Tools Reference

Paint Forge includes 40+ tools for drawing, editing, selection, and transformation. Tools are organized in the left toolbar. Right-click a tool button to access variants. Most tools have a single-key shortcut — these are customizable via Preferences.

Selection & Navigation

These tools let you select, move, resize, and rotate objects on the canvas, as well as pan around the viewport.

Select — Click to select objects, then drag to move them. Use the selection handles to resize or rotate. Hold Shift and click to add objects to your selection.

• Ctrl+A to select all objects
• Shift+click to multi-select
• Drag selection handles to resize
• Delete or Backspace to remove selected objects

Drawing & Painting

Painting tools draw directly onto the active raster layer. The Brush tool has 5 vector variants and the Raster Brush has 23 stamp-based variants — 28 brush variants in total.

Brush — Draw freehand strokes that are painted onto the raster layer. Supports multiple brush variants including pencil, pen, ink, marker, neon, soft, hard, flat, pixel, airbrush, charcoal, watercolor, scatter, stipple, bristle, crayon, chalk, splatter, sponge, fur, crosshatch, oil, pastel, ribbon, dots, galaxy, smoke, and sand. The tool has 28 variants split into two groups: 5 vector variants (pencil, pen, ink, marker, neon) rendered as continuous strokes, and 23 stamp-based variants accessible via the Raster Brush tool. Stroke stabilization smooths input via a weighted ring buffer. Custom brush tips can be imported from image files via the Brush Tip dialog.

• [ and ] keys to decrease/increase brush size
• Change variant in the tool options bar
• Adjust opacity for transparent strokes
• Strokes are flattened into the raster layer

Eraser — Erases raster layer content using destination-out compositing, making pixels transparent. Size and opacity respond to pen pressure when pressure sensitivity is enabled. Supports symmetry painting and pixel selection clipping. Like the brush,Alt+click samples a color instead of erasing.

Raster Brush — 23 stamp-based brush variants that paint by repeatedly stamping a shaped tile along the stroke path. Variants include: soft, hard, flat, pixel, airbrush, charcoal, watercolor, scatter, stipple, bristle, crayon, chalk, splatter, sponge, fur, crosshatch, oil, pastel, ribbon, dots, galaxy, smoke, and sand. Elliptical stamp shapes are achieved via aspect ratio and brush angle settings. Supports pen pressure, stroke stabilization, and custom imported tip images.

Spray Paint — Scatters random dots within the brush radius. Higher flow produces denser coverage. Pen pressure modulates the brush size and/or opacity when enabled. Works with symmetry painting and pixel selection clipping.

Fill — Flood-fills a contiguous color region using a scanline algorithm. The tolerance slider (0-255) controls how many similar colors are included. The fill respects the active pixel selection mask, clipping the filled area to the selection. A liquid-fill animation radiates outward from the click point for visual feedback.

Calligraphy — Simulates a flat calligraphy nib whose stroke width varies based on the angle of movement relative to the nib angle. Moving perpendicular to the nib produces thick strokes; moving parallel produces thin strokes.

• Adjust the nib angle to change stroke direction sensitivity
• Min Width controls the thinnest possible stroke
• Alt+click to sample a color from the canvas
• Works with symmetry painting and pressure sensitivity

Shapes & Lines

Shape and line tools create editable vector objects on the canvas. Hold Shift while dragging to constrain proportions.

Draw rectangles, circles, polygons, stars, or gradient rectangles. Right-click the tool button to switch between shape variants. Shapes are created as editable vector objects.

• Right-click the toolbar button to switch shape type
• Drag on the canvas to draw the shape
• Adjust fill, stroke, and width in tool options
• Hold Shift for constrained proportions

Text

Text tools create vector text objects with full font styling, letter spacing, and text transforms. Double-click any text object to re-enter editing mode.

Text — Click anywhere on the canvas to place a single-line text object and begin typing immediately. The text object supports font family, size, weight, style, alignment, letter spacing, and text transform (uppercase, lowercase, capitalize). Double-click any existing text object with the Select tool to re-enter editing mode. Ctrl+B/I/U/Shift+X toggle bold, italic, underline, and strikethrough.

