<![CDATA[Blog di Matt]]>

<![CDATA[Blog di Matt]]> https://www.paolelli.com/blog/ EN Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:00:00 +0100 Incomedia WebSite X5 Pro <![CDATA[CSP - 004 - Switch limits for Perpetual licenses]]> imblog

A Perpetual license allows you to install Clip Studio Paint on two devices: PC-PC, Mac-Mac, PC-Mac or Mac-PC. Celsys calls them main (Main) device and secondary (Sub) device.

Vers. 1

With CSP version 1, the license is activated on both devices. but you cannot use them at the same time; there is no license switch procedure here (i.e., deactivate it on the first to activate it on the second); the limitation is that you cannot use the two devices together.

Wanting to use a third device, the license is deactivated on the main one and activated on the third (in which a message appears asking for confirmation of this).

After a certain number of such swaps (i.e., adding a third device in addition to the two in which the license is currently activated), the license is deactivated and you must contact Celsys support to reactivate it.

What is this number? It is not known; it is information that Celsys does not want to reveal.

Vers. 2 and later

With later versions, from 2 onward, wanting to use both computers (one at a time) you must always perform the switch procedure between the first and the second.

The number of possible switches is not known (as before), but when it is reached the license is deactivated and you have to contact Celsys support to reactivate it.

There are those who say that periodically (annually) the switch count is reset, as can be read in this thread on CSAsk: https://tinyurl.com/cpn9sb3w. I have not had confirmation from Celsys on this, so you have to take it with a grain of salt; on switch data they keep themselves very buttoned up and as soon as you touch the subject the first thing they say is that it is confidential information and they cannot reveal details.

Apparently, for both v. 1 and later, the discriminator is the frequency of switches: by switching two computers sparingly, the limit is unlikely to be reached.

An interesting piece of information, moreover, is that if the program is always used between the same two computers (i.e., without switching to a third) the limit should not be reached very easily. This in fact quietly allows for the use of a stationary PC in the studio and a laptop on the road, e.g., something not always very clear. The conditional is used by Celsys itself, which puts back the possibility of license blocking depending on the use of the license; they do not specify what kind of use, but I assume it is precisely frequent switches with use of computers other than the usual two.

If you have no special needs, perhaps the sensible thing to do is to make the switch only when it is really necessary (e.g., crashing, formatting, installing on a new PC), also you can be relatively comfortable if you always use the same two devices.

Finally, when installing the program on a new computer (or two, with the limitations seen) it is not essential to uninstall it from the old one; its mere presence does not affect its use on the others.

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]]> Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:00:00 GMT https://www.paolelli.com/blog/?csp---004---switch-limits-for-perpetual-licenses https://www.paolelli.com/blog/rss/000000010 <![CDATA[Test]]> imblog

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]]> Tue, 12 Dec 2023 10:16:00 GMT https://www.paolelli.com/blog/?test https://www.paolelli.com/blog/rss/00000000F <![CDATA[CSP - 003 - Layers - Part 1: Overview]]> imblog

As in many other programmes, work in CSP is organised in layers.

They can be imagined as transparent sheets placed one on top of the other, on which you can go to draw, colour, insert guide lines etc.

All layers can be made visible or not on the Canvas: if there is an eye next to the layer thumbnail, the layer is visible; if there is not, the layer is not visible. If you click on the eye, you 'turn off' the layer'; if you click where it should be, you 'turn it on'. Layer visibility also means, in many ways, the possibility of operating in the layer itself.

Fig. 1 - There is the eye: layer is visble Fig. 2 - There isn't the eye: layer is not visible

The editable layer (i.e. the one we are using) is marked with a pencil symbol

. In other versions this symbol looks like a penknife (actually I think it is a fountain pen)

Draft layer

A layer can be set as a Draft layer. When a layer is Draft, then certain actions can be performed by ignoring it, such as setting references for selections. In a nutshell, if you set a layer as Draft, you can if necessary make a selection that takes into account the contents of all layers except the Draft, which is then only a construction layer of the design.

Similarly, when exporting a drawing you can exclude the export of the Draft layer: you see it on the Canvas on which you drew but not in the exported file.

