Karen Sperling's Q&A June 2005

Each month, Painter expert Karen Sperling answers a question from one of our Painter Canvas readers. Here's June's question.

Question:
It's easy to accumulate lots of layers in Painter. Whether you're creating artwork from scratch or adding painterly touches to photos, layers provide the flexibility to experiment with everything from color to composition. This easy proliferation of layers raises a question almost immediately: "How can I expand my Layers palette to see more layers?"

Answer:
There's a little-known method for expanding the Layers palette.

First, reveal the Layers palette if you don't see it by choosing Show Layers in the Window menu.

When you first launch Painter, the Channels palette is connected to the Layers palette. If you do not use the Channels palette, it is worth closing, however it is not necessary. See Figure 1:

To make the Layers palette bigger:

There is a not-so-obvious 1 pixel line that exists just above the row of buttons at the bottom of the Layers palette, that we will use to expand the layers window. See Figure 2:

You can click and drag this down to expand the layers window inside the Layers palette. See Figure 3:

It's that simple!

Do you have a Painter question for Karen? Email us at enewsfeedback@corel.com.

Artist, author, photographer and Painter Master Karen Sperling wrote the manuals for the first several versions of Painter, authored several Painter books, has had many Painter tutorials published in magazines and has taught Painter to artists and photographers at movie companies, design firms, universities and professional photography organizations. She currently publishes Artistry Corel Painter tutorials and Artistry Tips and Tricks newsletter, and leads Artistry Corel Painter Retreats. She paints commissioned portraits, and her Painter art has been displayed in several group shows. To see Karen's Painter images and for information about her tutorials and classes, visit www.artistrymag.com.