Toon Boom
15.0
Harmony 16.0

GettingStarted Guide
Paint
Preferences
Guide

TOON BOOM ANIMATION INC.

+1 514 278 8666

4200 Saint-Laurent, Suite 1020
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
H2W 2R2

contact@toonboom.com
toonboom.com

Harmony 16.0 Paint Preferences Guide

Legal Notices
Toon Boom Animation Inc.
4200 Saint-Laurent, Suite 1020
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
H2W 2R2
Tel: +1 514 278 8666
Fax: +1 514 278 2666
toonboom.com

Disclaimer
The content of this document is the property of Toon Boom Animation Inc. and is copyrighted. Any
reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.
The content of this document is covered by a specific limited warranty and exclusions and limit of liability under

the applicable License Agreement as supplemented by the special terms and conditions for Adobe®Flash ® File
Format (SWF). For details, refer to the License Agreement and to those special terms and conditions.

Trademarks
Toon Boom® is a registered trademark. Harmony™ and the Toon Boom logo are trademarks of Toon Boom
Animation Inc. All other trademarks of the property of their respective owners.

Publication Date
01-15-2020
Copyright © 2020 Toon Boom Animation Inc., a Corus Entertainment Inc. company. All rights reserved.

1

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Table of Contents

2

About Harmony Preferences

4

Chapter 1: Preferences File Location

6

Chapter 2: Shortcuts Preferences8

Switching Keyboard Shortcut Sets

9

Searching for Keyboard Shortcuts

10

Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts

12

Chapter 3: General Preferences

14

Chapter 4: Drawing Mode Preferences

16

Chapter 5: OpenGL Preferences182Harmony 16.0 Paint Preferences Guide

3

About Harmony Preferences

About Harmony Preferences
The Preferences dialog box lets you adjust preferences to suit your work style, allowing you to work more
efficiently.

NOTE
Some preferences require you to exit and restart the application, or close a view and reopen it.

How to access the Preferences dialog box
Do one of the following:lSelect Edit > Preferences (Windows/Linux) or Harmony [Edition] > Preferences (macOS).

l

Press Ctrl + U (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + U (macOS).

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Harmony 16.0 Paint Preferences Guide

5

Chapter 1: Preferences File Location

Chapter 1: Preferences File Location
T-HFND-002-002
When you change any of the options in the Preferences dialog box, they are stored in a folder called Toon
Boom Harmony. You can copy this folder if you want to use the same preferences on a different computer.
When using Harmony Stand Alone, your custom preferences are stored in the following location, depending on
your operating system:lWindows: C:\Users\[user_name]\AppData\Roaming\Toon Boom Animation\Toon Boom [Harmony\full1600-pref
NOTE
On Windows, the AppData folder is hidden. To display it in Explorer, in the top menu, open
the View pane and check the Hidden Items checkbox.

lmacOS: /Users/[user_name]/Library/Preferences/Toon Boom Animation/Toon Boom [Harmony/full1600-pref
NOTE
On macOS, the Library folder is hidden. To display it in Finder, hold down the Alt key.

l

GNU/Linux: /home/[user_name]/Toon Boom Animation/Toon Boom Paint/full-1600-pref/

When using Harmony Server, preferences are stored in your Harmony Server account's user space on the
database server, in the following path:l/USA_DB/users/[user_name]/Harmony/full-1600-pref6

Harmony 16.0 Paint Preferences Guide

7

Chapter 2: Shortcuts Preferences

Chapter 2: Shortcuts Preferences
To speed up your work, all of the keyboard shortcuts can be customized. You can even choose other software
keyboard shortcut sets.
In Toon Boom Harmony, you can choose a set of default keyboard shortcuts you are familiar with. You canchoose between the following:lToon Boom HarmonylAdobe FlashlToon Boom StudioSome tools or commands do not have default keyboard shortcuts assigned to them. You can add them if you
find it helpful. If you want to customize an existing keyboard shortcut, you can perform a search by name or its
shortcut.

8Harmony 16.0 Paint Preferences Guide

Switching Keyboard Shortcut Sets
If you are accustomed to a certain set of keyboard shortcuts, you can change the shortcuts set to something
more familiar.

How to switch keyboard shortcut sets
1. Do one of the following:lWindows: Select Edit > PreferenceslmacOS: Select Harmony [Edition]> Preferences.

l

Press Ctrl + U (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + U (macOS).

2. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Shortcuts tab.
3. From the Shortcut Set list, select the desired set.

9

Chapter 2: Shortcuts Preferences

Searching for Keyboard Shortcuts
If you are unsure of what the keyboard shortcut is for a certain tool or function, or even what category it would
be located under, you can use the search engine in the Shortcuts Preferences tab to find it. You can also use thesearch engine to determine if a keyboard shortcut (character or combination of characters) is already assigned
to a tool or command in the software.

