SketchBook Pro Line and Shape tools

Resize a brush
Change your view
Move, rotate, or scale a selected area
Show/hide a layer
Tool selection
Tool summary
Hotkey shortcuts
Resize an image
Resize the canvas
Do-It-Yourself brushes
Copyrights and Trademarks

Autodesk SketchBook Pro 2011 (version 5.5.1)

2011 Autodesk, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by Autodesk, Inc., this publication, or parts
thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose.

Certain materials included in this publication are reprinted with the permission of the copyright holder.

Trademarks
The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the
USA and other countries: 3DEC (design/logo), 3December, 3December.com, 3ds Max, Algor, Alias, Alias (swirl design/
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Disclaimer
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Published by:
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94903, USA
Contents
Copyrights and Trademarks 2
Whats New 5
Introduction 7
Tool selection 7
Tool summary 7
Choose a brush 7
Blurring an area 7
Sharpening an area 7
Change brush properties 8
Resize a brush 8
Changing brush opacity 8
Undo or redo a brushstroke 8
Clear brushstrokes 8
Clearing an area from the current layer 8
Swap between two brushes 8
Color Editors 9
Pick a color from the screen 9
Set the RGB 9
Create a customized color palette 9
Saving a customized color palette 9
Copic Color Library 10
Choose a color 10
Select the complementarly color 10
Create a custom color set 10
Show/hide parts of the library 10
Tools for Sketching 11
Line and Shape tools 11
Lines 11
Rectangles 11
Polylines 11
Ovals 11
Free 11
Flood fill an area 11
Flood fill an active layer 11
Flood fill visible layers 11
Change Flood Fill properties 12
Rulers 12
Position a ruler 12
Show/hide a ruler 12
Symmetry 12
Stop stroke at center line 12
View, Edit & Save your Sketch 13
Change your view 13
Zoom in and move about 13
Zoom using a touch strip 13
View an images actual size 13
Fit an image in the display 13
Select an area 14
Deselect an area 14
Copy your sketch 14
Move, rotate, or scale a selected area 15
Crop 15
Resize the canvas 15
Resize an image 16
Change resolution 16
Fit a resized image onto the screen 16
Rotate canvas 16
Rotate or flip your sketch 16
Add an image 17
Color correct images 17
Create a new sketch 18
Open a saved sketch 18
Open a PXD 18
Save your sketch 18
Save with an alpha channel 18
Save your sketch as an Adobe Photoshop file 18
Save your sketch as a PXD 18
Save your sketch as an image file 18
Save location options 19
Save to iCloud 19
Managing files 19
Open a sketch stored on iCloud 19
Delete from iCloud 19
Optimizing files to work across devices 19
Exporting 20 Email a sketch 28
SketchBook landscape-oriented images to Troubleshooting 28
a device 20 Use background templates 29
SketchBook images to a device 20 Print a sketch 29
Hiding or showing scroll bars 29
Use Layers 21
Hide or move the interface 29
How do I use layers? 21
Flip through your sketches 29
Select a layer 21
Changing the behavior of Page Up and Page Down 30
Persistent selection 21
Present images 30
Edit a layer 21
Show/hide a layer 22 Adjust System & Program Settings 31
Layer blending 22 Customizing lagoon icons 31
Organize layers 23 Customizing marking menus 31
Merge two layers 23 Changing the Maximum Number of Undos 31
Merge all layers 23 Improve performance 32
Change the transparency of a layer 23 Optimize your files to work across devices 32
Adjusting stylus responsiveness 32
Create Custom Brushes 24
Adjusting stylus responsiveness for one brush 33
Brush sets 24
Wacom tablet troubleshooting 33
Do-It-Yourself brushes 24
Default hotkey mappings 33
Create a Texture Brush 25
Installing the latest drivers 34
Saving a texture brush 25
Using default tip pressure feel 34
Modifying a texture brush 25
Changing the width of the Brush Palette 34
Create your own brush icons 26
Resetting your preferences 34
About the sample icon 26
Change the brush cursor 26 Hotkey shortcuts 35
Remove the brush outline 26
Artistic Acknowledgements 37
Annotate, Send, Print & Present 27
Text 27
Adding text 27
Editing text 27
Changing the transparency of text
28
Transforming text 28
Rasterizing a text layer 28
Whats New
This chapter introduces new features and a list of improvements & enhancements that can be found in this
release of SketchBook Pro.

Reset preferences

Reset your preferences to their default state.

Select Edit > Preferences and tap Factory Settings, then tap a Reset button and OK.

Saving
In addition to saving locally, you can save directly to iCloud, if you have an
iCloud account. SketchBook Pro remembers the last location you saved to.
At any time, switch between saving to your Mac or iCloud.
Important information regarding workflows with SketchBook on iPhone
& iPad
Optimize your files to work across devices
If you intend to work between your Mac and SketchBook
Mobile or SketchBook Pro for iPad, under File Format, select
SketchBook iOS, then tap Options and select a device to create a
canvas size to ensure best results.
Manage your files

Import to Photoshop
When importing a PSD SketchBook Pro file to Photoshop,
a white background layer is no longer added.

Additional improvements
We have made general performance improvements
and added fixes for some known issues.
Wacom tablet support
We now support default hotkeys and Intuos-4 touch ring behavior.

To access its options, tap the center ring.

 o select an option, tap the center ring
T
until the option is highlighted.
 nce an option is selected, to perform
O
that action, drag in the outer ring.

Note - D
 ue to a Wacom driver issue, some users may not find the default hotkeys mapped.
Through your Wacom Tablet Properties, manually set the hotkeys to correct this.
Introduction

Tool selection
Pick a tool using one of the following methods:
Flick toward an icon to select it.
Touch the stylus to an icon and hold, then flick through a tool.
Tap a tool the toolbar to select it.

