Drawing: Is it possible?

Hey! This sneaky...but could it work?

Print out the template you want to use. Get tracing paper. Trace your design on the printed out template. Scan the design, bring it into a photo manipulation proggie like PSP or PS7..line it up to the template. Add fabric.

Lather, rinse..repeat.

In theory..it sounds like it could work. But my brain is giving me undefinable red flags.

What do the pros think?

I'm no fasion designer, but technicaly it's a sound idea.

A better idea is to print the template on tracing paper, most printers can take the paper after the printer settings have been adjusted.

I don't see why it wouldn't work.

But it seems a little cumbersome compared to simply drawing on screen. But that's possilby a personal preference issue.

I've wondered this same thing myself... might have to try it, just for laughs. If it works, it'd be helpful for those of us who don't yet have a graphics tablet.

Oh, it should work, but it's a bit of a hassle compared to grabbing a nice Wacom Grapfire or some such and drawing on screen, given you'll have to touch up in a graphics program anyway...

Still, it's a good option if you already scan in your art and can't spring for a tablet just yet.

Well. I tried it.

It didn't work, lol.

The sketched out deisgn absolutely refuses to line up with the template in Photoshop, regardless of how much I resized it or mangled it.

Oy.

It sounds like a perfect time to invest in an art pad.

What's an art pad?

Athene<~~~~~ not an artist and so knows nothing.

These.

Basically, why limit yourself to tracing and scanning when you can draw right onto the screen? I have an older Wacom, and I still love it.


Feel free to search around this forum for suggestions. Wacoms are, really, the one everyone suggests.

it can be a really big transition if you are used to drawing on paper where you can see your hand and surface to drawing with you hand in one place and your eyes focused elsewhere.

makes you a better artist I think in the end because it challenges hand-eye coordination, but it's damn frustrating

are you keeping your aspect ratios correct?
A 512x512 image @ 72 dpi is 7.1 inches square how big is your picture being printed out at?

If anyones up to sharing, I'd love to see a pic of what happens..

Have any non-tablet users found Adobe Illustrator advantageous for making clothes? I have a tablet and Adobe Suite (Photoshop and Illustrator), but when I design the basic shape of an outfit I make it using paths in Illustrator, then move a white or black shape into Photoshop to do shading and coloring.

When I'm making my paths in Illustrator I rarely feel compelled to use my pen, just the mouse, though it almost hurts to use only the mouse for shading in Photoshop. The pen tool works fine and precise with a mouse and the smooth tool.. er, smoothes it all out.

I haven't tried it myself, but those interested in trying an open source vector program might look into Inkscape. http://www.inkscape.org/
Let me know if it's any good. =3

The thing about drawing on a tracing and scanning it is that you're going to need to get the aspect ratio perfect when you import the thing into PS.

So, before you print out the template for scanning, Select All (Command/ctrl A) and then go to Edit > Stroke and choose 1 or 2 pixels on the Inside. That will outline the edge of the map, which is a critical piece of information.

After you print, draw, and scan, you'll be able to use that outline to make it the right size in PS. Just crop around the outline, using the crop tool to straighten the image if necessary, and then change the Image Size to 1024x1024, and everything should line up fairly closely.

A neat trick to get things straight in Photoshop before you crop, in case using the crop tool to do this is too tricky (and it can be.)



If you are using that trick, then straighten it first, and then crop. But the thing is, once it's cropped and resized, it should be a pretty close match.

However, I do strongly recommend that you get a Wacom tablet as soon as you can afford it. If you get a Wacom, the correspondence between the movement of the pen and the movement of the cursor is so exact that you'll be drawing inside of 15 minues. (After all, you are already used to moving the mouse while looking at the screen. This is really the same thing.)

This cannot be said of any other brand of tablet. I've used tablets other than Wacom, and there really is no comparison. (Besides, you 'll never need to buy batteries for the Wacom pen, so it comes out cheaper in the long run. Not to mention you'll skip all the frustration and headaches of trying to draw with a pen that has failing batteries, which isn't as much fun as you might think.)

Anyway, hopefully those instructions are clear enough to follow!

Let us know how it works!

Dear Santa...

For Christmas this year I want a cookie, a story, a glass of water, and a Wacom.

Sure and the worst problem about not being able to design well is that I have fantabulous ideas..and nothing to do with them.

I already did it, so yes, it is more then very possible! And when I do draw direct in the pc...
Do I use a tablet? NO I don't, I never do. MOUSE baby yeah! Oldschoooool!!
*waves*

Awwww I hope Santa is listening and you get your wacom! However, if you were naughty and he brings coal instead, do not fret. You can do so much without a wacom. I have been designing SL clothing (nocturnal threads is my shop) pretty much since I joined and couldn't afford a wacom until recently. There is a lot you can do with the mouse, line tools, shape tools, etc. Don't let the lack of wacom prevent you from letting your creative juices flow. You will only become more proficient at other tools in the meanwhile and when your wacom comes it will just be an additional tool granting you even more possibilities.

if you have Photoshop CS2, the Filter -> Distort -> Lens Correction tools is really cool as well. You can use the second picture icon on the top left (straighten tool) to just draw a line along your straight path, and PS will rotate for you accordingly.

also can help fix perspective and vignette problems to a certain extent

Yeah elka!!! me too!!

I've owned several graphics tablets, but I still prefer my mouse. Yes, I know there are advantages, including levels of pressure, etc. but I just like my mouse and I've learned to do what I want with it. And I am VERY picky about detail, so I'm not cutting corners. All wrinkles and shading, even a bow tie knot, were done with my mouse.

Some say using a mouse is like drawing with a potato. Maybe so, but I like my potato!!!!

Nah, a potato gets more line variation.
*grins*

I can't use them until I can have one with visual representation too.

(That means a video display under the pen, folks...)

Ooo, looking into a Cintiq are we? What is that, $2000, $3000? I'd love to be able to afford one myself. I'm a poor college student, lucky as is to have my Intuos.

Tablet PCs; there's a few models that are good enough to use as sketchpads.

They're also horrifically expensive, but they exist.

Tablet PCs are nice if you want a portable system, but for the price it may not be worth it considering a Tablet PC is doomed to normal laptop disadvantages like keyboard size, battery life, and eventual obsolescence.

The Wacom Cintiq 17SX offers 1280x1024 resolution and can hook up to a PC or Macintosh. Plus, it’s small and light enough to carry around.

Or, for the whole $3000 Cintiq 21UX can do 1600x1200 resolution, though I wouldn’t want to carry one around much… especially at that price.

http://www.wacom.com/lcdtablets/index.cfm

Thank you for your kind words.