Need someone with patience

[Guest gracewriter]

Hi,

I need to learn how to take and image, crop it, brighten it, and adjust colors<---like slightly adjust.

I don't understand anything about this program and am overwhelmed with where to begin.  But if someone could walk me through the fist step, then perhaps the second, then the third, I'll offer up my first born son.  No, wait a minute, a teenager with an attitude and a mohawk is probably the last thing anyone would want.

So all I can say is, I'd be eternally grateful for any help I can get.  If I can learn these three fundamental things, it would mean a lot.  I'm just under a lot of pressure right now to learn this as fast as I can.  My other program I could do this in disappeared completely the last time my computer crashed and I don't have a copy.

So, first off, can someone tell me how to crop an image in this?

When I go to the help menu, it doesn't help me at all.  I don't understand the language.

Thansk!

[CyberSultan 6]

Cropping in Illustrator is different than in a paint program.  If you choose the object and go to Filter > Create > Crop Marks, it will put crop marks around the image.  Then you can adjust the crop marks.  When you output the image, at that point it crops the image.  Photoshop is really the Adobe product that is best geared to what you are looking for, sounds like.

[polarkiss 1]

I agree, I could walk you through this in Photoshop, but not Illy.

[nonabelle 5]

what's the difference in photoshop and illustrator. i have been meaning to ask.

[kenimes 42]

Illustrator is a full graphic design program, and Photoshop is a raster image manipulation program.

[nonabelle 5]

sooooo.  wow thanks ken now i understand j/k seriously what would work better for i don't know what i'm trying to ask.

[CyberSultan 6]

I create a great deal of artwork in Illustrator.  The advantage is I'm making vector graphics.  So a logo I create can be 2" tall or 10' tall without losing any quality.  I keep all my master graphics in Illustrator format.  When I'm ready to put a logo or other artwork to print or to the web, there are usually some additional touch-ups that I want to do (knowing the maximum size I want the final product to be in) which might be best done or only available in Photoshop.  Where some programs combine some of the flexibility of Illustrator and Photoshop into one, Adobe has them divided up into two separate programs.  Not sure if that helps.

[nonabelle 5]

ok thanks it helps.

[kenimes 42]

Yes, from what I understand (and I use neither), Photoshop has several features used for editing raster images (.jpg, .tif, .gif, .bmp, etc.- images made up of pixels), or manipulating the image. Illy is a vector based graphic design program that allows you create or edit vector images (images made up of nodes, lines, and arcs), or vectorize raster images, but lacks many of the photo editing tools.

Sorry I really don't know much more as far as explaining, but I only kinda know what each is used for.

One of the reasons you do not see a Photoshop category on our forums is because our customers deal mostly with vector images when it comes to cutting/ plotting, and that program has nothing to do with vector format, but is strictly raster.

[Guest gracewriter]

I never expected anyone to respond, especiallly at this late hour.  I will read all these posts tomorrow and hopefully figure out how to do what I need to do.

thanks to everyone for posting.

I really have no idea what rasters are, I guess I have a lot to learn.

Best,

Gracie

[nonabelle 5]

u and me too. i was trying to figure cropping out today in illy9 but i gave up.

i hope we learn more tomorrow.  :-

[polarkiss 1]

A raster is a photograph and is edited by pixels only - as in the jpeg shown below, a vector is a graphic and can be edited by nodes.  Although you can create "paths" in Photoshop, you have to export them out to Illustrator to edit their nodes and fill them in for a usable and cut-able graphic. 

[CyberSultan 6]

I hope I'm not overlapping what others have said, but a rasterized digital image is made up of little squares (or pixels) of color.  The problem with that is if you try to take that image and make it bigger than the size you created it as, it tries to guess at filling in the gaps between the pixels of color as they get farther apart from one another (kind of like blowing up a photograph too large to the point it looks grainy).  Because a raster image is made up of pixels of color, a cutter would not know what to do with it.

With a vector image, though, it is made up of mathematically connected lines (straight and curves lines)...which is why a vector image is necessary for vinyl cutting.  Since it is made up of connected lines (the connections between the lines being called "nodes")...you can resize the image to whatever size you want without losing any image quality (you are just mathematically increasing the length of those lines).  With a vector image, there is no pixelization in any fill color when you make the image larger, because the fill color just expands within the larger area between the lines.

[kenimes 42]

[Guest gracewriter]

Thanks to everyone for posting.

I didn't forget this thread just been busy putting a lot of fires out on the home front.  In the 48 years I've been on this planet I have never had a more chaotic week in my life.  As my Texas friends used to say, "If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all."  That about sums up my week.  Between family problems and this sign that does not want made, I'm really jonesing for this forum!

And to think I just achieved Super Hero and haven't even tried on my cape yet!

Thanks for posting, I figure in another week I'll be able to sit down and try out your instructions.

Best,

Grace

[Guest gracewriter]

Cropping in Illustrator is different than in a paint program.  If you choose the object and go to Filter > Create > Crop Marks, it will put crop marks around the image.  Then you can adjust the crop marks.  When you output the image, at that point it crops the image.  Photoshop is really the Adobe product that is best geared to what you are looking for, sounds like.

Thanks for trying to help.  I did the filter>create<crop marks.  It doesn't appear to be croping, just shrinking the image.  I don't understand what you mean by "output".

Thanks

[nonabelle 5]

Thanks to everyone for posting.

I didn't forget this thread just been busy putting a lot of fires out on the home front.  In the 48 years I've been on this planet I have never had a more chaotic week in my life.  As my Texas friends used to say, "If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all."  That about sums up my week.  Between family problems and this sign that does not want made, I'm really jonesing for this forum!

And to think I just achieved Super Hero and haven't even tried on my cape yet!

Thanks for posting, I figure in another week I'll be able to sit down and try out your instructions.

Best,

Grace

lol, i can't tell u didn't 

[charlie_b CFXPaintworks 1]

Cropping in Illustrator is different than in a paint program.  If you choose the object and go to Filter > Create > Crop Marks, it will put crop marks around the image.  Then you can adjust the crop marks.  When you output the image, at that point it crops the image.  Photoshop is really the Adobe product that is best geared to what you are looking for, sounds like.

Thanks for trying to help.  I did the filter>create<crop marks.  It doesn't appear to be croping, just shrinking the image.  I don't understand what you mean by "output".

Thanks

This may be a lil late...but my question is, when you say "CROP" do you mean a smaller square surrounding an object like fig 1?  Or actual cropping ALL the background out of an object so it is ONLY that object?  See fig 2.  So, my advice, if you have Photoshop, remove all the areas you do not want using either the magic wand tool or "w" or if there are multiple elements in the background such as trees or various colors, i would use the eraser tool or (e). (this applies to both the square or the outline) Once your erasing or cropping is done, save it and open it in Illustrator.  You can then, convert it to a vector by either exporting it as an EPS, or, if you want to color separate the image, use the Livetrace function.  There are many, many ways to achieve a goal in Illustrator, this is just one of them.    I would gladly walk you through this is you still need the help.  Just PM me.

[Guest fivestar]

Charlie check your PM messages please. 

[charlie_b CFXPaintworks 1]

Sent ya an email bro.