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Post by shallow15 on Apr 21, 2007 18:03:41 GMT -5
How in the **** do those of you who do series style KP art get it to look so darn smooth?
No matter what I do, my stuff still ends up looking pixelated as hell.
--Erin M.
EDIT: dracko19
Removed vulgar/swear words
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jao
Yellow Trout
Posts: 82
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Post by jao on Apr 21, 2007 18:09:22 GMT -5
Mmm smooth lines I can't really help you with =/ Coloring and the actrual drawin aspect yes =D i'm pretty sure most would use vectors and the pen tool and stuff like that. I myself don't know that area yet =X
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Post by Captain Serge Stiles on Apr 21, 2007 18:35:17 GMT -5
Perhaps if you explained to us how you go about doing your art? Then maybe we can improve on your technique!  |
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Post by Sarah on Apr 21, 2007 18:39:12 GMT -5
For me, the pen tool is the only way to do it. I really wish there was some way I could help you learn how to use it, I'm sure you'd love the pen tool My only suggestion is to use the paint brush tool and - well... I can't really explain it from hundreds of miles away :/ Hmm... OH! And make sure to save your pictures as PNGs ^_^ That is like, the biggest issue some people have with their pictures, not the picture itself, but the format it's saved in. If you want any more of my ranting, I'll be happy to think up somemore tips later AND I agree with Serge ^_^ |
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Post by shallow15 on Apr 21, 2007 18:39:14 GMT -5
I just got Photoshop and messed around with the pen tool for the first time and while the lines aren't jagged anymore, it still looks pixel-y. The pic in question is in the What Would You Look Like In KP thread...or better yet, here... i40.photobucket.com/albums/e209/shallow15/me.jpg--Erin M. |
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Post by nabusan on Apr 21, 2007 19:03:32 GMT -5
Keywords for me: Photoshop, large brushes [min. size. 5], pen tool, stroke path, fill path.
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Post by Warbandit on Apr 21, 2007 19:11:22 GMT -5
Everybody has their own styles, I suppose. But like jao says, the pen tool continues to escape me as well...just not my mojo  Other than this alleged pen tool, anyway, I can only offer one other tip. Many artists draw their work on high-resolutions with large dimensions (I'm talking in the thousands and up, like 2000x3000 or something), so that it's kind of like working really up-close. Then they resize the final product to something more conventional (800x600). This way, any minor flaws become unnoticable, and anything that was "jagged" in the big resolution will most likely appear smoothened out. The basis of your pixelation problem is probably in resolution: if you take your drawing (nice pic, by the way  and shrink it down, it doesn't appear "pixelated" anymore. So you can imagine how nice that would be if you started it off HUGE, and shrank it down to normal size  So that's just ONE way of doing it, anyway: draw BIG. If you're using paths and strokes anyway, you can try doing the exact same thing, just on a larger resolution. Anyhow, good luck with that! Don't give up, your drawings are fabulous  |
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Post by nabusan on Apr 21, 2007 19:16:31 GMT -5
When I'm resizing an image to something smaller in Photoshop, I always go for the 'Bicubic Smoother' option. Just thought I'd throw that in there.