Tool summary
3 1. Brush Palette (shows current tool)
4
2. Color (shows current color)
5
3. Interface controls
6 4. View controls, canvas transform tools, rulers, layers, &
symmetry
1 7 5. Brushes & palette

2 6. Colors
9 8
7. Selection, editing, & layer transform tools
8. Open, save, new, next & previous image
9. Undo/redo

Choose a brush
In the Brush Palette or from the lagoon, tap a brush and start sketching.
Select an eraser for modifications.

Blurring an area
Blur - Paint over an area to soften it, making the area appear out of focus.
Note - T
 o change its size or strength, either double-click the brush or tap
to access Brush Properties.

Sharpening an area
Sharpen - Paint over an area to makes it look crisper; sharpening the areas.
Note - To change its size or strength, either double-click the brush or tap
to access Brush Properties.
Change brush properties
In the Brush Palette, tap to access the Brush Properties window and change brush settings, such as wetness and slant.

Resize a brush
In the Brush Palette, tap or hold down the B key to access a puck.
Then, drag to the right to increase a brushs size or left to decrease it.

Changing brush opacity

Use the O key to change the amount of paint applied by a brush. Tap a brush, then press-hold the O key
as you drag up to increase a brushs opacity or down to decrease it.

Undo or redo a brushstroke

To undo the previous action, tap or press Cmd+Z.
To redo an action, tap or press Shift+Cmd+Z.

Note - You can change the number of undos in the General tab of the Preferences.

Clear brushstrokes
Flick toward or press the Delete or Backspace key.

Clearing an area from the current layer

1. F
 lick toward or , or press the M key,
then drag over the area you want to clear.
2. Next, either flick toward or press the
Delete key to remove the selected area.

Swap between two brushes

Use one brush, then return to a previous one. After using a brush, select another,
then flick toward or press S to move between them.
Color Editors
Tap , then flick toward a color or select Window > Copic Library to
access the Copic Color Library and select from over 300 colors.

Note - I f you flick , your brush will erase existing color pixels on that
layer.

1
1. Tabs (various methods for picking colors):
Choose a hue or tints and the value (light).
 S pecify a color using color gradients, such as gray
6 2
scale, RGB, CMYK, or HSB values.
  hoose from a lists of colors (Apple, Developer,
C
Crayons, Web Safe), or create your own list of colors.
 Choose a color from a spectrum of hues and values. 3

Pick from 48 colors displayed as a box of crayons. 5

2. Swatch (current color)

3. Slider
4. Customized palette
5. Color Wheel
4
6. Magnifying glass (color picker)

Pick a color from the screen

Tap to change the cursor to .
Move over and tap a color on your screen.

Set the RGB

In the Color Editor, tap the RGB fields and add numeric values. The color
in the Color Wheel changes to display a color with those RGB values.

Create a customized color palette

Drag a color chip from the swatch to the
palette at the bottom of the Color Editor.

Saving a customized color palette

The next time SketchBook opens, your
customized color palette appears.
Copic Color Library
1. Minimize/maximize Color set 1
2. Tabs 2
3. Color set
4. Current & complementary color
5. Minimize/maximize Custom set
6. Custom set

Choose a color 3
In the toolbar, tap or select Window > Copic Library to access the Copic
Color Library.
Use your mouse wheel, Wacom touch strip, tap-drag the color set slider, or for
Mac users, 2-finger drag to scroll between the pages of colors.

Note - I f using your Wacom touch strip, in the Wacom Tablet Properties, Touch
Strip Function must be set to either Zoom or Auto Scroll/Zoom.

Select the complementarly color 4

Tap a color chip to load its complementary color. Tap the Complementary color
below the chip to select it. 5
Note - N
 ot every color will have an assigned complementary color. For those 6
without, a selection of colors similar to its complementary or nothing will
appear.

Create a custom color set

Tap-drag a color chip from the Color set or a complementary color into the
Custom set.

Show/hide parts of the library

Tap the arrows near the top and bottom of the library to show/hide parts of it.
Tools for Sketching

Line and Shape tools

In the toolbar, tap a Line and Shape tools, Line, Rectangle, Polyline, or Oval,
to help create shapes and lay down lines.

Lines
To draw a line, either tap or for a horizontal or vertical line, hold down the
Shift key. Then, tap-drag. See Free for diagonal lines.

Rectangles
To draw a rectangle, tap and tap-drag to draw the shape.

Polylines
To draw a polyline, tap and tap to place each point. Dbl-tap the last point to change the line to a solid line.

Ovals
To draw an oval or circle, tap and tap-drag to draw the shape.

Free
To return to freestyle stroke mode, tap . To draw a diagonal (45-degree angle) line,
hold down the D key. Then, tap-drag.

Flood fill an area

Fill the active or visible layers with color.

Flood fill an active layer

In the Brush Palette, tap , then tap an area to fill
that area on that layer.

Flood fill visible layers

In the Brush Palette, tap , then tap an area to fill
that area in all visible areas.

Penguin (c) 1296613 Ontario Inc.

Change Flood Fill properties
Change the tolerance to determine the range of color values affected when flooding a region with paint and fill gaps
between the fill paint and the pixels creating the boundary of the fill.

The minimum tolerance, 0 (zero), selects and fills only pixels of that color value. The maximum tolerance, 255,
selects and fills all pixels regardless of the region.

Dbl-tap or and tap to change flood fill tolerances.

Rulers
Tap or r or press R for the straight ruler and E for the elliptical ruler.
Sketch using a circular motion close to or on the elliptical ruler. The stroke
doesnt have to be perfect, since it snaps to the ellipse.