How to search for a keyboard shortcut
1. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Shortcuts tab.
2. In the keyboard shortcut search section, select an option:‣

Name to search for a keyboard shortcut by its name.

‣

Shortcut to search for a keyboard shortcut by its actual keys that activate the shortcut.

3. In the Search field, enter the name of a keyboard shortcut or its shortcut keys.
The keyboard shortcut is highlighted in the left pane. Its shortcuts is displayed on the right pane.

10Harmony 16.0 Paint Preferences Guide

4. If desired, set a different keyboard shortcut.
5. Click OK.

11

Chapter 2: Shortcuts Preferences

Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts
You can create your own keyboard shortcut for a tool or command, by assigning it to a certain key or
combination of keys.

How to customize a keyboard shortcut
1. In the Preferences dialog box, select the Shortcuts tab.
2. In the left pane, select a category and then select a command to modify.
3. In the right pane, click the keyboard shortcut.

4. Use the keyboard to set a new shortcut.
‣

To remove a command's current keyboard shortcut, click Clear.

‣

To return a command’s keyboard shortcut to its default, click Default.

5. Click OK.
If a keyboard shortcut is already in use, the Conflict Detected dialog box will appear notifying you of
the command to which it is already associated. You can continue to associate the shortcut or cancel
the operation and choose another command.

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Harmony 16.0 Paint Preferences Guide

13

Chapter 3: General Preferences

Chapter 3: General Preferences

To customize your interface, you will use some of the preferences located in the General tab as well as the
Camera tab.
Parameter

Description
Save Palette Lists: Saves all palette lists you have modified when the Savecommand is activated. When this option is deselected, the Save command
will not save the palette lists and you must use the Save command to save
them.

Save

Save Palettes: Saves palettes you modified when the Save command isactivated. When this option is deselected, the Save command will not savethe modified palettes and you must use the Save command to save them.
Save Drawings: Saves all drawings you have modified when the Savecommand is activated. When this option is deselected, the Save command
will not save the modified drawings and you must use the Save command tosave them.

Colours

Current View Border: Sets the colour of the frame around the workspaceview you are currently using, also known as focus. By default, the colour isred. Click on the red colour swatch to select a new colour in the Colour
Picker window.
Edit Colours: The Edit Colours button opens the Colours dialog, whichallows you to set the colour for dozens of visual elements in the userinterface.
Edit Palette Mode: Default value for Edit Palette Mode.

Options/Settings

Edit Palette List Mode: Default value for Edit Palette List Mode.
Cycle Exposure: Make navigation in the Xsheet View wrap-around from the14

Harmony 16.0 Paint Preferences Guide

last frame or the last column to the first.
HTML Browser for Unix: This option is used to view the online help on
Linux machines. Enter the command to launch the browser, including thepath if necessary.
Levels of Undo: Determines the number of actions retained by the Undo list.
By default, 50 actions are stored in the list. You can alter the number if you
want to.
Interactive Colour Recovery: If a colour palette required to display a drawing
is not found because it was moved or deleted from its location, you will be
asked if you wish to recover the missing colours into a new temporary
palette. If this option is disabled, the colour recovery will happen
automatically without your confirmation.

Colour Management

Colour Recovery: By default, if a colour palette required to display a drawing
is missing because it has been moved or deleted, Harmony recovers themissing colours into a new temporary palette. If this option is disabled,
Harmony will skip this step and display the zones painted with missing
colours with the Replacement Colour, which is solid red by default.
Advanced Palette List: When enabled, palettes can be linked to specificelements instead of to the scene, and can be stored in an directory specificto an element, the scene, the scene's job or the scene's environment.
Replacement Colour: If certain colours are no longer available, Harmony will
display the replacement colour in the zones painted with missing colours.

15

Chapter 4: Drawing Mode Preferences

Chapter 4: Drawing Mode Preferences

Parameter

Description
Render Style:•

Original Colours: Drawings displayed in the Onion Skin are renderedusing their real colours.

•

Coloured:Drawings displayed in the Onion Skin are displayed in solid red
if they are before the current frame, or in solid green if they are after thecurrent frame.

Onion Skin•

Coloured Outlines: Drawings displayed in the Onion Skin are displayed in
red outlines if they are before the current frame and in green outlines ifthey are after the current frame.

Maximum Wash Value (0,0-1,0): The maximum washed-out value for onion
skinned drawings.
Minimum Wash Value (0,0-1,0): The minimum washed-out value for onion
skinned drawings.
Grid On By Default: When opening the Drawing view, the grid displays
automatically.

Options

Default Multiwheel Colour Picker: Displays the Multiwheel Colour Picker window
instead of the regular Colour Picker.
Brush Size Cursor: When this option is enabled, the brush tool displays thebrush size as a circle around the cursor.
Sticky Eye Dropper: Keeps the Colour Picker’s Dropper tool active until it isreleased by clicking the Dropper icon again.