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Post by Mr. Dubois a.k.a IvyMae on Apr 21, 2007 19:21:12 GMT -5
yeah I tend to work larger and then sherink my images down too (300dpi)
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Post by Warbandit on Apr 21, 2007 19:22:12 GMT -5
When I'm resizing an image to something smaller in Photoshop, I always go for 'Bicubic Smoother' option. Just thought I'd throw that in there. Hmm...I've never tried that before! Great idea. Keywords for me: Photoshop, large brushes [min. size. 5], pen tool, stroke path, fill path. That'd probably do it. Stroke with pen rather than pencil. But I'll let the people who actually know what they're talking about confirm that ;D |
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Post by Slyrr on Apr 21, 2007 20:25:15 GMT -5
I use the photoshop 'pen' tool every so often, but only when the stylus pad fails me I think your lines may be pixellated for one of a few reasons, or a combination: 1) The resolution you're drawing in is too low. It's always a good idea to have your intial blank page at 300 dpi or so. Keep one super hi-res version like that for your work. Save another one in lower res for posting purposes. But having your initial canvas at 72 dpi will mean your lines look jaggy even as you draw them. 2) You're 'drawing' with the pencil tool instead of the brush tool. The pencil tool always looks pixellated when you draw with it. (Does anyone actually USE the pencil tool?) 3) The color format. There are three main color formats for a canvas in most art design suites: Greyscale, CYMK and RGB. There are also other formats like INDEXED COLOR. Indexed color will sometimes looks pixellated if your drawing is actually DRAWN in that format - depending on the number of colors you choose to allow. (the "bitmap" format will also always look pixellated) 4) Anti-aliasing. Even if using the brush tool, if the settings on it are for 'hard' lines, they'll look pixellated. If you have options in a menu for the 'kind' of line you want the brush tool to make, you may see options like 'hard', 'soft' or 'antialiased' with an on/off toggle. Pick something soft or anti-aliased. Hard lines will look pixellated, like jaggies in a video game. Hope that helps... |
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Post by Commander Argus on Apr 21, 2007 20:56:47 GMT -5
The breakthrough I made was learning to use Paint Shop Pro and making the image large enough (such as at least 2000x2000) which doesn't work well in Paint, but is great in PSP, then shrinking it with a program that does some color averaging so the lines don't pixel out so bad (the best program I have for that on my machine is IrFanView - spankin good freeware)
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Post by VICIOUS on Apr 21, 2007 21:56:00 GMT -5
I just got Photoshop and messed around with the pen tool for the first time and while the lines aren't jagged anymore, it still looks pixel-y. The pic in question is in the What Would You Look Like In KP thread...or better yet, here... i40.photobucket.com/albums/e209/shallow15/me.jpg--Erin M. Make sure your stroking with the Brush tool, and not the pencil tool. |
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Post by shallow15 on Apr 21, 2007 21:58:26 GMT -5
I better qualify something...
I'm using Photoshop 5.5 and I can't seem to find any setting for selecting the Brush tool over the Pencil tool. But the resizing did work (See the pic in the Off Topic Art Thread for the second go round)
So while I'm getting more comfortable with it, I really have no clue which tool I'm using...
---Erin M.
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Post by nabusan on Apr 22, 2007 8:49:28 GMT -5
Give us a screenshot of your workspace |
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Post by Slyrr on Apr 22, 2007 10:01:36 GMT -5
The older versions of Photoshop (if memory serves) had the brush and pencil tool in the SAME area of the toolbar. There should be a tiny black corner on the pencil tool, indicating that you can click on it and hold down the mouse button to turn it into a 'flyout' from which you can select the brush tool. (The pencil tool will look like a tiny pencil, the brush tool will look like a tiny paintbrush). The PEN tool will look like the point of an old style fountain pen....
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Post by shallow15 on Apr 22, 2007 16:35:18 GMT -5
Okay, I think I've got it to a point where I can live with it. Thanks for the advice.
--Erin M.
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Post by VICIOUS on Apr 23, 2007 20:39:21 GMT -5
If your using the right click menu to stroke your paths, make sure you select Brush from the drop down menu as well. I dunno if that feature was in 5.5, but if it is, well, there ya go :3
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Post by nabusan on Apr 24, 2007 7:49:23 GMT -5
That's how I do it! I always do it through the right click menu, one path at a time i.e. slow way.
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Post by Ot@ru on Apr 24, 2007 21:15:03 GMT -5
Dude,you can't give up...try & try again...
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and shrink it down, it doesn't appear "pixelated" anymore. So you can imagine how nice that would be if you started it off HUGE, and shrank it down to normal size 
So that's just ONE way of doing it, anyway: draw BIG. If you're using paths and strokes anyway, you can try doing the exact same thing, just on a larger resolution.