Position a ruler
Tap-drag to pivot the ruler using the opposite handle as the pivot
point.
Tap-drag to move the rulers.
Dbl-tap any outer handle to reposition the ruler horizontally or
vertically.
Dbl-tap to rotate the ellipse around its center.
Dbl-tap to equally scale the ellipse in all directions.
Tap-drag to scale the ellipse in one direction.
Dbl-tap any scale handle to change the ellipse to a circle.

Show/hide a ruler
To hide the ruler, tap the close handle .

Symmetry
Tap or press Y for horizontal symmetry. Draw on one side of the axis.
It is mirrored to the other side.
vertical symmetry
Note - The axis of symmetry always appears at the center of the window.

Tap or press X for vertical symmetry.

horizontal symmetry

Stop stroke at center line

In Preferences > General, tap Stroke stops at the center line
to stop your stroke at the line of symmetry.
View, Edit & Save your Sketch

Change your view

Zoom in and move about

Tap and flick toward or press and hold down the spacebar
to access the puck.

 ove your stylus to the center to zoom and tap-drag to zoom in

M
and out.

 ove your stylus to the outer ring and tap-drag to reposition

M
your sketch on the canvas.

Zoom using a touch strip

Cintiqs and some tablets have a touch strip for zooming. Position your
cursor over the area you want to zoom in or out of. Move your finger
along the touch strip in an upward motion to zoom in or a downward
motion to zoom out.

View an images actual size

For the actual pixel size of an image, tap and flick toward or press
Option+Cmd+0 (zero).

Fit an image in the display

To expand or shrink an image, tap and flick toward or press
Cmd+0 (zero).
Select an area
Select (M) Lagoon

Select All

Select (M) Toolbar

Lasso Select (L) Toolbar

Use one of the following methods:

To select an area, do one of the following, then tap-drag to select the area you want:
tap in the toolbar or press the M key
tap in the toolbar or press the L key
To select everything, select Edit > Select all or press Cmd+A.

Deselect an area
To de-select the area:
1. Tap outside the area.
2. Flick toward one of the other selection tools.
3. Press Cmd+D.
4. Select Edit > Deselect.

Copy your sketch

Use the Selection tools to select everything or just an area, then use one of the Copy tools.

To copy:
everything on a layer, select Edit > Select All or press the A key.
a rectangular area, use or press the M key, then click-drag to surrounds the area you want to
copy.
an irregular area, use or press the L key, then click-drag to surrounds the area you want to copy.
the contents from the current layer only, flick toward or press Cmd+C.

To paste, flick toward or press Cmd+V.

Move, rotate, or scale a selected area
Use the Transform Layer puck to move, rotate, and scale content.
Use one of the Selection tools, then the Transform Layer puck appears.

Note - To move, rotate, or scale a selected area for all layers, merge the layers first.

To move a selection, highlight To rotate a selection around its center,

the move outer circle. Tap, then highlight the rotate middle circle. Tap,
drag to move the layer around the then drag in a circular motion in the
canvas. direction you want to rotate.

To scale a selection bigger or To non-proportionately scale a selection,

smaller, highlight the scale inner highlight the upper part of the inner
circle. Tap, then drag to scale circle. Tap, then drag in the direction
up or down to display the percentage you want scaled.
scaling.

Crop
Use these tools to select an area to crop it by tap-dragging to surround the area.
Anything outside the selection is deleted. Tap to remove unselected parts of the sketch.

Crop makes a square or rectangular crop selection.

 Crop to Selection c rops irregular, square, & rectangular selections.

Resize the canvas

Use Image > Canvas Size to set size of the canvas, using inches, cm, or mm.
Tap the Anchor interface to specify how to crop the canvas.
Resize an image
Use Image size to change the dimensions of the image in pixels, its resolution, or the document size.
This change directly affects memory usage, quadrupling it if you double the pixel size. Due to memory
requirements, there is a 6400 x 6400-pixel upper limit on image size.
Change resolution
Resolution is the number of pixels per inch or per cm. Leaving the document size the same increases
the quality of the image and resolution; however, the memory size also increases.

Fit a resized image onto the screen

To expand or reduce an image to fill the screen, flick toward Fit to View
or press Cmd+0 (zero).

Rotate canvas
To rotate the canvas, hold down the Spacebar, mouse over the rotate
ring of the puck, then click-drag to freely pivot the canvas.

Rotate or flip your sketch

Rotate Image CCW Mirror Canvas

Rotate Image CW Flip Layer Vertically

Flip canvas Vertically Mirror Layer

To rotate an image counter-clockwise, select Image > Rotate Image CCW .

To rotate an image clockwise, select Image > Rotate Image CW .

Note - Keep selecting either of these to rotate the image 180 or 270 degrees.

To flip an image vertically, select .

To flip an image horizontally, select .

Add an image
An image, such as a PXD from Pixlr, can be inserted onto the current layer or imported
onto a new layer. To add an image, select File > Add Image, then select a file.
Note - W hen adding a PXD image to a sketch, SketchBook flattens the file,
without making any visual changes.

To add an image to the current layer, ensure that in the preferences

Add Image: import into a new layer is not checked.
Note - Once an image added to a layer, its baked into the current sketch.
You can no longer rotate, scale, or move it on its own. If you do not
like its placement, choose to undo it and try again.

Color correct images

The Image menu contains the following options for editing an image. You
can also invert the colors in an image or change it to grayscale.

Brightness/Contrast Make colors pop. Increase the contrast to make

colors richer. Decreasing it to wash them out for images that text can
be placed over top. Increase brightness to bring out details from darker
areas. Decrease it to melt away darker aspects of an image and shift the
focus to things that are bright.
Hue/Saturation/Lightness Change the color range, increase or
decrease the purity of a color or brilliance of the colors. Adds/subtracts
color (hue) or adjusts the relative amount of color (saturation) in each
pixel.

