Hello! My name is Liz Staley and I’m a long-time user of Clip Studio Paint (I started using the program back when it was known as Manga Studio 4!). I was a beta-tester on the Manga Studio 5 program and for Clip Studio Paint, and I have written three books and several video courses about the program. Many of you probably know my name from those books, in fact. I write weekly posts on Graphixly.com and on CSP Tips, so be sure to come back every week to learn more Clip Studio Tips and Tricks from me!

Clip Studio Paint V 5.0 is out, with some pretty awesome features and a lot of improvement to performance as well. But of course I’m always interested in new features, so let’s explore the one I was most excited about this week!

In this article we will cover the following topics:

Using Smart Shapes

Let’s ink!

Using Smart Shapes

I had never heard of anything like this feature before, so when I saw the preview of it in the update announcement I was immediately intrigued. And now that I’ve played with it some I can definitely see where this is going to make so many tasks - but especially inking - much faster! Normally, when inking something like the cup or book in the sketch below, I would either have to muck around with vector layers or use the line and shape direct drawing tools to make the lines nice and neat. It would take up a bunch of time and I’d rather just be able to use any pen I like and get the lines looking nice!

Apparently that’s where this new feature comes into play. Note that, in all the examples in this article, I am inking on a Raster layer, NOT vector. 

So let’s start with the straw in this cup. I used my favorite inking tool and drew a line down one side of the straw. Here’s where the magic happens though - when you get to the end of your line keep holding down on your drawing stylus without moving!

If you keep holding down at the end of the line without moving, CSP will now autocorrect your lines! 

After making a line this way, before you make any other lines there will be a button below the line you just made that says “Edit”. Click this to make changes to the line you just made.

In this mode you can move control points for the line, resize and reposition it, or change from a straight line to a curve (if you drew a single line and not a shape, we’ll see the shape controls in just a moment!). This is very helpful if the autocorrect gets it wrong and you need to add curve to a line or want a line to be straight. 

Now let’s draw the ovals for the bottom of the cup. The process is the same, draw with the tool of your choice, then stop and hold down at the end of the line without moving. 

CSP will auto correct the shape, in this case it made a very nice oval for me but it does need a little refinement, so let’s click the Edit button.

In this menu we can edit individual control points, resize and reposition the shape, or even switch between shapes entirely. Because I drew an ellipse, the default shown here is for switching between a circle or ellipse. 

However, clicking on the third icon with the three dots beneath it brings up more shape options you can choose from as well. 

I also decided to try out a diamond shape as well, that I drew in one continuous line as you can see below.

Not only did the Smart Shapes correction work great for a diamond, but it also worked wonderfully for the lines inside for the facets - and I didn’t have to change tools or brush sizes at all to get the different line widths! All in all, all the lines I made for this example, including inking an entire cup and straw, took mere minutes instead of what would probably be 30 minutes the way I used to do it!

Conclusion

As someone who absolutely loves organic looking lines over lines that are all the same thickness and look sterile and lifeless, this feature is honestly a lifesaver. If you have trouble getting clean ink lines, then this is the easiest fix I have ever seen for that problem! It fits right into my workflow and I love that you don’t have to turn any settings on - just hold still at the end of the stroke and the correction gets done for you! 

For more information on CLIP Studio Paint, please visit https://www.clipstudio.net/en or https://graphixly.com