Painter Resources
If you're looking for a little inspiration, a tutorial, or resources to help you make the most of your software, you've come to the right place. Whether you want to talk with other users in the User Forum, learn a new technique by following a step-by-step tutorial, or see how other people are using their software by reading a Customer Profile, you'll find everything you need to make the most of your Corel software here.
- Reviewer’s Guide (.PDF)
- Painter Demo Gallery
- Compare versions (.PDF)
- Product Help (.PDF)
Painter Tutorials
Follow these online tutorials for helpful step-by-step instructions that cover a wide range of topics for both beginners and experts.
Traditional Art
- Plein air painting
- Making a sketch with the Wacom® Inkling® and painting it with Digital Watercolor
- Impressionistic portraits with watercolors
- Painting and effects with the Artists brush category
- Blending, smudging and painting with the Blenders
- Flow Maps
- Creating a quick Oils study
- Wet-into-Wet painting with Real Watercolor
- Painter for artists
Illustrations
- Painter for Illustrators - Getting Started
- Painting "S'mores"
- Cover Redesign
- Painting of the Dungeon Concierge
- Painter’s new mirror axis (.PDF)
- Creating an Illustration (.PDF)
- Painting Chun-Li (.PDF)
- Painting a Comic Book Page
- Creating An Image Hose (.PDF)
- Drawing a Comic Book Page with Finished Pencils (.PDF)
- Inking a Comic Book Page (.PDF)
Photo Art
- Painter for Photo Art - Getting Started
- Painting restoration for Chiesa Della Liberia in Saviano, Italy
- Pet Tutorial with Heather Michelle
- Portrait painting simplified by using the Cloners brush category
- A Useful Alpha Channel
- Turning a photo into a painting using cloning tools
- Wedding tutorial
- Painting Landscapes from Photos
- The power of photo painting - Getting started (.PDF)
- Painting Portraits from Photos
- Painting natural-looking hair
- Photo-Painting Process
- Get creative by using clone color
Painter Interface
View all Painter tutorials below. See Painter Lite tutorials.
All Tutorials
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Painter Tips & Tricks
Read tips and tricks on getting the most out of Corel Painter.
Interface Insights
- Addressing brush lag in Service Pack 1
- Importing custom content from Painter 11
- Quick Tip: Resizing Palettes
- Canvas Presets and Templates
- Understanding Painter's memory settings
- Exposing "hidden" features through Custom Palettes
All about brushes
- Controlling color mixing in Painter brushes
- Fun with creating new Real Watercolor brushes using Rake!
- Getting to know the Computed Circular Dab
- Creating Flow Patterns using Paper and Real Watercolor
- Improving Performance of Custom Brushes in Painter 12
- Painter 12 Brush Calibration bonus tip!
- Painter 12 Brush Calibration
- Real Watercolor - Dry Watercolor methods
Painter Webinars
Master Your Art Techniques – Painter 12 Webinar Series
Digital Quick Paint: Blocking in a Narrative Environment
Join entertainment illustrator Cliff Cramp as he demonstrates how to quickly block in a narrative environment. He will discuss composition, vantage point, shape, value, temperature of light and more as he lays in the quick paint.
Date: Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Time: 12:00 – 12:45 p.m. EDT

