Main Restorations Software Audio/Jukebox/MP3 Everything Else Buy/Sell/Trade
Project Announcements Monitor/Video GroovyMAME Merit/JVL Touchscreen Meet Up Retail Vendors
Driving & Racing Woodworking Software Support Forums Consoles Project Arcade Reviews
Automated Projects Artwork Frontend Support Forums Pinball Forum Discussion Old Boards
Raspberry Pi & Dev Board controls.dat Linux Miscellaneous Arcade Wiki Discussion Old Archives
Lightguns Arcade1Up Try the site in https mode Site News

Unread posts | New Replies | Recent posts | Rules | Chatroom | Wiki | File Repository | RSS | Submit news

  

Author Topic: 300 or 600 dpi?  (Read 8649 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
300 or 600 dpi?
« on: February 25, 2016, 06:20:38 am »
I'm just about starting work on my artwork - i've seen all the posts listed in the faq, but some people there seem to say 300 dpi, others 600dpi.
I want my sideart to look good!!

So, do i need to go for 600dpi or is 300 enough?

I plan to use Photoshop as i know it, but probably find vector artwork to go in my template, tho some i may need to have raster.
Either way, i want to make sure i'm aiming for the right res...

Thanks!

Ramakers

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 64
  • Last login:January 13, 2020, 01:20:43 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2016, 08:53:42 am »
The printshop where I do all my printing they prefer 200 dpi if the artwork is designed 1:1 in photoshop. Higher is overkill, we did a test on 200, 300 and 600 dpi with no visible difference. Most printshops however ask for 300 dpi to stay on the safe side. Just keep in mind you have to start with high resolution and never use upscaling for higer resolution

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2016, 08:55:09 am »
Thanks :)

Yes - agreed - up scaling is a no-no!

Now to find some HQ bubble bobble artwork...

Ramakers

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 64
  • Last login:January 13, 2020, 01:20:43 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2016, 10:14:35 am »


Has some jpg artifacts but they can be cleaned:



orangepink

  • Guest
  • Trade Count: (0)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2016, 07:05:56 pm »

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2016, 05:53:41 am »
I just created a new thread for this, but i'm looking for something like this image http://cdn-static.gamekult.com/gamekult-com/images/photos/00/01/15/30/ME0001153063_2.jpg but super high res...

I really only need the bubbles - trying to use as a background (as seen below)

Failing that, i'm currently working on my CP at 600dpi, that image is at 72dpi, so tiny... but i might be able to live with it at size in relation to a 300dpi... am i best resizing the image upwards (to 144dpi) or the whole cp down to 300dpi?


Overall CP:


What I'm trying to do:

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #6 on: March 17, 2016, 11:12:16 am »
Can someone tell me if i'm going to have an issue here...

I have taken the image below, blown it up to 600dpi. It's of course full of artifacts.
I've then separated out just the bubbles, replicated a ton of times to create the backdrop.

At this point, i have run a 7px Gaussian Blur across the whole image - this removes the artifacts, but still leaves it looking like what it is...
at 100% it looks blurry (see here: http://prntscr.com/agfela)
but each bubble is actually only 1.5cm
so will actually look like this

Which I'm happy with...

Am i missing something here or is my logic sound and i'll be happy with the result?
« Last Edit: March 17, 2016, 12:18:54 pm by vaderag »

Malenko

  • KNEEL BEFORE ZODlenko!
  • Trade Count: (+58)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13999
  • Last login:Yesterday at 10:20:30 pm
  • Have you played with my GingerBalls?
    • forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,142404.msg1475162.html
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2016, 12:00:01 pm »
I sent all my prints at 300 DPI

If you made that image in photoshop, try making the circles out of smart objects, so you can scale them up /down without any artifacts
If you're replying to a troll you are part of the problem.
I also need to follow this advice. Ignore or report, don't reply.

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #8 on: March 17, 2016, 12:19:31 pm »
I sent all my prints at 300 DPI

If you made that image in photoshop, try making the circles out of smart objects, so you can scale them up /down without any artifacts

Yeah, trouble is they aren't just circles... i fixed the broken link above so you can see...