Color Balance Remove unwanted color casts by lights or inclement

weather conditions by adjusting the cyan, red, magenta, green, yellow,
and blue in each pixel.

Grayscale Change a color image to one that uses black, white, and
various shapes of gray by removing all color from the image.

Invert Switch the contrast of an image. Change black elements to

white and white to black to create an opposite image. Convert color
information for each pixel to its complementary color.
Create a new sketch
To create a new sketch, flick toward or press Cmd+N.
Note - Use the Preferences window to set the default canvas size opened when you create new sketches.

Open a saved sketch

To open sketches of various formats, flick toward or press Cmd+O.

Open a PXD
Open an image from Pixlr in SketchBook. If the image uses a blend mode not supported by SketchBook,
the Normal blend mode is used to replace it. To bring an image from Pixlr into SketchBook,
select File > Open, then select a PXD file.

Save your sketch

When saving a file, you can set options for saving with an alpha channel and set the format of the saved file.

Save with an alpha channel

1. S et the preference Transparent background to create
an alpha channel and make the background of a layer
transparent.
2. Select TIFF, PNG, or PSD when saving an image to save
out the alpha channel.
Important For this option to take effect, you must either
select File > New and start a new project or
quit SketchBook and restart.
3. I n the Background layer, tap-drag and select ,
then tap-drag the Opacity slider, to set the opacity to 0.

Save your sketch as an Adobe Photoshop file

When saving, select the Adobe Photoshop PSD file type option.

Save your sketch as a PXD

Save images as PXDs to work on them in Pixlr. For images with colored
text, to preserve the color, SketchBook converts the text to an image.

To save a sketch that can be opened in Pixlr, select File > Save as type >
PXD Files (*.pxd).

Save your sketch as an image file

When saving, select the type of image you want saved.
Note - Only the TIFF and PSD image formats preserve layers. Saving them as
any other image format flattens them. Only use Autodesk SketchBook Pro
to read TIFF files containing layers. We do not advise you to open these
images in other programs because we cannot guarantee layer preservation.
Save location options
In addition to saving locally, you can save directly to iCloud if you have an iCloud account. SketchBook Pro remembers the
last location you saved to. You can switch between saving to your Mac or iCloud at any time.

Save locally
Save a project to the computer you are using. In the Save or Save
As dialog, tap Save to Local Browser, browse to a location on
your machine and tap Save. Files can be saved as any format.

Save to iCloud
Save a project to iCloud to access it from anywhere and any device
or platform. iCloud file management is only supported through
the SketchBook iCloud Gallery. In the Save or Save As dialog,
tap Go to iCloud Gallery.
If you suspect your iCloud Gallery could be full, we recommend
saving your file locally and moving it to the cloud when space is
available.
If a file is open on 2 or more devices, there is no notification. The
last device to save will overwrite the file.

Managing files

Open a sketch stored on iCloud

Access a project stored on iCloud from anywhere and with any
machine. In the Open dialog, tap Go to iCloud Gallery.

Delete from iCloud

Remove a project from the SketchBook iCloud Gallery. In the
Open dialog, tap Go to iCloud Gallery. Select a file and tap
Delete.

Optimizing files to work across devices

If you intend to work between your Mac and SketchBook
Mobile or SketchBook Pro for iPad, you can use SketchBook
Pro iOS Options to create a canvas size that ensures best
results. To understand how canvases behave on different
devices, see Exporting.
In the Save or Save As dialog, set File Format to SketchBook
iOS. Tap Options. Select the intended device and tap OK.
Exporting

SketchBook landscape-oriented images to a device

When you export a layered landscape-oriented image from
SketchBook Pro to an iPad or iPhone, the image is cropped. The iPad
maps the bottom left corner of the exported image to its bottom left
corner. If the original layered image is wider than the iPad or iPhone,
do one of the following:
s et the canvas to the same resolution as the device
before exporting
t ake the image from DropBox or iTunes, open it in any
application that can open PSDs, then make changes to fit
it to the device
r otate your layers to change the images orientation and
ensure the canvas is no longer than the length of the
intended devices canvas

SketchBook images to a device

When you export an image with 8 layers from SketchBook Pro to a
device, layers may be missing.
 e iPad2 has a limit of 4 high-resolution or 12 regular
Th
layers. Layers 5 and up from the original image are not
loaded for a device with high-resolution layers. Turn off
High-resolution canvas, then re-import the
file.
 e iPad1 has 6 layers, so layers 7 and 8 are not loaded.
Th
Merge some of the layers before exporting for an iPad1
user.
 e iPhone has from 3 6 layers, so some layers are
Th
not loaded.
Use Layers
Use layers to make changes to an image without modifying the content on other layers. Use multiple layers for
drawing complex sketches or to test variations of a design.

How do I use layers?

1. Flick toward to open the Layer Editor.

2.  ap-hold the middle of a layer to access layer tools, then flick toward any of the
T
following:

Add a layer (Cmd+L)

Delete a layer

 Rename a layer

Merge all layers together

Merge with the layer below (Cmd+E)

Lock and unlock a layer

Hide or Show a layer

Make a duplicate layer

Select a layer
In the Layer Editor, tap a layer to select and highlight it. All
actions are applied to this layer, until another layer is selected.
Note - Only one layer can be selected and active at a time.

Persistent selection
After selecting a region on the canvas, you can add, delete, or
switch layers, while the marching ants created by the Select/
Lasso/Crop tools stay active. Your selection is maintained.

Edit a layer
With a layer selected in the Layer Editor, move, rotate, or scale the layer, mirror or flip
its content, use the color correction tools, or add text.
Note - M
 oving, rotating, and scaling a layer only affects the current layer. To move,
rotate, or scale the entire canvas, merge all the layers first.