Recorded Sessions
Children's book character illustration (Coming soon)
Join award-winning artist, author and Painter Master Carlyn Beccia, who will take you inside her process for creating lively illustrated portraits for children's books. Learn Carlyn's special techniques for illustrating expressive faces and unique clothing. Carlyn will show how you can bring your characters to life using a Wacom Cintiq and Painter 12.
Digital caricature creation tips in Corel Painter 12
Discover how Painter Master and professional caricature artist Rhoda Draws uses the Image Portfolio and custom palettes to her advantage when creating caricatures of both celebrities and ordinary folks. There will also be an exciting live caricature demonstration of these features in action.
The Master behind the "Brawny Man" re-imaging shares Painter illustration tips
As a commercial illustrator, Greg Banning has worked with some of the biggest ad agencies on the planet, with clients such as Penguin Books, Scholastic and Random House. He was also recently responsible for re-imaging the iconic "Brawny Man" character for Brawny Paper Towels. Join Greg as he discusses his professional experience, shows samples from his extensive portfolio, and dives into specific tips that will help other artists get the most out of Painter 12.
Revving up Painter's brush engine
Painter has a lot of expressive power under the hood, but many users are anxious about altering – and possibly losing – a beloved brush's individual character. Join Painter Master John Derry as he demonstrates how you can fearlessly explore fresh possibilities and expand your artistic voice using the brush engine of Painter 12.
Paint your photographs and create family heirlooms
Join Painter Master Helen Yancy as she shows you how to import a family photo into Painter 12 and then transform it into an amazing work of art that will remain a cherished item in your family for years to come.
Easy workflow for clone painting in Painter 12
The new Clone Source palette in Painter 12 is an exciting addition that will improve your workflow by keeping clone sources organized in one place. This overview webinar from Painter Master Marilyn Sholin will provide tips that help you understand the key points when using this incredible new feature. Download the FREE cloner brushes used in the webinar here.
Painting the passion of dance
Join Painter Master Jeremy Sutton as he demonstrates his techniques for painting from photo reference. See how he captures the spirit, energy and passion of dance while using a variety of brushes, textures, colors and values.
Industrial design sketching and rendering tips
Let your painting take flight with industrial design tips from Painter Master Dwayne Vance. With extensive experience for Mattel, Hot Wheels and Masters of Chicken Scratch, Dwayne will provide firsthand tips for how to sketch and digitally render industrial vehicles of all types.
Getting started with Painter Lite
Join Painter Master Greg Newman for an up close and personal look at Painter Lite, the powerful new starter app designed exclusively for aspiring digital artists. In this webinar, Greg will offer a detailed explanation of how to use the various brushes which are included with Painter Lite. He'll also provide insight into his own approach to illustration and show how to use sketches as a jumping off point for the digital painting process.
Fantasy character Illustration with Painter Master Don Seegmiller
This webinar will concentrate on taking a pencil or pen sketch of a character and turning it into a finished piece of art. Step by step images will be provided and final touches of the actual painting process will be demonstrated.
Painter Secrets with Cher Pendarvis
Join Cher Pendarvis, award-winning artist and author of the Painter Wow! books, for a look into some of the incredible, lesser known features of Painter. Cher will demonstrate how to make custom oily brushes, provide some pointers on using a few of her favorite special effects, and offer instructions on how to make custom palettes and workspaces.
Impressionist painting with Painter Master Karen Bonaker
Create works in the Impressionist style and learn why light, loose and colorful brushstrokes were so important to this historic style of painting.
Creating children's book cover illustrations using Corel Painter
Join award-winning artist Carlyn Beccia and discover her process for creating lively, illustrated children's book covers using a variety of brushes, patterns and papers.
Retouching, Restoration and Painting from Portraits with Corel Painter
Join Painter Master Jane Conner-ziser and learn painting techniques for restoring photos and turning them into profitable paintings.
"Painting Animals" with Heather Michelle
Join award-winning artist Heather Michelle and learn how to turn a simple snapshot of any animal into a sellable, polished work of art using Corel® Painter™.
Painter Master Karen Sperling's Sorcery for Conjuring Paintings from Photos in Corel Painter 12
Add one photo, a few brushes, some art theories and a pinch of Tracing Paper and presto chango, your photos become magical works of art in Corel Painter 12! Artist, photographer, author and Corel Painter Master Karen Sperling shows professional photographers and hobbyists alike the tricks up her sleeve for creating spellbinding paintings from photos. No rabbits will be harmed in this webinar. Learn more about Karen at artistrymag.com, karensperling.com and lastreetsbykarensperling.com.
Painter Wow! with Painter Master Cher Pendarvis
