speaking of indesign. I've got it and really need to get a jump start using it, and would like to avoid using shitty tutorials.
Can anyone suggest good, efficient tutorials? I'd hate to pick up bad habits from a shitty tut.
I don't know of any good tutorials, but I'd suggest buying a book if you're serious about the program. I was flipping through some of them at the book store the other day, and there's quite a bit of information on the program available. Many parts of InDesign you'll learn about when you realize you need them, like creating a list with bullets and tables and so forth. So since I don't know of any tutorials off the top of my head, here are a few hints:
Construct your documents to the finished size. Make a business card on a 3.5" x 2" document, don't place it on a 8.5" x 11" document.
Use .psd and .ai files when you can. If you start with a jpeg from a stock photo Web site, that's fine. But if you say create a vector image in Illustrator, use .ai instead of .eps.
Use exact coordinates for your pieces, don't just eyeball stuff.
Use paragraph and character styles.
Get rid of swatches you're not using.
Talk to your printer beforehand.
Thanks dude. My main reason for using it is that I'm doing a booklet of just images, so there's no text or anything to layout. I'm printing myself (probably) I just thought it might simplify my printing process.
speaking of indesign. I've got it and really need to get a jump start using it, and would like to avoid using shitty tutorials.
Can anyone suggest good, efficient tutorials? I'd hate to pick up bad habits from a shitty tut.
I don't know of any good tutorials, but I'd suggest buying a book if you're serious about the program. I was flipping through some of them at the book store the other day, and there's quite a bit of information on the program available. Many parts of InDesign you'll learn about when you realize you need them, like creating a list with bullets and tables and so forth. So since I don't know of any tutorials off the top of my head, here are a few hints:
Construct your documents to the finished size. Make a business card on a 3.5" x 2" document, don't place it on a 8.5" x 11" document.
Use .psd and .ai files when you can. If you start with a jpeg from a stock photo Web site, that's fine. But if you say create a vector image in Illustrator, use .ai instead of .eps.
Use exact coordinates for your pieces, don't just eyeball stuff.
Use paragraph and character styles.
Get rid of swatches you're not using.
Talk to your printer beforehand.
Thanks dude. My main reason for using it is that I'm doing a booklet of just images, so there's no text or anything to layout. I'm printing myself (probably) I just thought it might simplify my printing process.
Indesign has a feature that orders the pages as printers spread. Its called in booklet.
MagicToaster on
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BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
edited June 2009
Does anyone have any good drafting tutorials for an absolute beginner? I don't even know where to start with this stuff.
I'm looking to do some pen and ink stuff on paper, with the end results looking something like this:
Again, I don't even know where to start when it comes to work like this.
BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
edited June 2009
Well, I don't think it was done in Illustrator, just judging from how incredibly painful it is to do stuff like that in Illustrator.
Either way though, people still produced these drawings before there was any kind of CAD stuff available:
These were apparently done in the 70s, so I don't think there was a whole lot of computer work that went into them. I'm guessing it's done with the aid of a drafting table and a lot of ruler work, but beyond that I'm not sure what methodology goes into making drawings this precise.
I have a full textbook specifically for drawing stuff like that from the 50s.
It is awesome. I just wish I had the patience or urge to sit down and use it.
EDIT: also, thanks, MT. Usually I draw a shitty diagram and create a pdf for each spread, printing one file at a time. However, I've only had to do it a few times so far, and never for a large project. and every time I fuck up a few pages by sending the paper in the wrong way or printing on the back of the wrong sheets or something. I'm gonna pop InDesign open and practice printing some quick booklets.
Rolo there is way, WAY more work behind all of those kind of things than you would even begin to expect.
I know this because I took a "Fundamentals of Drafting for Mechanical Engineering" course (and nearly failed) and it kicked the bleep out of me. Every angle, every stroke, EVERYTHING has a rule. I would suggest taking a class, because it involves learning a lot of math and then the strokes related to each of those outcomes. Even the printing is done, stroke for stroke, in a certain order.
Your best bet is to start on vellum paper with a mechanical pencil and a well pre-thought plan of what it is that you're trying to accomplish.
I wish I could just show you my workbook from that class but I am not about to start scanning it.
But yeah, nowadays something like the first thing you posted would be a cross section taken from Solidworks, for example, and then traced in Illustrator - unless the output needed was basic enough to use an output method from Solidworks. (I can't remember anything about the different ways it could be viewed in the end ... aside from the broken off sectionals.)
In our history of art education course, they told us that during the 50s and early 60s, K-12 art in most states was focused on technical drafting, describing the classrooms as workshops of children pumping out drawings of gears, machinery, etc.
