by Janae Wiedmaier 6.August 2008 08:40
Vector. As long as I've used Photoshop (and it's been going on some ten years now), using the vector tool has been the one thing I have avoided. As an artist who never particularly used cell shading, cared much for smooth beautiful lines - okay, not true. Rather, didn't understand smooth, beautiful lines- vector never came into the picture for me. I've had a few moments where I've been coloring a piece of art or trying to add a functional square or circle to an image and accidentally clicked the pen tool or (and this created a panic), the "add vector mask" option, but all of these situations resulted in a frantic spamming of the undo button (or ctrl+Z for all you hot-keyers out there. Better yet, cmnd+z for all you mac users!). I would wipe the sweat off my forehead and go "What in the world did I do?", although, as we like to say... ignorance is bliss and I was very happy to be a blissful, clueless, non-vector user.
I have been well-informed that vectoring in Photoshop is not necessarily the best option. I don't have Illustrator at home to play with, so I just assumed that if I really wanted to use vector, then I'd have to snag myself another program. Oh, what a boring creature I was.
The question that should be coming to your mind now is: Well, why is she talking about vector if she isn't using it? I mean, really, don't blog about things you're ignorant about!
My response: And why not? People blog about things they're ignorant about all the time!
The honest truth of the matter, however, is that I have given up bliss for the world of knowledge and sparkles. Why have I done this? Simple. Karina asked me to make an image for her personal blog, Guts and Garters, in a whimsical (for any of you who follow her on twitter, this should be no surprise as her name is @whimsikay) fashion that I am completely unaccustomed to drawing in. However, my competitive nature coming to the front I decided, what the heck? Give it a try and see what we can do.
The old way of creating smooth, beautiful lines in Photoshop was not amazingly effective or smooth, not to mention time consuming. Looking back, I think this may be another one of those criminal sins that I should be put on trial for along with frames, tables, and photoshop slicing (eviscerating?) web pages. Luckily, although I may not be as cute as Renée Zellweger, I feel that if I were to throw myself at Richard Gere's feet, he'll give me the same glorious speech Roxie got in Chicago:
When you're in trouble, go into your dance
Though you are stiffer than a girder
They let ya get away with a murder
Razzle dazzle 'em
And you've got a romance!
In other words: Go to deviantART, kid, and find yourself a vector tutorial!
You, dear reader, are luckily going to get something even better: a simple tutorial from yours truly.
To start with, open Photoshop. Next, you're going to need to have the following tools ready for use:
| The pen tool: |
The path selector: |
The brush tool: |
 |
 |
 |
Make sure your brush tool is set to size three, full hardness, with full opacity and flow like the following:
Now you're ready to get started with vector, and I will be happy to show you how!
--
To see the later discussions on vector button creation, go to:
Give 'Em an Act That's Unassailable! (Making Buttons in Vector, Cross-Examination)
Daze and Dizzy 'Em! (Making Buttons in Vector, Closing Statement)