Illustrations for beginners - Page 2

Ancientimages · #11 (**permalink**) 10-20-2007, 03:15 PM

Gracey, do have some sites you would recommend? Thanks in advance.....

Gracey · #12 (**permalink**) 10-21-2007, 06:57 AM

You can try these to start with, but there's tons of them if you do a google search:

Illustrator Tutorials
Illustrator Tutorials
Free Tutorials - Page 1 | Illustrator Techniques

Karimala · #13 (**permalink**) 10-22-2007, 06:49 AM

Can't make a vector in Photoshop? On the contrary. I had never made a vector in my life until a couple of days ago, and guess what? I made it almost entirely in Photoshop. :-D

Photoshop does have the capability to create vector paths. Bittbox has an excellent blog post about how to do it. Read through all the comments...several readers provided additional tips that helped me put all the pieces together.

Take Vector Paths from Photoshop into Illustrator | BittBox

However, the final step, converting the PSD file into an AI8 EPS file as required by the micros, does require Illustrator.

I'm anxious to see what SS and 123RF have to say about the vector I made.

sharpshot · #14 (**permalink**) 10-22-2007, 08:38 AM

I tried illustrator but didn't like it. It is a huge program and takes a long time to open on my PC. I don't want to spend lots of money on software I don't like.

Inkscape works well for me and it is free. There might be some compatibility problems but I have had no major problems and have had had vectors accepted by SS, DT and SXP. I know there are vector artists on IS using Inkscape. Definitely a good alternative to illustrator.

Inkscape. Draw Freely.

Gracey · #15 (**permalink**) 10-23-2007, 03:02 AM

Yes, inkscape vectors will work, but I'm pretty sure the photoshop one will not be considered a true vector in the sense that shutterstock means - as Karin points out, you need the illustrator format (illustrator 8 ) - they will accept the image as a .jpg illustration though. I'm pretty sure Perry submitted a bunch of those "PS" vectors and they ended up being accepted, but weren't vectors and had to be converted.

Karin is right that you can do some of the work on a vector in photoshop, but there are some things (like gradients I think) that don't work properly in the PS vector. I created one in PS (seems like ages ago now) and sent it to Lee (striver) to check it because he has illustrator, but the gradients I used came out like blocks of colour not gradients. In using illustrator (uh, very little actually) I found differences in how things work in there. I've still got a vector from "before" I haven't tried to open yet in illustrator (just a practice heart with curls)...should have a look

I purchased Illustrator 9, GoLive, LiveMotion, and InDesign for $80 on e-bay. I didn't want the other programs (they were older versions and I didn't need their uses) but Illustrator 9 was more than suitable for me; since I don't have XP or Vista the newest Illustrator won't run on my computer anyway, and if I feel the need later, I can still upgrade the illustrator package I've got.

It does seem to be a hog on memory though - I've got 3 gb of ram now, but it didn't want to go too fast when I only had 1 gb.

...ignore any typos; I've already fixed a dozen but my eyes are so blurry i can't see right now to fix anymore (eye drops ugh)...going to 'listen' to tv for a while

Karimala · #16 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 11:12 PM

I just had my first vector accepted at 123RF...the one made almost entirely in Photoshop.

Gracey is correct that some things don't work when created in Photoshop, like gradients. I'm actually surprised 123RF accepted mine, because after I uploaded it I noticed the gradients are heavily pixelated. Need to do that kind of work in Illustrator. But...the overall design and all of the shapes were created in Photoshop.

Gregor909 · #17 (**permalink**) 10-25-2007, 05:26 AM

Great Karin!

But I think Illustrator is best for vectors.
I hate the pentool in PS, especially if you're used to IL.
I keep using the spacebar to re-adjust the anchor points in PS, but it doesn't work! Did it a thousand times, I'll never learn.
And IL has a lott more features better for vector, especially CS3!

Karimala · #18 (**permalink**) 10-25-2007, 06:23 AM

I have to agree, Gregor. Now if I can just learn how to use Illustrator! LOL

The good thing about the Photoshop way for me is that I can start making vectors for sale while easing my way into Illustrator. The two programs are compatible in the way the Microsoft Office Suite programs are compatible. I can make the skeleton in Photoshop where I'm comfortable, and then transfer to PSD file into Illustrator for tweaking and details.

helix7 · #19 (**permalink**) 10-30-2007, 05:30 AM

I agree with the comments made so far suggesting that vector illustration is the way to go and generates better sales results. I upload both JPG and vector versions of my images at Shutterstock and the vectors outsell the JPGs easily. But that also bring sup a good point about vector illustration: create your images in illustrator and you can easily save both a JPG and EPS version and esentially have two images created for the same effort required of one image.

I've found in my personal experience that vectors sell well, probably better than photos (generally speaking), but tend to be more time consuming to create. In the end, the profitability factor probably evens out because of this. Still, I think it's a good way to go, and it never hurts to diversify your portfolio.

Some of the top sellers at IS have a wide array of images in their portfolios in both the photography and illustration categories.

As far as learning Illustrator or any other piece of software, I recommend Learning @ Your Own Pace? - lynda.com. I've gone through a few of those video training courses and have found them to be exceptionally helpful. They usually have various skill level courses for each subject, and the on-screen nature of the videos give you a really good teach-by-example sort of experience. They're not free, but well worth a subscription if you ask me. There was a link to a free 24-hour trial floating around somewhere recently. Search on Digg and it might come up.

Pierdelune · #20 (**permalink**) 11-03-2007, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregor909

Nice tutorial, but nativelight is right. Photoshop can't create an EPS-file, and that's what the micros want. Ofcourse you can upload your illustration as a JPG, but you get less downloads than a EPS.

Thanks to Native Light for the link. I read it and hope that I understand as my English is not perfect. But one think I still don't understand, You said that you can't create an EPS file with photoshop, I have PS 3 and in save as there is a possibility to save the file in EPS also. Is there any difference between saving an EPS in Ps and saving it in Illustrator.

I don't have Illustrator and it very costly. I also will like to learn vector and it seems quite complicate if I only have PS 3.
I have quite a big portofolio in every site and mostly travel pictures and senior pictures. It seems that people begin to get tired of sort of pictures.