In this section, we will start our illustration project. The first step of our illustration workflow is to find reference images. I am sure that you already know how to search images on the web. So I will focus this lesson on how to insert reference images and how to manage them inside Krita. For a reference, I already collected some images that I like from the web, more or less. The illustration I want to create is like this image in here, but the top area of the cliff is filled with grass.

So for the top area of the cliff, it should be more like this image. And this image in here, we can see that some of the grasses are growing inside the crevices of this rocky cliff for the tree. I like how this bonsai tree looks. It actually has a large route, but it is covered by these green monsters or small grasses. For me, the three bar is too plain for the tree bark. I like the tree bark at this bonsai tree much better, and also the leaves characteristic for the cliff.

I like the characteristic of this rock formation. Okay, so after we have all of the images for the reference, we can bring all of them to Krita using a special tool called the reference images tool, which is this tool that looks like a pin, click on it, and then open the tool options Docker, you will see use the photo option in here. To add a reference image, simply click this plus button, choose the image you want to add and then click the Open button. We can see that the image is now placed in our document but it is blocking our canvas. Most of the time we want to place the reference images outside the campus area. We can do this while in The reference image is still active by clicking on the image.

Notice we have these control nodes to scale the reference image. By dragging these handles, we can scale the image to any size that we like. Now notice as I drag this node at the side, the scaling of the image will not get distorted. Or in other words, it always keep its original proportion. This is due to the option in the Tool Options darker with this this clip aspect ratio. To move around the reference image, we can simply move our mouse on top of it and then drag it we can place these at the side like this, for example.

Okay, now I actually want to draw the tree and the cliff facing this way to the right, not this way. So I need to flip this image horizontally. To do that, we can right click on the image, transform and then mirror horizontally. If you need more reference images, simply add them again by clicking on this plus button, then choose the image you want to add, and then click Open. If you want to remove an image, simply click on the image and then press Delete in the keyboard. Okay, now remember, all this time, I am using the reference image tool in here.

If you use other tool, such as the Select tool or the move tool, you won't be able to select any reference image and you won't be able to access the reference image functionalities in the Tool Options Docker also. So again, make sure you are in the reference image tool mode. Several other features available for reference image are controlling opacity and saturation. Sometimes we want to trace from a reference image. Of course, you won't be able to do this If the reference image is solid, we can reduce the opacity of it by first selecting the reference image. And then in the Tool Options darker, we can drag this opacity slider to the left.

Around 20% will do. Now, we can go to the brush tool, pick a pencil brush or any brush that you like, then start tracing the reference. Just for example, I'll speed up the video for now. Okay, after finished, we can quickly toggle the visibility of all the reference images on or off by going to the View menu and click this show reference images option. Let me turn this back on and go back to the reference images. To mode and turn this opacity all the way to 100%.

Okay, we can also control the saturation of a reference image. If this is all the way to the left, the image will become grayscale. Sometimes you need to do this when you only care about the value, and you don't want to get distracted by the colors. Next is the safe location. There are two modes for this embed and Lin embed means that the images you brought in as reference images will be saved inside the Krita file. So this way, your Krita save file size will become larger, but you can safely transfer and bring the Krita file anywhere without having to bring the reference image files externally.

On the other hand, linking means that the reference image data will not be included inside the Krita file. This way, your Krita file will be smaller in size. But if you need to transfer your work to another computer, for example, you need to bring in both the creator files and the reference image files together. Okay, so that is the difference between embedding and linking. The last thing we are going to cover in this lesson is saving and loading reference layout. Let's say you already have several images for reference, and you want to save the layout.

So later, you can load these reference images in order to create our file. We can do that by clicking on this safe button in here, which is actually named export reference images set. Then, you can choose the location and name the file in here to any name you like. And then click the Save button in another Krita file. You can then load the layout by clicking on Load reference images SET button and then pick the file you saved before. Okay guys, I will put all of the reference images and then lay them out nicely.

I will speed up the video as this may be a bit boring to watch in a normal speed. We are now done. In the next lesson, we will start sketching our three illustration