In our history of art education course, they told us that during the 50s and early 60s, K-12 art in most states was focused on technical drafting, describing the classrooms as workshops of children pumping out drawings of gears, machinery, etc.
yeah, it was described as coming alongside the whole cold-war "we've got to turn our kids all into scientists and mathematicians so that we can fuck the commies something proper" mentality that had such a heavy influence on education then.
Nope. That stupid curve is a bunch of plotted points after having to construct a thorough graph in order to plot them in. The ellipse is not much better. Now imagine you have a different-curving object.
Ugh okay enough of this, I am too reminded of that stupid class.
It puts me in the mind of when people talk about the medical science available to people in the 50s, polio and whatnot.
Have you ever read about the four humours?
If not, I recommend it - it's really interesting, about how early doctors diagnosed people based on the four humours -- black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood.
It puts me in the mind of when people talk about the medical science available to people in the 50s, polio and whatnot.
Have you ever read about the four humours?
If not, I recommend it - it's really interesting, about how early doctors diagnosed people based on the four humours -- black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood.
Dear lord, I know. I was just being specific to the 50s because that was the era in the earlier post; the idea of living before germ theory, when barbers were surgeons, etc....ugh.
I was watching Timequake the other day (yes, I know, unforgivable) and I was reminded of some discussion somewhere (here, maybe?) where people talked about what you'd do if you somehow traveled back in time. Someone suggested that your cleanliness - full mouth of teeth, clean skin, no major stink comparatively, etc. - would be one way to convince people you were some foreign royal.
I feel like showering just thinking about how dirty the world was. Which of course makes me think our descendants will be horrified by our filth.
Hey fellas, im going to be working outside today on some oil life paintings. Because im out in the nice warm sun, with fresh air, im considering using Mineral turpentine instead of the usual odourless solvent. Does anyone know of any real difference between the two? in particular the drying time? Ive heard mineral turps is evaporated faster. will this increase drying time? Also, will it make the paint look different (glossy/dull etc)
Cheers for any advice tips!
hers a pic if it helps
winter_combat_knight on
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MustangArbiter of Unpopular OpinionsRegistered Userregular
edited June 2009
I honestly don't know, but be careful not to mistake your bottle of turpentine for your bottle of water. I keep a bottle on my desk for cleaning computer kit, and the amount of times I've gone to take a big slurp from it I care not to mention.
If you're in photoshop and it's high res, clean lineart, run adjustments -> threshold, and that'll give you straight black and white, ready for you to color. Depending on your scan, you might have to adjust the levels prior to get it the way you want.
If you're partial to the shades of gray in your lineart, you can set the blending mode of the lineart layer to multiply and then color on a layer underneath.
Hey fellas, im going to be working outside today on some oil life paintings. Because im out in the nice warm sun, with fresh air, im considering using Mineral turpentine instead of the usual odourless solvent. Does anyone know of any real difference between the two? in particular the drying time? Ive heard mineral turps is evaporated faster. will this increase drying time? Also, will it make the paint look different (glossy/dull etc)
Cheers for any advice tips!
hers a pic if it helps
Just as a minor safety note: I've always felt that odorless spirits are really dangerous, just because you're still being exposed to the same amount of toxic hydrocarbons even if you can't smell them. So, you're far more likely to overexpose yourself (enough to cause headaches, hangover-like feelings, etc.) than if you have the stuff that smells (since the smell will get you to step away periodically, etc.).
That said, my experience with odorless solvent vs. mineral turp is that, as anecdote, mineral turp dries faster. However, that is experience working with pastels, since I've never oil painted.
Whenever I have a file that has SmartObject layers in it, it inevitably corrupts the next time I open it. There is nothing I can do at this point. Instead of "these layers have corrupted", it may as well just tell me "So, hey, we took these layers here and MASHED THEM TOGETHER so you'll never have a clean version if you want to rescale this, unless you redo it!"
I don't like to do color correction on my monitor because I don't trust it. Can any of you guys tell me how this looks? The original image had a lot of yellow color cast, I think I've eliminated it, plus I fixed her yellow teeth.
The image on the left is the original, the one on the right is the modified one
I hardly see a difference - it's very, very slight to me. The original didn't look like it had too intense of a yellow cast to it to begin with, but yeah, I can tell the image on the right has less of it.
Does anyone know how to disable the "play animation" shortcut in Photoshop? It's set by default to spacebar, which strikes me as terribly stupid since that's also the shortcut for the hand tool. I'm tired of trying to navigate a drawing while zoomed in and having it play the animation I'm working on.
Yeah, it's not in there. I looked at the palette options for Animation (Timeline) and Animation (Frames), but to no avail.
It sucks because the threshold for whether or not you're holding a key is 2 seconds. Usually I only need to move a few dozen pixels in any given direction.