There can be more than one Draft level.

I generally set as Draft the layer with the "pencils", i.e. the drawing that has not yet been inked. I often (especially if I have not already made the drawing with a blue pencil) change the colour of the layer content by clicking on the Change layer colour icon, in the Property bar of the Layer palette, which by default is set to cyan (it goes without saying that this colour can also be customised).

To set a layer as Draft go to Layer > Layer Setting > Set as Draft Layer, or click, in the Property bar of the Layer palette, on the icon with the pencil Set as Draft Layer Several layers can be set as Reference layers at the same time, simply select them (CTRL + click on individual layers, or Shift + click on the first and last of a series of successive layers) and click on the lighthouse icon in the Property bar of the Layer palette. . A blue bar appears next to the thumbnail and the pencil symbol on the right-hand side of the layer.

Fig. 3 - Draft layer

Reference layer

A layer can be set as Reference layer. A layer set as Reference can act as a reference for certain tools or selections. For example, I can make a selection made on one layer actually consider the contents of other layers as a boundary. This is useful when making fills, for example, where you work on one layer but refer to the lines on another, the Reference precisely.

A lighthouse icon appears in the Reference layer next to the layer thumbnail

To set a layer as Reference go to Layer > Layer Setting > Set as Reference Layer, or click on the icon with the lighthouse Set as Reference Layer in the Property bar of the Layer palette.

Several layers can be set as Reference layers at the same time, simply select them (CTRL + click on individual layers, or Shift + click on the first and last of a series of successive layers) and click on the lighthouse icon in the Property bar of the Layer palette.

Raster and vector layers

In CSP it is possible to draw on two types of layer: raster and vector.

If you draw two lines, one on a vector layer and one on a raster layer, they are similar [I drew the line in vector here, duplicated the layer and converted the copy to raster, so they are exactly the same]:

Fig. 4

By zooming in on the drawing, we can see that at a certain point the two lines crumble:

Fig. 5

This happens when you have zoomed in so much as to reveal the grid of pixels on which the image is built [see also Massimo Borri's reply to this post (in Italian): "...CSP is a raster (or bitmap, in short, pixel-based) graphics programme and the "vector" layers only contain the brush paths used, then the pixels are drawn anyway (as many or as few as the resolution of the work)..."].

Zoom back in and enlarge the two lines in a 'physical' manner this time, i.e. by actually changing their size.

To do this, for the vector layer create a selection around the line (actually for vector layers you could use the Operation > Object tool, tap on the line and drag a corner of the envelope rectangle that appears, but it also works with the selection), then go to Edit > Transform > Scale and while holding down the Shift key (so as not to change the proportions) drag the selection by one corner until you've enlarged it properly. CTRL+D to delete the selection and do the same for the line on the raster layer (in this case you can only enlarge by first creating the selection because the Object tool does not act on raster layer lines).

Returning then to look at a small area with the zoom (Fig. 6), you can see how the vector line is not at all different from before it was 'physically' enlarged, while the appearance of the raster line has definitely deteriorated, losing definition.

Fig. 6

Explained roughly, the vector line is defined by mathematical functions that tell the programme how to reconstruct it at each 'physical' magnification. The vector layer basically stores not so much the image of the line as you have drawn it, but how to change the properties of the line between various key points each time you enlarge (or shrink) it. The quality of the line remains optimal.

The raster line, once drawn, that is. If you want to 'physically' enlarge it, you have to do so with what you have: this means that, as you enlarge, you add space between the points whose properties the programme knows. In the space created between these points the programme has to 'invent' what to put, and so it interpolates the properties of the known points, creating new 'filler' points with arbitrary properties, more or less effectively. This creates what is known as pixellation, which is why the quality deteriorates.

Of a vector line, the programme knows the properties of certain points and the relationships between one point and another, i.e. it has a set of "... instructions and parameters for drawing the final image, element by element, from geometric primitives such as lines, curves, polygons..."(see here, in Italian). If you enlarge the line, the instructions for drawing it remain the same, only the scale at which it is to be drawn varies. All this information is recorded in terms of mathematical functions and the programme does not have to store the data every single pixel of the image. At any size and resolution, the line is redrawn optimally, without loss of definition.

