Corel PaintShop Pro Help | Working with the Mixer palette

Working with the Mixer palette

To mix colors

To undo and redo color mixing

To use Mixer palette colors

To create a custom Mixer page

To load Mixer area pages

You can use the Mixer palette to blend colors and create paint swatches similar to those you would create by using a traditional artist’s palette. Once you have created a color, you can use the Art Media brushes to apply it to the canvas.

If you blend colors too much, you can undo the 20 most recent Mixer Tube tool or Mixer Knife tool actions. You can also redo color mixing actions.

Important! The history of the actions in the Mixer palette is lost when you close the program; however, you can close the Mixer palette at any time while the program is open and not lose your changes.

By default, the Mixer pages you create are 500 × 500 pixels. However, you can also create larger, custom mixer pages. You can also save the Mixer area as a Mixer page, which you can reload and use in another PaintShop Pro session.

To mix colors

Edit tab

1 On the Materials palette, set the Foreground and Stroke Property box to Color, and choose a color from the Frame, Rainbow, or Swatch tab.

Note: When any Art Media tool is active, the mode buttons below the Foreground and Stroke Property and Background and Fill Property boxes are inactive.

2 On the Mixer palette, select the Mixer Tube tool

3 In the Mixer area, drag to apply paint strokes.

If you want to change the width of the stroke, change the setting in the Size box.

Note: You can choose another color by repeating step 1.

4 Choose the Mixer Knife tool

, and drag in the Mixer area to smear colors together.

You can toggle between the Mixer Knife tool and the Mixer Tube tool by using the right-mouse button. For example, you can apply paint by holding down the left mouse button and dragging; and you can mix the paint by holding down the right mouse button and dragging.

To undo and redo color mixing

Edit tab

• On the Mixer palette, click one of the following buttons:

• Unmix

— lets you undo a Mixer Tube tool or Mixer Knife tool action

• Remix

— lets you redo a Mixer Tube tool or Mixer Knife tool action

You cannot undo or redo Mixer Tube and Mixer Knife tool actions by choosing Edit Undo or Edit Redo, by clicking the Undo and Redo buttons on the Standard toolbar, or by pressing Ctrl + Z or Ctrl + Alt + Z.

To use Mixer palette colors

Edit tab

1 On the Mixer palette, choose the Mixer Dropper tool

, and click a color in the Mixer area.

Note: Dragging around the Mixer area on the Materials palette updates the Foreground and Stroke property box with the current sampling position.

2 On the Tools toolbar, choose an Art Media tool.

3 Begin painting.

Note: The strokes will be applied on an Art Media layer. If this layer type is not the active layer, one is created automatically once you begin using the Art Media tool.

4 To choose another color, use the Mixer Dropper tool to choose the desired color from the Mixer area.

You can also
Pan to other areas of the Mixer page	Hold down the Navigate button to display the entire Mixer page. Drag to enclose the desired area of the page.
Clear the Mixer page	On the Mixer palette, choose Clean Page.

The size of the Dropper tool is determined by the Size setting on the Tool Options palette.

You can dry the Art Media layer, or make it wet again by choosing Layers Dry Art Media layer or Layers Wet Art Media layer. For more information on each Art Media tool, see Working with Art Media tools.

To create a custom Mixer page

Edit tab

1 Choose File

New to display the New Image dialog box.

2 In the Image Dimensions group box, type values to set the dimensions for the Mixer page.

Note: The width and height must be at least 500 pixels.

3 In the Image Characteristics group box, click the Art Media Background option.

4 Click the texture swatch in the Select canvas texture area, and choose a texture from the menu.

Note: The texture acts like an invisible surface on which Art Media pigments are applied.

5 Click OK.

Note: At this point you can apply Art Media pigment to the image.

6 On the Standard toolbar, click the Save button

to display the Save As dialog box.

7 Navigate to X: Program Files\Corel\Corel PaintShop Pro 2023 (64-bit)\Corel_19, where "X" indicates the drive on which PaintShop Pro is installed.

8 Save the new image in the .pspimage file format.

You can also
Save the Mixer area as a page	On the Mixer palette, choose Save Page or Save Page As, and type a name for the page.

You can also access Mixer pages from your user folder, ...Documents\Corel PaintShop Pro\2023\Mixer Pages.

You can fill the Mixer page with a color by marking the Enable fill color check box in the New Image dialog box, clicking the Color box, and choosing a fill color. Be aware, however, that you cannot sample this color, nor will the Art Media tools affect the color.

To load Mixer area pages

Edit tab

1 Click the Load Mixer Page button

2 Click the Mixer page you want, or navigate to the folder where the Mixer page is stored.

Note: By default, Mixer pages are saved in ...Documents\Corel PaintShop Pro\2023\Mixer Pages.

You can also load a mixer page by clicking the Mixer Menu icon and choosing Load Page.