Ramakers

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 64
  • Last login:January 13, 2020, 01:20:43 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #9 on: March 17, 2016, 03:49:59 pm »
It doesn't look to bad to me, you only have to make sure it matches up with the background image on the richthand side. Maybe you can blur that side a little to make it match. Make sure to keep a backup just in case it turns out bad.
I often print a sample on photo paper at home at the best settings of my inkjet. This way you have an idea of the result.

opt2not

  • Trade Count: (+15)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6173
  • Last login:February 15, 2024, 07:31:21 pm
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #10 on: March 17, 2016, 04:16:23 pm »
I have taken the image below, blown it up to 600dpi. It's of course full of artifacts.
600 dpi is way overkill for a cabinet sized print.  Unless you're doing billboards on the side of a freeway, you don't need anything higher than 300.

Also, blowing up lowres bubbles into high res dpi is definitely going to give you artifacts 'cause you don't have enough data in the image to scale it up like that. If I were you, I'd take each bubble one-by-one blow it up to a nice high res, then trace them using the vector tools in photoshop.  Convert it to a Smart Layer, duplicate it, and place each bubble in the pattern you have now.  You can scale it to your heart desire too because it's a vector Smart Layer.

This is a bit more work, but you'll get the cleanest image out.  Worth it IMO, but what the hell do I know...  :embarassed:

Pixelhugger

  • Trade Count: (+8)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1863
  • Last login:March 16, 2024, 01:36:14 am
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #11 on: March 17, 2016, 04:28:51 pm »
+1 what opt2not said

If vectorizing isn't an option, try minimizing the artifacts with a median noise filter instead of a blur.

Here is an example of that approach with the bubbles sized to 1.5cm at 300dpi. Of course it still breaks up, but when viewed at normal print size (smaller than what your monitor displays here) it might be better than the blurred version.

Project mega thread HERE

Malenko

  • KNEEL BEFORE ZODlenko!
  • Trade Count: (+58)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13999
  • Last login:Yesterday at 10:20:30 pm
  • Have you played with my GingerBalls?
    • forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,142404.msg1475162.html
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #12 on: March 18, 2016, 07:58:01 am »
PIXELHUGGER!


Welcome back!
If you're replying to a troll you are part of the problem.
I also need to follow this advice. Ignore or report, don't reply.

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #13 on: March 18, 2016, 08:08:48 am »
I have taken the image below, blown it up to 600dpi. It's of course full of artifacts.
600 dpi is way overkill for a cabinet sized print.  Unless you're doing billboards on the side of a freeway, you don't need anything higher than 300.

Also, blowing up lowres bubbles into high res dpi is definitely going to give you artifacts 'cause you don't have enough data in the image to scale it up like that. If I were you, I'd take each bubble one-by-one blow it up to a nice high res, then trace them using the vector tools in photoshop.  Convert it to a Smart Layer, duplicate it, and place each bubble in the pattern you have now.  You can scale it to your heart desire too because it's a vector Smart Layer.

This is a bit more work, but you'll get the cleanest image out.  Worth it IMO, but what the hell do I know...  :embarassed:

Thanks for the tips.
I've avoided vectors as i tried when I started and didn't know what the hell I was doing and after a few hours i gave up.
I know what i'm doing with Photoshop and raster so am sticking with that.

I went 600 dpi for the control panel only, after reading what people said elsewhere on here... to be honest, I have been thinking of scaling it down, but i figured that i'm now approaching the end at 600dpi i may as well keep it like that rather than scaling down now...

As i said, this image is only for the background (see below) so i think it works okay a bit blurred... Obviously in a perfect world it would be nice to have the defined edges, but i don't think i'm going to have the skills to vectorize them :(


Malenko

  • KNEEL BEFORE ZODlenko!
  • Trade Count: (+58)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13999
  • Last login:Yesterday at 10:20:30 pm
  • Have you played with my GingerBalls?
    • forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,142404.msg1475162.html
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #14 on: March 18, 2016, 08:15:23 am »
I know what i'm doing with Photoshop and raster so am sticking with that.

