The Paint Bucket

When you want to fill a large area with color in a hurry, the Paint Bucket's the tool for you. It's right next to the Brush tool in the Toolbox. If you click it or press K to activate it and then click in your image, the entire available area (either your whole image or the current selection) gets flooded with color. It works something like the Magic Wand: Just as the Magic Wand selects the color you click, the Paint Bucket fills only the color you click.

Use this tool to change the color of a solid layer with one click (so make any tool settings adjustments before clicking in your photo). Most of the Options bar settings for the Paint Bucket are probably familiar:

  • Pattern. Normally the Paint Bucket fills the area with the foreground color (Choosing the Color You Want). Turn this on and it uses a pattern (Applying Patterns) instead. You can choose from any of the existing patterns (listed in the Pattern drop-down menu on the Options bar). Or you can create your own, just as you would with the Pattern Stamp (see The Pattern Stamp).

  • Mode. Use the Paint Bucket in any blend mode, as explained later in this chapter on Blend Modes.

  • Opacity. 100-percent opacity gives you total coverage; nothing shows through the paint you put down. Lower the percentage for a more transparent effect.

  • Tolerance. This setting works the same way it does for the Magic Wand (The Magic Wand). The higher the number, the more shades the paint fills.

  • Anti-alias. This setting smoothes the edges of the ...

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