A raster image is a grid of points (pixels), each with certain colour and brightness values; drawing a line in raster defines the properties of the various pixels that make it up. Once established, they apply to the image as it was created, i.e. for that size and resolution. If you enlarge the image, new pixels are introduced that have no information about what properties they should have, and the software somehow creates them from scratch based on what is around them. The missing information is interpolated, more or less well: it is at this point that the pixelations are created.

Here, here and here there are articles on the subject (in Italian; however, there are many pages on the web).

CSP does not work purely with vector, e.g. it does not allow vector filling of closed shapes from vector lines. That is, it is not possible to draw a coloured surface in a vector layer, as Adobe Illustrator does, for example.

In CSP, fills are made using raster layers.

To add a raster layer click on the New Raster Layer icon in the Command bar of the Layer palette

(by default above the layers); to add a vector layer click on the New vector layer icon

Use of raster layers and vector layers

Personally, I use CSP vector layers for lines, or lineart: basically, inking. Strokes made in vector are easy to manage: they are scalable (enlargeable or reducible) without loss of detail, correctable and quickly selectable. On the other hand, it is not possible to make a background (oh my, you can also fill with a vector stroke using it as a marker, but with results that in my opinion are questionable and unmanageable).

I use raster layers for everything else (and when I need effects on lineart, e.g. colour holds), although many also prefer them for lineart. A matter of taste.

Show vector paths

You can enable or disable the view of the path on which a vector path is built. Simply go to View > Show vector paths > Show vector paths on selected layers.

Fig. 7 – On the left the track is not visible, while on the right it is.

Other options are also possible, such as showing all paths on vector layers (Show all vector paths on vector layers); showing control points at beginning and end of the path (Show control points at beginning and end) or showing all control points on the path (Show all control points).

Layers on a new document

When a new document is created, it contains two layers by default: a layer called Paper, and a raster layer. The Paper layer is below them all, and is also the only layer that is not transparent by default. It cannot be moved from its position and cannot be placed inside a folder.

Fig. 8 - Paper layer

When creating a new file, in the New window (see next image) you can uncheck the Paper colour box (no. 15) and in doing so the Paper layer will not be created, or you can decide on a colour other than white (by clicking in box 16); the colour of the Paper layer can also be changed later. To this default situation I can add as many layers (raster or vector) as you want, depending on the need or complexity of the drawing. To add a raster or vector layer, simply click on the corresponding icon in the Command bar of the Layer palette.

Fig. 9 – The New window

Linking layers (tick)

The layer you are working on is the one with the pencil symbol:

Fig. 10 – Layer you are working on

Nothing appears on the other layers in general. However, it is possible to link several layers together by touching the layers to be linked with the cursor next to the corresponding eye, causing a tick to appear:

Fig. 11 – Linked layers

It is thus possible to move the content, change the transparency, apply effects etc. of all by performing these actions only on the layer with the pencil. The connection is rather tenuous: if I select a layer other than the one with the pencil, it is lost. The ticks also appear if I select several layers at once by holding down the Shift key.

Duplicate layer

To duplicate a layer I can:

- right-click on the layer and choose Duplicate Layer;
- drag the layer onto the New Raster Layer icon in the Command bar of the Layer palette. This works with both raster and vector layers (resulting in raster and vector duplicates, respectively), but both layer types must be dragged onto the New Raster Layer icon (strange, but it's true);
- with the Move layer tool, hold down Alt and drag the cursor on the screen;
- with the layer selected, use the key combination Alt + L [it's a customized setting];
- with the layer selected, go to Layer > Duplicate Layer;
- from File > Command Bar Settings... extract an icon for the command, place it on the Command bar and then use it, having first selected the layer to duplicate.

Emptying a layer

You may want to delete the contents of a layer, but keep the layer itself. A quick way is to select the layer and then click the Delete icon in the Command bar

Delete a layer

Select the layer and alternatively:

- from menu Layer > Delete Layer ;
- click on the trashcan icon in the Command bar of the Layer palette;
- drag the layer to the trashcan in the Command bar of the Layer palette;
- right click on the layer > Delete Layer.

