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Definitions of terms used in this help.

brush

A tool that lets you make brushstrokes on a canvas. Available brushes include pencil, pen, eraser, paintbrush, airbrush, marker, chisel brush, felt pen, and smear pen.

brush outline

An outline that lets you see the size of brushes before you make a brushstroke. To turn it off, go to the Preferences window.

brush palette

A window where you can choose from default brushes, and add your own custom brushes.

brushstroke

A mark made by the movement of a brush on the canvas.

canvas

The total image area. A term taken from fine arts, the canvas is available for applying brushstrokes or adding artistic elements.

clutch key

A key combination, using a key and stylus (pen-down) to replace a mouse right-click and hotkey.

color wheel

A circular area in the Colors window for selecting hues and primary colors.

For PC users, color shading and tint can be fine-tuned using the SV (saturation and value) triangle.

crop

To remove the outer parts of an image, keeping only a selected part.

custom brush

A brush you either copied or created as a Do-It-Yourself brush. The lower part of the Brush Palette stores the custom brushes.

eyedropper

For PC users, a tool for selecting an exact color under the stylus.

flick stroke

The quick action of touching the stylus to an icon and stroking toward one of its affiliated tools.

hotkey

A keyboard shortcut that performs a particular action.

For PC users, this feature is available for computers with keyboards.

lagoon

An area in the bottom left corner of the SketchBook pane. It contains tools, such as Undo, Redo, Current Color, Current Tool, and icons containing groups of tools arranged in marking menus. The lagoon can be changed using the Lagoon Preferences and Interface Controls.

lasso select

The ability to select irregular (non-rectangular) shapes.

layer

An image laying over or under other images. All these images taken together comprise one complete image. Layers let you separate or hide parts of an image.

marking menu

A menu where you use gestures to perform menu selections. Press and hold your stylus over an icon. Additional tools appear. Flick toward the tool you want.

mirror

To flip an image or layer around its vertical center axis.

opacity

The opposite of transparency. In Autodesk SketchBook Pro, you can control the opacity of paint on brushes and layers.

orientation (primary, landscape, portrait)

For PC users, the positioning of a rectangular image, either vertically (portrait) or horizontally (landscape).

For best performance with a Tablet PC, use primary landscape orientation when zooming in on and pulling your sketch around.

pen responsiveness

A stylus responds differently to the amount of pressure you apply. When you increase the pen responsiveness, you get a wide range of intermediate values for pressure-sensitive brushes as you press harder on the stylus. For example, brushstrokes get thicker and/or darker gradually as you increase the pen pressure.

pen-down

The action of placing the tip of the stylus firmly on the tablet and holding it in place for a moment. Doing this in combination with a clutch key creates an action equivalent to a right-click and hotkey of the same value. 1 + pen-down = right-click + 1

PSD

The file format used by the Adobe® Photoshop® application program.

Shape texture brush

A texture brush created using the Shape option. It has no defined color associated with the brush, unlike a Shape + Colors texture brush

stamp spacing

A series of stamps, separated by a stamp spacing value make up each stroke.

A small stamp spacing value puts stamps close together, producing a dark smooth brushstroke that is potentially less responsive (slower). As the spacing value increases, the stamps spread out, producing a brushstroke that is lighter and not as smooth. A high spacing value produces a responsive brushstroke that appears as a series of dots.

stroke

What is created when you paint or draw in SketchBook.

Autodesk SketchBook Pro supports a stylus eraser (which you can change by changing the hard eraser), but does not use the stylus barrel button.

stylus

A writing device used in conjunction with a tablet, also known as a pen.

Autodesk SketchBook Pro supports a stylus eraser (which you can change by changing the hard eraser), but does not use the stylus barrel button.

SV (saturation and value) triangle

In the Colors window, a triangle in which you can click to adjust the shading and tint of the color.

swatch

In the Color Editor, a rectangular area showing the currently selected color.

transparency (of layer, of brush)

The amount of detail you can see underneath a layer or brushstroke. The opposite of opacity.