Settings

Auto Gap Closing: The values for automatic gap closing while painting drawings

16Harmony 16.0 Paint Preferences Guide

are: 0 = Disabled, 1=Small, 2=Medium, 3=Big
Light Table: Enable Shade: When enabled, the drawings appearing in the Light
Table are displayed in washed out colours in the Drawing view. When this option
is disabled, the drawings appearing in the Light Table are displayed using normal
colours. This option is for the Drawing view only.

17Chapter 5: OpenGL Preferences

Chapter 5: OpenGL Preferences

Parameter

Description
Conservative Texture Management: Turns on and off conservative memory
management for bitmap texture files. Performance will improve when this isenabled. If disabled, you will have a better on-screen rendering of bitmap files atthe expense of slower performance.
Smooth Textures: Smooths out the pixels of bitmap images when zooming in;this improves bitmap image quality.

Settings

Alternate Gradient and Cutter: This is an alternative way to disable write in the
OpenGL Backbuffer, required for some video cards (i.e. GeForce FX5200). Do notenable this option unless you are experiencing problems with gradients andcutters in OpenGL.
Maximum Texture Size: The size that the bitmap file will be reduced to whenusing the Conservative Texture Management.
Texture Memory: The amount of temporary memory used to store bitmap texture
files.
The following options allow you to configure the way drawings are previewed
in Harmony.

Full Scene Antialiasing

Enable : By default, drawings displayed in Harmony have no antialiasing anddisplay hard pixels at the edge of strokes and lines. If this preference is enabled,
antialiasing will be done through the graphic card to enhance the quality ofdrawings and make a preview that resemble the final render more closely. This
may impact application performance negatively.
Number of samples: The amount of times the OpenGL preview is scaled up before
processing it for antialiasing. The higher this value is, the better the antialiasing
quality will be but the heavier it will be on the machine's resources.

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Harmony 16.0 Paint Preferences Guide

NOTES
l

l

l

Playback Images

It may be necessary to restart the application to see the effects
after changing either of these settings.
These settings may be overriden by the 3D antialiasing settingsof the driver for your graphics card. If changing these settings
and restarting the application seems to have no effect, make sure
your graphics card supports antialiasing, that antialiasing isenabled and that it is configured to let applications control theirantialiasing.
These settings only affect the way drawings are previewed in
OpenGL. They have no effect on the final rendered image, or on
the way the image looks when setting the Camera view in
Render Preview mode.

Enable Playback Caching: Enable the caching of OpenGL previews for quick
playback.
Playback Cache Size (in Mb): The maximum size of the cache used to store
cached playback images.
Enable Textures in Pencil Lines: Controls whether textures applied on pencil lines
are rendered for the OpenGL preview.

Drawings

Enable Variable Line Thickness: Controls whether lines with a variable width are
rendered with their variable width or with a constant width in the OpenGL
preview.
Enable Tone and Highlight: Controls whether Tone and Highlight effects are
rendered in the OpenGL preview.

Effects

Enable Cutter: Controls whether Cutter effects are processed for the OpenGL
preview.
Enable Colour Override: Controls whether Colour-Override effects are rendered in
the OpenGL preview.
Enable Rendering Caching of CacheLock Nodes: Controls whether
OpenGL Cache Lock nodes are used to generate the OpenGL preview. Disabling
this preference has the same effect as disabling all OpenGL Cache Lock nodes inthe scene.

Rendering Caching

Cache Capacity of CacheLock Nodes (in Mb): The maximum amount of cacheavailable to store preview images cached by OpenGL Cache Lock nodes. Thiscache is stored in the graphic card's video memory. If your machine has a lot ofvideo memory, increasing this setting could enhance the performance of Harmony
when working with heavy scenes.

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Chapter 5: OpenGL Preferences

Enable Rendering Caching of Composite Nodes: Controls whether nonpassthrough Composite nodes cache their composited image when Harmony
generates an OpenGL preview. This is useful when the image generated by acomposite is used several times in a scene, for example because a composite's
output port is connected to several other nodes. If this preference is disabled, thecomposite will regenerate the preview for its node system for each of its outgoingconnections. When enabled, the composite will generate the preview for its node
system once, cache it, and output the cached image to its other outgoingconnections.
Cache Capacity of Composite Nodes (in Mb): The maximum amount of cacheavailable to store images cached by Composite nodes. This cache is stored in thegraphic card's video memory. If your machine has a lot of video memory,increasing this setting could enhance the performance of Harmony when working
with heavy scenes.
Enable Interactive Camera View Cache: When enabled, Harmony keeps a cache of
the current preview image in the Camera view. This cache is used to regenerateparts of the preview image when moving the mouse cursor around or whenmanipulating drawing and animation controls in the Camera view. Otherwise,
Harmony will regenerate these parts of the preview image, which may impact
performance when working on a complex scene.

20