Improving Workflow

This more a qustion on any input people have on how to make your workflow easier and faster. I know learning the kb shortcuts is a big one that I am trying to force myself to learn to use them more often. I thought it would be nice if we could post some and how you implement them.

This is a great topic. I'm really glad you started this thread. I'll be really curious to hear other people's tips, but I have two to get things rolling.

1. Actions
This can be a huge time saver. If you've got a repetetive task that you do often, create an action for it. From then on it's just one click repeat. I think this is something most new Photoshop users tend to overlook. I know I did for a long time.

2. Build a Library
Okay, so this will be a long process in the beginning, but after a little while it's soooo useful. Never throw away anything. Keep layered source copies (PSD's) of everything you make. You never know when a piece of one thing can serve to become the base of something else. If it took you 12 hours of painting to make that perfect fabric for that really cool shirt you made 3 months ago, it shouldn't have to take you 12 more hours to do something similar now. Simply pull bits and pieces from the old image to get the new one started. This may seem pretty elementary if you already do it, but you'd be suprised how many people shoot themselves in the foot by only saving the final output and never keeping the intermediate work.

I practice all of Chosen's suggestions. They are essential to me as a professional illustrator.

I thought I'd resurrect a long buried post I made a while back in an off topic thread. It has specific relevance towards workflow and avatar customization with textures, and fits well with the topic of this thread. It will help any clothing designer, tattoo artist, or skinner with workflow tremendously. Here it is:

Wow, Nam, that's awesome! I never thought of doing that. I can't wait to try out this little gem. And here I've been bitching about how the downloadable models don't always match specific avs. What a waste of breath. If only I'd thought of this or I'd read your original post. To think of all the $L I've wasted. Thanks so much for sharing this.

I had to read the tutorial a few times before I realized what you meant. Maybe it's just me, but if I could offer some clarification to anyone else who might be a little confused, here's how this works. The 3 files Nam mentioned are located in your Program Files\SecondLife\character directory on your hard drive (that's for Windows users; not sure about the specific location on Mac, but it should be similar). Those 3 files dictate the way you see your av when he or she is not wearing anything else. Any change to those files will change the way your av is displayed on your screen. So, what Nam is suggesting is that for test purposes only, you temporarily replace those files with the clothing, skin, tattoos, etc. that you're currently working on. Just temporarily rename the existing files and give their old names to the files you're working on. That way SL will think that your new images are the images it's supposed to display on your screen as the av's actual skin. It's really quite brilliant. Just remember to change the names back when you're done.

Great tip and I must say that I am ashamed that I dont really know or use actions I started using PS so many versions ago and being a creature of habit did not fully explore all the new things added with each upgrade.

I have an idea what actios are for but they still seem foriegn to me so this is one thing I will be trying to work on.

I totally agree with chosen never throw out your layered files I cant tell you how often I have gone back to something even a year or 2 later. One thing I have found helpful I renaming the layered files at different stages such as layered vbersion 1 then 2 etc. Also setting up a master file with sub folders 1 folder for raw materials 1 for layered files and 1 for flattened. So many times when I dont do this I am hunting everywere for a specific file.

Here is a question for those who do keep thir raw and source file do you maintain them in a seperate library as well as in the folder your working on?

work flow? actions? making it easier/ faster to do things in ps? hehehe
i bang my head on the desk with every new design. if that helps any one.
because like sparkel i have been using ps for a while now and have never explored things as actions or any thing that did not have to do with me actually making the item.
although after reading this i believe i will be exploring a bit more. and hopefully that bruse on my head will subside.
i do how ever save every psp file some times multiple copies that are slightly different. although my file system is...
well lets just say it's not much of a file system lol.

thanks nam and chosen for the kool ideas

You pretty much got it Chosen . Sorry for my lack of technical writing skills. I work and think visually, so my translation into words sometimes resembles Swiss cheese. Here's a link to the original post , and this has a few tidbits that may help others grasp the technical aspects of this preview method:

I've got two REALLY basic ones that I learnt a long, long time ago, and still occasionally mess up.

1) Have two copies of the templates to hand - one in a working folder and one in a backup folder so if (when) you mess up and save something back to the template you've got a quick backup copy to hand.

Linked:

2) Open the template. Save as... (Shift-Cmd-S on a Mac) and choose the relevant name BEFORE you do anything else. Then when you save in a hurry because the doorbell rings, your other half logs on or whatever you don't write over the template and wonder where on earth your saved work is.

A more recent, but still basic one:

I've now got a few 'SL presets' at 256 X 256 and 512 X 512 pixels - the sizes I use most often for signs etc. It's quicker, I think, to click on them in the drop down than to check what size you want and change the numbers directly.

An SL specific one, just in case you've not found it:

When uploading image you can change the display to male/female upper and lower body - I suspect skirt too although I don't make skirts so I've never checked that one. I assume we all know that. But Alt and moving the mouse rotates the image and lets you zoom in, Cntl-Atl and the mouse lets you move the view point in a vertical arc. It's not as good as the suggestions above I suspect, but works nicely and again saves L$ - pressing cancel when it's not right means it doesn't cost anything.

Mark the template files read-only in your OS, and you won't be able to overwrite them accidentally.

Read this again, people. And again. Probably one of the most valuable lessons in this forum.


1. I NEVER flatten files. EVER. On (rare) occasion I will "merge linked" 2 or 3 layers, but no further. When you "save a copy" to upload or send off to repro or whatever, deselect "layers", and you will never need to flatten either.
2. Keeping multiple versions of a file between really big changes is a good idea, but if you use layers fully and correctly. most changes can be unwound just by hiding/deleting the more recent layers.

As a general guideline/mindset:
a. never "burn" or "dodge" (for example) a layer directly.
b. don't even select the small area you want to affect, duplicate it, and use the tools on that new layer.
c. rather draw some black/grey/white on a brand new layer and use mixing modes to get the effect you want (try multiply, screen, and overlay as a start)

When I work with Layers on my skin files in Photoshop I am dealing with about 150-300 layers per file. That translates to about 450-900 layers per skin. Things can get out of hand very quickly if I don't organize things right from the start.

I drill down even further than simple layers to get a maximum reuse out of a single layer. I also rely heavily on the layer sets to organize my file into a manageable structure and hierarchy.

1. Layer sets allow multiple layers to be grouped and manipulated as a single entity, for example, setting the opacity or the layer mode of an entire layer set.

2. Layer effects like color overlay, drop/inner shadow, inner/outer glow, etc. eliminate the need to create additional layers for varied effects. Layer modes also accomplish the same thing for burn, dodge, overlay, difference, etc.

3. Layer hierarchy can also work to ones advantage. For example, with my skin files I build a flat skin color layer set, a skin grain layer set, burn and dodge layer sets for shadowing and highlights, a markings layer set for veins, moles, and other skin colorations, a makeup layer set for tattoos and makeup, and a hair layer set for body and facial hair. All total, this is a seven-layer hierarchy, not including watermarking and template layer sets that sit above all others. This layer hierarchy allows me to build a skin that automatically takes into account a natural layering surface structure. I no longer think about such things as how transparent lipstick will respond if I change the skin grain on the lips, or how the dodging effect of the lip gloss will change when the color of the lipstick is altered. This all happens automatically in a natural way.

One additional thought on Channels
Keep your Channels to an ABSOLUTE MINIMUM. Save them as black and white color layers in their own layer set and plug them into the Channels slot only when you need them. More channels increase the file size exponentially when they sit in that slot. 32-bit information expands a lot faster than 24-bit information. If your file is not lean it takes longer to open, longer to manipulate, and longer to save.