Move layer

Nella Tool property dello strumento Move layer ci sono varie opzioni; oltre al tipo di oggetto da spostare, trovi alcune casellina di spunta:

- senza selezionare nulla nella Tool property, clicca in un punto qualsiasi del Canvas e muovi: si sposta il contenuto del livello selezionato in quel momento;
- seleziona Move the object at the clicked position: indipendentemente dal livello selezionato, muovi tutto il contenuto di un livello toccandone almeno una parte (quindi non basta toccare ovunque nel Canvas, ma bisogna toccare dove c'è qualcosa di disegnato);
- seleziona Move layers in the selected area: dopo aver fatto una selezione, clicca al suo interno e muovi. Si sposta il contenuto di tutti i livelli racchiuso dalla selezione, mantenendo la gerarchia tra i livelli;
- in entrambi i casi, se metti la spunta anche a Moved layers become selected, allora i livelli che sono stati interessati dal movimento vengono automaticamente selezionati nella Layer palette;
- se spunti sia Move the object at the clicked position che Move layers in the selected area, è come se avessi cliccato solo Move layers in the selected area.

If you move the selection with Move layers in the selected area over other parts of the design and then move the selection again, the new parts of the design are not moved: it continues to move the parts selected when the selection was created.

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]]> Wed, 10 May 2023 07:17:00 GMT https://www.paolelli.com/blog/?csp---003---layers---part-1--overview https://www.paolelli.com/blog/rss/00000000E <![CDATA[CSP - 002 - The Workspace]]> imblog

It is good to familiarise early with the programme's interface, as the explanations found around (and also mine) often refer to its various areas. It is good to remember the name of these areas, unless similar areas and commands are named after other programmes, e.g. Photoshop. Read the paragraph CLIP STUDIO PAINT Screen Configuration (from v. 1.8.0; was Screen Components in earlier versions) in the Manual or in the Startup Guide.

Below is the default diagram of the various areas in version 1.9.5. There is no caption for everything, but I would say that it is more than sufficient for beginners.

Fig. 1 - The CSP workspace

The interface is extensively customisable by moving its various parts (what in Fig. 4 are the various palettes etc.), and any rearrangements can be saved in a Workspace that can be recalled if desired.

With version 1.9.5 (December 2019), the interface has been slightly modified, introducing a different appearance and icon display.

By clicking the Tab key, the various palettes collapse, and the floating palettes disappear; by clicking it again, everything returns as before.

Workspace

As mentioned, the workspace can be customised.

Once I have adjusted it as I see fit, I can save the configuration in:

Window > Workspace > Register Workspace... and the new workspace will be added in the same window.

If I want to call up a different Workspace from the one I am working with I go to:

Window > Workspace and click on the name of the desired Workspace. It will ask me for confirmation and I give the OK.

In the same way I can reset the Workspace to its default settings; I go to:

Window > Workspace > Reset to Default.

Alternatively, start the programme while holding down the Shift key: a window will appear from which you can reset the workspace to default and more (note: any other workspaces you have registered will be deleted).

For example, this is my workspace at the time of writing:

Fig. 2 - One of my workspaces

There are a few differences with the default; for example, using a graphics tablet with an independent display I prefer to have the Navigator enlarged on the PC screen rather than having it (small) on the tablet; I have moved the Brush Size palette; I prefer to have the Layer palette's Command bar below the layers and not above and I have also put the Information window under there; I have changed the colour display; etc.

You can also save your workspace and make it available to other CSP users (or to yourself, on another machine...): you save the workspace as a material from Window > Workspace > Register workspace as material and then publish it on the Assets. From the Assets you can then download and install it on another CSP.

Canvas

The Canvas is where you physically go to draw, the white rectangle of "paper" that constitutes the document.

Canvas window

This is the window that contains the Canvas (Fig. 1). Since you can have several Canvas windows open, above them is the Canvas switching tab, where you can quickly switch from one window to another simply by touching the label of the Canvas you are interested in.

