. Read it from Help | Help when running the program.

updated: 27 May 2006