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Vectors. Practicing and guides
Firstly I was pondering over whether to post this or not. I fear I will get ribbed for it, but if I don’t I will still be under the same rock in a years time with my machine laid up with lost interest.
It’s winter, I have more free time and I am determined to get into this.
I have a keen interest in the industry, but as I know so little I get ‘scared’ off by the fear of being annoying and asking questions 😳
On my Christmas list is the well known ‘How to create a sign writing business’ book, which I am really looking forward to getting hold of which should hopefully settle my nerves and give me the bigger picture which I can pick up in bitesize chunks in my own time.
Recently, I have done some small jobs for friends. Mainly text work within the cutting program I use, and some logo’s which I was lucky enough to have EPS files of which I could import over into the cutting program, resize and cut with no hassle.
Now, my biggest fear has been creating logo’s from scratch. I worry that for example a friend of a friend or the likes will approach me to create something more ‘bespoke’ which I would have to shy away from and lose out on.
What I am seeking really is some guidance, how people have practiced, where they started and good guides online to trace logo’s and the quickest most effective way to create the files I need.
So if someone would be kind enough to point me in the right direction, what is the quickest way to create the image from say a small simple company logo. I have an old copy of photoshop CS. I aim to open the imaginary company logo JPEG up in photoshop, trace it using the pen tool and then that is where I get lost.
I have Corel Draw, but have never actually used it. I understand these two programs cross over at some point for actually creating the vector image.
Someone may have an easier way, where I can create the EPS I need to import over into my cutting program.
Apologies for rambling on 😮
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13 Replies
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Start using Corel for the vector work. There are loads of online guides and youtube vids to get started.
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I am biased towards Corel but, I can fumble my way around the CS trils i’ve looked at.
the most important tools you need to get to grips with are the shape tool and the freehand tool. use the latter to draw lines, use the shape tool to shape them by editing the nodes / lines in between.
its hard to explain!
youtube has a wealth of videos, I think there are some tutorials on the discs themselves too.
I sometimes see a logo or design I like and simply draw it because I can or, to see if I can! I rarely get daunted by logo’s anymore, unless there’s a million nodes! you soon learn to break things down into groups and how to use the groups to the best effect etc.
it’s all down to time and practice i’m afraid. As for doing a logo from scratch, you’ll need inspiration and imagination, only you can draw it from scratch, though get as many pointers from the customer as possible. if they want me to design from scratch then I want a £50 up front artwork fee which covers 2-3hrs. the reason for that is the customer will say "I don’t know what I want", when you show them your ideas they’ll say "but i don’t want that" – thus they either give you a firm direction and you decide it’s worth the risk or, you get a deposit and they are not guaranteed to be loving the results.
Hugh
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Firstly, never be afraid to ask questions, doesn’t really matter how stupid you think they are, if you don’t know the answer how are you going to learn??
Like anything takes hard work and practice like Hugh has said but if you feel it is what you want to do then you should be prepared for that.
Get someone to buy you Mike Stevens " Mastering Layout" for Christmas as well, one of the most useful books I have ever been recommended to buy.Learn to use Corel as has been said if that’s what you intend to use for vector graphics. I don’t use it at all but do know there are tons of tutorials available for free. Once you get the hang of the basic tools things seem a lot less daunting.
Spend some time reading through posts on here as you will pick up a lot that way, a paid membership that gives you access to all the tutorials would be money well spent as well.
Best of luck with what ever you decide to do but just remember that the whole point of the forum was so people who wanted to get into the industry could learn as well as helping existing signmakers.
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Thanks for the kind words guys.
I think I will concentrate on CorelDraw then and start off simple with a box or something. If I manage to actually ‘Vectorise’ that and I am able to import that into my cutting program, I will know I am on the right path at least.
Layering is something that I don’t want to worry about now, so will start with one colour images and see how I get on.
It’s reasuring to hear that ‘newbies’ get support. I am sick of my day job and if I could make this work for me it would be a dream come true.
I have my plotter in a spare room which technically isn’t classed as a bedroom because you probably would struggle to fit one in! I have to weed on my lounge floor – but we have to start somewhere! I don’t have the minerals to leave my job and hope for the best with no experience. My aim is to tick along and gain techniques and then when I am confident to actually be able to provide a decent service try to expand and see what happens.
The ‘Mastering layout’ book is a useful recommendation and I would rather buy a book that people with experience have benefited from.
I find myself staring at every sign I see now, some look terrible, and it’s suprising how many are laid out so poorly.
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HI Daniel
Use coral if you have it (hopefully a legit copy 😉 ) or when you splash out get Adobe CS which will have photoshop and Illustrator which will cover all aspects.
When it comes to vectorising it’s practice practice practice, choose a logo, any logo (Tesco logo for an easy start 😉 ) and recreate it from scratch.
