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To successfully fill an area, it must be closed. Tap the paint bucket icon,, then tap a closed region to fill the area with paint.

In this example, the first image has a closed area. The second shows a successful fill. The third is the finished product. The fill layer’s opacity was reduced to mute the fill and allow an underlying layer to peak through.

If the fill are is not closed, the fill will invade areas you didn’t intend to color. In the example below, the area in the first image is NOT closed. When a fill was applied, the background, as well as the intended area, was filled. The white areas are the only closed ones.

When you select , the Flood Fill toolbar appears, containing fills and, depending on the version you're using, an assortment of tools. Use the tools to change fill tolerance, apply a fill to either all layers or only the active layer, or reverse a gradient fill.

Select one of the following fills to add paint to an area bound by pixels of color or a selection. Flood filling an area is a quick way to fill an area with color, make highlights, or create gradations of color for such things as a metal look.

Solid Fill

Solid Fill

Fills an area with paint.

Gradient Fill

What is a gradient fill? It’s a fill with multiple bands of color that blend into one another. There are two kinds of gradient fills in SketchBook – Linear and Radial.

Gradient Linear Fill

It uses a color ramp and applies it linearly from your first tap (origin) to the end of the drag (destination). This establishes the direction and size of the ramp. Fill manipulators can be added, moved, or removed.

Gradient Radial Fill

It uses a color ramp that radiates from your first tap (origin) to the end of the drag (destination). Fill manipulators can be added, moved, or removed.

Fill Tolerance

Did the fill cover more area than you wanted? Did it not cover enough? Change the tolerance of your fill to determine the range of the area/colors affected. Set the flood region and size of the gaps between the fill paint and pixels creating the fill boundary.

The minimum tolerance, 1, selects and fills only pixels of that color value. The maximum tolerance, 255, selects and fills all pixels regardless of the region.

In the examples below, when Tolerance is set to 255 (the max), however, the results different greatly. This is due to a difference in stroke opacity and size (thickness). For a stroke using a Ballpoint Pen size of 1.3, with a fill tolerance of 168, the lines are ignored and the canvas is filled.

However, with a Felt Pen size of 4.5, where we’ve even increased the fill tolerance to the maximum value of 255, the lines held the fill within their borders. This is due to the thickness of the line (size). From above, you can see that fill tolerance can be set at a lower value and still fill the canvas, if the lines are thin.

Filling layers

You can choose to fill the current layer or all layers, using the following fill tools:

• Sample One Layer to fill the current layer.
• Sample All Layers to fill all layers.

In the first image below, we used Sample One Layer, so the doll's head was the only area used to define the fill. For the second, we used Sample All Layers and tapped in the area within the head, where the arm is visible. So, though the lines of the arm are on a different layer, they help define the filled area.

Using Flood Fill in SketchBook Pro Desktop

1. Fills
2. Tolerance
3. Sample All Layers
4. Reverse
5. Cancel and OK

Flood filling an area

Fill active layers with color.

1. In the toolbar, tap .

2. Select a color from the Color Editor.

3. Tap to fill the current layer or for all visible layers.

   Selected Layer	Fill Outcome
   Current layer
   All visible layers

4. Select a fill.

5. To accept the fill, click or to decline the fill.

Changing fill tolerances

In the Fill toolbar, tap-drag the slider to change fill tolerances.

• Increase the tolerance to increase the range of colored pixels affected by the fill.
• Decrease the fill to reduce this.

The fill automatically updates, making it easy to get the tolerance setting just right.

Creating a gradient area

You can create a fill and then set the colors or select a pre-defined gradient fill from the Color Puck's Gradient Fill Palette.

1. Create an area to be filled.

2. With the Flood Fill tool selected, select a Gradient Fill ( or ) from the Flood Fill toolbar.

3. Click-drag to place the fill.

   

4. Do either of the following:

   • To change the color of a manipulator, double-click the manipulator and select another color from the Color Wheel.

   • To select a different gradient fill, double-click a manipulator and select another gradient fill from the Gradient Palette.

   • To reposition fill manipulators, tap-drag a manipulator and reposition it.

   • To add a manipulator, tap along the axis between manipulators.

   • To delete a manipulator, tap the Delete manipulator.

   • To change the tolerances of a fill, in the Fill toolbar, tap-drag the Tolerance slider. Increase the tolerance to increase the range of colored pixels affected by the fill. Decrease the fill to reduce this.