I believe he meant the "smart object" tools in Photoshop. They work exactly like vectors but you use them in Photoshop instead of illustrator.
To put a finer point, I believe he means tracing everything with the pen tool / free form pen tool.
If you're replying to a troll you are part of the problem.
I also need to follow this advice. Ignore or report, don't reply.

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #15 on: March 18, 2016, 09:13:52 am »
I know what i'm doing with Photoshop and raster so am sticking with that.

I believe he meant the "smart object" tools in Photoshop. They work exactly like vectors but you use them in Photoshop instead of illustrator.
To put a finer point, I believe he means tracing everything with the pen tool / free form pen tool.

Yeah, i figured that's what he meant - I tried both that and illustrator and never got my head around it... for some reason nothing seemed to go where i wanted it to. The whole of the 'vector' section (apart from the text) is a bit foreign to me really - just never had need for it in the past...

JDFan

  • Trade Count: (+1)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3448
  • Last login:May 21, 2023, 04:07:42 pm
  • I want to build my own arcade controls!
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #16 on: March 18, 2016, 10:07:26 am »
I know what i'm doing with Photoshop and raster so am sticking with that.

I believe he meant the "smart object" tools in Photoshop. They work exactly like vectors but you use them in Photoshop instead of illustrator.
To put a finer point, I believe he means tracing everything with the pen tool / free form pen tool.

Yeah, i figured that's what he meant - I tried both that and illustrator and never got my head around it... for some reason nothing seemed to go where i wanted it to. The whole of the 'vector' section (apart from the text) is a bit foreign to me really - just never had need for it in the past...

Could also just source a bit better character image and add a bubble surround  then duplicate. Something like the attached
« Last Edit: March 18, 2016, 11:33:36 am by JDFan »

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #17 on: March 18, 2016, 10:29:49 am »
Ah man... now you got me thinking!!

I'm going to leave it for now and finish the design, but i'm blatently going to come back and want to do that now...

opt2not

  • Trade Count: (+15)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6173
  • Last login:February 15, 2024, 07:31:21 pm
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #18 on: March 18, 2016, 05:00:52 pm »
Yeah, i figured that's what he meant - I tried both that and illustrator and never got my head around it... for some reason nothing seemed to go where i wanted it to. The whole of the 'vector' section (apart from the text) is a bit foreign to me really - just never had need for it in the past...
Honestly, I don't think anyone should claim they know photoshop if they don't know some of the strengths of using that software. Things like Smart layers, vector shapes, and Styles are three features that everyone wanting to make arcade art should know.  I mean, without that you should basically use GIMP and call it a day.  I highly recommend you bend a bit and learn these features, 'cause they are pretty powerful as well as helps the image be non-destructive when you're sizing it. When  I say non-destructive, I mean being able to change the scale/dpi, etc...and not lose image information/quality or introduce artifacts.  So fresh and so clean, clean!

Also, 600 dpi for your control panel is going to annoy the hell out of the guy printing this for you. It's overkill to go that high, and honestly why bloat your file sizes and tax your computer processing when you don't need it to be that way? 

I literally just spent 15 mins tracing one of bubble enemies into vectors, using the Ellipse tool (set to Shapes) and added strokes via Layer Styles.  The glows from the bubble reflection are also vector shapes with a Outer Glow Layer Style.   The only thing raster I used is the shading which really doesn't need to be vectored anyway since it's blurred.
I then added a Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer to it, converted it to a Smart Layer and was able to do a non-destructive Transform to scale it up.


Here's a breakdown of what was done.