Title bar e Menu bar

At the top of the programme screen are two bars, which run the full width of the window: the Title bar and the Menu bar:

Fig. 3 - Title e Menu bar

- the Title bar contains some information about the file being processed (name, canvas size, page size, resolution and zoom level), the version of CSP in use (PRO or EX) and the classic Minimize, Maximize and Close buttons;

- the Menu bar is similar to those found in almost all programmes, i.e. a series of drop-down menus containing the programme commands.

By clicking the Shift + Tab key combination several times in succession, first the Title bar disappears, then the Menu bar disappears, and finally both reappear.

Command bar

The Command bar, the set of icons above the Canvas (Fig. 1) that give direct access to certain commands, is also customisable.

To add or remove commands to the Command bar, go to File > Command Bar Settings... or right-click on the Command Bar and select Command Bar Settings...

For example, to add buttons for horizontal and vertical flips of the view (similar to those found in the Navigator), go down to View > Rotate/Invert and choose the two buttons.

Select the chosen command and click Add, or drag it onto the bar, wherever you want.

My current Command bar (I have divided it into two rows, otherwise the icons come out too small):

Fig. 4 - My current Command bar

From the first row and from left, the commands:

New; Open; Save|Undo; Redo|Delete; Delete Outside Selection; Scale/Rotate; Deselect; Invert selected area; Show border of selected area; Show selection launcher|Fill|Reset Display|Snap to Ruler; Snap to Special Ruler; Snap to Grid; Toggle special ruler snapping|Show/hide title bar and menu bar|Flip Horizontal; Flip Vertical; Flip Detail Horizontal*; Flip Detail Vertical*|Execute/Cancel quick mask; Pen Pressure Settings|Export in .jpg (JPEG); Export in .png (PNG)|Show/Hide all palette; Display Quick Access Palette|Layer selection|Convert to Selection Layer; Convert Selection Layer to Selection|Duplicate Layer; Merge with layer below|Open CLIP STUDIO|Show color wheel palette|Convert to drawing color|CLIP STUDIO PAINT support; Preferences; Connect to smartphone.

* These icons do not exist in the programme, I customised them. If you want to use them you can download them here. If you don't know how to put them in the programme, I will explain the procedure in a future article.

You can also add subtools to the Command Bar: that's what I did by adding the Select layer command (formerly Layer selection, as it continues to be called in my CSP), which I find very useful for figuring out which layer a part of the drawing is on without having to scroll through them all. After activating the Command Bar Settings window, I chose Tools from the drop-down menu, scrolled down to Select (in my CSP, perhaps it's Operation normally) and dragged the command onto the Command bar.

I put the Open Clip Studio button and the Duplicate Layer on the Command bar; I moved the Colour wheel, putting its icon on the Command bar by selecting it from Command Bar Settings > Window > Colour Wheel and making it float.

Fig.5 - Command Bar Settings

Tool palette

On the left-hand side of the interface, placed vertically, is the Tool palette (Fig.6), i.e. CSP's toolbox; this is perhaps the palette that is used the most, especially when you do not yet prefer to group tools elsewhere (but then again...). In this column are grouped, by type of function, the most frequently used CSP tools: this is where you go to browse brushes, activate the selection tool, choose balloons, etc.

Sub Tool palette and Tool property palette

Immediately to the right of the Tool palette I find two other palettes, which are essentially its extensions, the areas where I go to refine my choice of tool: the Sub Tool palette and the Tool property palette (see Fig. 1).

In the Sub Tool palette you choose, among various tools grouped by function affinity, the one that suits you best: a G-pen or Calligraphy brush, a light pencil or a technique, a fill, a balloon or a text.

In the Tool property palette you can go and modify the parameters that characterise the chosen tool, so you can set a certain response to pen pressure or the opacity of the stroke; the thickness of a vignette or the radius of curvature of its corners, and so on.

Colour icons

At the bottom of the Tool palette are the colour icons (Fig. 7). There are three of them, the Main colour (1 - Main colour), the Sub colour (2 - Sub colour) and the Transparent colour (3 - Transparency).

