Filters and effects

Blur, sharpen, shift colours, distort - which filters the new drawing program has and how to use them.

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Filters change a whole layer or a selected area at once: softer, sharper, more colourful, bent. They give a quick picture atmosphere in a few seconds.

How to apply a filter

  1. Choose the layer you want to change. If you have selected something, the filter only works there.
  2. Click the chosen layer once more: its menu opens. Click Filters there and pick one.
  3. Set the sliders - the preview shows you the result right away.
  4. Apply takes the filter over. Cancel, Esc or a click outside close without changing anything.

A filter is one step you can undo with Ctrl + Z.

The filters

Filter What for
Brightness / Contrast Make a pale picture stronger, lighten one that's too dark.
Hue / Saturation Shift all colours of a layer - a red fish becomes a green one.
RGB-Curves Fine control over colours, for all channels or only red, green or blue.
Blur Soft backgrounds, fog, glow.
Sharpen Make edges clearer.
Tilt Shift Drag the two points on the preview: the line between them stays sharp, the rest blurs - like a miniature world.
Distort Waves, stretching or distortion by colour - for water, heat and anything wobbly.
To Alpha Make the light or the dark see-through. Ideal for lifting a sketch on paper white off its background.
Invert Turns all colours around - at once, without a preview.

Good to know

  • In a game the host decides whether there are filters. If Filters is missing from the layer's menu, they're switched off for this round.
  • Filters need WebGL in your browser. Without it you see a notice, and the filters can't be used.
  • Filters are part of the recording: in the video at the end you see when you applied which filter.
  • A filter together with layers is especially strong: draw the background on a layer of its own and blur only that - and your figure stands out in front. More in Layers and clipping masks.
  • filters
  • effects
  • blur
  • colours
  • new drawing program

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