The 'How to' thread for downloading and installing ArtRage Resources

Hi all!

You might be wondering how you can use the resources people have provided in the Art Supplies forum. Here's a guide which explains how to use each type of content.



Package Files


If you have ArtRage 3.5 or later, you can install package files. These are collections of any type of resources packaged up by another user. If you see a post sharing a package file you should see a link to an .arpack file in the post.

Click the link, then save the file. When the download is complete, double click it to install it into ArtRage. A window will pop up with a summary of all of the items you are about to install. You can choose to install all of the resources, or only some of them. When you've decided, click the install button and all of the of resources will be automatically installed.

Package files are a way to automate the installation of resources from other users. You can find more information on packages in your ArtRage manual ( Help -> ArtRage Help in the application ) in the 'Package Files' section.



Other Files


Scripts

ArtRage Script files allow you to play back the process of creating a painting or a specific function. When a script file is shared by another user, you should see a link in the post including the file ( filename.arscript ). Click the link to save the file. You can play back the script file by going to File -> Play Script in ArtRage, then browsing to the file you downloaded and selecting it to open.[/SIZE]

]If you are browsing the 'Scripting Support' forum and see an enormous block of complicated looking code in a box, this is script code provided for informational purposes by someone who has written their own script, and not something which can be easily downloaded. If you see a link to the .arscript file in the post, then that user has shared the script and you can download it via the instructions above.

You can find information on scripts including how to record your own, save them, play them back and so on in the ArtRage manual ( Help -> ArtRage Help in the application ) in the 'ArtRage Script Files' section.

Stencils

If you see a thread with a stencil you want to use, right click the image of the stencil and choose to save the image somewhere handy on your computer.

ArtRage 2: To add your new stencil to ArtRage, open up the Stencil picker in ArtRage, then click the arrow at the top left of the Stencil Picker to open the menu. Select 'Manage My Stencils'. A window will pop up showing your personal stencils folder. If you want to add your new stencil to the category 'Stencils', just drag the file you downloaded into this window and you're done! If you want to add your new stencil to another category, add a folder with the name of the category you want to use, then open that folder and drag the file into there instead.

ArtRage 3/4/5: Open the stencil picker in ArtRage, select the group you want to import your new stencil to, then click 'Import Stencil'. If you want to import it to a new group, you can create one by clicking 'Add group' in the stencils panel


Color Pickers

If you see a thread with a color picker you want to use, right click the image of the color picker and choose to save the image somewhere handy on your computer.

ArtRage 2: To use your custom color picker, click the arrow in ArtRage's color picker just to the right of the Metallic slider to bring up the menu. Go to 'Custom picker' then 'Load custom picker' and open the file you saved. Your colour picker will now be loaded in place of the normal color picker.

To get back to your normal colour picker, open the Color Picker menu again and select 'HS/L Picker'

ArtRage 3/4/5: At the bottom right corner of the Color Picker, click the current colour and then select 'Custom Color Picker Collection'. Then select the group you wish to import the color picker to and click 'Import Color Picker'. If you want to import it to a new group, you can create one by clicking 'Add group' in the stencils panel.


Color Sets

If you see a thread with a color set you'd like to use, click on the .col file listed at the bottom of the post and save it to a handy location.

ArtRage 2: To use the new color set, in ArtRage open your Tools menu and select 'Show Color Samples Panel' to bring up the color samples panel. Alternatively, you can just press the S key. Click the arrow at the top left of the color samples panel to bring up the menu and choose 'Load Colors' then open the new file you saved. You'll now see all the new colors there ready to use.

ArtRage 3: Click on 'Samples' to open the samples panel and from the menu ( top right ), choose 'Import New Local Color Sample Set', browse to the .col file you downloaded and open it. This loads samples to the current painting, which means they will be saved with the painting.

ArtRage 4 & 5: a color samples collection which you can add new color samples to. First add the samples to your user color samples folder. You can open this folder via Tools -> User Content -> Open user Samples Folder. Put your new .col files in this folder. Now they will be available from your color samples collection. For example: Open the color samples panel, click the menu at the top right, choose 'replace samples' or 'add samples' then 'from collection' to open the color samples collection. Your new color samples will be in the 'Samples' group.