1.  Built the Main Bubble first with the Ellipse Tool, colour set to brown, added a yellow stroke to it via Layer Styles
2. Outer outline was a duplicated Main Bubble, and set underneath. I increased the size of the stroke and changed the colour to brown so that the outline shows outside of the yellow stroke from the Main Bubble.
3. Made the body, again with the Ellipse Tool, then took the Direction Selection Tool (Hotkey=A) and moved the handles a bit to warp the body so it's not a perfect circle. Set the shape to Yellow
4. Created the arms and bow, again with the Ellipse Tool and again edited the shape with the Direction Selection Tool.  Added a Brown Stroke via Layer Styles.
5. Did the same thing with the Eyes using 4 Ellipses -- 2 brown, 2 yellow (for the pupils) and deformed it to match the eye shapes.
6. Started a new layer for the Shading, and just used an airbrush to paint it in  <--raster.
7. Created two white vector shapes (can be draw with the pen tool, or created through the Ellipse tool) for the reflection highlights and added an Outerglow to them in the Layer Styles
8. Added an Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer to the top of the layer stack, set it to colourize, and gave it a blue tone.
9. Selected all the layers, right-click --> Convert to Smart Layer, and proceeded to Transform Scale it up to the size I need.
10. Double clicking on the smart layer opens it up, so that I could adjust my stroke and glow sizes when at a different scale.  Hitting Save updates the Smart Layer in the main file.

That's really it.  It took me longer to write up these steps than it was to create the actual image. I've been using Photoshop for a long ass time so something like this is quick for me, but to a novice it shouldn't take you too much longer than this to do the same.

I hope this helps you grow your knowledge of PS, 'cause it's super useful for a lot of things if you plan on going to print with any art you make.


**ALSO:  I recommend reading through Malenko's and my tutorials regarding Stroke Styles, Smart Layers etc... here, and here.  These should give you some ideas on how to create some cool stuff and be able to size it the way you want.

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #19 on: March 18, 2016, 05:14:52 pm »
Thank you for the instructions - I will definitely try follow them through when get some time.

One thing you said that I want to follow up on... If my 600dpi cp is going to piss people off, but scaling down is going to be 'destructive' as it's all raster, what would you suggest I do at this point?

opt2not

  • Trade Count: (+15)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6173
  • Last login:February 15, 2024, 07:31:21 pm
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #20 on: March 18, 2016, 05:23:35 pm »
Just scale it down to 300 dpi.  Yeah it's destructive but it won't matter anyway. I don't know the dimensions of your CP, but I would guess it's probably not bigger than 3 feet. Printing a 600 dpi image at that print-size isn't going to have that high fidelity in details because the the printer jets will end up blurring that level of detail anyway.

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #21 on: March 21, 2016, 09:31:05 am »
Yeah, i figured that's what he meant - I tried both that and illustrator and never got my head around it... for some reason nothing seemed to go where i wanted it to. The whole of the 'vector' section (apart from the text) is a bit foreign to me really - just never had need for it in the past...
Honestly, I don't think anyone should claim they know photoshop if they don't know some of the strengths of using that software. Things like Smart layers, vector shapes, and Styles are three features that everyone wanting to make arcade art should know.  I mean, without that you should basically use GIMP and call it a day.  I highly recommend you bend a bit and learn these features, 'cause they are pretty powerful as well as helps the image be non-destructive when you're sizing it. When  I say non-destructive, I mean being able to change the scale/dpi, etc...and not lose image information/quality or introduce artifacts.  So fresh and so clean, clean!

Also, 600 dpi for your control panel is going to annoy the hell out of the guy printing this for you. It's overkill to go that high, and honestly why bloat your file sizes and tax your computer processing when you don't need it to be that way? 

I literally just spent 15 mins tracing one of bubble enemies into vectors, using the Ellipse tool (set to Shapes) and added strokes via Layer Styles.  The glows from the bubble reflection are also vector shapes with a Outer Glow Layer Style.   The only thing raster I used is the shading which really doesn't need to be vectored anyway since it's blurred.
I then added a Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer to it, converted it to a Smart Layer and was able to do a non-destructive Transform to scale it up.


Here's a breakdown of what was done.

