I am wondering because i see it in the options but i dont know what it means.
so:
what is anti-aliasing? how is it used and how could i use it for artworks? How would it work with other options on krita? what should and shouldnt i use it for? any extra tips on using the anti-aliasing option?
Short answer: What is Anti-aliasing?
I don’t know other anti-aliasing option in krita, but anti-aliasing option in brush editor make brush less jagged edge (looks softer / smoother), which look obvious in small strokes. This will affect your artwork.
So does the option in Fill Tool.
I would suggest you play with that option with a blank document and see how it works, it will look obvious when zoom in.
Edit: Also noted that Krita 5.1.3 has change small Auto brush tip <10px smoothing behavior, it will now more obvious when toggle anti-aliasing on / off than previous version.
would it be good to keep it on while making arts?
I’ll try to explain AA with my words:
AA in computer-graphics is used to smoothen pixelation effects, they are filters. For example, a monitor uses pixels to build pictures from them, these pixels have to be placed side by side, and there can be situations where this leads to a stair-step effect, mostly with diagonal lines or curves this can be perceived in viewing in large scales of magnification, but not only there. To smoothen this effect, AA is used. And that is the reason you can find options for AA in the “Display”-Section of Krita’s settings, to smoothen curves or the outlines of selections, that, especially in case of freehand-selections, often don’t have only straight vertical or horizontal lines which give the less pixelated effects. (But not only there you can find AA-Options, as you can read in @Lesqwe56’s post.)
So, they are used to give an effect that is often (or mostly) perceived as more pleasant to watch at.
It is a mathematical approach to give us this pleasant feeling.
There are more cases where AA is useful, but it is very late here where I live, and I have to sleep, and so I suggest you to take a look at Wikipedia, if you want a deeper insight of what AA can be and is used for, and there you can learn that there are more kinds of AA, e.g., for audio.
The German Wikipedia describes it as follows:
Anti-aliasing (AA, also known as edge smoothing) is the reduction of unwanted effects caused by the limited pixel grid (see image resolution and alias effect) or by the stairstep effect when creating computer graphics (computer-generated 2D or 3D graphics) is generated.
With anti-aliasing, the image content is usually evaluated (scanned) not only at the pixel but also at other positions and included in the calculation of the pixel color. In addition, some techniques developed for real-time rendering reduce the jagged effect by post-filtering or tracing the image.
Anti-aliasing methods differ in the scheme used to distribute the sampling points and in the choice of reconstruction filter, which determines how the color values are determined as the sampling points are weighted.
To answer your second question, it depends on what you want to achieve.
Michelist
I understand what anti-aliasing is, but I am glad for @DeuxV3 's question because I am confused about why AA would be necessary. My assumption (which could be wrong) is that we generally want to create an image that is high enough resolution that a person looking at the image can’t see the “stair step” effect unless they zoom in to a degree that doesn’t really allow a view of the image that is about taking in the image as a whole.
I’m a newbie, so I may be asking something that seems painfully obvious to others, but I don’t understand how anti-aliasing would help all that much if the resolution of the image is low enough that a viewer could even perceive pixelation to begin with.
@LShark If you make images for display on a monitor then you’re aiming at the resolution of the average monitor and few people have monitors that are capable of showing an image that is 4,000 x 3,000 pixels.
So, a lower resolution image is produced and then antialiasing has beneficial effects for the edges of brush strokes (and text which has its own antialiasing methods).
It’s especially good for thin brushstrokes, e.g. the 10 px one shown here:
You can tell which one is antialiased.
Ah, OK, that makes sense. Thanks so much for explaining that, and showing it, too.
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