FireAlcapa (Mac OS X) is a very useful free paint tool. It has all the basic tools you need to illustrate an image, such as preset brushes (pen, pencil, airbrush, watercolor, leaf, flower etc.). It also allows for manipulations including rotate, flip, resize, canvas s. FireAlpaca is a free tool that is available for both Mac and Windows platforms. It is also very versatile and can be used by anyone – the support for the tool is very good, as it is available in 10 different languages.

About the App

• App name: Fire Alpaca
• App description: firealpaca (App: FireAlpaca.app)
• App website: http://firealpaca.com/

Install the App

1. Press Command+Space and type Terminal and press enter/return key.
2. Run in Terminal app:
   ruby -e '$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)' < /dev/null 2> /dev/null ; brew install caskroom/cask/brew-cask 2> /dev/null
   and press enter/return key.
   If the screen prompts you to enter a password, please enter your Mac's user password to continue. When you type the password, it won't be displayed on screen, but the system would accept it. So just type your password and press ENTER/RETURN key. Then wait for the command to finish.
3. Run:
   brew cask install firealpaca

Done! You can now use Fire Alpaca.

Firealpaca is an expressive (and free) digital software for painting and drawing. It is available to the Windows operating system and Mac. Firealpaca is probably the best place to start if you’re a beginner in digital art with simple tools like the Airbrush, watercolor, pencil, etc.

If you are a frequent Firealpaca user and you’ve probably been looking for a list of shortcuts to help enhance your productivity, then this article is for you. If you are new here, a shortcut is a set of keys used to send a command to the software.

We’ve compiled this list and hope you find them useful. Also, since Firealpaca is available on both Mac and Windows (PC), the commands will go through tweaks because of the nature of the operating system but we will notify you accordingly.

Well, that’s it. Let’s get these shortcuts:

The Tool Shortcuts

These are mostly letters you can punch to invoke tools you want to use in the software. It comes in very handy since the tools are located at the top and side of the screen and the time it would take you to navigate your mouse might be considerably more than just putting in a letter.

• V= Move tool

• B= Brush tool

• Shift+B= Dot tool

• I= Eyedropper

• N = Fill

• G= Bucket

• H= Hand

• E= eraser

• W= MagicWand

The work-frame shortcut

This is for when you’re deep in work and they exist to save your time.

Note: these shortcuts are keys for the Mac but for Windows PC you simply need to replace ‘Cmd’ with ‘Ctrl’, ‘Delete’ with ‘Backspace’, and ‘Option’ with ‘Alt’

The work-frame shortcuts are categorized into two: the single keys and pair.

Single keys

• M= Select

• S= Select Pen

• 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 = Grid

• Delete= Clear [You can clear the layer on your work frame or you can remove a layer from the image you are working on, this key (delete (and backspace for Windows)) is for the latter]

• Tab= Initialize (Reset FireAlpaca to Defaults)

• Shift = to draw a straight line

• X= Swap Colors

• Alt/Opt = invokes Eyedropper tool without leaving the current tool you are working on

Firealpaca Download

• D= Initialize (This resets back to black & white after color tools have been used)

• Right Arrow Key= To Rotate Right

• Up Arrow Key= To Release Rotate/Flip

• Down Arrow Key= To Flip

• Left Arrow Key= To Rotate Left

Pair keys

• Cmmd+Option+drag = resize brush

• Cmmd+C/V= copy/paste

• Cmmd+X= Cut

• Shift G= Gradient

• Shift+S=Select Eraser

• Cmmd+ N= New

• Shift+Cmmd+N= New on Clipboard

• Cmmd+S= Save

• Shift+Cmmd+S= Save As

• Cmwmd+O= Open

• Cmmd+P= Print

• Cmmd+K= Environment Settings

• Cmmd+W= Close (this is different from Quit)

• Cmmd+Q= Quit (this is different from Close)

• Cmmd+Z= Undo

• Shift+Cmmd+Z= Redo

• Option+Cmmd+I= Image Size

• Option+Cmmd+C= Canvas Size

Difference between Image Size and Canvas size

Similar in their function, image size and canvas size can be difficult to comprehend for beginners but there is a difference in their function. Canvas size is the work area that your image/picture fits in. It can be adjusted accordingly to increase or decrease the area and field to do your work.

Canvas size does not directly affect the quality of the image you are working on although the image can be cropped if the canvas size is toggled inappropriately or disproportionately.

When it comes to image size, however, it has to do with the image you are working on itself. Not the work field but the image. This is the major difference between Image size and canvas size. You can adjust the image size you are working on by dragging the sides and stretching them out to the desired dimension.

If you expand the image too much, it becomes pixelated. This reduces the quality of the image you are working on due to far apart pixels.

Often times, when you are adjusting an image, you need to ensure that the ratio is maintained. An imbalance will cause the image to stretch and reduce the quality of the image.

• Cmmd+L= Level

• Cmmd+U= Hue

• Cmmd+A= All

• Cmmd+D= Deselect

• Shift+Cmmd+I= Inverse

• Cmmd+T= Transform

• Cmmd+B= Draw Selection Border

• Cmmd++= Zoom In

• Cmmd+-= Zoom Out

• Cmmd+0= Fit to screen

• Cmmd+G= Grid (separate from existing grids)

• Shift+Space+drag = to Rotate canvas comfortably

• Hold A + click an object = you will arrive at that particular object layer without disrupting the current one. This enables you switch the layers when you are done on the current one.

As it happens, there is the chance that every day, a new set of commands or shortcuts can be found when using the software. We never rule out that possibility. In fact, an impressive percentage of the shortcuts we’ve listed above have been from FireAlpaca users who have contributed to forums and platforms across our communities.

We do our best and with contributions from more users, we hope it promotes the FireAlpaca community even more.

So if you found this helpful, share it with your friends – let’s improve our society. It’s time to work smart, folks.

Written by:

Toni Justamante Jacobs, Senior Concept Artist, Illustrator,and Blogger.

Eseandre Andrews, professional writer.

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Toni Justamante Jacobs

About the author:Hi, I’m Toni Justamante Jacobs. I´m a professional Concept Artist and Illustrator with more than 10 years of experience in the industry. Some of my clients are Gameloft, Fantasy Flight Games, Kunlun Games and Games Workshop. Currently, I´m working at Socialpoint as an in-house Senior Concept Artist.