Hi
I’ve googled and checked the manual out and I can’t seem to copy and paste part of an image at all. I’m selecting the selection box to cover the area I need and then going to the edit menu and clicking on copy then drawing another box where I want the copy and pressing paste and it’s not copying and pasting the image. I know that this must be a simple manoeuvre. Does anyone know where I’m going wrong please? The image is attached below. I would like to copy the right lower leg and shoe and put a duplicate for the persons left leg and shoe please.
Thanks in advance
Budbin.
As you’ve found out, it doesn’t work that way. It will be pasted in the same location in a new layer but your new/moved selection will prevent that from happening since it’s in a now different place.
Note, it would be better if the boy was on a separate layer from the background but you can still do the following:
Draw a Freehand Selection around the leg, with only a little bit of background colour included then do Copy. Then Deselect.
Do Paste and the leg will be copied in exactly the same location on a new layer above the current layer. Click on that layer to select it
Do Layer -> Transform -> Mirror Horizontally to change the right leg copy into a left leg.
Use the Move Tool to move the freshly created left leg into position.
2 Likes
Thanks Ahab 
That function is pretty cool.
I’ve done it but it’s gone a bit wrong. It took with it some darker background colour which I went to rub out and went to recolour with the correct colour but it wouldn’t let me. However some old pencil marks which reappeared from an earlier layer I rubbed out and gained white patches for my sins. I tried to colour them but it’s created a colorize mask. I read somewhere that I have to find a paint brush that has a wash mode to colour in. But the brushes I have looked at do not which is strange as they were water colour brushes. Any ideas please?
You’ve inherited a problem from yourself because the character has been painted over a background colour in the same layer. So you’re picking up a mixture of character paint and background colour paint.
I know I said, “with only a little bit of background colour included”, but it looks like you’re not picking up enough to cover the old left leg, especially the foot.
The colourise mask is a very specialised tool used for fill-colouring lineart and you shouldn’t use it for this. Just do ordinary manual painting with a simple brush.
In this sort of situation it’s often better to start again from scratch.
In the selection, include enough of the background colour to cover the old left leg, especially the old left shoe, but not a massive amount that might cover the original right leg.
Also, you can paint over the original left leg with the backgroud colour first, so that potential problem can’t arise, but you don’t need to if you use a suitably large but not too large selection.
If you do that then the only problem will be a slight mismatch with the exact width of the left knee vs the copied/mirrored right knee but that can be manually painted over, using ordinary manual painting methods.
I think this illustrates the general principle: ‘You should put different things on different layers’.
1 Like
Hi
I managed it Ahab and it copied the image over slightly darker than his right leg and foot. I used the paint pot to fill in the background colour but I am unable to carry on painting on this image now. So is that it then? I cannot go any further with this picture unless I go back to an earlier saved file and just hand draw in the rest of the leg and colour it as I merged the layers?
Why does it keep on reverting back to a colour mask when I don’t think I am asking it to? I only want to continue painting but it won’t change off the symbol that is a hand shape for the cursor.
Thanks very much I enjoyed using this option but if someone else used this option how would they move forward with their image? I tried to copy on to a new layer but it still won’t let me paint on it.
Thanks again
Budbin
The hand with a pointing finger is the cursor used for the Coloirise Mask Editing Tool. That is what you’ve selected in the Toolbox (see the red square in the image below) so every time you click on a layer, a Colourise Mask is created for your use (which is something you should not use).
What you need to use is the Freehand Brush Tool, (the ordinary manual painting tool) which is indicated by the green square in the image below:
If you hover the cursor over a Toolbox icon, and keep it still, a tooltip will tell you what the tool is.
I’ve no idea why your copied leg is darker.
It’s called the Fill Tool. I thought you already had a background colour and from what I could see of the layers docker thumbnails it was part of the Billy layer. The layer called ‘Background’ seems to be transparent. What is the exact situation with the yellow colour? What is on the so called ‘Background Layer’?
If as I believe, the yellow colour is on the Billy layer, the only way to properly isolate the boy is to manually, carefully and painstakingly erase the yellow colour all around him and then select him and copy paste onto a new layer. Then make a proper and separate background layer in the colour of your choice.
1 Like
OMG, I think I must need glasses! I haven’t been to the opticians for a while. I did not notice the furry outline around the brush. Sorry, I must be having a senior moment at 48. Yes, what happened was I had a white background layer and I changed it to a creamy colour on my Billy layer to make my character stand out on the Billy layer. As you suggested I wiped out the leg first and painted it using the fill tool with the same background colour using the paint pipette to get the exact same colour match then I copied the leg across and it worked. I loved the matching up it felt like I was creating Frankenstein. LOL Yes the yellow colour is on the Billy layer. I made previously a new background layer as I messed up my layers and merged them because I had no idea of what I was doing.
I notice now if I change the background colour on layer one it has no effect on the Billy layer and if I get a fill tool and fill the Billy layer green it does this now:
I guess I have messed up the layers good and proper. I should really find another boy image to draw and start again correctly however that would be? I am still unsure.
It won’t do. That is the entire point of layers. What do do on one layer doesn’t affect another layer.
Also, since you’ve entirely filled the Billy layer with paint, you won’t be able to see through it to whatever is underneath.
The Filling with green has leaked into the boy paint because of the settings of the Fill tool and the similarity of colour between his skin and the yellow paint all around him.
If you have any kind of backup copy then you could recover the situation and isolate him by manual erasing as I suggested.
However, I suggest that you leave Billy alone for a while and learn about layers, what they do, transparency, painting on multiple layers.
Krita has a multi-layer painting system with transparency, this is powerful and flexible and useful, but you seem to be using it like a single sheet of paper, probably because you’re not used to multi-layer painting with transparency.
Also, regarding my confusion about your ‘Backround’ layer, I’ve figured out that you’ve created the image using the ‘Background as canvas colour’ option. This is a mistake if you want to learn about transparency.
You need to do ‘Background as raster layer’ and then turn off the background layer so you see the checkerboard. You can’t learn about transparency if you can’t ‘see’ it by means of the checkerboard.
1 Like
Thank you Ahab 
I’m sorry that I didn’t get back to you yesterday. I have taken note of what you told me and thoroughly agree that I need to learn more about layers to stop these problems from happening. I have no idea how to turn a background layer to a raster layer then turn off the background layer but I will. I understand more after your explanation. Apologies for not getting back to you yesterday as we have an elderly disabled cat who is struggling so I am just about to go to the vets now with him. I have found a tutorial on Krita layers and I’m just working my way through that as advised. I have lots to learn. I have also found somewhere that I can learn about drawing the anatomy to scale as I also need to learn to draw and I’ve obtained a book about using paint brushes and paints as if I was painting on a piece of paper to help me. I have mountains to climb. Thanks for being so patient and kind. I’m hoping with time that my childlike drawings/ paintings will gain a style and that they will be more professional and that I can manage them correctly on the layers.
Best wishes
Budbin
The forum and everybody on it run on a loose schedule so no worries
Don’t worry about ‘childlike’ drawings, the goal is to learn stuff and have fun.
If you have problems in future, just start a new topic and tell us what the problem is.
Thanks
I checked the opacity and the blending for each layer and they were normal so I collapsed the layers, created a new layer collapsed that and then copied and pasted the new leg and the colours remained as they should.
This topic was automatically closed 7 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.