Dagfinn,
I have noticed that there are a couple of bugs in Elements 2.0 that show up when 1 pixel dimensions are being used.
The first is where the subdivision amount in the grid preferences isn’t always picked up correctly even though the correct number is displayed and saved. Maybe you have run into this bug.
Try this. Set your pencil to 1 pixel. Enlarge the magnification so that you can see that pixel greatly enlarged when you click on the image. Now edit the grid size to 1 pixel and 1 subdivision. The grid should line up on the edges of the pixel you just changed with no subdivisions showing. If it shows a subdivision, you’ve encountered the bug. If so, edit the grid again and, keeping the subdivisions number as 1, change the gridline to every 2 pixels then back to every 1 pixel. When I do this, the spurious subdivision disappears and the grid lines up with the pixel edges. From this point on, each time I click a grid square with the pencil, only that square changes.
The second bug involves the selection of the brush size. I’ve noticed that sometimes, but definitely not all the time, when I select a brush and change the size to 1 pixel by using the dropdown slider the brush is not 1 pixel even though it says it is. I generally find that typing in the number or using the brush pop-up dialog to select a 1 pixel brush works.
I hope this helps you to determine the source of your problem. By the way, when working with a 1 pixel brush, you don’t need to select the square brush — the default round brush will also work because a single pixel is rectilinear not round.
Bob
Bob,
I haven’t run into the problem, but I’ve stashed a copy of your write-up, "just in case". 😉
Well done!!
Thanks,
Byron
Thank you for your help, but I could not identify any bugs or improve the accuracy by using your method under the second bug.
Maybe I should uninstall and install again?
Did you make sure you are using a hard not soft brush??
Dagfinn,
I don’t believe uninstalling and reinstalling will help or is necessary. Strange things can happen if your preferences file is corrupt though. If things that used to work don’t anymore, you usually try deleting and recreating the preferences file. Did what you are trying to do ever work properly or is the first time you are trying it?
Before you do anything, I would like you to verify one more time that the grid is set up correctly.
When you tested for bug #1, were you at maximum magnification? If you are not at maximum magnification, some grid lines may be hidden and it will look like a single square when it isn’t. What you want to do is verify that there are no subdivisions when at maximum magnification.
If you did this and there are no subdivision lines at maximum magnification, it should be working correctly. If it isn’t, then I would try deleting and recreating the preferences file. I’m assuming you’re using Windows. When you click your icon to start the program, IMMEDIATELY press and hold the following keys: Shift CTRL ALT. If you get the timing right, you will be prompted with a dialogue box to delete the preferences. Click OK.
You might wish to verify that it’s working correctly using a new document with a white background so you can easily see what’s happening. I find that for me, Elements 2.0 and Windows XP, that the 1 pixel grid and 1 pixel pencil work as expected.
If you recreate your preferences file and it still doesn’t work, I don’t know what to tell you. It works for me and it should work for you. Maybe someone else will have some ideas.
When you tell us whether it worked or not, please include the version of Elements and the Operating system you are using.
Good luck,
Bob
Bug #1 and max mag: yes I think so, magnified to 1600% and no subdivisions.
Iv also used the Alt-Shift-CTRL trick, but still got problems a 1 pix level. When I click in a px Im more likley to get colour in a neighbouring px or 2 px than in the one Im clicking in… 🙁
And Im doing my testing on a new document.
I get this error on both my office pc and home pc.
I use XP and Elements 2.0 both places.
Dagfinn,
I don’t know what to tell you. My Elements 2 on Windows XP works fine at one pixel. I have no idea why your’s doesn’t.
In testing, I only got the effect you described when I had subdivisions. Otherwise, it was rock solid, no shifting pixels.
I’m stumped! I wish I could have been more helpful.
Bob
This is most interesting because I always had my colours blurring over into other pixel so I decided to try the suggestion above. Even though I increased the magnification to 1600% and changed the preferences for gridline and subdivision to be 1 pixel I notice that the only way I can get away with only one pixel changing colour is if I use the square brush at 1 pixel and only when it is positioned just touching the upper and left part of the pixel. If I do not touch those corners with my shape then there is a slight change to the pixel either to the right pixel or the one below. I also tried using the rounded brush but even at one pixel I cannot seem to get it to work.
