i thought it was a good idea of reyrey's to post a tutorial in the forums so i thought i would too. this is the tutorial i sent blue lurker a few days ago (favouritism
)
a first look at my tutorial:
ok i'd just like to say i am in no way a professional when it comes to this- infact at the time of writing this, i only learnt how to do it yesterday but im hoping i can still help some people get into it and get hooked like i am . also, there is no right or wrong way to do things, and my way is nowhere near the best way to do it im sure.
ok first things first:
you should definately use a graphics tablet for this, it makes it a whole bunch easier.
Secondly, for large areas, and areas you need to be precise with, use the pen tool. for all the fiddley bits definately use the pencil it saves a lot of time. also, the best thing to trust when converting photos to vectors is your own judgement. every illustration is different, every wrokflow is different.
until your really good at illustrating, i would stick to doing black and white vectors, then when you have it nailed in b/w then just change the colour of the vector paths. < a pretty usefull trick . also, never, ever, use auto trace tool or similar.
the first tutorial i tried on illustrator was this one:
http://www.layersmagazine.com/when-vector-meets-photo.html
i found it didnt really help, i got lost half way through but you may have some luck with it.
http://giraffenecks.com/tutorials/index.php?ID=13 here you can learn about layer modes and clipping masks. (more complicated tahn in photoshop, you cant just brush it in)
ok now to get started, open up the image you want to vectorise in photoshop, desaturate it and play around with the contrast until your happy with it. check the image size and take a note of the measurements. IMPORTANT: save the image as something different to your coloured photo.
assuming you are starting by doing a b/w image (to start with):-
by this stage you hopefully will have 2 images- a coloured and a b/w image of the photo you want to vectorize (both the same size!). ok now open up illustrator and basicly what your trying to do its copy the areas of tone in blocks of colour, defined by vector paths (shown below). if you find this hard when you try it then you can cheat and apply posterise to the source image you use
if it isnt already open, open the pathfinder window by going to window>pathfinder. in this window you can join paths together, "divide" them which basicly splits the path into many paths (you'll see when you use it). its very usefull for managing your paths anyhoo.
its important to know how the layers work in illustrator as they are confusing if your used to photoshop layers (i found):
always remember your dealing with vectors and they are not rasterised. this means you can scale them without losing detail etc.
any number of paths can be in a layer. you view the paths in a layer by clicking the arrowhead next to the layer name.
you can create sub layers in a layer. this is the equivelent of a group in photoshop, only instead of the 'folder' layer itself, there is an ordinary layer allowing you to make paths on it etc.
this is how i work:
for each part (eyes, nose, mouth, hair, face, body, extra(<includes watches, shoes, just random things really )) i use a layer. in each layer i usually have 4 sublayers because i tend to use 4 colours- black, white, light grey, dark grey- all availible from the swatch. i order them (starting from the top) white, black, dark grey, light grey. this is for a few reasons but mainly because i find it easier to handle, and the white is on top incase of extra highlights (there is no point puting it on the bottom- the background is white anyway).
really you should just use your best judgement. i find even if ive gone wrong it still looks pretty good. when vectorising girls, the lips and mouth are the key to making or breaking your image, so take extra care with them. and know this- most of the time less is more.
after you finish your b/w version you have 3 options. finish it there, convert it to colours by sampling colours from the same points on your colour photo (lucky you saved it in the same resolution... i hope... ) or you can just pick out your own colours. what ever you do i would say to make blocks of the same tone the same colour. this is because the best thing about vectors is how uncluttered and clean illustrations are, and you dont want to ruin that by having a load of conflicting, distracting colours in it; this is also why you may want to leave it b/w.
problems you can come across:
there isnt enough contrast between 2 parts of the photo, so when in vectors, you cant tell what it is. you can either use the line tool or arch tool or whatever and draw a line where it should have separated, or you can draw in a block of shadow where there could be a shadow in the photo then turn down the opacity until its about at the right brightness.
something looks wrong. well you can change the opacity of some shadows and see if that helps, if not you can always scrap the wrong parts - don't be afraid to start again on an area. the chances are if you did it wrong the first time you wont do it wrong the second time so give it a try.
something doesnt look real. no worries. in photoshop your main aim is to get something looking photorealistic, but in illustrator its completely different. for some, the aim is to make it less photorealistic, and more artistic, but each to thier own.
ifthere was anything you didnt understand just pm me
