Nib Preview Labels for Corel Painter

The preview .nib files for Painter are located within brush category folders, which in turn reside in brush library folders. Each nib file is named identically to the corresponding brush variant, except with a .nib file extension.

If a brush library has been installed in the Painter Application folder > Brushes folder, then the associated nib files are likely to be found inside the respective brush categories. For example;

Mac – Applications > Corel Painter 11 [or version number] > Brushes > Painter Brushes (the default brush library) > Acrylics > Captured Bristle.nib

Windows – Program Files > Corel > Corel Painter 11[or version number] > Brushes > Painter Brushes (the default brush library) > Acrylics > Captured Bristle.nib

For brush libraries installed within a user workspace folder, for example;

Mac – Users > [User Name] > Library > Application Support > Corel > Painter 11 > Default [or custom workspace name] > Brushes > [brush library name] > [brush category name] >

Windows – Documents and Settings > [User Name] > Application Data > Corel > Painter 11 > Default [or custom workspace name] > Brushes > [brush library name] > [brush category name] >

Windows Vista – Users > [User Name] > AppData > Roaming > Corel > Painter 11 > Default [or custom workspace name] > Brushes > [brush library name] > [brush category name] >

Note that it is also possible to have nib files relating to the same brush category in both of the above locations. A user modified nib file in a Workspace > Brushes sub folder will take UI display priority over an identically named file in the Application folder > Brushes sub folder, even though they may both have different content.

For Windows PC

As the Windows O.S relies heavily on file extensions to identify the file type and which applications can open them, in order to open the nib preview files in Painter, the file extension must first be changed from .nib to .jpg

A word of caution. Whilst extension renaming can be done in situ, with the file still resident in the associated brush category folder, a conflict will occur when a variant is of the captured dab type, as there would then be two very different files in the same location, but having identical file names, with the potential for one of them being overwritten. The safest solution in this case would be to;

1. move the nib file temporarily to say the desktop
2. change the file extension to jpg
3. open the jpg file in Painter
4. edit the image (add the label imagery)
5. re-save as an Excellent quality jpg (using the same name, and with a jpg file extension)
6. change the file extension back to nib
7. finally move the modified file back to the original brush category folder.

For Mac

In the case of the Mac OS, having to change the file extensions should not be necessary. Certainly in Painter 11, I found that nib files associated with custom variants would open in Painter, either through the File menu > Open dialog, or by double clicking the file in the Finder (or via. right click/ Ctrl + clicking the file icon and choosing Open With > Painter 11).

There is however an issue with the default Painter Brushes library nib files. In this case, I first had assign the correct File Type and Creator code to them. For this, I used a freeware utility called FileType 1.0.1 (bright page warning).
In the FileType utility dialog, I first used the Edit List open in to add ARX1 as the Creator (Painter 11), and JPEG as the file Type;

Note that the Creator codes for earlier Painter versions are;

ARTX for Painter X
ART9 for Painter IX
FSX3 for Painter 7 and 8.

Again, as the Mac O.S is not file extension critical, the nib files can be saved as Excellent quality jpg files with the .nib file extension. As I had kept my original nib files in situ, it was then a simple matter of reloading the original library/ categories to view the modified previews in the Brush Selector.

I have actually created four Image portfolio libraries containing label imagery for nib files. As it is possible to save the current layer blending mode with the Portfolio image, many of these have been saved with the Gel method for use against a light background, whilst at the same time being transparent to any underlying dab preview pixels. It is however possible to change the blending mode back to Default (or any other mode) prior to saving the jpg. This first library has a vertical bar label format, originally designed to be positioned to the left edge of the nib preview, but the choice is yours.

nib_labels1.zip (84 KB) Image Portfolio library for Corel Painter 7 and above.

Installation

After unzipping any of the Image Portfolio libraries downloaded from this page, ensure that the Image Portfolio palette is visible on the desktop (Window menu > Image Portfolio), then choose Open Library from the Image Portfolio palette flyout menu, navigate to the chosen library in the Choose Image Portfolio dialog, highlight it, then click Open. Unlike brush libraries, the location of Image Portfolio libraries can be anywhere on your hard drive. Note that these Image Portfolio libraries have a .por file extension. In more recent Painter versions, this was changed to .portfolio.

This second collection comprises of ‘top left’ corner labels. I thought the two twin corner labels could be used to identify cloner variants perhaps. Note that the visual quality in the image portfolio window is degraded by the up-sampling of these rather small labels, and the quality is much better in the final nib preview.

nib_labels2.zip (40 KB) for Corel Painter 7 and above.

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The concept for this third library involves placing a framed border around the nib previews.

nib_labels3.zip (44 KB) for Corel Painter 7 and above.

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A smaller but none the less useful collection of miscellaneous labels makes up the fourth and final collection. Of particular interest are the Triangle Reverse Out and Reverse Out labels, demonstrated top right in this screenshot.

nib_labels4.zip (8 KB) for Corel Painter 7 and above.

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Happy labelling!