1.  Built the Main Bubble first with the Ellipse Tool, colour set to brown, added a yellow stroke to it via Layer Styles
2. Outer outline was a duplicated Main Bubble, and set underneath. I increased the size of the stroke and changed the colour to brown so that the outline shows outside of the yellow stroke from the Main Bubble.
3. Made the body, again with the Ellipse Tool, then took the Direction Selection Tool (Hotkey=A) and moved the handles a bit to warp the body so it's not a perfect circle. Set the shape to Yellow
4. Created the arms and bow, again with the Ellipse Tool and again edited the shape with the Direction Selection Tool.  Added a Brown Stroke via Layer Styles.
5. Did the same thing with the Eyes using 4 Ellipses -- 2 brown, 2 yellow (for the pupils) and deformed it to match the eye shapes.
6. Started a new layer for the Shading, and just used an airbrush to paint it in  <--raster.
7. Created two white vector shapes (can be draw with the pen tool, or created through the Ellipse tool) for the reflection highlights and added an Outerglow to them in the Layer Styles
8. Added an Hue and Saturation Adjustment Layer to the top of the layer stack, set it to colourize, and gave it a blue tone.
9. Selected all the layers, right-click --> Convert to Smart Layer, and proceeded to Transform Scale it up to the size I need.
10. Double clicking on the smart layer opens it up, so that I could adjust my stroke and glow sizes when at a different scale.  Hitting Save updates the Smart Layer in the main file.

That's really it.  It took me longer to write up these steps than it was to create the actual image. I've been using Photoshop for a long ass time so something like this is quick for me, but to a novice it shouldn't take you too much longer than this to do the same.

I hope this helps you grow your knowledge of PS, 'cause it's super useful for a lot of things if you plan on going to print with any art you make.


**ALSO:  I recommend reading through Malenko's and my tutorials regarding Stroke Styles, Smart Layers etc... here, and here.  These should give you some ideas on how to create some cool stuff and be able to size it the way you want.


So I've been having a go at this... First couple of steps are old hat to me - no problems there... used to using strokes.

Creating the body was interesting. I used a rectangle here, and I couldnt find exactly the option you mentioned but ended up right clicking and then warp... what's confusing is that I only seem to get the rotaton type arrows on certain anchor points - how can i add one of these? I ended up creating a LOT of elipses to try and get the shape...

Also, last step - converting to smart objects... once i've done that I'm unsure how to adjust the stroke sizes? Seems to do it automatically?

Edit: one other question - is there any way to add a stroke to just a path? Or do i need to make a shape... I don't really get paths - i can't seem to do anything with them...
« Last Edit: March 21, 2016, 12:11:45 pm by vaderag »

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #22 on: March 21, 2016, 12:20:56 pm »
My attempt at the orange one...

lamprey

  • Trade Count: (+3)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 636
  • Last login:January 17, 2019, 07:03:11 pm
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #23 on: March 21, 2016, 01:28:56 pm »
If my 600dpi cp is going to piss people off
It isn't going to piss anyone off and who cares if you do? I've had several CPOs printed and I always send them 600dpi artwork.

yotsuya

  • Trade Count: (+21)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 19955
  • Last login:Yesterday at 10:58:57 pm
  • 2014 UCA Winner, 2014, 2015, 2016 ZapCon Winner
    • forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137636.msg1420628.html
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #24 on: March 21, 2016, 04:04:10 pm »
So do 'em at 1200dpi. That's 4 times the pixels!
***Build what you dig, bro. Build what you dig.***

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #25 on: March 22, 2016, 09:23:25 am »
@opt2not - could you please share the PSD of your Yellow bubble? Thank you

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #26 on: March 22, 2016, 09:45:47 am »
And this is where things go horribly wrong...

Love someone to tell me how i can improve this... because I essentially traced all the lines but it looks naff...

Vigo

  • the Scourage of Carpathia
  • Global Moderator
  • Trade Count: (+24)
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6417
  • Last login:March 21, 2024, 08:20:28 am
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #27 on: March 22, 2016, 10:36:58 am »
The eyes and mouth just look like the paintbrush tool was used to draw them. They are at a standard width. Use the pen tool and tweak the anchor points so the mouth and eyes can have a variable width, and I bet it should look loads better. The edge of the mouth should taper much more and head all the way up to the back of the head with a very thin line.

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #28 on: March 22, 2016, 10:45:12 am »
The eyes and mouth just look like the paintbrush tool was used to draw them. They are at a standard width. Use the pen tool and tweak the anchor points so the mouth and eyes can have a variable width, and I bet it should look loads better. The edge of the mouth should taper much more and head all the way up to the back of the head with a very thin line.

