Tip#83: Clean and uncluttered panels in Photoshop and Illustrator

Clarify UI of MagicPicker and MagicSquire panels - PRO mode
Clarify UI of MagicPicker and MagicSquire panels – PRO mode

Use PRO Mode to clarify MagicSquire & MagicPicker panels in Photoshop and Illustrator while keeping all functionality.

PRO Mode lets you see only the essential features of the panels to focus on your creative work.

Click Menu ► PRO Mode to activate/deactivate it.

MagicPicker is a professional color wheel and color picking panel for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

MagicSquire is an advanced brush/tool manager for Adobe Photoshop

Anastasiy partners with Wacom

Get Anastasiy plugin panels at Wacom Marketplace
Get Anastasiy plugin panels at Wacom Marketplace

Anastasiy partners with Wacom to bring all our professional plugins and panels to Wacom devices through Wacom marketplace. Enjoy MagicPicker, MagicSquire and our other products on Cintiq, Intuos or Bamboo tablets!

Wacom Marketplace brings easy access to industry-leading software and services.

*Read detailed description on our website

Learn how Pro artists use MagicPicker, MagicSquire, MagicRefs and other panels

You asked for it!

All tutorials, tips and tricks on how to use our MagicPicker, MagicSquire, MixColors, DiskFonts, MagicRefs in Photoshop/Illustrator panels are now in one place

Tutorials for MagicPicker, MagicSquire, MagicRefs, MixColors, DiskFonts
Tutorials for MagicPicker, MagicSquire, MagicRefs, MixColors, DiskFonts

Get access to 80+ tutorials, tips, tricks and videos on essential features of MagicPicker color wheel, MagicSquire brush/tag manager, MagicRefs reference image manager and DiskFonts external font viewer

 

 

Tip#82: Use Compact Mode to speed up your creative work

Increase your creative performance with smart Compact Mode. Shrink our panels in Photoshop into informative small tiles that auto-magically expand with simple mouse movement. Zero clicks allow you to focus on your work. No right-clicks or crazy keyboard shortcuts anymore!

Smart Compact Mode in MixColors, MagicSquire, MagicPicker, MagicRefs in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator
Smart Compact Mode in MixColors, MagicSquire, MagicPicker, MagicRefs in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

MagicPicker color wheel, MagicSquire brush tag/group assistant, MagicRefs reference image manager and MixColors color mixer all support it in Photoshop (and Illustrator for MagicPicker). Activate Compact Mode from panel’s menu.

Massive update: MagicSquire 3.0, MagicRefs 1.2, MagicPicker 6.4, MixColors 3.1, DiskFonts 1.2.22 are out!

MagicSquire, MagicRefs, MixColors, MagicPicker, DiskFonts updates
MagicSquire, MagicRefs, MixColors, MagicPicker, DiskFonts updates

New MagicSquire 3.0 is here:
– New UI Framework! Great performance improvement
– Also tags, Keyboard Shortcuts, Brush Group collections and much more in version 3.0!
– Invalid signature (a.k.a. “The extension could not be loaded because it
was not signed correctly”) problem fixed
New MagicSquire, brush organizing panel for Photoshop

New MagicRefs 1.2 is here:
– New UI Framework! Great performance improvement
– Invalid signature (a.k.a. “The extension could not be loaded because it
was not signed correctly”) problem fixed
New MagicRefs, life is easy with reference images in Photoshop

New MagicPicker 6.4 is here:
– New UI Framework!Great performance improvement
– Invalid signature (a.k.a. “The extension could not be loaded because it
was not signed correctly”) problem fixed
New MagicPicker, advanced Photoshop color wheel panel

MixColors 3.1:
– New UI Framework! Great performance improvement
– Invalid signature (a.k.a. “The extension could not be loaded because it
was not signed correctly”) problem fixed
New MixColors, Photoshop color mixer

DiskFonts 1.2.22:
– New UI Framework! Great performance improvement
– Invalid signature (a.k.a. “The extension could not be loaded because it
was not signed correctly”) problem fixed
New DiskFonts, Photoshop font viewer and manager

MagicSquire 3: work with brushes like never before in Photoshop! Tags, Keyboard Shortcuts, more

The BIGGEST update ever to MagicSquire panel! Tags! Keyboard Shortcuts to individual brushes. Group Collections. Store and sync brushes to Cloud(s), Rotate brush/tool tip with keyboard, more Keyboard Shortcuts, Capture color, even more

WHAT’S NEW:

  • NEW! Assign Tags to brushes and then filter them using Search – with Instant Suggestions. Filter out brushes that you don’t need in current project, instantly.
  • NEW! Collections allow you to combine several groups to a collection, and then switch between group combinations with one click or keyboard shortcut. Use Collection Editor from the menu.
  • NEW! Keyboard Shortcuts for individual brushes. Also keyboard shortcuts to following new and old features of MagicSquire:
    • Rotate Brush/Tool tip (works with Clone Tool too)
    • Turn current Brush into Eraser (and back)
    • Increase/Decrease Load for Mixer brushes
    • Switch brushes and collections
    • more! New shortcuts dialog is accessible from the menu.
  • NEW! Relocate data folder and put it on Dropbox, iCloud, Google Drive or any other 3rd party Cloud service. Back up and safely auto-sync your brushes between computers!
  • NEW! Disable size capture for tools, switch between brushes and tools while keeping size
  • All features available now for Photoshop CS5, CS6, CC, CC2015, CC2017, CC2018, CC2019+
  • more

Upgrade MagicSquire here

Read more about MagicSquire brush manager for Photoshop

Tip#81: Color wheel modes in MagicPicker 6

In addition to Triangle, Box, Diamond and Color Temperature modes of the MagicPicker color wheel panel recent version 6.3 adds LDT Color Cube mode.

Color Wheel Modes in MagicPicker 6 for Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator
Color Wheel Modes in MagicPicker 6 for Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator

LDT Color Cube mode lets you adjust shaded/saturated color preserving its perceived brightness and on the same color space adjust color temperature. To switch modes click on the button on the top right to get the tool best matching your painting style and a better color coverage in shades and saturation!

Works in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6, CC, CC2014, CC2015, CC2017, CC2018, CC2019.

MagicPicker, the color wheel and advanced color picker for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

Tip #80: Compact mode of MagicSquire

Shrink entire MagicSquire panel into a small icon of your current Photoshop brush. When your cursor hovers this icon the panel automagically expands back to full brush groups. Click MagicSquire menu -> Compact Mode to activate this mode and save screen real estate for your art.

 

MagicSquire Compact Mode
MagicSquire Compact Mode

MagicSquire is a professional brush group manager for Adobe Photoshop.

MagicPicker 6.0 is up! Brings new Color Space, Keyboard Shortcuts, more

MagicPicker 6.0: LTD Cube Color Space, Keyboard Shortcuts, moew
MagicPicker 6.0: LTD Cube Color Space, Keyboard Shortcuts, more
WHAT’S NEW:
– Assign Keyboard Shortcuts to: Increase/Decrease Color Brightness, Temperature, Hue, Toggle Color Scheme, K-Lock, Tone Lock, Compact Mode, HSB/RGB sliders, Switch Color Triangle/Box/Diamond/Temperature/LDT-Cube, Copy color hex to Clipboard, Toggle panel on/off
– Assign shortcuts directly from MagicPicker Settings dialog
– Adjust steps for parameters increase/decrease from the same dialog
– Supports special keys of extended Keyboards and devices that emulate key presses.
– LDT-Cube Color Picker – most natural Color Space for digital artists. Pick separately on three Light, Dark and Temperature-based color sides at the same time!
– Move horizontally to adjust brightness, top side adjusts color temperature
– Move vertically to adjust saturation while keeping color’s brightness
– Super clean stylish look with new PRO Mode. Hide all buttons and move UI elements out of your way! Click MagicPicker menu -> PRO Mode to toggle it.
– Pantone Solid Coated/Uncoated, L*c*h* support
– Tooltips for UI elements! Switch them on/off in Settings if you feel they’re too much
– All features available now for Photoshop and Illustrator CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6, CC, CC2014, CC2015, CC2017, CC2018+
– more

How to fix freeze, stutter, lags, slowdown and stylus pressure problems in Photoshop (MagicPicker and other panels can be affected)

This only affects Windows/Adobe Photoshop CC Users that have installed Windows Creators Fall Update. The symptoms in Photoshop CC may include (but not limited to):

  • The stylus is lagging when you click and press on the panel
  • You can click and select a color with it, but you can’t drag the sliders
  • The plugin won’t recognize the stylus when pressing and moving across the color picking areas
  • If you click on the panel with Wacom pen then the color updates. But if I press and drag the panel does nothing. You can only tap
  • When you want to pick a color and move it with Pro Pen on Cintiq then you can’t move it. Only double click works. Also it still works with mouse
  • You lost pen pressure sensitivity on Photoshop

All those problems are connected to Photoshop CC’s bug with stylus and tablet, in most cases it’s a Wacom tablet-only problem but it affects other tablets as well.

The good news it’s very easy to fix! Please do the following (the fix bellow applies to all versions of Photoshop you just need to replace Photoshop’s version in the path):

PSUserConfig

1) Go to your Wacom preferences and disable “Windows Ink” or “Windows Freehand” (the name depends on your Wacom drivers version)
This is not all! After this step you will probably lose pen pressure sensitivity, so follow next steps to avoid it:

2) Go to C:\Users\“YOURNAME”\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC2018\Adobe Photoshop CC2018 Settings\ and modify a file called PSUserConfig.txt (create a new file if it doesn’t exist). You need to add the following lines:
# Use WinTab
UseSystemStylus 0

3) Restart

That’s it! Those simple steps will make sure you will keep pressure sensitivity on your tablet while fixing the problem with Adobe Photoshop.