Printing

Right on the path

Printing, Sketches

I was asked to come up with a drama filled inspiring drawing, fit to be screen printed, the concept is the pawn that promotes, who is on it’s way to there; who looks like just a pawn but his royal spirit is reflected in his shadow.
Here is a sketch for it, I am trying to explore shadows and highlights in one color, no shading, or gray scaling

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While waiting for something, I had a little time to explore the perks of having a tablet, with the sketchbook app and a little stylus, nothing fancy about it. Different mediums take time to dominate, so it feels like I’m starting all over again, playing with some shadows over the same concept sketch, this is the result:

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Not quite fit for screen printing, but really good practice
I see these amazing finger paintings on you tube, and I kind of feel like the little pawn on his way up hill, determined to conquer the road in front of him.

Have you had any experience drawing with the new technology?
Any practice doodles you recommend?
Lets hear them in the comments!

Photo-books are totally worth the work it takes to design them.

Graphic Design, Photography, Printing

A great way to have the pictures in a printed way, photo books. If you have a digital camera and have printed any of your pictures online, you are bound to find a company that can do them, It is a bit tedious to upload the pictures and then arrange everything in a way that tells the story, but it is totally worth it. If you print one, you might not see the value immediately, for the pictures are fresh, but wait a few months and you will enjoy them again, wait a few years and the memories are invaluable. I’ve done a few of these in my time; and love to look through them every now and then, not only have my family and friends changed, but also my photography and design skills have improved through the years.

Here is the latest, printed through Shutterfly, they are my BFFs right now,
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DSC_0166 DSC_0165

DSC_0168 DSC_0167

 

 

I know there are some companies that will use your InDesgin Files, but I am still to find one that makes my budget happy with a good print; i’m on the look out though, i’ll probably mention it here when I find it.

Do you know of any place that will do them? Give me a hand and comment, please 🙂

Convert text to curves or to outlines in Illustrator

Graphic Design, Printing

     Convert all the text to outlines

text after converted to curves or outlines and given some treatment.

Basically after you convert to outlines your text will no longer be editable as text but it will become a shape; it will have beizer curves on every corner and you will be able to change the shape. However if you misspelled something you wont be able to change an “e” for an “a” as easy as you would be if it still was text (with the text editor).

Converting the text not only will keep the letters even if you send the file to someone who doesn’t have the font file in their computer, but say you want to make one of the letters fatter or have a little more flare to it, or connect with the one next to it a different way you are now able to change that for you have intricate shapes as a canvas to bring your vision into reality. Here is how you convert the text:

  •  Once you have your text, run the spell check (CRTL+I or go to the edit menu and check spelling).
  • Select all the text, notice how there is a line under all and each one of the letters, how there is a beizer curve in each corner of the square that selects the text and non that make the letters.
  • Now go to the Type menu and scroll down to the create outlines option (or the shortcut: CRTL + Shift+ O). You will be able to see the difference now there are Beizer curves on every corner of each letter and check the layers, now there is a group that contains each shape.

So, now you can save the file as a copy and send it to another computer, another person, or even the printer, and you will not have problems with the other computer not having the font file, there will be no font substitution. But there is another reason I like to convert the text to outlines, an that is to change the letters, make it thinner, fatter, elongate the steam, or unite 2 of them, etc… Oh! and don’t let me forget that you can  fill  each letter with gradients now that they are shapes, which is something you can’t do if they are still text. Play with it, experimenting is the most fun way to lear 😀

text to outlines

Variations on a theme

I would love to see, hear or read about how you are applying this tutorial, or if you have questions that still need answering about it, please comment 🙂