Award-winning artist and author Cher Pendarvis will give an overview of favorite features in the elegant new Painter 12 interface. She will demonstrate some of her favorite brushes and media, and show stages of a painting created with the new Real Wet Watercolor medium.
Putting it all together in Painter 12
Join Painter Master and Educator Keith MacLelland as he shows you how to use all those inspirational photos and napkin scribbles to create a great-looking image and an interesting class project! Learn more about Keith at www.yourillustrator.com and www.etsy.com/shop/cowboykeithsplace.
Painter for Illustrators with Painter Master Mike Thompson
Best known for his portraits of urban entertainers and celebrity likeness, Painter Master Mike Thompson will show you how to create a celebrity portrait in Corel® Painter™. Illustrators, concept artists and other creative professionals will discover how Painter can be used to bring visions to life. Mike's work can be seen on his site: www.miketartworks.com and you can visit his blog at: www.miketartworks.wordpress.com
Painting a Comic Book Page with Painter Master Doug Sirois
In this session, Doug Sirois shares how to turn a pencil-sketched page into a full-color comic book page. Learn how to add value and lighting, block in colors and render the page into comic book perfection. (Recorded session coming soon)
Painter 12 – What's New! with Painter Masters Cher Threinen-Pendarvis and Android Jones
Discover what's new in Painter 12! Cher Threinen-Pendarvis guides you through the new Real Watercolor and Real Wet Oil tools. Android Jones demos some amazing possibilities with the Mirror and Kaleidoscope tools. See other new features in action too!
Painter for Concept Artists with Painter Master Dwayne Vance
In this webinar, Painter Master Dwayne Vance (author of Masters Of Chicken Scratch) will guide you through his techniques for creating quick thumbnail sketches for vehicle design.
Creative Photo-Painting with Painter Master Jeremy Sutton
In this webinar, Painter Master Jeremy Sutton will show you his techniques for creating a 'painterly' painting from photos.
Painter Master Heather Michelle Bjoershol
In this webinar Painter Master Heather Michelle Bjoershol goes through a step-by-step tutorial on how to create beautiful art in Corel Painter based on an existing photo. Professional photographers will discover how Corel Painter can be used to expand their creativity and how it fits in their existing workflow.
Painter Master Mike Thompson
In this webinar Painter Master Mike Thompson goes through a step-by-step tutorial on how to create beautiful art in Corel Painter. Concept artists, illustrators and other creative professionals will discover how Corel Painter can be used to expand their creativity and how it fits in their existing workflow.
The Painter Canvas
The Painter Canvas eNewsletter provides a forum for Painter aficionados to learn new tips and techniques, to share and download custom brushes and product freebies, and to discuss all things Painter. Filled with learning resources, community news and editorial content, the Painter Canvas also includes exclusive offers on Corel Painter accessories and other Corel products.
Past Issues
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
Introducing Painter to your classroom
Painter delivers a highly realistic digital painting experience that is unmatched by any other software. Using tools that look and feel just like their real-life counterparts, students will thrive in this environment that encourages experimentation without involving time-consuming and expensive corrections. Painter is a popular and effective way for students to develop their fine art skills and push the boundaries of their creativity.
How does Painter fit into your curriculum?
Painter provides an environment that nurtures experimentation and creative thinking. Students can experiment with color, composition theory and different painting styles, and fix mistakes at the click of a button. They can keep it simple and create amazing art with just a few tools, or build their own brushes, and explore and customize dozens of watercolors, paints, textures and other media. Plus, using Painter in the classroom prepares students to work with the leading digital painting studio, frequently used in today's graphics and entertainment industries. Learning Painter today will give your students key art and design skills to help them differentiate themselves and build their careers of tomorrow.
Corel® Painter™ Academic Courseware
At Corel, we are proud to encourage skills development and support the efforts of students and teachers who use Painter in the classroom. We're currently working on a new curriculum to accompany our just-released Painter 12.
In the meantime, our Corel Painter X courseware is available for download, free of charge. Each publication includes lesson plans, class projects and project files. We invite you to visit the following links.
Sketching & Painting, by Stephanie Reese
Who uses Painter
Painter is a key creative tool in interactive design, game development, industrial design, architecture and more.
Concept artists
These artists work in advertising and graphics firms, entertainment, gaming and manufacturing industries. They combine the digital art software of Painter with traditional art and design techniques to create characters, animations, special effects, sets, and any creative concept they can dream of, more efficiently than ever. Their results can be seen in movies, television programs and computer games.