Textbox — Drag to define a bounding rectangle, then type word-wrapped area text. The textbox reflows content automatically when its width changes. Supports underline, strikethrough, line height, and all the same font controls as the Text tool.

Text on Path — Click to add anchor points along a curve (drag for bezier handles), then press Enter or double-click to finalize the path. Type your text and it will flow along the path. Supports letter spacing, text transforms, reversed direction, and baseline alignment (above, center, below the path).

• Click to add straight anchor points, click and drag for bezier curves
• Press Enter or double-click to finalize the path and start typing
• Adjust start offset to shift text along the path
• Toggle reversed direction to flip text flow
• Set baseline alignment to above, center, or below the path
• Convert any text object to an editable path via Edit > Convert Text to Path

Path Tools

Path tools create and edit vector paths made of anchor points and bezier curves. Paths can be combined with boolean operations (union, subtract, intersect, exclude).

Pen — Click to place anchor points for straight segments. Click and drag to create smooth bezier curves with symmetric handles. Click the first anchor to close the path.

• Click for straight anchor points
• Click and drag for curved handles
• Click the first anchor to close the path
• Double-click or press Enter to finish an open path
• Press Escape to cancel

Edit Path — Double-click any path object while the Select tool is active to enter Edit Path mode. In this mode, individual anchor points and bezier handles are shown and can be dragged to reshape the path. Press Escape to exit Edit Path mode and return to the Select tool.

Raster Effects

These brush-based tools apply localized effects to the raster layer by painting over areas. They support symmetry painting and pen pressure sensitivity.

Liquify — Drag to displace pixels based on mouse velocity. Creates smooth warping effects using bilinear interpolation with a quadratic falloff from the brush center. Hold Alt and drag to reconstruct (blend pixels back toward their original positions).

• Drag to push pixels in the direction of movement
• Adjust strength for more/less distortion
• Works on raster layer content

Retouching

Retouching tools are designed for photo editing workflows such as blemish removal, color correction, and red-eye fixing.

Clone Stamp — Alt+click to set a source point, then paint to copy pixels from the source location. The offset between source and destination is maintained across strokes. The source point persists across tool switches. Enable “All Layers” to sample from the full composite instead of the active layer only.

• Alt+click to set the clone source
• Paint to clone from the source point
• Source indicator shows where pixels are copied from
• The offset is maintained between strokes

Healing Brush — Alt+click to set a source point, then paint to blend the source texture with the destination luminosity. Produces smoother results than clone stamp for retouching skin and surfaces. Uses the source hue and saturation combined with the destination luminosity (HSL blending) for seamless results. The source point persists across tool switches. Enable “All Layers” to sample from the full composite.

• Alt+click to set the healing source
• Paint over blemishes to heal them
• Uses source texture with destination brightness
• Green indicator shows the source point

Color Replace — Alt+click to sample a target color, then paint to replace matching pixels with the current brush color. Preserves luminosity for natural-looking results. The tolerance slider controls how closely pixels must match the sampled color before being replaced. Useful for selectively recoloring objects or correcting color casts in specific areas.

• Alt+click to sample the target color
• Paint over areas to replace that color
• Adjust tolerance for broader/narrower matching
• Preserves luminosity of original pixels

Red-Eye Removal — Click on red-eye areas in photos to automatically detect and desaturate red pixels while preserving luminosity. Uses flood-fill detection to find connected red regions. Uses flood-fill red detection followed by HSL desaturation to neutralize the red channel while preserving other colors. The correction radius adjusts how large an area is processed per click.

• Click directly on the red area in the eye
• Adjust tolerance for broader detection
• Works best on raster layer content

Pixel Selection Tools

Pixel selection tools create selection masks that constrain painting and editing operations. All selection tools support modifier keys for combining selections: hold Shift to add, Alt to subtract, or Shift+Alt to intersect.