That definitely helped... (this is why i'm not an artist ;)

Still doesnt feel quite right tho...

opt2not

  • Trade Count: (+15)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6173
  • Last login:February 15, 2024, 07:31:21 pm
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #29 on: March 22, 2016, 04:03:43 pm »
Creating the body was interesting. I used a rectangle here, and I couldnt find exactly the option you mentioned but ended up right clicking and then warp... what's confusing is that I only seem to get the rotaton type arrows on certain anchor points - how can i add one of these? I ended up creating a LOT of elipses to try and get the shape...
Hmm, I guess I should have elaborated a bit more on this step.

When you hit "A" on the keyboard, it should give you the tool that allows you to select points and move the bezier handles (aka curve handles) around to change that point's curve.  You will see your cursor change to an Arrow,  if it's a black Arrow, that's the Path Selection Tool that you can use for moving an entire Path or Shape.  Hitting Shift+A will get you to switch to the Direct Selection Tool, which allows you to edit individual points. 

Now, if your points do not have any of those curve handles that means they are hard-angled points. To convert an already placed hard-angled point to a curved-point, use the Convert Point Tool, found under the Pen Tool in the Toolbox (left-click and hold to bring up the sub tools). With this tool, you can click on a point and drag out the curve handles, or single clicking on a point will convert it back to a hard-angled point.



Also, last step - converting to smart objects... once i've done that I'm unsure how to adjust the stroke sizes? Seems to do it automatically?
Think of a Smart Object as a container. This container holds the layers you converted inside itself, and "lives" within the psd.  The beauty thing about this is that any deformation you make to the Smart Object is not going to change the contents within it, it only effects the "container".
You will need to double-click on the Smart Object to "open" it up, (which pops up a separate window) and then you can change the stroke sizes within it.   A good trick I like to use is opening it up and dragging the window off to the side while editing so you can see what is happening in the main file.  Whenever you make a change within the Smart Object's window, hit Save, and you'll see the main file updated.

Edit: one other question - is there any way to add a stroke to just a path? Or do i need to make a shape... I don't really get paths - i can't seem to do anything with them...
You can't add a stroke to just a path, because paths don't create layers like shapes or raster images.  Think of them as guides rather than image data. They are mainly used for creating templates, or extruding 3D shapes (in later PS versions).  Personally I stay away from using Paths and just stick to Shapes.
If you wanted to get just a stroke, create a Shape and set it's fill to 0% in the layer setting, which sits just below the Opacity value. Then when you add the Stroke in the Style Effects you'll just have that, and no filled in colour.

That definitely helped... (this is why i'm not an artist ;)

Still doesnt feel quite right tho...
You've got too much airbrushing on the darker blue shading there.  For this blue guy, I'd make the darker shading more "hard" and not have that airbrush faded look.  For these you could just make additional darker blue vector shapes instead of a raster layer, since the vector will give you that hard edge.

@opt2not - could you please share the PSD of your Yellow bubble? Thank you
I can't attach PSD files to posts in this forum. But if you PM me your email, I can send you it.

You are definitely on the right track here with the other ones though. You could probably tweak them a bit more, but you're getting pretty close. Keep it up!
« Last Edit: March 22, 2016, 04:06:14 pm by opt2not »

opt2not

  • Trade Count: (+15)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6173
  • Last login:February 15, 2024, 07:31:21 pm
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #30 on: March 22, 2016, 04:11:19 pm »
If my 600dpi cp is going to piss people off
It isn't going to piss anyone off and who cares if you do? I've had several CPOs printed and I always send them 600dpi artwork.
Classic noob mistake.   It pisses people off with the fact that you're bloating the file size for no good reason.  Which not only makes it a pain to work with, it also taxes the CPU a lot more when handling the file.  The difference between a 300dpi image and a 600dpi isn't just doubling the file size, it's quadrupling it!

lamprey

  • Trade Count: (+3)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 636
  • Last login:January 17, 2019, 07:03:11 pm
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #31 on: March 23, 2016, 03:53:38 pm »
If my 600dpi cp is going to piss people off
It isn't going to piss anyone off and who cares if you do? I've had several CPOs printed and I always send them 600dpi artwork.
Classic noob mistake.   It pisses people off with the fact that you're bloating the file size for no good reason.  Which not only makes it a pain to work with, it also taxes the CPU a lot more when handling the file.  The difference between a 300dpi image and a 600dpi isn't just doubling the file size, it's quadrupling it!
I only deal with people/companies that can handle it. So, get off your high horse.

