Creating a relief layer from a bitmap layer
Creating a relief layer from a bitmap layer
Use the Create Relief Layer 
 button to create a new 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.
- 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. 
 - On the Project panel, 
click 
. 
 - 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.
 
 - Enter a value in the Scale factor 
or Scale height box to change the Z 
height.
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. - 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. 
 
 - 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.
To display the relief layer stack, click 
 beside the 
 Front Relief or 
 Back Relief item in the Project Tree.
The availability of this feature is license dependent. 
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