Designers and illustrators
Many of the world's foremost commercial illustrators and graphic designers work for publishing, advertising and manufacturing firms, or in freelance capacities. They rely on Painter for the depth and power of its digital art tools and its ability to help them vividly capture their creative vision for use in books, magazines, comics, manga (Japanese comics/anime), textiles and other commercial projects.

Fine artists
Many fine artists work in entertainment, publishing, non-profit and freelance industries, using Painter as their primary medium. Their works appear in museums, commercial art galleries, corporate collections, private homes and entertainment productions—all proof that digitally created art is a recognized and coveted medium on the world art stage.

Professional photographers
Professional photographers often work for publishing and advertising companies, at photography studios, or for themselves shooting weddings and portraits. Painter is key to differentiating their work, giving them new tools and leading natural media capabilities that enhance their photos and help them to produce polished and unique results. Painter also opens up new art forms, such as photo painting, helping to generate additional revenue opportunities.

Students and teachers of art & design
As Painter has proven to be an integral resource in art, design, photography, publishing, industrial and entertainment careers, it is a true asset for all budding artists and correspondingly an important component for every art curriculum.

How does Painter enhance design workflows?
Painter is the perfect complement to industry-standard tools, such as Wacom® drawing tablets, allowing artists to digitally paint while preserving the traditional flow between hand and brush. File and color support for Adobe® Photoshop® also lets Painter users transform photo files into more artistic creations.
Training Resources/Books
Newsletters
Karen Sperling's Artistry Tips and Tricks Newsletter
Ever been in the middle of using Painter and had a question come up that you couldn't find the answer to? Those days are gone! Welcome to Artistry Tips and Tricks, a downloadable Acrobat newsletter that answers all your Corel Painter questions. Each month you'll find written tutorials and images about those little snags that you encounter as you work with Painter, but can't figure out how to solve. Don't know what your questions are, but you want to learn to turn photos into paintings in Painter? No problem! Read the step-by-step tutorials in past and present issues of Artistry Tips and Tricks! Think of Artistry Tips and Tricks as an insurance policy against ever getting lost in Painter again! Or think of it as Painter training, for $10 a month--less than it takes to fill your car with gas!
Books
Corel Painter 12 Books
Digital Painting Fundamentals with Corel Painter 12, by Rhoda Grossman
This comprehensive guide provides step-by-step instructions for using the basic features of Corel Painter along with a Wacom graphics tablet.

The Painter Wow! Book Tenth Edition, by Cher Pendarvis
Learn how to use Painter 12’s exciting new features for the most realistic digital painting experience. Fully revised to cover the new features of Painter 12.

Painting for Photographers, by Karen Sperling
This book provides photographers with art lessons and step-by-step software instructions for turning photos into paintings using Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop.
Painter 12 for Photographers, by Martin Addison
Transform your photographs into stunning works of art with this fully-updated authoritative guide to the all-new Painter 12.
Secrets of Corel Painter Experts
This incredible resource provides inspiration and practical advice for professional artists and aspiring artists alike, providing one-on-one access to the creative and technical processes of using Corel Painter.

Books for previous versions of Corel Painter
Advanced Painter Techniques, by Don Seegmiller
Advanced Painter Techniques is full of the author’s compelling digital paintings, along with instructions on how you too can create similar effects. You will gain an understanding of the method, reasons, techniques and thought processes behind each detailed image and how they can be adapted to suit your own artistic process.
Beyond Digital Photography: Transforming Photos into Fine Art with Photoshop and Painter
Geared for intermediate to advanced users, Beyond Digital Photography: Transforming Photos into Fine Art with Photoshop and Painter brings these once-separate disciplines together in a beautiful and instructive book that uses time-honored design principles and basic drawing and painting skills, and applies them to digital photographs. The easy-to-follow, step-by-step format allows you to practice a variety of Adobe® Photoshop® and Painter techniques and gives you the confidence to achieve your own expressive goals with great results.

Painter 11 Creativity
Jeremy Sutton is one of the world’s premier Painter artists (www.JeremySutton.com and www.PaintboxJ.com), and in this edition of his best-selling Painter Creativity: Digital Artist’s Handbook, he shows you the methods and techniques he’s developed over the years to perfect his art and earn him the title of Corel Painter Master. Bonus CD includes supplemental content such as four QuickTime movies as well as custom brushes and art materials.

Painter 11 for Photographers by Martin Addison
Whether you are new to Painter, or a seasoned pro wanting to take your digital art to the next level, this inspirational book and DVD package will show you how to get the most out of Corel's powerful painting software. Over 2 hours of video tutorials and clear, step-by-step examples take you through the techniques in a no-nonsense manner, with all images provided on the accompanying DVD so you can learn by doing.