When using CSP, if you press the button several times:

X = alternate between Main colour (Main colour, 1) and Sub colour (Sub colour, 2);

C = alternate between Transparent colour (Transparent colour, 3) and the one between Main and Sub colour that was previously selected.

Fig. 7 - Icone colore

(from Manual)

Fig. 6 -

Tool palette

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]]> Sun, 19 Feb 2023 19:32:00 GMT https://www.paolelli.com/blog/?csp---002---the-workspace https://www.paolelli.com/blog/rss/00000000D <![CDATA[CSP - 001 - Setting Dimensions]]> imblog

With this article, I begin a series of in-depth discussions on the use of Clip Studio Paint (CSP).

Although I'll start with the basics, i.e. how to set the size of a new document, I won't necessarily follow an ascending order of complexity of topics in the future; I may go from one post to the next, depending on the time I have to write an article or on my mood 🤪. However, I hope to be able to touch on all the topics I know most about (which can also be found in my notes here).

The reference version of the programme is EX (1.13.0, December 2022, but what is written is also fine for earlier versions, as long as they are not very old); the operating system is Windows 11.

Creating a new document in Clip Studio Paint

To create a new document, go to File > New; the following window opens:

Attention, this image is a composition of several images; in reality the options are not all visible at the same time

I choose the document type with one of the six boxes in Project (at number 1). The possible document types are: Illustration, Webtoon, Comic, Printing of Fanzine, Show all comics settings, Animation. Except Animation, which has its own characteristics, the other options are similar and represent special cases of the Show all comics settings option (no. 2), which I prefer.

I can give the file a name (3; by default the programme enters Comic). At No. 4 you can indicate the path where to save (Save to; click on the folder icon at its side): this space appears if you create a multi-page file (Multiple pages, tick 30), otherwise the path is decided when saving.

When creating a new document, I can either choose a set of dimensions proposed by the programme in the Presets (5) or set my own dimensions. This is very useful because the programme does not propose all the existing options: for example, it does not have A3 among the presets; it does not have the page templates of the various publishing houses; or it simply proposes templates that we may use, but with some differences (for example, I may prefer, if I am working on an A3, that the maximum size of the sheet is actually A3, and not A3 plus the other space that CSP thinks I might need).

Please note: each Use of work has its own presets, either original or added. If I save a custom preset in Show all comics settings and then, for another job, I decide to use Comic as Use of work, I won't find that preset among the options but will have to recreate it.

Let's see what values to set (remember to set the measurement unit in mm in the top right-hand corner, 8):

Canvas (9): the size of the actual work area on which I draw, as if it were a large piece of paper; continuing with the A3 analogy, it is not the size of A3 (297x420 mm), but A3 plus a frame, as if the canvas of a painting were larger than the one I need (width and height, 10 and 11) for a painting; you can set the Resolution (12) of the document and whether it will be colour, greyscale or black and white (13).

By ticking the Paper colour (15) checkbox, you can choose a colour other than white for the pages.

By ticking the Template checkbox, you can set a cage template from the various available in the materials library (the Materials, I will probably dedicate an article to this later). In the case of a multi-page document, this template will be applied to all pages. The templates, once on the Canvas, can also be modified.

Comic settings (18) [formerly Manga draft settings] :

the sheet size, Binding (finish) size, and page layout, Default border (inner) size, are set here.

Binding (finish) size (19), contains:

- Width (20) and Height (21) of the usable area, e.g. the dimensions of the A3 sheet (297.00 x 420.00 mm); I will refer to these dimensions with Binding later;

- the Bleed width value (22), i.e. a margin of a few mm (proposed by the programme, but modifiable), outside the sheet size, on which one may continue drawing and which represents the uncertainty in the final typographical cut of the pages;

Default border (inner) size (23): this is the size of the "layout", i.e. the size of the vignettes; it depends on how much margin you want to leave between the vignettes and the page border (24 and 25).

From the box next to the width you can choose from various proposed sizes or custom sizes (Custom option): just type in the desired measurements. There is another box next to Height, which is set to Set size by default. The other possible option is Set margin: by selecting it, instead of setting the layout size, you can set how far away from the Binding each of its sides should be (Top, Bottom, Inside, Outside, with Inside being the binding side).