To move, rotate, or scale a layer, flick toward or press-hold the V key and use the Transform puck. To do
this to another layer, select a new layer and repeat.
Note - I f using the V hotkey, press and hold it down, as you tap the top of the middle circle, and drag up, down,
right, or left.
To mirror or flip a layer, see Rotate or flip your sketch.
Show/hide a layer
1. Flick toward to open the Layer Editor.
2. Tap-hold the middle of a layer to access layer tools, then flick toward

Hide or Show a layer.

Layer blending
In the Layer Editor, with a layer selected, tap , then use the color correction options:

Screen - Produces an overall lightening effect, by providing a softer lightening effect than Add. Each
pixel on the layer is brightened by a value equal to or lesser than the value of pixels on other
layers occupying the same location in the layer stack. This effect is opposite to Multiply.
Tip - I f the top layer uses tints (colors mixed with white), most of the colors from the
layer below will be obscured. If it uses shades (colors mixed with black), more
colors from the layer below to show through.

Multiply - Produces an overall darkening effect to the layer appearance. Each pixel on the layer is
darkened by a value equal to or greater than the value of pixels on other layers occupying the
same location in the layer stack. It produces a similar effect to combining one or more
photographic transparencies together and looking through them.
Tip - I f the top selected layer uses tints (colors mixed with white), more of the colors
from the layer will show through. If is uses shades (colors mixed with black), most
of the colors from the layer below are obscured.

Add - Lightens the overall composition, similar to Screen, but more dramatically. Each pixel is
brightened by a value equal to or lesser than the value of pixels on other layers occupying the same
location in the layer stack. This is applied as a linear calculation.
Tip - I f the top selected layer uses tints (colors mixed with white), most of the colors
from the layer below will be obscured. If it uses shades (colors mixed with black),
more of the colors from the layer below to show through.

None - Removes any color correction applied to the layer.

Organize layers
Drag layers and reposition them and change the
spacial position of objects and how they combine to
create the overall composition. Once satisfied with
layer order, they can be combined by merging two
or all of them.

In the Layer Editor, pen down on to drag the

layer up or down. Release the stylus to drop the
layer into position.

Merge two layers

Combine two layers together. Tap the upper layer
and flick toward to merge it with the one below or
press Cmd+E.

Merge all layers

Combine all layers to create a project with one layer.
Flick toward to merge them, even hidden
(which become visible) or locked ones.

Change the transparency of a layer

Blend a layer with other layers using transparency.

Full opacity Medium opacity (translucent) Transparent

In the Layer Editor, with a layer selected, drag the slider to the opacity.
Note - If a layer is not visible, check to see if the opacity is at 0%.

To lock the transparency of a layer, use the secondary marking menu and flick upwards toward .
To unlock transparency, flick upward toward .
Create Custom Brushes
There are three sets of custom brushes. Create more by copying a brush and changing its setting or creating a
Do-It-Yourself brush.

Brush sets
There are an assortment of default brush set, including a set of Copic brushes. Create custom sets to group and manage
brushes. Export sets for others to use or save them to an external drive. Import and use brush sets created by others. Label
your brush sets to help identify them. In the Brush Palette, tap to access the following options:

New Brush Set Create a new brush set.

Rename Brush Set Change the name of the selected brush set.

Export brush set Share brushes with people working on different platforms.

Import Brush Set Load an exported zipped brush set file into the Brush Palette.

Delete Brush Set Remove the selected brush set from the Brush Palette.

New Brush Create a new brush and add it to the selected brush set.

Copy Brush Create a duplicate of a selected brush and add it to the selected brush set.

Delete Brush Permanently remove a selected brush.

Do-It-Yourself brushes
Once you create a Do-It-Yourself brush, you can do the
following:
 djust the pressure sensitivity Set
A
brush width or transparency according
to the amount of pressure applied to the
stylus. Double-tap a Do-It-Yourself brush
and make changes to its Size to vary its
brush thickness as the stylus pressure
changes.
Note - The brush size values are a rough
approximation of pixel size,
but can vary. For example, if
lines are too thin to be drawn
on the screen, they default to
being wider. To resize a marker,
try adjusting its opacity and
stamp spacing. To make a bigger
marker, set the opacity lower and
the brush stamp spacing lower.
 hange the opacity Set Opacity to
C
vary brush opacity as the stylus pressure
changes.
Create a Texture Brush
Once a Do-It-Yourself brush is created, a texture can be added to it,
creating a texture brush. You can set the shape and/or color and make
a texture from a rotated stroke or capture something on your canvas
to use as a texture. When capturing a texture, one of the following
Custom Texture settings can be selected:

Shape + Colors
Uses the current paint color, as well as the selected shape, to
create your texture. Whenever the texture brush is used, it
uses the color set during creation.
Shape

Creates a texture brush with no assigned color. Each time the
texture brush is used, a different color can be set.
Image compliments of Starr Shaw
Rotate to Stroke
Dynamically rotates the texture in the direction of the stroke.

1. With a Do-It-Yourself brush selected, tap Show Brush Properties to open Brush Properties.
2. Tap Capture.
3. From Custom Texture, select either Shape + Colors or Shape and/or check Rotate to Stroke.
4. Within
 the canvas, tap the area to be captured as the texture. The display in Brush Properties updates to show
the texture and color.
Note - W
 hen capturing the texture shape, SketchBook uses the current size of the Do-It-Yourself brush. If
the complete shape is not captured, resize the Do-It-Yourself brush, then capture the shape again.

Saving a texture brush

Tap Save at the bottom of Brush Properties to save the brush.

