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wf2ste

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Hi,

I have been designing a banner in Photoshop, I have never done this before but I followed a video on YouTube on how to setup in Photoshop.

Before I send my artwork can anybody confirm that I have actually done it right.

I need it 6x2 and setup as following 72 x 24 inch 300dpi

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That's a pretty hefty file but its may be where you should start. Depends on the Graphics.

May not be what you need if it's mostly text.

 

...and if there's an image that has to be auto-traced, definately wanna start big in Raster.

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I guess you can't post up the .psd.

 

Are you sending this to a cutter and if so, how? You would be better off working in Illustrator or another vector based program.

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MokiDesigns said, "You would be better off working in Illustrator or another vector based program."

Not nessesarly, Moki... We haven't even heard the particulars about the project.

 

There may be plenty of raster based prep work that needs to be completed first.

You could work your butt of chasing a bunch of nodes around with a cursor,

or, it may be adventagous to stroke it with a brush or wacom pen.

 

It's a popular misconception that Raster software and the ability to use it is not needed in Design.

Or that it is somehow second to vector abilities. Believe me, If one is learned, it can cut time and effort ten-fold.

 

If one wishes to just scoot clipart around and arrange it with text only, then sure...

avoid learning and using raster based software and be content with less.

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OK, I will bite. 

 

Tell me what your doing that by creating in raster, then creating cut paths in another program is easier to do in a program that is designed to do it in?

 

 

I have been using these programs for more than 15 years. Please explain. 

 

Why not put your wacom stroke in with ai or corel. 

 

If the OP is printing, he has way to much dpi. If he is running a cutter please do so in something vector based and not in PS. Yes it can work but it is nowhere near ideal or suited for that type of work. 

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Someone hands you this picture;

 

post-43059-0-41018700-1405388153_thumb.p

 

And says the want a file to cut it in 5 colors to put on a banner in this fashion;

 

post-43059-0-66893300-1405388228_thumb.p

 

And tell you they want the background removed and or simplified.

 

You gonna grab Illustrator First ?

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That's true... there is no single, correct way.

 

Why "raster first" ? 

 

I can seperate the background and render it and the figures into the vector shapes you see in less than 20 minutes.

 

I'm not talking at-the-mercy-of- auto-trace shapes either. Shapes I created. Vectoring those comes later and takes just seconds.

 

Vector based programs are where I start if just working with simple shapes, or text, or clipart.

 

When working with images, I can't see starting with vector. Invariably, the image will need prep work before composition.

 

Vector work is a breeze when everything else is done. I do the everything else with the native tool to the image.

 

(... and I have over 20 years in this software.)

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Ya, that is where I differ. Why prep what I will not use. I do not use autotrace at all. I would redraw it. Grid a few boxes in perspective and repeat/rescale. That is if I was doing it for true vector output on a banner size with limited colors. 

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Your gonna manually redraw those figures seperated into 5 values?

 

Why? (Not to mention the Talent you must possess....)

 

That's gonna take hours.

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ya its going to take hours, That is why the customer gets billed if that is what they want. Why not posterize and just print or get it printed if they do not want to spent the money? Plenty of people on here print and whole sale houses like signs365 or signs2trade can get you a banner in a day. 

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That's not the criteria the OP mentioned or the example I threw up, My customer wanted the files created for them to create the physical work too.

 

Besides, you would rather spend hours than minutes?

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I actually ended up in a raster program to get what I needed. Fortunately I had no reason to vector I've the image and can't see it being any benefit to have started vector based in that instance. After what I've seen scarekrow turn out in a couple minutes he has convinced me to start working on my vector skills to speed up the process.

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Screenprinting should be raster for something like that. whole different ball game. It should of been half-toned on something like a 320 mesh screen and not altered at all imo.

 

 If you are going to break up your image and auto trace it then yes, PS is the way to go. Really no other way. But if you are going to draw it or design it then no, I do not believe PS is the go to tool. And you did say for design in your first post, not for converting or tracing a image like you have supplied samples of. 

 

Excuse me, 2nd post

Edited by mopar691

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Breaking those figures and the background into simplified shapes IS Design.

Then my design was vectored (traced) in Inkscape and/or VinylMaster.

 

edit: Then let each program, as efficiently as possible, do what they were designed to do.

By all means give the 'iffy' results of auto-trace as little room for error as I can by

making sure all my shapes have been gone over and optimized before I vector.

Who wants to chase around nodes any more than they have to?

 

And you mentioned "for drawing"... Ps is miles ahead of vector software for free drawing.

(second only to the pencil & paper)

 

At least for me it is.

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I Agree that we Disagree. No harm, no foul.

 

...but I can't help but ask, what about PRINT?

You wanna do print and wraps in cutting edge, realistic style ?

You'd better have some 'raster chops'.


Photoshop is, most often, my initial design software.

(Then there's wacom doodles....and client mock-ups...and, and...)

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ya, what about print? I have 396 linear feet (1782 sq ft) of 3951 going thru the lam tonight for a few wraps. Wanna come help install? my guys could use a hand as were way behind. 

 

Wraps I prefer AI for design, PS for Effects if used (prefer eye candy) and most of them from right in AI. But most are done right within AI. 

 

Not sure what you mean by cutting edge and chops. If its the ugly regurgitated crap some of the other shops put out with every available PS effect applied to it to point you can not even figure out what you are looking at then ya that cutting edge thing is something I will not learn. They take 15 min to throw together. 10 of which are looking at the color wheel.  

 

Here is some of what I consider the best and cutting edge wraps in the industry, http://graphicd-signs.com/portfolio/vehicles/ and I do not see any PS chops. 

 

But again this is me, take it with a grain of salt. Your workflow may differ and everyone has their own way to do it. The AI vs PS for wraps has been beat to death many times over. But this is one of the very few times I have heard PS called a better design software in this industry. 

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mopar, I'm a pretty dedicated AI guy but have watched the speed at which Skare can crank out good looking results and it has made me re-think my methods a little bit. I'm pretty quick with AI and usually just hand trace most rather than use the easy button because the results are so much better without all the node chasing that skare mentioned. BUT for those messy re-creation jobs we all get from someones last remaining business card that has been in their wallet for a year and has all kinds of detail and color I plan to spend a little more time building my raster skill set to help speed up the process. He has reminded me of an old adage that a construction manager once told me. "There are 10 ways to do a job right". His point was that as I moved into upper management that I would be well served to allow people to use their own ingenuity rather than try to get them to always do it MY way. If after seeing the results were sub-par then maybe they would need to do it MY way but often as in Skare's case their way may be just as good or in some cases better than my way. 

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Screenprinting should be raster for something like that. whole different ball game. It should of been half-toned on something like a 320 mesh screen and not altered at all imo.

 

 If you are going to break up your image and auto trace it then yes, PS is the way to go. Really no other way. But if you are going to draw it or design it then no, I do not believe PS is the go to tool. And you did say for design in your first post, not for converting or tracing a image like you have supplied samples of. 

 

Excuse me, 2nd post

These particular people don't want or need to spend the extra for halftone work and since they drew lines to create it they are fine with me printing lines to recreate it. Not all jobs are big or fancy enough to go to the higher end shops and because I am willing to work with them to meet their needs and budget I get a ton of work all along the east coast. BTW I am a 1 man shop at least for now by choice but considering I am booked 3 weeks out right now I may have to start training somebody to help out.

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yes, if your just tracing and copying something someone gave you in a image, yep, PS is the way to go. It is the only way you can copy bits of a raster image and edit them for auto trace. Pull out the colors you want, make em black and auto trace away. 

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