Introduction

There are many brush materials out there, and I am grateful to the creators every day, but sometimes just a little bit of extra effort can make them look even better, so I will explain how to do that here.

 

 

It's fine when there are no issues, but have you ever felt that the line width doesn't match the rest of the background, making it stand out?

This is a solution for such cases.

 

It's not a brand-new method, and I think there are various other ways to do it, so please consider this as one example.

 

While this could be applied to color manuscripts, this explanation will focus on monochrome manuscripts.

 

 

Since it seemed quite a few people were reading this TIPS article, I thought many might have this concern, so I created an Auto Action material. If you like, please check it out here ↓.

You can adjust the line width simply by changing the threshold or brush size after one click.

You may need to run the auto action twice for some parts, though...

I think it's quite convenient.

 

If you don't need the material and want to know how the mechanism works, please read this TIPS article.

 

 

I will not explain the basics.

For example, the difference between raster layers and vector layers.

Please refer to the User Guide for such information.

Adjusting the Line Width

Prepare a background.

 

 

I will list some useful tips and materials for using 3D materials in backgrounds below, so if you're interested, please check them out too.

 

 

Getting back to the topic, I'll draw with a decorative brush.

The image above is a rose brush used as decoration for a school festival... I suppose.

I am using the "Rose Frontal Brush" from the material collection in the link below.

The lines of the rose are thin, and I feel they don't blend well with the background lines.

I will adjust this.

 

 

Finally, set the layer's expression color to Monochrome and adjust the threshold as shown above to refine the line width.

 

To do this, first, set the layer's expression color to Gray.

Set the decorative brush's anti-aliasing to "Strong."

If you are drawing on a vector layer, you can change this later.

 

Please note that anti-aliasing will not be applied if the layer's expression color is set to Monochrome from the start.

 

 

Anti-aliasing has been applied as shown below.

The blurry part created by this anti-aliasing is necessary for adjusting the line width.

From the state above, change it to a monochrome preview of a layer with Gray expression color, as shown below.

However, if you change a vector layer's expression color to Monochrome, the threshold cannot be adjusted as shown above, so the "Color threshold" and "Alpha threshold" items will not be displayed.

 

Since line width cannot be adjusted this way, please draw on a raster layer with the expression color set to Gray from the beginning, or rasterize the vector layer into a raster layer.

 

 

This time, I will perform a layer conversion.

Set the layer type to Raster and the expression color to Gray.

If you want to keep the vector layer, check "Keep original layer."

 

 

Changing the created layer's expression color to Monochrome results in the image below.

You can adjust the threshold as is, but in some cases, the change in line width may be small. In that case, please apply a blur.

Choose the appropriate one from "Blur," "Strong blur," or "Gaussian blur" depending on the situation.

Basically, "Blur" should be sufficient.

The result of applying the blur is shown above.

It doesn't look very good right now, but I will adjust the threshold.

I set the Alpha threshold to 1.

The outline has become thicker.

The smaller the value, the thicker the line; the larger the value, the thinner the line.

I believe the Alpha threshold is used to adjust opaque parts. Probably.

So, the line width of the outline part without a white base changes.

 

 

I set the Color threshold to 195.

The lines in parts with a white base became thicker.

The smaller the value, the thinner the line; the larger the value, the thicker the line.

I believe the Color threshold is used to adjust based on color shading. Probably.

So, the line width changes by reflecting the shading of the part with a white base, regardless of opacity. Probably.

 

 

I think there is less of a jarring difference in line width compared to the background after the adjustment.

 

 

You can also turn on the Border effect to add an outline.

Please try it if you like.

 

 

In this example, I made the lines thicker, but of course, you can also make them thinner by adjusting the threshold as shown above.

However, making lines thinner means the lines become delicate, so applying a strong blur can easily make the lines collapse, so this method is not universal.

 

The image below shows what it looks like with anti-aliasing set to "Strong" without applying any blur.

Compared to the image above, the fine lines haven't collapsed as much here.

Considering these points, it's best to switch between applying only blur, only anti-aliasing, or both, depending on the situation.

 

It might be safer to keep the original layer in case you think you've applied too much blur.

 

The larger the difference in line width between the decorative brush drawing and the background, the more likely it is that this method won't work perfectly.

 

 

Various Other Ways to Use Thresholds Besides Brushes

I've adjusted the line width of brushes using thresholds, but thresholds can be used for many other things.

I am a huge fan of thresholds... there are other situations where I would definitely recommend using threshold adjustments.

 

 

Using Thresholds for Pattern Tones

For line art of tone materials, if it was drawn with a brush with anti-aliasing on a Gray expression color layer, you can adjust the threshold by changing the expression color to Monochrome.

 

You can change various things with threshold adjustments as shown below.

Since you might change the size of clothing pattern tones for small or large panels, being able to adjust line width with thresholds in such cases is extremely convenient.

 

 

The link below is a TIPS article I wrote previously about how to create seamless pattern tones and materials.

The first half explains the use of thresholds, so please check it out if you want to make better use of tones or want to try creating them.

 

 

Using Thresholds for Tones

Tones created when using LT conversion from 3D materials or photos cannot be adjusted after conversion, but with a little extra effort, you can make it possible to adjust tones with thresholds as shown below.

↓ The method is explained in the link below.

↓ I also have an LT conversion Auto Action material that automatically creates tones that can be adjusted with thresholds from 3D materials.

Besides that, I've made sure that both lines and tones look better than standard LT conversion, so please check it out if interested.

 

↓ I've also written a TIPS article specifically for when you want to adjust texture parts.

↓ After adjustment (Floor only)

Using thresholds is something I personally highly recommend, so please utilize it for various things besides just adjusting brush line widths.

 

 

How to Handle Rough Lines When Increasing Brush Size

This is about how to deal with a bit of a problem.

This isn't a great method either, so I think the best way is to choose materials where the size of the brush's image material fits.

 

If you force the brush size too large, anti-aliasing may not apply correctly.

The image below shows a state where anti-aliasing is applied, but it probably doesn't look like it.

This is the official Plum brush material.

You can see it if you zoom in, but compared to the lines drawn with the blue lines below, it's in a state like dot art due to the effect of forced enlargement.

Anti-aliasing is applied to that.

This can happen if you draw with a brush size or particle size larger than what the creator intended.

It's a case where the creator intended the bottom part of the image above as the intended size, but you're trying to use it at the size above by force.

It won't result in perfect line art.

I think it will become somewhat better, though.

 

 

For now, apply a strong blur.

Please note that blur cannot be applied to vector layers or layers with the expression color set to Monochrome.

Apply Gaussian blur, but adjust the amount of blur and values each time.

It's best to blur it until it doesn't feel like dot art anymore.

Set the layer expression color to Monochrome and adjust the threshold.

Since it's difficult to make thin lines and some lines may disappear, you will likely end up adjusting it to a slightly thicker line width.

It's better than the state like an enlarged dot art, but the line width is thick.

 

I hope you can make further adjustments from here.

I think there are a thousand different ways to do it, but I'll write one example.

 

Convert the raster layer to a vector layer using Layer Conversion.

Narrowing the line width resulted in the image below.

The lines lack character, and the details aren't clean.

So, it ends up requiring manual corrections.

I think it would be used as a base.

 

It's not highly recommended to extremely enlarge and use a brush where the original image material is small, so this is a last resort, but I think the method above is also an option.

If the roughness of the lines caused by enlargement is minor, this method should result in a decent state.

 

 

Conclusion

I recommend blending decorative brush lines with the background lines as it makes them look much better.

Please try taking that extra step when using decorative brushes.