Modifying a texture brush

There are many ways to modify a texture brush, from resetting it, opening its properties and changing
settings, changing a stroke, to assigning a permanent color to it.

Changing texture brush properties - Change attributes of a texture brush.

Changing a texture - Change the stroke used by a texture brush.
Setting color on a Shape texture brush - Set a different color for a texture brush.
 djust the brush stamp for a Do-It-Yourself brush - Adjust the aspect, rotation, spacing,
A
noise, jitter, and brush edge of a Do-It-Yourself brush.
 etting brush stamp aspect and rotation - Use the Aspect and Rotation sliders in the
S
Brush Properties window to control the shape of the brush stamp.
 etting brush stamp spacing - Use the Stamp Spacing slider in the Brush Properties window
S
to control the spacing between these stamps.
 eplacing a custom brush icon - In the Identify Custom Brush window, select an item
R
from the Icon list.
  etting brush edges - Normally, the brush type you have selected
S
determines this setting. To achieve certain effects, change it. Soft
edges gives soft, feathered brush edges. For example, an airbrush.
Solid edges gives hard edges
that still bleed slightly. For example, markers or ballpoint pens.
Hard edges are hard. For example,
a calligraphy pen on high-quality paper stock, or lines from
computer drafting software.
I dentify a custom brush - Rename a custom brush or eraser, or
change its icon appearing
in the expanded area at the bottom of the Brush Palette.
Note - You cannot change the name or icon for the default
brushes.

Create your own brush icons

Create your own unique icons to identify custom brushes. When exporting
these brushes, the custom icons assignments appear upon import.
Note - Custom icons cannot be assigned to default brushed, only brushes in the bottom part of the Brush Palette.

Each icon you create must be a PNG image file that is 36 x 36 pixels. A custom brush icon not matching these
criteria does not appear. For each icon, create three image files:

One image of the icon itself, given a descriptive name. For example, MyBrush.png.
This file name appears in the Icons list of the Identify Custom Brush window.

 ne image for the icon in rollover state (that is, for when the cursor passes over it).
O
This file must use the same name as the first icon, but with _ over added to the end
(use the underscore character _ and not a space). For example, MyBrush _ over.png.
 ne image for the icon in selected state (that is, for when it is the current brush).
O
This file must use the same name, with _ press added to the end.
For example, MyBrush _ press.png.

About the sample icon

There is a sample icon called Sample, visible in the Icon list of the Identify Custom Brush window.
 is sample icon provides three image files for the icon in its three states.
Th
Find these files, named Sample.png, Sample _ over.png, and Sample _ press.png,
in the following folder:

[your user folder]/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/SketchBook Pro/5.2/

You will have to create a folder called BrushPresetIcons. Store any icon images you create in this same folder
to see them in the Identify Custom Brush window.

Change the brush cursor

In your Preferences, set the type of display for the brush cursor.

Remove the brush outline

By default, a brush outline appears for the sharpen, blur, and smear brushes, eraser, and other low-opacity brushes
such as the airbrush. This outline lets you see the size of the brush before you start drawing.

In your Preferences, this can be turned off.

Annotate, Send, Print & Present
Print images or email them. Annotate sketches. Present sketches to colleagues, clients, or friends.

Text
Use to create simple RTF text objects. Set the font, size, style, and color,
select and position them, change their transparency, and use Edit Text
Layer to modify them.

Adding text
1. T
 o add text, in the toolbar, tap . If in the Layer Editor,
along the right side of a layer, tap .
2. Start typing in the Edit Text Layer window.
3. U
 se the in-line editing tools to make changes to the
text.
See Editing text for more information.
4. Tap OK when finished.

Editing text
Through tapping Font button in the the Edit Text Layer window,
you can access the following text editing tools:

Collections Manage the list of fonts that appear in Family and see
only the fonts you want. Create custom font collections.
Use default sets to load only fun fonts or ones with fixed
width. Load only your favorite fonts or those recently
used.
Family Select a font from the list. If a font family is not listed, change
the Collections option to All Fonts.
Typeface Choose from Condensed, Condensed Italic, Bold
Condensed, Bold Condensed Italic typefaces.
Size Set the size of the text.

To set text color, click .

1. If the Edit Text Layer window is not open, select a text layer.
2. Along the right side of the layer, tap .

3. Select Edit Text Layer to open the Edit Text Layer

window.
4. Tap the Font button to access the in-line text editing tools.
Changing the transparency of text
The opacity of a text layer can be changed using the layers opacity slider.
Click-drag the opacity slider to change the transparency of a text layer.

A A A
Transforming text
Once text appears in the middle of the canvas, you are in Transform mode. Move is set as the default transform.
Use the puck to select a different mode.
When rotating or scaling the text, SketchBook uses the center of the text as the pivot point.
When scaling text, font size is changed, resulting in no visual quality change.
Note - Font size determines how much you can scale a font. A font size of 12 cannot be scaled up as
much as one set to 24. A font of 12 cannot be scaled down as much as one set to 5. To scale a
font any further, return to the Text window and increase or decrease the font size.

Rasterizing a text layer

Change text into pixels to paint on the same layer. The Text layer is converted into a regular layer and its content is
converted to pixels. Paint can be applied to this new layer. In the Layer Editor, flick .
Note - When text is rasterized, Edit Text can no longer be applied.

Email a sketch
Email a sketch to someone by selecting File > Send Mail.

Troubleshooting
If you get a message that you cannot email the image, check that:
You have an email account set up on your computer.
You have selected a default email application.
You can launch your default email program from outside SketchBook.

If your email program creates the email message, but cannot send the message, ensure that your email service
provider is operational. (Refer to the documentation of your email program for further information.)
Use background templates
Create your own background templates. Make graphs, lines, and other images you can draw over. When opening these
templates into Autodesk SketchBook Pro, your markups have an annotation layer, with the image itself preserved as a locked
background layer.

