3.2.1.1 Introduction
The Style Editor is a node-based filter graph editor that allows you to build complex styles using filter nodes* and connections.
Note: *A Filter node, or node, is a construction element in the Style Editor that represents a basic filter, a built-in style or a style created by a user. Every node has one or more Input and Output pins, except for Generator nodes, which have no input pins.
3.2.1.2 Creating a Style in the Style Editor Using Layers
Open an image that you would like to process, then click the Style Editor tab. You will see the default connection line* between the Image Source and the Result Filter* in the Editing pane. Next, open the Style Browser. Select a style (e.g. Building Blocks/Simple Styles/Random Painter). Drag and drop this style into the Style Editor workspace or double-click it and it will be automatically inserted in the workspace.
A filter node will appear. You must connect the primary Input and Output pins to other pins of the same color to make the filter graph work. (See section 3.3 "Output and Input Pins" to learn more about pins). Connect the Image Source's Output pin to the Image Input pin of your node by dragging out an arrow with your mouse from the Output pin to the Input pin. The Input pin will be highlighted. Then, by dragging an arrow from the Output pin to the Result Filter, which is docked on the right side of the graph editor, connect the node to the already existing Layer #1. The area that represents this layer in the Result Filter is highlighted. By creating this connection, you are replacing the default connection from your Image Source to the Result Filter that was automatically inserted when you first loaded the image.
Note: When you first load an image, you always see it in the Compositing viewport unchanged because no filter is acting on it yet. Because there is no active filter or style yet, a default connection line appears in the Style Editor. This default direct connection line will disappear when you connect a node between the Source and the Result Filter, and new connection lines will appear between each added and connected node as you work.
In the Style Browser, select a second style. (e.g. Building Blocks/Simple Styles/Sketch) and drag and drop it into the Style Editor workspace.
Link the Image Source Output to the second style's (Sketch) Input and then connect “Sketch” to the Result Filter. A highlighted area will appear under or above the existing Layer #1, which lets you know where the new layer will be inserted. We chose to connect the Sketch filter above the previous Random Painter.
Note: The Result Filter represents the layers that you can find in the Layer Browser of the Compositing view and is what blends your layers together. When there is a single layer in the Layer Browser, the Result Filter is displayed as an undivided column. When you have two or more layers, the Result Filter will be divided vertically into the same number of parts. You can create new layers for your results by adding them in the Compositing view or in the Graph Editor.
If necessary, select the upper layer and change the Layer Blending Mode in the Properties + Preview Pane. The result is immediately displayed in the Preview window.
You can insert as many styles and filters as you want. We will add a third layer, above the other two: Reveal original from the Simple Styles category. To know how to use correctly this filter, read the forum thread; click here.
When you are done, you can switch back to the Compositing pane and see the result. The layers that you have created in the Style Editor will be listed in the Layer browser. You may change their properties and blending modes, as well as opacity by moving the sliders as previously shown in 2.1.2 Create a Simple Style Using the Layer Browser.
As an interesting practice exercise, try out the Blend Filter, which has two inputs, butworks like a small Result Filter. It has a lower and an upper layer and you can change the blending mode and the opacity. The Result Filter is able to add new input pins to itself dynamically, and it executes a layer blend operation for each of its input pins. You cannot see the output pin of the result filter, because it is docked on the right side of the workspace, but it represents the results of all the operations executed on an object (image).