Canvases

Canvases are most easily shared as images. If you see a thread with a canvas texture you like the look of, right click on the canvas image and save it to a handy location on your computer.

ArtRage 2: To use the new canvas in ArtRage, either go to File -> New Painting, or if you want to add the canvas to an existing painting, right click the background layer of your painting and choose 'Edit Paper Settings'.

Click on the circular Grain preview. Now click 'Load a File...' and open the new canvas image file from wherever you saved it. At this point you can change the roughness, metallicity, colour and scale of the paper texture via the dials if you want to. When it looks about right, click OK.

ArtRage 3, 4, 5: Go to View -> Canvas Settings. Click the grain preview at the top left ( just to the right of the canvas preview ) to open the canvas picker. To import a canvas grain, select the group you wish to import to, and click 'Import Canvas'. To create a new group, click 'Add Group'

Stickers & Sticker Spray Presets

Stickers will either be shared as sticker sheets, sticker spray presets which use your existing sheets, or both. Sticker sheets are .stk files. Sticker presets, like other tool presets are .prs files. You can click the .stk or .prs files in a user's post to download them.

ArtRage 2: ArtRage 2 doesn't have sticker sheets or a sticker spray, so you will not be able to import these kinds of files.

ArtRage 3, 4, 5: For .stk files, open your Stickers Panel, then either select the group that you want to import your new sticker too, or click 'Add Group' to create a new group. Click 'Import Stickers' and open the stk file you downloaded. The new sticker sheet will now appear in the active group.

Sticker Spray Presets:

Sticker Spray presets are not the same as Sticker Sheets. Spray presets just tell the Spray tool which sheet to use and how to spray stickers from it. So: When you download a sticker spray preset you need to have the right Sheet installed for it to spray from. Usually, the Sticker Sheet you need will either have been installed with the app, or have its .stk file included in the download you got the Spray Preset from.

So remember, if you create a sticker sheet and a sticker spray preset that uses it, share both the .prs file (the spray preset) and the .stk file (sticker sheet) the preset refers to.

For Sticker Spray Preset '.prs' files, select your sticker spray tool and open your presets panel. Select the group you want to import the new preset to, or click 'Add Preset Group' from the menu button to create a new group. Then open the preset panel menu and select 'Import Preset to Collection' and open the .prs file you downloaded. The new preset should now be listed in the active group.

Photoshop Brushes

You can import .abr brushes from Photoshop into the Sticker Spray as new Sticker images. Vector brushes and some presets with custom PSD settings will not work.

1. Open the Sticker Spray Presets
2. Click the menu button, then choose ‘import photoshop brush’
3. Browse to the .abr file you want to import
4. You should be presented with a list of all the available brush heads in the file. Select the one you want to import and choose 'OK'

Advanced Information

It's possible to add large numbers of resources to ArtRage by opening up the user content folder and dropping the files into the appropriate subfolder. If you prefer to do this, the information below should help.

ArtRage 2: This thread contains information on where ArtRage 2 stores its custom files on Windows and OS X for anyone who wants to add stencils, colour pickers and so on manually to ArtRage so that they appear in ArtRage's menus / in the default location: http://www2.ambientdesign.com/forums...ead.php?t=6833

ArtRage 3/4/5: You can access the location where ArtRage Studio and Studio Pro store their user created resources by going to Tools -> User Content -> Open User Content Folder. You'll also see a menu entry for each of the resource types that will allow you to open the relevant folder.

I hope that helps! Happy downloading! :)

Thanks Dave, You're GRRRRRREAT! :)

thanks for the help, i'm still learning my way round artrage and that really helped:D

Thanks Dave!!! ;)

A most helpful post. Thanks, Byron

Really good. Easy to understand - even for a swede. Thanks you.
Exactly what i was looking for.