Print a sketch
Make printouts of your sketches by selecting File > Print.

Hiding or showing scroll bars

Tap the Canvas tab. Turn off Enable canvas scroll bars.
Note - Y
 ou can still use the Zoom and Move tool to view those parts of the image that are off the screen.

Hide or move the interface

Use these tools to set what interface elements are visible.

Displays the toolbar and lagoon and flips it to the left corner of the canvas.

Display the toolbar and lagoon and flips the lagoon to the right corner of the canvas.

Hide the toolbar and lagoon.

Display the toolbar, but hide the lagoon.

Flip through your sketches

View the images in a folder.
 move to the next image in the current
To
folder, tap , then flick toward .
Images are displayed in increasing order by
file name.
For example, HOUSE1, HOUSE2,
HOUSE3.
 o move to the previous image in the current
T
folder, tap , then flick toward .
Images are displayed in decreasing order by
file name.
For example, HOUSE3, HOUSE2,
HOUSE1.
Note - If you mark up the images, a
prompt to save your changes
when you go to the previous
or next image appears. To
preserve the original image, save
the marked-up image under a
different file name.
Changing the behavior of Page Up and Page Down
Some machines use the Page Up and Page Down keys differently for browsing to previous or next files. Tap
the General tab, in the Page Up section, tap one of the following setting to set up the program behavior that
works best for your system.
Open next image
Open previous image

Present images
Organize and determine their order, then hide the interface to make the images the focal point.
Put your images in order for presentation - Create a folder containing the images you want to
include in the presentation. Rename the images in the folder in alphabetical or numerical order
you want to present them.
Presenting images - Browse to the folder containing the images you want to present. Open the
first file in the folder. To show the next image, tap , then flick toward . To go backwards, tap
, then flick toward .

Hiding the interface for a bigger viewing area To view a full-size display with no title bar or
tools, tap , then flick . To move back and forth between images, use the Page Up and Page
Down keys. To view all the tools again, tap , then flick .
Adjust System & Program Settings
Create your own marking menus and populate the lagoon with the options you use most frequently. Right-tap to
access a virtual floating lagoon.

Customizing lagoon icons

Change the icons displayed in the lagoon, using the top section of the Lagoon Preferences.

Customizing marking menus

Customize the marking menu for an icon in the lagoon, using the Lagoon Preferences to add tools
that you commonly use. Once done, you can use clutch keys or right-click to access these custom
marking menus without visiting the lagoon.

Lagoon position Mouse Stylus

Press-hold 1 and right-click Press-hold 1 and pen-down

Press-hold 2 and right-click Press-hold 2 and pen-down

Press-hold 3 and right-click Press-hold 3 and pen-down

Press-hold 4 and right-click Press-hold 4 and pen-down

Press-hold 5 and right-click Press-hold 5 and pen-down

Press-hold 6 and right-click Press-hold 6 and pen-down

Changing the Maximum Number of Undos

Changing the number of undos only takes effect once a file is created or another one is imported.
We recommend you restart SketchBook. Tap the General tab. Enter the number of undos in
Maximum undos. The maximum value is 50, but we recommend a lower value for optimal speed
and performance.

Changing the default canvas size for new files

By default, the size of a new image is the size of the display.
 se width and height of window - To specify a custom size. Enter the width and height
U
in the fields provided (choose from pixels, inches, cm, or mm).
Note - The maximum size is 6400 x 6400 pixels.
Use width and height of window - To use the default display size again.
Improve performance
Some users may experience slower performance when Enable Rotate Canvas is enabled.
This can be corrected by changing a setting in the Preferences, which turn off
Enable Rotate Canvas.

Tip - P
 ress the [ and ] keys to rotate the canvas to the left of right, respectively.

Optimize your files to work across devices

If you intend to work between your Mac and SketchBook Mobile or SketchBook Pro for
iPad, under File Format, select SketchBook iOS, then tap Options and select a device
to create a canvas size to ensure best results.

Adjusting stylus responsiveness

Styli (pens) for various systems each respond differently to the pressure you
apply. If you dislike the feel of your current stylus, do the following:
Note - This setting affects brushstrokes for all pressure-sensitive brushes.
1. Select a pressure-sensitive brush, such as the pencil.
Note - You cannot adjust stylus responsiveness, unless the
current brush is pressure-sensitive.
2. Select Edit > Stylus Responsiveness. The Stylus Responsiveness
window appears.
3. M
 ove the slider to the right to increase the responsiveness of the
stylus.
As you move toward the Less end of the scale, the feel of the
stylus becomes softer. You do not have to press hard to get
dark and thick strokes.
As you move toward the More end of the scale, the feel of the
stylus becomes harder. Press hard to get dark, thick strokes.
4. Test
 your stylus on the canvas. Experiment with different types of
brushes.
Note - Th
 e Stylus Responsiveness window stays up while
you test.

 eep testing with different responsiveness values until the marks on the
K
screen look and feel right. With heavy pressure, the markers and other
heavier brushes tend to make dark, thick strokes. With light pressure, the
pencils tend to make light, but visible strokes.
Note - You may need to adjust the pen responsiveness each time you use a
different tablet or stylus.
Adjusting stylus responsiveness for one brush
The Stylus Responsiveness window applies to all brushes. To create a brush that responds differently to the
pressure you apply to the stylus, create a do-it-yourself brush and change its size and opacity levels.
Note - Brushstrokes can change abruptly from too light to too dark as you vary the stylus pressure.
Setting the tip pressure feel to its default value corrects the abrupt changes.