Something else I just noticed – If the square brush (1 px) is used and centred on the pixel the colour is not white (255, 255, 255) but rather a grey. The lightness/darkness of the grey depends on where I am placing my brush within that particular pixel.
Robert
@Bob: Thanks anyway, I appreciate you trying
@Robert: Yupp, that sounds just like what Im experiencing
Here’s another observation I made with regards to my brush set. Sometimes the actual shape of my square is a little different. If I had a square brush set at 4 and then changed the size either with the slider or by typing in 1 px the shape looked like one full pixel. When I use this shaped brush some bleeding-over to adjacent pixels occurs and its impossible for me to colour only one pixel. However, if I double-click on the preset square brush (1 px) the shape somewhat resembles a triangle and that is the only shape I can use to get the individual pixel coloured. I still have to align the triangle shape on the upper and leftmost sides of the pixel for it to work. Do I have a weird copy or is that strictly a problem with my configuration file?
Robert,
That sounds like you are using the "brush tool" and not the "pencil tool". The "brush tool" works exactly like you describe right down down to the shape of the cursor. Dagfinn, said he was using the "Pencil Tool", which behaves differently, and that’s the basis of what I was going on.
Now if he were using the "brush tool" and not the "pencil tool" that could explain what’s happening. In addition, if the scatter (in the More Options) was not zero and was set high enough, the brush engine could paint the pixel quite a ways from the clicked location. If a brush with "brush dynamics" were to be selected it could be very confusing and frustrating.
What you were describing with setting the slider to 1 pixel and getting the adjacent pixels painted is what I was calling bug #2 earlier and with the pencil tool you can clearly see the brush is bigger than 1 pixel. Clicking on the 1 pixel brush icon sets it to a true 1 pixel.
Bob
I using the pencil alright
You might also want to try pressing Caps Lock on your keyboard when using the Pencil tool (with a Hard Round or Square style). With the Caps lock on it restricts the width of the tool to 1 pixel.
Patti
Nope, no success, but thanks anyway.
Btw, Iv done som testing, and it turns out that if i click in the upper left corner of the pix, I will always achieve what I want.
Strange indeed.
If this cant be solved, Im going back to Paint Shop Pro.
That’s very odd.
I get that exact behavior when I use a brush (not the pencil). With caps lock on and using a brush clicking on the top left of the pixel puts *some* color into that pixel, but not the ‘full’ color chosen by the picker.
If I use the pencil tool and have caps lock off the cursor is a square pixel with cross hairs in the center. This makes it easy to target the pixel accurately and the color is 100% of the color I chose with the picker.
Certainly the behavior you describe is that of the brush and not the pencil. Have you tried both to make sure that the brushes aren’t in some way transposed?
Works fine for me.
JP
Ok now Im just a little confused…
I use the pencil tool (n)alright, but even if Im using that tool and its symbol shows up, the program asks me what "brushes" I will use in the popup window when rightclicking in a sheet.
Am I doing something VERY wrong or… ???????????
No you are not doing anything wrong .. it just calls the different sizes brushes.
A while back Chuck asked if you were using a soft brush instead of a hard one .. did you check that? The one I find best is the first one in the default brush palette.
Wendy
Oh, Iv missed that.
Im using a hard square 1px.
Where can I change to a soft?????
Iv got it!!!!!!!!!!
In the view menu there is something called "snap to grid" and when I unchecked that option, everything started to work just fine.
Thanks to everyone. You have been most helpfull.
I’m glad you found the solution. Thanks for letting us know.
I normally leave snap to grid off so it didn’t occur to me to suggest that. I had to try it out to see what it did with a 1 pixel grid and it was awful!
Bob
Well I didn’t know snap to grid did that … what a mess it makes of drawing lines.
Wendy
Though I have mine turned off…’snap to’ does come in very handy for people who need it to create straight patterns like quilts or house plans etc…. With the ‘show grid’ option turned on…the ‘snap to’ automatically puts your lines straight and square where you want them without much fuss.
I use it occasionally when I am trying to line things up but I have always taken it off when I have finished … maybe its as well.
Wendy
