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Quick Start Guide

Patina FAQs

Here's a basic introduction to the features of Patina and how to use them.

The circles on the left side of the canvas are tool buttons.

The circles on the bottom of the canvas are color management/selection buttons.

There's also a tool (eye dropper) on the right side of the bottom row.

The tool that is currently active will have an underline under it.

The top three tools have a layered or stacked appearance, which is meant to indicate that there are multiple tools available for each of those tool buttons.

To expand those buttons to see all the available tools, double click or long click on the button. (In Preferences, there is a setting that enables those expansions to happen with a mouseover / mouse hover instead).

The top tool button is for selecting areas on the canvas. In order of default appearance, they are transparent select, filled select, freeform select, and crop select.

Transparent select: will not pick up white background in selection frame.

Filled select: will pick up white background in selection frame.

Freeform select: selection area not limited to rectangular frame shape.

Crop select: the selection frame can move and resize without affecting the selected area of the image.

It's good to keep in mind that Patina appears to have a white canvas but actually has a transparent canvas. You can see and directly use the transparent canvas (represented by a checkerboard) if you go to the View menu and select Transparent Background. NOTE: If you want to save a transparent image when you are working in the default white canvas, you need to do two things:

1) Save in a file format that supports transparent images (PNG, TIFF, JPEG2000, or GIF), and
2) Check the box in the bottom left corner of the expanded "Save as..." dialog box that says "Save with transparent background", which you will only see if you click the down arrow on the right side of the "Where" line in the dialog box to expand it.

The next tool button below the select button is the shapes button.

Most of the shapes have an outline color and an inside color.

On the far left side of the bottom row of buttons below the canvas, you will see two buttons: outline color and inside color. Click the one on the left and then click on a color button to select an outline color. Click the one just to the right of it and then click on a color button to select an inside or fill color. The button (outline or inside) that is active will have an underline under it.

The next tool, below the shape button, is the lines button.

Moving on down, the next tools are pencil, brush, eraser, text, paint bucket, and zoom.

The slider below the zoom (magnifying glass) tool is context-sensitive. It can be moved by dragging the knob, clicking on the plus or minus symbol, clicking somewhere else on the slider scale, or using the up and down arrows on your keyboard. When using the zoom tool, you can double click on the slider knob to return to 100% view.

Here's what the slider does for each tool: Note that the slider only works for the pencil, brush, and eraser tools if you use the slider before you start using the tool. For the text tool, the slider only works after you start writing with the text tool.

The black, white, and transparent color buttons next to the outline and inside color buttons mentioned above are fixed colors that cannot be changed.

The next seven color buttons can all be changed by double clicking or long clicking one of them. That will bring up the Mac color picker. (If you double click, the outline or inside color will instantly change to the color on the color button, but if you long click instead, that won't happen).

The color button on the far right side is controlled by the eye dropper tool, which is used to sample colors on the canvas. That color button can also be controlled by the Mac color picker.

You can reset the colors to the default by finding that setting in Preferences, which is found in the Patina menu.

To manipulate (rotate, etc.) images and change the canvas size, go to the Image menu or use the mouse pointer right-click context menu. You can also rotate selections and shapes by using the protruding grabber on the dashed frame of a shape or selection.

Note that unlike a presentation app or layout app, in Patina you cannot manipulate or grab an element that has already been committed to the canvas.

For more advanced features, you can explore the various settings in Preferences, and also read the FAQs on www.patinaapp.com/support. For example, read the FAQ "How can I rotate a shape or a selection in exact increments?" to learn how to have fine control over degrees of rotation.

Feel free to contact us at support@patinaapp.com if you have any questions.