Setting the fill sample

In the Fill toolbar, do one of the following:

• To fill only the current active layer, ensure the icon in the toolbar is . If is visible, tap it to switch the icon to fill only the current layer.
• To fill all layers, ensure the icon in the toolbar is . If is visible, tap it to switch the icon to fill all layers.

Inverting the direction of a gradient fill

Once your fill is created, in the Fill toolbar, click to invert the order of the fill manipulators.

Using Flood Fill in SketchBook Pro Mobile

On a tablet

On a handheld device

Fill the active layer with color, speeding up the painting process, working like a mask. You can select the flood color before or during the fill. Check out the video below for a demonstration of using flood fills.

• Check out this video on Autodesk SketchBook Pro Mobile Devices: Flood Fills [YouTube]

Filling an area

1. Do one of the following:

   If on a handheld device, tap , then Fill.

   

   If on a tablet, tap Fill.

   

2. Select one of the fills.

   Note:

   Fill manipulators can be added, moved, or removed.

   • To add a manipulator, tap anywhere along the fill line.
   • To move a manipulator, tap-drag it to the new position.
   • To remove a manipulator, tap-drag it away from the fill line. It will disappear.

3. Tap an area to fill it.

   Note:

   To change the color of the paint, tap , then tap where you to fill that area. You are still in the Fill tool.

4. Tap to accept the changes or to decline.

Changing flood fill tolerance

In the Fill toolbar, do the following:

• If on a handheld device, tap , then tap-drag the slider to change flood fill tolerances.

  

• If on a tablet, tap-drag the Tolerance slider.

  

  • Increase the tolerance to increase the range of colored pixels affected by the fill.
  • Decrease the fill to reduce this.

The fill automatically updates, making it easy to get the tolerance setting just right.

Filling one or all layers

1. In the Fill toolbar, do the following:

   • If on a handheld device, tap Tolerance tool to access the Sample Layers tools.
   • If on a tablet, go to Step 2.

2. Select one of the following:

   • To fill only the current active layer, ensure the icon in the toolbar is . If is visible, tap it to switch the icon to fill only the current layer.
   • To fill all layers, ensure the icon in the toolbar is . If is visible, tap it to switch the icon to fill all layers.

Our good friends at Wacom asked ARCHER’s Kevin Mellon to demonstrate the Flood Fill > Gradient Tools on Autodesk SketchBook Mobile. You can check out the video below.

Check out SketchBook Mobile For iPad: Fill and Gradient Tools [YouTube]

Using Flood Fill in SketchBook on Windows 10

Filling an area on Windows 10

1. Tap Fill.

2. Select a fill:

   Note:

   For information on Linear or Radial, see Using a gradient fill.

3. Tap an area to fill it.

   Note:

   Fill manipulators can be added, moved, or removed. See Using a gradient fill for details. To change the color of the paint, tap the Color Puck, then the area you want to fill. You are still in the Fill tool.

4. Tap to accept or to decline the fill.

Changing fill tolerances on Windows 10

1. Select the region to fill.

2. In the Fill toolbar, tap-drag the slider to change fill tolerances. As you make changes, the fill automatically updates, making it easy to get it just right.

   

Filling one or all layers on Windows 10

Do you want to fill one layer or more than one? Use Sample one or Sample all layers.

1. Choose your layer settings:

   • To select only the current active layer, select .

   • To select multiple layers, first ensure all the layers you want are visible. If not, unhide them, then select .

     Selected Layer	Fill Outcome
     Original image
     Current layer
     All visible layers

2. Select a fill ( ).

3. To accept the fill, click or to decline the fill.

Creating a gradient fill

1. Create an area to be filled.

2. With the Fill tool selected, select a Gradient Fill ( or ) from the Fill toolbar.

   

3. Click-drag to place the fill.

   

Editing a gradient fill

As long as the manipulators are displayed, you can edit your fill. There are many ways to edit a gradient fill. Do either of the following:

• To change the color of a manipulator, tap the manipulator and select another color from the Color Puck

• To move fill manipulators, tap-drag a manipulator into position.

• To add a manipulator, tap anywhere along the line between manipulators.

• To delete a manipulator, tap-drag the manipulator away from the fill line.

• To change the tolerances of a fill, in the Fill toolbar, tap-drag the Tolerance slider. Increase the tolerance to increase the range of colored pixels affected by the fill. Decrease the fill to reduce this.

• To sample one or all layers, tap or .

  What is Sampled	Fill Outcome
  Sample One Layer
  Sample All Layers

Reversing the direction of a fill

Once your fill is created, in the Fill toolbar, click to reverse the order of the fill manipulators.