Posts
Thanks dude. My main reason for using it is that I'm doing a booklet of just images, so there's no text or anything to layout. I'm printing myself (probably) I just thought it might simplify my printing process.
Indesign has a feature that orders the pages as printers spread. Its called in booklet.
I'm looking to do some pen and ink stuff on paper, with the end results looking something like this:
Again, I don't even know where to start when it comes to work like this.
Either way though, people still produced these drawings before there was any kind of CAD stuff available:
These were apparently done in the 70s, so I don't think there was a whole lot of computer work that went into them. I'm guessing it's done with the aid of a drafting table and a lot of ruler work, but beyond that I'm not sure what methodology goes into making drawings this precise.
It is awesome. I just wish I had the patience or urge to sit down and use it.
EDIT: also, thanks, MT. Usually I draw a shitty diagram and create a pdf for each spread, printing one file at a time. However, I've only had to do it a few times so far, and never for a large project. and every time I fuck up a few pages by sending the paper in the wrong way or printing on the back of the wrong sheets or something. I'm gonna pop InDesign open and practice printing some quick booklets.
I know this because I took a "Fundamentals of Drafting for Mechanical Engineering" course (and nearly failed) and it kicked the bleep out of me. Every angle, every stroke, EVERYTHING has a rule. I would suggest taking a class, because it involves learning a lot of math and then the strokes related to each of those outcomes. Even the printing is done, stroke for stroke, in a certain order.
Your best bet is to start on vellum paper with a mechanical pencil and a well pre-thought plan of what it is that you're trying to accomplish.
I wish I could just show you my workbook from that class but I am not about to start scanning it.
But yeah, nowadays something like the first thing you posted would be a cross section taken from Solidworks, for example, and then traced in Illustrator - unless the output needed was basic enough to use an output method from Solidworks. (I can't remember anything about the different ways it could be viewed in the end ... aside from the broken off sectionals.)
it sounded nutty.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA what
that image is freaking hilarious
all the little tots doing free labor for Ford
This is how you draw a curve, and an ellipse.
Easy, right? Just one curved line.
Nope. That stupid curve is a bunch of plotted points after having to construct a thorough graph in order to plot them in. The ellipse is not much better. Now imagine you have a different-curving object.
Ugh okay enough of this, I am too reminded of that stupid class.
It puts me in the mind of when people talk about the medical science available to people in the 50s, polio and whatnot.
Have you ever read about the four humours?
If not, I recommend it - it's really interesting, about how early doctors diagnosed people based on the four humours -- black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood.
Dear lord, I know. I was just being specific to the 50s because that was the era in the earlier post; the idea of living before germ theory, when barbers were surgeons, etc....ugh.
I was watching Timequake the other day (yes, I know, unforgivable) and I was reminded of some discussion somewhere (here, maybe?) where people talked about what you'd do if you somehow traveled back in time. Someone suggested that your cleanliness - full mouth of teeth, clean skin, no major stink comparatively, etc. - would be one way to convince people you were some foreign royal.
I feel like showering just thinking about how dirty the world was. Which of course makes me think our descendants will be horrified by our filth.
Blech. I guess the Renaissance skipped hygiene? I dunno.
Cheers for any advice tips!
Let me know if InDesign gives you any grief, I'll be on it like cheese on a cracker.
as for wck's question, i've only used turpenoid natural or something like that, so I've very little experience with other turps.
If you're partial to the shades of gray in your lineart, you can set the blending mode of the lineart layer to multiply and then color on a layer underneath.
Just as a minor safety note: I've always felt that odorless spirits are really dangerous, just because you're still being exposed to the same amount of toxic hydrocarbons even if you can't smell them. So, you're far more likely to overexpose yourself (enough to cause headaches, hangover-like feelings, etc.) than if you have the stuff that smells (since the smell will get you to step away periodically, etc.).
That said, my experience with odorless solvent vs. mineral turp is that, as anecdote, mineral turp dries faster. However, that is experience working with pastels, since I've never oil painted.
Actually, yeah, now that you mention it, all of mine have been in metal.
Why is Photoshop being an ass to me?
Whenever I have a file that has SmartObject layers in it, it inevitably corrupts the next time I open it. There is nothing I can do at this point. Instead of "these layers have corrupted", it may as well just tell me "So, hey, we took these layers here and MASHED THEM TOGETHER so you'll never have a clean version if you want to rescale this, unless you redo it!"
Almost every time.
HELP.
The image on the left is the original, the one on the right is the modified one
then again, my monitor's running some pretty funky colors trying to match my printer.
I also need to learn how to use color profiles and calibrate properly.
It sucks because the threshold for whether or not you're holding a key is 2 seconds. Usually I only need to move a few dozen pixels in any given direction.
www.imageshack.us is one that I use, but there are a bunch of others.