Customization Options to support Multiple Brushes

[jorgedanisc]

I have been using perfect-freehand and love its ability to generate smooth, pressure-sensitive lines and even transform them into SVG. However, I find the current brush customization options somewhat limited compared to tools like Procreate, which offers a vast array of settings in its Brush Studio to create hundreds of unique brushes.

In Procreate, users can tweak settings like stroke path, stabilization, taper, shape, grain, rendering, wet mix, color dynamics, and more, enabling highly specialized brushes for various artistic needs.

Use Cases

• Custom shapes could enable calligraphy brushes or unique tip designs.
• Textures would simulate traditional media, appealing to artists seeking a natural feel.
• Enhanced stabilization could improve precision for technical drawings or detailed illustrations.

I got some inspiration from Procreate’s Brush Studio and Brush Library, as shown in the attached images:

Enhancing brush customization would make perfect-freehand an even more powerful tool for digital artists and designers.

[colbyn]

@jorgedanisc Hmm the problem you'll have to first workout is that Perfect Freehand translates down to simple SVG paths per stroke, SVG isn't necessarily conducive to what you desire.

Also I do wonder if Procreate relies on rasterized graphics to display such rich strokes, replicating such functionality would be problematic for this library and would probably entail a fundamental redesign and the implementation of which would probably be a massive engineering effort.

[jorgedanisc]

You are absolutely right! Procreate most likely has a custom renderer in place and most likely uses non-vector bound brushes making it unsuitable for Perfect Freehand.

Not trying to persist too much, however after researching a little bit I found that Figma just launched a drawing tool that computes the paths into SVG also (tested by exporting as SVG on their playground).

They have some interesting brushes that are completely vector bound:

• https://www.figma.com/draw/
• https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/31440438150935-Draw-with-illustration-tools
• https://www.figma.com/community/file/1484549117658754259