Impressions - May 2016 - 62

FIGURE 2

process in mind so that you don't "draw
yourself in a corner" by working in a
way that makes your project even more
difficult to separate or edit colors later
in the process.
A Workable Stylus Method
Figure 2 is an example of a graphic that
could be reproduced many different ways.
The reasons you may want to redraw complex objects like this one instead of finding
other workarounds include:
1. A redrawn object will have a cleaner
edge that will trace into a vector
seamlessly.
2. The thought that a filter or a "mouseclicked" re-creation is faster is often
not true at all. Sometimes a file that
is complex will not be good enough
when squeezed through a filter and
will need to be redone. Or worse,
the entire job may be produced with
poor-quality artwork and the shirts
will be rejected.Another possibility
is that the tweaked version may require lots of sharpening and, by the
end, it would have taken the same
amount of time to redraw it for a far
better result.
3. The skills that are exercised when
redrawing an object will foster
abilities that can allow for original
creations or clip-art manipulations
that will continually "wow" your
clients beyond the standard layouts.
In this example job, the file was reproduced using a pen stylus inside Adobe
Photoshop.The first step is to import the
P.62

file into Photoshop
and adjust it to the
"I Can't Draw!"
actual print size
at 300 dpi.A comThe most common argument people make when learning how to
mon mistake is to
re-create an outline drawing is that they don't have the skill. The truth
leave a file too small
is that anyone that can sign his name can draw; it's only a matter of
in size or at a low
practice in both using your hands to do some precision movements
resolution, resulting
and then practicing repeatedly.
in rough, pixelated
edges in the final
drawing.
Once the design
is imported into Photoshop, the pen tablet object to be drawn is reduced in opacity to
is tested on an extra layer to set its drawing 30% or 40%, so it is faded, but still visible.
style to work with the necessary edge Next, an extra layer is created above it so
quality required. To make these adjust- the drawing can begin.
ments, the Brush dialog box is activated and
Depending on your needs, an additional
the "Shape Dynamics" feature is enabled, layer could be used for a more creative
which allows the pressure that is sensed task, where some elements would need to
by the software from the pen to change be repositioned in rough form and then
the size of the outline to be thick or thin. refined in the top layer. In this case, the
Light pressure results in a thin line that design could just be revised with a single
gets thicker as the pressure increases.
layer (see Figure 3).
The edge quality of the line created by
In the case of a clean-lined cartoon (like
the pen tool is set in the Brush menu's the outline example) it is better to have a
Hardness dialog box.This creates a clean defined and practiced process of drawing,
line to redraw the outline in the image. moving and saving the work.This avoids
The foreground color is set to black using having large areas of the drawing that may
the "D" quick-key command.
get damaged if a mistake is made.
After practicing on an extra layer
The following process was used to create
with pen strokes, the pen outline's size is the best balance between sketching, moving
adjusted using the bracket keys (the right the drawing surface and saving the work.
bracket key enlarges the line and the
1. A line is carved on the outside edge
left one shrinks it). The practice layer is
of the best outline in the image.The
then deleted.
practice is that the outline is the
The first step in drawing to re-create
edge-quality area and any inside lines
a design in Photoshop is to create a white
could be left rougher.This was bebackground layer below the object.
cause they would disappear when
After this is done, the layer that holds the
the final shapes were selected later.

i m p r e s s i o n s m a g . c o m MAY 2016

http://www.impressionsmag.com

Impressions - May 2016

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