Support a Blob type of vector brush



  • @VectorStyler @Subpath thank you for the reminder about this! I'm not getting the same result you are. I created a triangle and gave it the tole of "shape". I selected it as my path brush shape and tried to use it. Often when clicking, nothing happened and when I did drag the cursor, it looked no different than a circle. Here is a video of this.
    Obviously it's working for @Subpath so maybe my settings are off?



  • @VectorStyler I noticed that it would sometimes work depending on what I was clicking overtop of. Then eventually I lost my custom shape path brush entirely and it went back to being a default circle.
    Link to new video showing this



  • Update: I tried this on my laptop running default settings and had the same issues.

    The shape only seemed to work when i was touching an existing shape. in my case here, the shape somehow changed mid-use and merged another star into itself....

    0_1758131671558_95ba5a1e-c881-4a69-b50c-22fcfe488376-CleanShot 2025-09-17 at 13.47.36.png



  • @Boldline

    its not your fault, got the same behaviour

    @VectorStyler

    it seems a bug
    a single Blob could only set with the
    default circle blob

    all blobs shape made via the "Shape" Role
    works only if paint with it and then single blobs can
    be set if there is a kind of overlapping. They dont work
    as single blobs

    0_1758136920305_blobs.png



  • Hey all thanks for the responses, I can't find anytool called a path brush tool in the ui of the version downloaded if it is in there, it's well hidden.

    I made a video to try help explain what exactly this freeform paint style tool can do

    https://youtu.be/6JAoFnc9-Zk?t=367

    The ability to erase parts of it as well is also as important as the painting.



  • @Bitten
    Hi,
    Like said above, what you need is the "Path Brush Tool". It's located on the left main tool bar, third icon from the top, then the last of the menu that opens to the right. It's pressure sensitive and seems to be what you want. You may check some other tools of this section.

    0_1758151429412_path brush tool.png



  • @VectorStyler

    I noticed two additional things:

    First:
    I miss a live preview when changing the size of the Path Brush tool.
    The brush tip size only changes after I've set a new size. This
    makes adjusting the size a bit unintuitive.

    Second:
    No matter which shape you select as the brush tip, the Path Brush
    tool always paints with a rounded tip. This makes changing the
    Brush tip somewhat useless.

    I also demonstrate both of these points in this video.


  • administrators

    @Subpath said in Support a Blob type of vector brush:

    When painting with the brush (not clicking) the top is always rounded.
    Only when clicking you can use the selected shape



  • @Devil-Dinosaur Ok nice yeah I found the brush tool now and it does seem to work a lot like the other tools mentioned which is great. One big issue with it right now though as I think Subpath also calls out is that the pressure changes you make don't adjust the size of the "preview / cursor" until you release.

    What this results in is a situation where it's difficult to know if you have actually painted in a filled area on your canvas till you release the pen from screen, often showing that actually there are little gaps because pressure wasn't hard enough, This also makes it hard to do fine pen work because the preview is max brush size not the actual brush size with pressure factored in.

    So I think in summary Yes there's a brush tool that can let you draw as shapes, and an eraser to go with it but both tools seem geared for use with a mouse not pressure pen as the brush size indicator does not adjust to match actual brush size when laying down new pressure based strokes



  • @VectorStyler

    Yes, I know that and I have already mentioned it,
    but I find this behavior a bit curious



  • @Subpath thanks for the tip about shape nib.

    I had tried earlier to change the shape on the toolbar when the path brush tool was active, but all it did was to replace the selected object by the shape, not change the brush nib.

    Watching your video, I now understand that the shape must be selected with no canvas object selected so it can change the nib shape. Thanks

    But using the feature, it doesn't apply the shape when dragging the path brush. It only seems to apply it when clicking on the border of an object, it then modifies the object shape with the selected tool shape.

    Not very intuitive but still useful



  • @EricP

    You're welcome.

    I also find it strange that you can't paint with the path brush tool
    using the selected shape tip.

    Btw. this option to select a shape that have previously been
    assigned the shape role is available for many tools in VectorStyler,
    you can always check to see if a shape selection is offered in the
    setting of a tool.

    You can also use this to create shape presets, for example. You
    can also do this with the parametric shapes in VS, which remain
    editable.

    Here a video where change a shape used in a blend



  • @Subpath thanks for these tips.

    Yes, I've tried to change the shape of some tools like the "Shaped Bump Tool" but did not find it to work as expected. Maybe I missed how to use it properly.

    Coming back to the Path Brush tool, I really like what can be obtained with it, to imprint some patterns on the surface of shapes.

    I experimented a bit and tried some modifier keys with it. I was hoping Alt would turn it into a Path Eraser but it doesn't.

    However, a cool modifier is Shift, where if you shift-click with Path brush tool on a shape (doesn't have to have a shape role), the nib takes that shape. You can repeat over and over and get some kind of fractal construction where the path embeds smaller versions of itself.
    here is an example : https://somup.com/cTQFl7P10Y



  • @VectorStyler said in Support a Blob type of vector brush:

    @Subpath said in Support a Blob type of vector brush:

    When painting with the brush (not clicking) the top is always rounded.
    Only when clicking you can use the selected shape

    Is there a reason you don’t want to have it operate in that manner? From my perspective, I would find that option very useful. A lot of interesting things could be done if the painting aspect used the shape and was not just the default rounded.


  • administrators

    @Boldline said in Support a Blob type of vector brush:

    Is there a reason you don’t want to have it operate in that manner?

    When paining with the path brush, an expanded outline shape is created (calligraphy and variable width included).
    But there is no method to using an arbitrary shape in this process. It is just no way to "define" it, unless I do some hacking.