Digital Character Design and Painting, by Don Seegmiller
Digital Character Design and Painting is really two books in one: it teaches the fundamentals of character design as well as the skills, tools and techniques needed to master digital painting. Using a variety of practical Corel Painter tutorials, artists learn how to apply traditional painting techniques with digital tools and beautifully illustrate their own life-like or fantasy characters for games, movies or other commercial productions.
Don Seegmiller is a teacher and writer. He's also a regular speaker at the Game Developer Conference and is art director for Saffire, a major video game developer.

Secrets of Award-Winning Digital Artists, by Jeremy Sutton and Daryl Wise
This unique book showcases a collection of almost 50 diverse and beautiful digital artworks—encompassing photographic-based, painterly and graphic imagery. The featured artworks won recent contests sponsored by Macworld Expo, Seybold Seminars, Siggraph and other international organizations.
For each work, the artist explains his or her creative process, shares fascinating insights into the story behind the artwork, and shows you step-by-step how to reconstruct a distinctive visual effect. Filled with stunning imagery as well as unusual techniques for Adobe® Photoshop®, Corel® Painter™ and other graphics software, Secrets of Award-Winning Digital Artists is a great source of inspiration and know-how.

d'artiste: Digital Painting
d'artiste: Digital Painting showcases the work and technical skills of Linda Bergkvist, John Wallin, Philip Straub and Robert Chang. Each Master Artist presents his or her digital painting techniques through a series of tutorials, which start with the original concept and step through the painting process to completion. d'artiste: Digital Painting is broken into four sections, each based around a Master Artist. Artists' sections include a personal gallery, the artist's work and thoughts in their own words, a 20-page tutorial section, and an invited artist gallery featuring over 20 digital paintings from some of the most talented digital artists in the world.
Featuring step-by-step techniques—including Face painting, Telling a Story, Stream of Consciousness painting, Using the Block Model Technique, Color/Shape/Form painting, Two for One painting, Formal Portrait painting, Rendering and Hair painting.
The community – The d'artiste series is the next step in Ballistic Media's path to helping build the digital arts community by raising the profile of leading artists and also publishing the work from the community from which they come. In addition to their Master Class material, each artist will choose a range of work submitted by the community that inspires or illustrates a technique of interest to them. This makes the d'artiste series unique in that it combines the technical insights of top artists with a glimpse of leading work from the digital illustration community.

MONSTRUO: The Art of Carlos Huante
Carlos Huante was born in east L.A. in 1965. From the very get out of the womb, the arts were in him. Besides chilaquiles and Yerba Buena (mint tea), Carlos grew up on stop-motion monster movies.
Since that time he has pursued his passion for the arts by creating some of the most innovative monsters and characters, for both film and animation, that the world has ever seen. MONSTRUO is a collection of Carlos' personal, original work. With more than 150 illustrations, it features a wonderful range of monster and character designs, from simple pencil sketches that magically capture the gesture of his subjects, to full-color digital and traditional media paintings.
Carlos began his career designing creatures for the Ghostbusters animated series and is currently part of the creature development team at Lucas Digital, having designed monsters and creatures for Men in Black, Men in Black 2, Mighty Joe Young, Hellboy, Blade 3 and Van Helsing.

Training videos
Corel Painter 12 CD/DVD, by Jason Maranto
Features over nine hours of high quality video-based training that walks you through the program in easy to follow stages.
Heather Michelle training DVD’s
Painting Animals two-disc set. Intro to Painter 12. The Modern Day Sargent three-disc set. Breaking Out of the Box Portrait Box Set. Painter for Profit - Art of Autoclone.
Ryan Church Videos
Ryan Church is one of the leading concept artists working today. His clients and employers include Walt Disney Imagineering, Universal Studios, Industrial Light and Magic and Lucasfilm.
Intro to Corel Painter: Concept Art Workflow with Ryan Church
In this DVD, Ryan Church introduces the viewer to Corel Painter. Ryan teaches the way he uses the program on a daily basis to create production artwork for the film and video game industries.
The Techniques of Ryan Church 1-5
Rendering Matte Vehicles, Rendering Shiny Vehicles, Rendering Hi-Tech Architecture, Rendering Low-Tech Architecture, Rendering Architectural Interiors.

