Source Section

The Source section of the Patches layer type specifies the source photograph and the areas that will be used for constructing the seamless texture.

For newly created layers, the controls in this section will be disabled until an image is selected. Click the "Select Image..." button at the upper left of the section in order to call up the Select Image dialog, which will allow a photo to be selected from Genetica's built-in library of royalty-free texture photos. The "Import..." button can be clicked to select a photo from your own collection. The Use Input option, also found along the top of the section, can be activated to select whatever has been placed in the node's input slot.

After an image has been selected the Source section will look something like this.

Texture Synthesis Create Tool

The Create tool's New Patch ribbon section is used to create patches,

and its Transform section is used to numerically position them.

Texture Synthesis Create Tool 2

Drag the indicated areas to rotate,

scale, and move the selected patch.

Texture Synthesis Edit Tool

With the Edit tool, the selected patch can be modified by dragging

control and tangent points, as described in Understand Curves.

Texture Synthesis Edit Tool 2

Remove a selected control point by clicking Delete, or

alter its behavior by clicking Corner, Smooth, or Cusp.

Texture Synthesis Edit Tool 3

To create another control point, click the desired

location to add a temporary point, and then click Add.

Texture Synthesis Edit Tool 4

Select multiple control points simultaneously

by holding the shift key as you click them.

Texture Synthesis Create Tool 3

If there are multiple patches, select a different one by

clicking it directly, or by selected it in the Patches panel.

Texture Synthesis Create Tool 4

The cut button can be used to remove unwanted patches, while

the copy and paste buttons can be used to duplicate patches.

Property	Description
Frequency	Specifies how often the currently selected patch will be chosen, relative to the others, during automatic patch placement. This property will only have an affect as long as more than one source patches have been defined, and the Patch Switcher property in the Auto section has been set to Random. If you have defined multiple source patches and would like some of them to not participate in automatic placement so that you can position them by hand in the Manual section, then set the Frequency of those patches to zero.
Feather	Softens the edges of the currently selected patch. If the patch is selecting a specific hard-edge object, such as a football from a photograph, then it may be best to set this slider to zero. On the other hand, if the patch is selecting an arbitrary part of a material, such as some rusty metal, then a higher Feather value may be needed to obscure the patch edges in the final texture. You will not be able to increase this property if the extended sampling area has already reached the sides of the photo. See the final illustration on this page for more information.
Jitter Shape	Randomizes the edges of the currently selected patch for the purpose of creating more natural-looking results. As for Feather, this property should be set to zero for patches meant to cut out hard-edge objects. You will not be able to increase this property if the extended sampling area has already reached the sides of the photo. See the final illustration on this page for more information.
Jitter Frequency	Controls the scale of the random shape variations introduced by the Jitter Shape property, with higher values leading to finer variations. This property will only have an affect as long as Jitter Shape is not zero.
Shadow Strength	Adds a shadow behind the patch, creating a feeling of depth. Shadows are especially useful with hard-edge patches that represent distinct objects, such as leaves. This property will produce useful results if Shadow Feather below is set to a value grater than zero.
Shadow Feather	Increases the radius of the shadow added by the Shadow Strength property above. This property will only have an effect as long as Shadow Strength is greater than zero.
Equalize Brightness Controls	The two final controls can be used to correct uneven lighting in the source photograph. Further explanation is available here.

The Feather and Jitter Shape properties will cause points to be sampled outside of the selected

patch. The outline indicated above shows this extended sampling area. If the outline has reached

the sides of the photograph, Feather and Jitter Shape won't be able to be increased any further.

To place patches more accurately, open a larger version of the placement control by clicking the "Edit Full Size..." button that appears along the top of the section.