Marquee — Drag to create a rectangular or elliptical pixel selection. Selected areas can be deleted or used as a mask for painting operations. Supports feathering for soft edges. The selection mode (New/Add/Subtract/Intersect) can be set in the tool options or via modifier keys (Shift/Alt/Shift+Alt). Marching ants are color-coded by mode: blue = New, green = Add, red = Subtract, amber = Intersect.

• Drag to define the selection area
• Switch between rectangle and ellipse in options
• Press Delete to remove selected pixels
• Press Escape to clear selection
• Adjust feather for soft edges

Lasso — Draw a freehand selection boundary by dragging. The selection auto-closes when you release the mouse. Supports feathering for soft edges. Supports all four selection modes (New/Add/Subtract/Intersect). The resulting selection follows the exact shape you draw.

• Draw around the area you want to select
• Selection closes automatically on mouse release
• Press Delete to remove selected pixels
• Press Escape to clear selection

Polygonal Lasso — Click to add vertices one at a time, forming a polygonal selection boundary. Close the polygon by clicking near the first vertex, double-clicking, or pressing Enter. Supports selection modes and feathering. Each click adds a new segment. Close the selection by clicking near the first vertex, double-clicking, or pressing Enter. Press Backspace to remove the last placed vertex. Supports all four selection modes.

• Click to place vertices around the area
• Click near the first vertex (red dot) to close
• Double-click or press Enter to close with 3+ vertices
• Press Backspace to undo the last vertex
• Press Escape to cancel
• Press Delete to remove selected pixels

Magic Wand — Click to select all connected pixels that match the target color within the tolerance range. Use contiguous mode to select only connected areas, or disable it to select all matching pixels globally. Tolerance ranges from 0 (exact match) to 255 (select all). Supports all four selection modes.

• Click on the color you want to select
• Adjust tolerance for broader/narrower matching
• Toggle contiguous mode in options
• Press Delete to remove selected pixels

Transform & Utility

Transform and utility tools handle canvas cropping, color sampling, distance measurement, and advanced image warping.

Crop — Draw a crop rectangle on the canvas, then confirm to trim the canvas to that region. Resize the crop area using the handles before confirming. Preset aspect ratios (16:9, 4:3, 1:1, etc.) and a custom W:H input are available in the tool options. Aspect ratio lock is enforced during handle drags.

• Drag to define the crop area
• Use handles to adjust the crop region
• Press Enter to apply the crop
• Press Escape to cancel

Image Crop — A non-destructive crop for individual image objects. Activate it via right-click > Crop Image or from the Properties panel. Eight drag handles let you frame a region of the image without discarding any pixel data. Press Enter to apply the crop or Escape to cancel. The crop can be adjusted or removed at any time.

Color Picker — Click anywhere on the canvas to pick the pixel color and set it as the active brush color. Supports averaged sampling over a configurable area (1px, 3x3, 5x5, or 11x11). The sample size is configurable from 1×1 pixel to 11×11 pixel average. When “Capture Alpha” is enabled, sampling a semi-transparent pixel also sets the brush opacity. After sampling, the tool automatically returns to the previously active tool.

• Click to sample a single pixel color
• Adjust sample size in tool options for averaging
• Sampled color becomes the active brush color

Measure — Click to set measurement points. In standard mode, click twice to measure between two points. In cumulative mode, each click adds a segment to a polyline with per-segment distances and a running total. Real-world units can be calibrated via the Scale Calibration feature in the tool options. Press Backspace to undo the last measurement point; press Escape or double-click to clear.

• Click twice to measure between two points
• Shows distance in pixels and angle in degrees
• Enable Cumulative mode for polyline measurement
• In Cumulative mode, double-click or Enter to finalize
• Press Escape to clear measurement
• Press Backspace to undo the last point (cumulative mode)

Perspective — Click any object on the canvas to begin transforming it, or right-click an object and choose "Perspective Transform". Drag the corner control points to skew and distort the object. Press Enter or click outside to apply, or Escape to cancel.