With X offset and Y offset (26) you can offset the layout horizontally and vertically on the Canvas.

Pay attention when setting the various custom values, it seems like you are doing the right thing but often when you give the OK the result is not what you expected.

The best thing to do is to set the Binding first, i.e. the size of the sheet (in our case the A3, 297x420mm). If the 5mm Bleed is OK, leave it, if not, modify it.

Then set the Default border (inner) size, i.e. the size of the layout, which will be smaller than the size of the sheet.

At this point, if you have no particular requirements, you don't need to do anything else: CSP adds a little mm to the Binding (increased by the Bleed) and proposes dimensions for Canvas. If you opt to modify Canvas, remember that its dimensions must never be less than the dimensions of the Binding plus 2 times the Bleed (one on the left and one on the right; one above and one below).

In a nutshell, with the A3 example (297x420 mm) and with Bleed of 5 mm, Canvas will have to be at least:

297+5x2= 307 mm Width (10)

420+5x2= 430 mm Height (11)

If you set Canvas smaller, the programme gives an error message.

The custom set can be saved among the presets with the small button (6) or deleted with the recycle bin (7).

The following image shows the worksheet set with the values just seen for Default Border (inner)Size, Binding size and Bleed; Canvas has been left larger, so that the contours of all spaces can be seen:

It's better to Canvas not being the simple sum of the values just seen, because if I want to add other information to the art boards, such as those indicated in the Story Information section (a subject I will touch on in another article), these will need some space to be displayed.

You can still change these parameters after creating the document, however, by going to Story > Change basic page settings or Story > Change basic work settings.

To recap, I set in order:

Binding (the sheet: A4, A3, B4, ecc.);

Bleed (cutting margin):

Default border (inner) size (page layout);

if needed, I adjust Canvas at the end.

Below is another example of settings:

In this case Canvas size is equal to the Binding size plus twice the Bleed.

Bleed

For Bleed, please refer to this Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleed_(printing)

To me, this image from the Wikipedia article:

this image is taken from Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleed_(printing)

is a bit misleading; I try to redraw it:

Cutting area limits are represented here by the Bleed area, which corresponds to the area enclosed between lines 2 and 3 in the Wikipedia image.

The outermost part corresponds to line 2, the innermost (binding green line) to line 3. The red hatching is the cut, which can fall anywhere in the Bleed area, and corresponds to line 1 in the Wikipedia image . Binding is the "theoretical" margin of the sheet, e.g. an A3. If Bleed cuts outside the binding, the cut line becomes the true margin. Default border (inner) size is not there in the Wikipedia image. Outside the Bleed area (i.e. in the rest of Canvas) I can continue to draw, but under no circumstances will what is present outside be present when the work is finished.

What if I have to change a project in progress?

What if I have to change some parameters when I have already started working? Or worse, when my work is already well under way?

You can change the parameters of the page from Edit > Canvas properties... where I find all the parameters related to dimensions (a kind of reduced New window), which I can go and modify. The observation to be careful with the sum of the page size and the Bleed remains valid: if it exceeds Canvas size, these must also be modified.

Canvas Properties

The window may appear smaller, here I have extended it to show all the parameters.

I have not tested for this particular operation, but in theory if you need to edit many pages you can start a batch process from File > Batch process..., which allows you to apply the changes to several tables at once, without having to repeat the same operations manually.

Safety margin

Since version 1.8.4 (Nov. 2018 ) there is another setting in the general sheet settings. This is the Safety margin (figure below; set in 28 in the first image above).

Safety margin, image taken from the CSP online manual.

This is a safety margin on the outside of the page layout that guarantees that what is drawn will be printed, whatever the print format that will be used, especially if you plan to print your work in different formats, in particular, that have different ratios between the sides. E.g., A3 and A4 have the same ratio between the sides (1.41...) and so switching from one to the other does not create problems, but if I also want to publish in Letter format, which has a different ratio between the sides (~1.3), the Safety margin can be useful: if I step out of the page layout, I have to remember to keep the important things (e.g. characters, dialogues) inside the Safety margin.