Creating a relief layer from a bitmap layer

Use the Create Relief Layer button to create a relief layer from a selected bitmap layer. Each colour in the bitmap layer's artwork produces a 3D shape with a particular height. The height is calculated using the colour's RGB values. In general, bright colours produce high shapes, while dark colours produce low shapes. You can restrict the height of these shapes.

1. In the Project Tree, select the bitmap layer from which you want to create a relief layer. The name is bold and highlighted, and its panel is displayed below the splitter bar.
2. On the panel, click .
3. In the Tool Settings: Scale Relief panel, select an option in the Mask list to choose the area of the relief layer you want to scale. Select:
   • None to scale the entire relief layer.
   • Selected colour to scale an area of the relief layer defined by a bitmap colour, and then select the colour in the Palette.
   • Selected vector to scale an area of the relief layer within a closed, non-intersecting vector, and then select the vector.
4. Enter a value in the Scale factor or Scale height box to change the Z height.
   Note: Alternatively, click and drag the red arrow in the 3D view. To reposition the arrow in the XY plane, hold the Alt key while dragging the arrow.
5. Select an option in the Detail list to choose how you want to scale surface detail on the relief. Select:
   • None to scale surface detail in proportion to the relief layer.
   • Emboss to scale surface detail separately, and then enter a value in the Detail height box to specify the maximum Z height of the surface detail. Use this option when you want to preserve surface detail to create the illusion of depth on bas-reliefs.
   • Preserve to retain the original surface detail. Enter a value in the Detail height box to specify the maximum Z height of the surface detail, and enter a value in the Detail to preserve box to specify the maximum depth of the surface detail you want to retain.
6. Click Apply. The new relief layer is created directly above the active relief layer in the stack. It adopts the name of the bitmap layer from which it was created, and is selected by default.
   Tip: To display the relief layer stack, click beside the Front Relief item or the Back Relief item in the Project Tree.