Direct Orbit Traps

The Direct Orbit Traps coloring algorithm is a 

direct coloring algorithm

. 

This means that it the resulting images are not limited to the colors in 

the gradient. It creates softly shaded, pastel like images.

Direct Orbit Traps works by calculating a color for every iteration. These 

colors are merged together to obtain the final color for each pixel. This 

is like using multiple layers within a single coloring algorithm.

The colors are taken from the gradient and merged onto the background color. If you change the 

gradient, the layer is recalculated with the new colors. It can sometimes be difficult to predict the 

effect of changes to the gradient, because the gradient colors are merged with each other and with 

the background color. 

Most of the parameters are shared with 

Orbit Traps

. There are some additional parameters that 

specify how the colors from each iteration are merged: 

Specifies the background color. All other colors are merged on top of 

the background, so the background color interacts with the colors from 

Base Color

the gradient. The background color can also be transparent.

Specifies the 

merge mode

 used to merge colors on top of the 

background. All layer merge modes are supported here. 

Trap Color Merge

Remember to adjust the background color so it will work well with the 

selected merge mode. For example, use a dark background color with 

Screen, and a light background color with Multiply.

If set to distance, the opacity of the color calculated for each iteration 

is reduced according to the distance from the trap shape. This can 

Additional Alpha

create very soft and smooth images.

Sets the opacity (between 0 and 1) of the color calculated for each 

iteration. The opacity of the gradient is also taken into account, just 

Trap Merge Opacity

like when 

merging layers

.

Sets the order in which traps are merged. The bottom up option 

merges later iterations on top of the existing iterations, while the top 

Trap Merge Order

down option merges later iteration underneath the existing iterations.

See Also

Orbit Traps

Standard coloring algorithms

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