Scan it (or download a jpeg and open in Coral)
Lock it in place so it’s easy to draw over
then recreate colour by colour even if they overlay, there are tools like merge and punch and divide etc which will create the finished vector you require but it all takes practice and time, some logos can be done in minutes and others will take hours, it all depends on how complex it is.My wife wanted to learn so I gave hew a "Dreamweaver for Dummies" book, she asked how the hell will that help her learn to vectorise ………..
………. I told her to recreate the entire cover in Illustrator and it must be perfect, it took her a few days but she did a good job. The more you do it the quicker you get, learn the tools available to you (and short cuts help too 😉 )
Start small and keep practicing
good luck
Warren
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Daniel, I don’t like mentioning names but have a look at Some of Warren Beard’s work. Warren started off on this forum not that many years ago as someone who had no idea about the industry what so ever but bags of enthusiasm and a real desire to learn. He is a really good example of what can be achieved if you really want.
Looking at every sign you see is not a bad thing, maybe quite sad lol but I do it all the time. As well as just looking at them start to critique them as well. What’s good what’s bad, what works what doesn’t what would I have done, how could I make it better. That sort of thing. Remember things you like as you will find that quite often it is something you can incorporate into a design of your own.
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quote Martin:Daniel, I don’t like mentioning names but have a look at Some of Warren Beard’s work. Warren started off on this forum not that many years ago as someone who had no idea about the industry what so ever but bags of enthusiasm and a real desire to learn. He is a really good example of what can be achieved if you really want.
awww shucks 😳 .. cheques in the post :lol1:
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Ive been working with Corel for years but I still find new "tools" and tricks to work with.
I can recommend watching the Tutorials from http://www.advancedartist.com/coreldrawtutorial.html
I also bought his training CDs. They have paid for themselves a million times.
Earl -
All of the above – all good advice. Personally I’d go for CorelDraw for learning vector work. Anything you draw in Corel is vector format by default, so if you scribble some shape with the FreeHand tool (mouse over the buttons for tooltip descriptions) the result will be a vector image. Then use the Shape tool to edit/move the nodes around – pretty soon the penny will drop and you’ll be away with it.
Remember the best way to get wet is to jump in!! 🙂
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I’m a Corel and Signlab user but I would always choose Corel over illustrator not only for ease of use but also upgrading in the future will be significantly cheaper than Adobe products.
Alan D -
quote Warren Beard:HI Daniel
Use coral if you have it (hopefully a legit copy 😉 ) or when you splash out get Adobe CS which will have photoshop and Illustrator which will cover all aspects.
My wife wanted to learn so I gave hew a “Dreamweaver for Dummies” book, she asked how the hell will that help her learn to vectorise ………..
………. I told her to recreate the entire cover in Illustrator and it must be perfect, it took her a few days but she did a good job. The more you do it the quicker you get, learn the tools available to you (and short cuts help too 😉 )
Start small and keep practicing
good luck
Warren
Thanks Warren. Yeah I have a legit copy. I bought my machine and loads more as a package when someone threw the towel in. I got lots of vinyl (which is past it’s use by date now, but ideal for practicing with), loads of knives cutting boards, rollers, squeegees, straigh edges and a Corel disc was included. Saying that, I presume you can transfer ownership of it legitimatly?
Photoshop was given to us at college when I studied several years ago as a reward. I only ever use it to resize images for forums and the like. It is wasted on me :lol1:
I don’t think I will go replicating the front of a large detailed cover, but it can’t heart to practice and find new techniques.
Give it a week and I will report back and see how I get on, hopefully being able to say it’s simple and I don’t know what the fuss was about 😎
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no problem,
just remember if you get stuck trying to do anything ask here or just type it in to google and I bet many others have had the same questions.
cheers
Warren
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All great advice for you – excellent. I’m an Adobe Illustrator guy (since version 1 on floppy) and I’m also an ACE (Adobe Accredited Expert) in Illustrator and InDesign
I would suggest you sign up with Lynda.com – costs about $37 a month, and you can cease at any time – this site is probably the best source of quality training resources I have come across in my career. Most of the Adobe guru’s & Total Training guys are on there, with easy to follow clear video and downloadable practice files.As the guys say, the only way is to "practice" – but practice as a designer with a real eye on how you’re going to cut the job – make life as easy as possible when designing a logo.
The simplest clean designs are often the best – as the guys say, become a sponge and soak up other peoples work that you like – take shots on your phone of designs you like, and ones you don’t – then create a gallery for yourself.
I always look at vans / trucks on the road and think about their graphics, and how I might have tackled it. Don’t overfill a vehicle with text – even if the customer gives you a list of everything they do plus the name of his dog!! Less is best! At the end of the day most people see the design for a few seconds – so it must be memorable in design & colour – like TNT or BT or Sainsburys etc etc.
Bold. Clean. Be seen.
Good luck.
Billy
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