opt2not

  • Trade Count: (+15)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6173
  • Last login:February 15, 2024, 07:31:21 pm
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #32 on: March 23, 2016, 04:12:00 pm »
I only deal with people/companies that can handle it. So, get off your high horse.

opt2not

  • Trade Count: (+15)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6173
  • Last login:February 15, 2024, 07:31:21 pm
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #33 on: March 24, 2016, 02:54:21 pm »
How'd you fare, Vaderag?  Is this process working out for you?
I'm interested in seeing the updated blue bubble.

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #34 on: March 25, 2016, 12:47:24 pm »
How'd you fare, Vaderag?  Is this process working out for you?
I'm interested in seeing the updated blue bubble.
Haven't had chance yet - with the family for the easter weekend, so will be next week!!

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #35 on: March 31, 2016, 08:54:44 am »
Okay, so update on the vecorisation attempt...

Attached is the latest attempt at the blue - i decided to go back to basics and try and copy the sprite instead of the blurry 3D image...
It's better but i'm still not overly happy with it...


I've actually decided to tone down the backgrounds even more on my CP (i.e. turn up the opacity) as after taking some time away I decided the were masking the vivid colurs that I wanted... considering this, and the fact that I can't really get these vectors to come out looking quite right, i think i'm going to stick with the blurred raster, at least for now.
I may revisit this in a month or so when i'm approaching the end of the design, but right now i want get the base laid out properly...

Still, this has been a good learning process :)

opt2not

  • Trade Count: (+15)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6173
  • Last login:February 15, 2024, 07:31:21 pm
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #36 on: March 31, 2016, 04:40:11 pm »
Art definitely takes time, practice and patience. 
It's a shame you gave up on this, you were on the right track. It would have just taken a bit more time to tune it up a bit. But hey, art isn't as easy as people think eh? ;)
Good luck with the rest of your project.

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #37 on: March 31, 2016, 05:44:18 pm »
Art definitely takes time, practice and patience. 
It's a shame you gave up on this, you were on the right track. It would have just taken a bit more time to tune it up a bit. But hey, art isn't as easy as people think eh? ;)
Good luck with the rest of your project.
Totally agree, art isn't easy, and I've always claimed wholeheartedly that I'm anything but an artist!!

Definitely learned something from this process however and some of the things I've learned I'm going to use to redo a couple of bits on the CP and as I say, may revisit this later. It may also come in handy with the sides and marquee which I haven't touched yet!

I started this project as exactly that, a project. A learning experience, which hopefully will end up with a good end result that I'm proud of. I wanted to stretch myself and things like this are exactly what I wanted! It may not be what some people will call perfection, but certainly right now, I'm happy to call it perfection for me...
Maybe once the design is finished and I can see everything in place I'll revise, and make it more perfect, but there are two people I'm building this machine for, me and my daughter. She's 8 months, so not going to care, which leaves me ;)

Really appreciate the help tho, it's really going to be useful across the rest of the project, especially the sides with larger graphics and more requirement for accuracy

vaderag

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 362
  • Last login:January 16, 2023, 05:11:02 am
  • Building my own cab :)
Re: 300 or 600 dpi?
« Reply #38 on: April 12, 2016, 01:08:01 pm »
I wanted to ask you guys a question...

I've been playing with my vector learning and it's really helping me with finishing off the CP design..

I'm trying something out but i've got a bit stuck - created the below using elipses and worked out how to cut out a circle. But I want to curve the corners of each of the things.
I have actually managed this by creating each of the parts separately and using the techniques above, but they're all a bit more, erm, wonky. I actually like the wonkiness, but what i really want is the exact circle to outline the joy, hence trying this method.

So, what i'm wondering... is there any way to break apart the sections of shape that remain to treat as their own now? Or is this all I can do and making each one separate is the only real way?

Thanks!