MS-Paint

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DoomJedi
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MS-Paint

Post by DoomJedi »

It's totally amazing for me that after all the years of making pixel art in Ms-Paint (WinXP version) - I still can discover something new and totally amazing...just found out by chance that you can delete or replace just one particular color from an area of a sprite...using the erasor function. When you select an erasor - left click with erase all area to background color - but right click - will erase/replace just "left selected" color to a "right selected"/background color - without touching anything else....maaaan if I knew it all those years....could save me tons of pixel work.

This is especially perfect for Keen modding which has alot of dithering and you can't just repaint colors with one click.
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Post by Benvolio »

Man, I'm happy for you and your new-found joy.

However...

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It was the real deal in 2000 and, as a quick glance at e-bay will tell you, it's clearly still the real deal now.
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Nospike
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Post by Nospike »

Oh man, Paint Shop is a friggin' CLASSIC. I remember drawing pictures using the brush presets when I was little.
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DoomJedi
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Post by DoomJedi »

Nothing is better than MS-Paint :)
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Post by NY00123 »

It can surely be nice to find new long lost features about an old thing. And as shown by you, DoomJedi, it surely is possible to do your work with no more than Paint.

Truly, sticking to (the) basics has its advantages. I still think that alternative tools can help when it comes to productivity in your case, though. While I don't do much pixel art (or even art in general), here are just a few examples of features that may be useful, found in GIMP:

- Configure and then show a grid. Can be useful while working on a tile set.
- What you've just referred to: Select by color.
- Select a rectangular area, an elliptic area, or any area of an arbitrary closed shape. It's also possible to select an arbitrary (partially) polygonal shape with more accurate straight segments.
- Add a new selection to a current selection.
- Subtract a new selection from a current selection.
- Intersect a new selection from a current selection.

For instance, you may first select a rectangular area, and then select the pixels having a specific color within the same rectangular area by the way of intersection.
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Paramultart
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Post by Paramultart »

I used to swear by MS-Paint, but with the arrival of Windows 7 and the consequential drastic change in interface, plus my need for expanded features, I moved to Graphics Gale and have sworn by it since.

I can do more with Graphics Gale (which I think is free) in five minutes than I could with MS-Paint in an hour thanks to its expansive dithering tools and use of layers. I use it with Photoshop for basically everything now.
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Post by Bernie »

anyone here use Deluxe Paint? I've been using it for decades, and still going at it :) i use Deluxe Paint 2 'Enhanced' to be exact. i find it the best for doing pixel art.

I also use Photoshop alot but find it pretty annoying for doing pixel stuff :/
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Re: MS-Paint

Post by Plasma Captain »

Holy crap! How did I never know about this either? That is fantastic. Thank you for mentioning this. I just tested it and accidentally erased my character's pants. Awesome.

Honestly, as far as pixel art goes, the only time that I ever use a program other than MS Paint is when I need to make a background transparent.
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DoomJedi
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Re: MS-Paint

Post by DoomJedi »

Plasma Captain wrote:Holy crap! How did I never know about this either? That is fantastic. Thank you for mentioning this. I just tested it and accidentally erased my character's pants. Awesome.
You're welcome :)
Makes easy on testing different dithering colors and colors in general.
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Levellass
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Post by Levellass »

Known this for years, as well as the secret magnification trick and making single colors in an image transparent.
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StupidBunny
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Post by StupidBunny »

I actually had NO IDEA this trick existed, and my respect for the eraser tool has just grown immensely. Wow.
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Paramultart
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Post by Paramultart »

Levellass wrote:Known this for years, as well as the secret magnification trick and making single colors in an image transparent.
Speaking of the magnifying trick, does anyone remember the secret 1-pixel-tall button in MS-Paint that allowed for 10x magnification?

http://www.eeggs.com/items/43723.html

Probably doesn't work post-XP.
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Nospike
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Post by Nospike »

I remember that, never used it though. 8x is more than enough for small-scale pixel art like Keen graphics.
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DoomJedi
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Post by DoomJedi »

StupidBunny wrote:I actually had NO IDEA this trick existed
I assumed so working on MS-Paint so much , just soooooo much over so many years...and thinking there is nothing about it I don't yet know.

Background transparency is known to I think everyone that works with Paint (and it's major attraction)...unless you mean something additional/else.
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troublesomekeen
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Post by troublesomekeen »

Argh. I should have made sure everyone knew about this trick/feature. Sorry, folks. :tired
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