Thank you Dave, this post is very useful to me as a newbie! :)

:eek: I keep reading, and re-reading the instructions here, but I still cannot figure out how to install Photoshop .abr files. It covered stickers and sprays ect.., but I just didn't understand from reading that, how to install 3rd party or other program's brushes??

Would someone please give me some information on how to do this please?

I'm using ArtRage Studio Pro 3.5.4 on my Windows 7 laptop and my iMac Desktop. Thank you in advance to anyone who can help, I very much appreciate it. :D

The .abr files have to be imported from within ArtRage (meaning, there's no way to simply drop the .abr file into a folder, and have the brushes appear in ArtRage). Here's a video tutorial on how to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izXHicUy5F8

a thing of beauty... clear and comprehensive coverage, accessible and easy to understand. thank you Dave. what a project that must have been, but so very needed and greatly appreciated by all of us from beginner to the more initiated. and even senior citizens. :)

[QUOTE=DaveRage;172447]Hi all!

You might be wondering how you can use the resources people have provided in the Art Supplies forum. Here's a guide which explains how to use each type of content.



Package Files


If you have ArtRage 3.5 or later, you can install package files. These are collections of any type of resources packaged up by another user. If you see a post sharing a package file you should see a link to an .arpack file in the post.

Click the link, then save the file. When the download is complete, double click it to install it into ArtRage. A window will pop up with a summary of all of the items you are about to install. You can choose to install all of the resources, or only some of them. When you've decided, click the install button and all of the of resources will be automatically installed.

Package files are a way to automate the installation of resources from other users. You can find more information on packages in your ArtRage manual ( Help -> ArtRage Help in the application ) in the 'Package Files' section.





Color Pickers

If you see a thread with a color picker you want to use, right click the image of the color picker and choose to save the image somewhere handy on your computer.

ArtRage 2: To use your custom color picker, click the arrow in ArtRage's color picker just to the right of the Metallic slider to bring up the menu. Go to 'Custom picker' then 'Load custom picker' and open the file you saved. Your colour picker will now be loaded in place of the normal color picker.

To get back to your normal colour picker, open the Color Picker menu again and select 'HS/L Picker'

ArtRage 3/4/5: At the bottom right corner of the Color Picker, click the current colour and then select 'Custom Color Picker Collection'. Then select the group you wish to import the color picker to and click 'Import Color Picker'. If you want to import it to a new group, you can create one by clicking 'Add group' in the stencils panel.


Color Sets

If you see a thread with a color set you'd like to use, click on the .col file listed at the bottom of the post and save it to a handy location.

ArtRage 2: To use the new color set, in ArtRage open your Tools menu and select 'Show Color Samples Panel' to bring up the color samples panel. Alternatively, you can just press the S key. Click the arrow at the top left of the color samples panel to bring up the menu and choose 'Load Colors' then open the new file you saved. You'll now see all the new colors there ready to use.

ArtRage 3: Click on 'Samples' to open the samples panel and from the menu ( top right ), choose 'Import New Local Color Sample Set', browse to the .col file you downloaded and open it. This loads samples to the current painting, which means they will be saved with the painting.

ArtRage 4 & 5: a color samples collection which you can add new color samples to. First add the samples to your user color samples folder. You can open this folder via Tools -> User Content -> Open user Samples Folder. Put your new .col files in this folder. Now they will be available from your color samples collection. For example: Open the color samples panel, click the menu at the top right, choose 'replace samples' or 'add samples' then 'from collection' to open the color samples collection. Your new color samples will be in the 'Samples' group.



Sadly, I think this info is out of date. I have Artrage 6 and following the instructions for loading colours doesn't work. I went Tools> Show Colour Samples Panel.... that just isn't on the menu, so don't know what to do now and can't find any up to date info.

Hello Hey Ottist and welcome to the ArtRage forums :)
If you are trying to add a .col file to AR6, then the instructions for AR5 should still work although, yes, some of the phrasing has changed slightly since AR4.
To add a .col colour sample file to AR6;
From the Menubar you need: Tools > Brows Content Folders > Colour Samples Folder.

Thanks Markw

I finally figured it out by using the little box menus on the canvas and managed to download some really cool stuff. :D