• Click any object on the canvas to begin — no need to pre-select
• Right-click an object and choose "Perspective Transform" to start
• Drag corner handles to skew the object
• Press Enter or click outside the handles to commit
• Press Escape to revert all changes
• Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y to undo/redo individual adjustments before committing

Perspective Crop — Click to place four corner points defining a perspective-distorted region. Drag the corners to align them with a flat surface in the image, then commit (Enter) to warp the content into a rectangular image using a backward homography transform (Direct Linear Transform). The result is cropped and corrected in a single operation. Backspace removes the last placed point; Escape cancels.

Mesh Warp — Creates a grid of draggable control points over the raster layer. Drag points to warp the image. Uses backward mapping with bilinear interpolation for smooth results. If a vector object is selected, it is automatically rasterized onto the layer before warping. The grid density (N×N) is configurable. Press Apply to commit or Cancel to discard the warp.

• Drag grid control points to warp the image
• Adjust grid size in options (2-8)
• Select a vector object first to rasterize and warp just that object
• Press Enter to commit the warp
• Press Escape to revert

Mask Brush — A dedicated brush tool for painting on layer masks. If the active layer does not have a mask, one is created automatically. Choose “Reveal” mode to paint white (makes areas visible) or “Hide” mode to paint black (makes areas transparent). Configurable size, opacity, and hardness. Pen pressure is supported. Activate via the mask editing UI in the Layers panel.

Pressure Sensitivity

When using a pen tablet, Paint Forge can modulate brush size and opacity based on pen pressure. Pressure sensitivity is toggled per-tool in the tool options bar. Mouse users are unaffected — pressure defaults to 1.0 for mouse input.

Supported tools: Brush, Eraser, Raster Brush, Spray Paint, Calligraphy, Healing Brush, Color Replace.

• Toggle pressure size and/or pressure opacity in each tool's options bar
• Pressure range is 0.0 (no contact) to 1.0 (full pressure)
• Size modulation scales the brush radius proportionally to pen pressure
• Opacity modulation scales the stroke opacity proportionally to pen pressure
• Brush presets can include pressure sensitivity settings

Symmetry Painting

Symmetry painting mirrors brush strokes across one or more axes in real time. Configure the symmetry mode in the Canvas Settings panel. Guide lines are drawn on the overlay canvas to show the symmetry axes.

Modes: Vertical, Horizontal, Both (4-way), Radial/Mandala (3–32 fold).

Supported tools: Brush, Eraser, Raster Brush, Spray Paint, Calligraphy, Blur, Sharpen, Dodge/Burn, Smudge.

• Vertical mirrors strokes across the vertical center of the document
• Horizontal mirrors strokes across the horizontal center
• Both combines vertical and horizontal for 4-way symmetry
• Radial distributes strokes evenly around the center (3-32 segments)
• Symmetry axis is shared across all supported tools
• The Status Bar shows the active symmetry mode; click to disable

Alpha Lock

Alpha Lock constrains painting so that only pixels with existing non-zero alpha are affected. This lets you paint within the boundaries of existing content without spilling outside shapes or strokes. Toggle Alpha Lock per-layer in the Layers panel.

• Toggle with the grid icon on each layer in the Layers panel
• When active, painting only affects pixels that already have opacity
• Useful for recoloring shapes without affecting their edges
• Works with all painting tools: brush, eraser, raster brush, spray paint, calligraphy, fill, and all raster effect tools
• Implemented via alpha channel snapshot and restore for each stroke

Pixel Selection Clipping

All painting tools automatically clip their strokes to the active pixel selection mask. This means that if you have a marquee, lasso, or magic wand selection active, paint will only land inside the selected area. Feathered selections produce soft edges on the clipped strokes.

• Zero performance cost when no pixel selection is active
• Works with all painting tools: brush, eraser, raster brush, spray paint, calligraphy, fill, blur, sharpen, dodge/burn, smudge, liquify, clone stamp, healing brush, color replace
• Supports feathered selections with proportional blending at edges
• Quick Mask mode is exempt (painting edits the selection mask itself)
• Uses a snapshot-restore pattern: captures raster state before stroke and clips after