Jeremy Sutton’s Corel Painter 12 Video Workshop Volume 1: Basics
A 2 disc set with over 5 hours of instruction that covers the basics of getting up and running in Painter 12.

Painting for Photographers DVD Volume 1: Portraits, by Karen Sperling
Features up-close demonstrations of Karen Sperling's techniques for painting eyes, lips, faces and hair — including information about brushes and settings. Learn how employing Karen’s art concepts can help inspire you to create and paint.
Painting for Photographers DVD Volume 2: Landscapes, by Karen Sperling
These DVDs provide both art lessons and step-by-step software instructions. Viewers learn techniques such as how to tell if a photo is a good candidate to be turned into a painting, how to choose colors, and how to maximize the use of tones to create stunning landscape paintings from photos.
Twelve tutorials for Painter 12 by, Marilyn Sholin
These twelve tutorials will cover how Marilyn utilizes the newest version of Painter. It also provides step-by-step video lessons with screen shots to help you understand how to get the most out of your copy of Painter 12.
Online training
Digital Art Academy
The Digital Art Academy (DAA) provides a setting where it’s fun and easy to learn digital painting. DAA also offers basic and advanced courses in using Corel Painter. Take online classes and experience the DAA way for yourself.
Learn more
Jeremy Sutton's Paintboxtv.com
PaintboxTV is a dynamic, deep, thorough and broad subscription-based Corel Painter 12 online learning resource where expert art instruction, digital art lessons, artistic inspiration, enthusiastic creativity and a passion for digital paint all come together in professionally produced tutorial videos, with new material added every month.
Learn more
LVS Online Training - Corel Painter 12 Get up to Speed
This class has been designed specifically for individuals who are currently using earlier versions of Painter - particularly Corel Painter 11. The lessons and various exercises will help you to transition to this latest version of Painter. Each week you will create a new image in an exercise designed to help you more fully understand the new features in Painter 12.
Learn more
LVS Online Training - Corel Painter 12 New Horizons - Part 1
This is a class developed exclusively for Corel Painter novices. The class will focus on learning to get around in the workspace, how to use many of the tools and panels, various customization features, and a general overview of the program itself.
Learn more
LVS Online Training- Corel Painter 12 New Horizons - Part 2
This class is a continuation of Corel Painter 12 New Horizons - Part 1. The lessons pick up right where that class left off, covering Layers, the Painter 12 enhanced Media Library system, the Selection and Transformation tools, how to manage your Painter Brushes, creating and using Custom palettes, and many other subjects.
Learn more
Painter 12 Essential Training, by John Derry and Lynda.com
In Painter 12 Essential Training, John Derry, one of the original Corel Painter authors, demonstrates the creative techniques that will help get beginners up and running, plus shows seasoned Painter pros the new features that can help get a creative vision out of your head and onto the canvas.
Learn more
Painter 11 Essential Training
John Derry, one of the original Painter authors, demonstrates basic and advanced creative techniques that can get beginners up and running. He also shows old hands the features that can get a creative vision out of the head and onto the canvas. John demonstrates how to establish an easy workflow in Painter by using a Wacom tablet, and he explains how to create, edit and publish projects.
Corel partners
Find a Corel partner near you. This database helps you to find Corel affiliates in your region who sell Corel products and/or provide training and support services.
Download extra content for Painter 12
We've put together a downloadable library of extra content to enhance your designs, including custom workspaces to ease your workflow. These workspaces have been contributed by top Corel Painter ™ masters – don’t miss out!
The following downloads for Windows® and Mac® users include:
Extra Content
- Brushes
- Paper Textures
- Patterns
- Gradients
- Image Hose Nozzles
- Selections
- Weaves
Workspaces
- What's New
- Photoshop User
- Creativity
- Concept Sketching
- Illustration
- Portrait & Collage
- Watercolor
You can visit the Resources page to learn more about each workspace.
Download for Windows
Instructions: Double-click to start the installation. The content will be installed in the program folder called Painter Extras.
Download for Mac
Instructions: Download the DMG file, mount it to view its contents, and then copy the Painter Extras folder to the Corel Painter 12 folder on your computer.
Note: You are advised to store all content in the original installation folder, as this will prevent it from being deleted, should you choose to restore Corel Painter to the factory default.















