Wacom tablet troubleshooting

For users of either the Wacom Cintiq or Intuos tablet devices,
who have experienced any of the following issues:
Cursor offset (Cintiq)
Cursor acceleration (dual monitor setups)
Erratic pen input

You may want to also read these articles at visit the following links:

http://www.wacom.com/faqs/view.php?id=289
http://www.wacom.com/faqs/view.php?id=115

Default hotkey mappings

Due to a Wacom driver issue, some users may not find the default hotkeys
mapped. Through your Wacom Tablet Properties, manually set the
hotkeys to correct this.
Installing the latest drivers
If your Wacom device seems to work when you first plug it in, but you experience erratic behavior (for
example, problems with stylus pressure or with drifting or offset of the brush stroke), you need the latest
tablet driver.

Note - If you switch from serial to USB devices, try uninstalling the tablet driver and reinstalling it.
For the latest Wacom drivers, go to the Support area of http://www.wacom.com. Install a tablet driver
only after you have plugged in the Wacom device, uninstalled the previous driver, and restarted.

Using default tip pressure feel

If you find that brush strokes change abruptly from too light to too dark as you vary the amount of
pressure you apply to your stylus:
1. F
 ind the installed Wacom drivers and double-clicking the Wacom Tablet icon to access
this window.
2. T
 o customized settings for other applications, add Autodesk SketchBook Pro to the list
of applications with customized tool settings, which applies the changes only to it.
3. Move the Tip Pressure Feel slider to half-way between Soft and Hard. The shape of the
pressure curve in the More Options display must be a diagonal line. It takes this shape
by default when you move the Tip Pressure Feel slider to the middle.
Note - For information about using SketchBook with Wacom tablets,
see the section to follow, Adjusting stylus responsiveness.

Changing the width of the Brush Palette

Select how many columns wide the Brush Palette will be. To change the width of the Brush Palette, in
the Preferences > Brush > Brush Palette section, choose 2 or 3 from Column Number.

Resetting your preferences

Reset your preferences to their default state.

Select SketchBook Pro > Preferences and

tap Factory Settings, then tap a Reset button
and OK.
Hotkey shortcuts
Use this list to see the hotkey assignments in SketchBook.
Icon Tool Name
marking menu
Tools/Views marking menu
Brushes, Fills, Tools marking menu
Colors marking menu
Edit marking menu
File marking menu
Icon Tool Name
Ruler (Show/Hide)
Ellipse (Show/Hide)
Symmetry Y (On/Off)
Symmetry X (On/Off)
Pick a color with the Eyedropper tool
Draw straight lines
(horizontal or vertical)
Draw straight diagonal lines
Actual View
Fit to View
Hide/show tools
Go to full screen and hide menubar
Show/hide floating windows & lagoon
Move to next image
Move to previous image
Mouse Stylus
Press-hold 1 and right-click Press-hold 1 and pen-down
Press-hold 2 and right-click Press-hold 2 and pen-down
Press-hold 3 and right-click Press-hold 3 and pen-down
Press-hold 4 and right-click Press-hold 4 and pen-down
Press-hold 5 and right-click Press-hold 5 and pen-down
Press-hold 6 and right-click Press-hold 6 and pen-down
Hotkey Mac Hotkey PC
R R
E E
Y Y
X X
Option (hold down) Alt (hold down)
Shift (hold down) Shift (hold down)
D (hold down) D (hold down)
Option+Cmd+0 (zero) Alt+Ctrl+0 (zero)
Cmd+0 (zero) Ctrl+0 (zero)
Cmd+J Ctrl+J
Option+Cmd+J Alt+Ctrl+J
T or Tab T or Tab
Page Up Page Up
(These setting are reversible (These setting are reversible in
in the Preferences window.) the Preferences window.)
Page Down Page Down
(These setting are reversible (These setting are reversible in
in the Preferences window.) the Preferences window.)
Icon Tool Name Hotkey Mac Hotkey PC

Swap Between 2 Brushes S S

Resize a brush B (hold down and drag) B (hold down and drag)

Change brush opacity O (hold down and drag) O (hold down and drag)

Change brush slant / (hold down and drag) / (hold down and drag)

Select M M

Lasso Select L L

Select all Cmd+A Ctrl+A

De-select Cmd+D Ctrl+D

Clear Del Del

Undo Cmd+Z Ctrl+Z

Redo Cmd+Y Ctrl+Y

Copy Cmd+C Ctrl+C

Paste Cmd+V Ctrl+V

Cut Cmd+X Ctrl+X

Save Cmd+S Ctrl+S

New Cmd+N Ctrl+N

Open Cmd+O Ctrl+O

Print Cmd+P Ctrl+P

Exit Cmd+Q Ctrl+Q
Open the Preferences window Cmd+, (comma) Ctrl+, (comma)
Cmd+L Ctrl+L
Add new layer
(Layer window must be visible.) (Layer window must be visible.)
Cmd+E Ctrl+E
Merge with below
(Layer window must be visible.) (Layer window must be visible.)

Move/Rotate/Scale Layer V (hold down) V (hold down)

Zoom/Rotate/Move Canvas Spacebar (hold down) Spacebar (hold down)

Pick a color with the Eyedropper tool Option (hold down) Alt (hold down)
Artistic Acknowledgements
Thanks to all the artist who contributed sketches for use in this manual!

Nick Harris
CreatureBox
Were Going To Need A Bigger
Monster Collection
Carrot

Nick Harris Nick Harris

Just Ripe For Gobblin Blue Yonder

David Baas
(c) 1296612 Ontario Inc. Jay Shuster
Skylight

CreatureBox Nick Harris

Simian Print New Anti-fog Gobbles

Jay Shuster Starr Shaw

Nick Harris
Bobby Chiu
Noooo

I-Wei Huang
Subconsious Pattern