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August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Attachment 98167
When you want to add text or a logo to a photo of waving, or wrinkled, or folded fabric, you’re going to want to read this month’s Tips and Tricks tutorial. Gary shows you how to detect the areas that should recede from view, and those that protrude, and you’ll learn how to simulate the 3rd dimension for text right inside Xara. It’s a breeze to put graphics in a photo and not merely on top of them: learn about blending modes, perspective, and shape slicing to neatly fit every word on a T-shirt, ready to post in a catalog, or on Flickr if you did something silly.
Post your "text"ured cloth here!
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Not to detract from the method described by Gare which certainly has equal merit, I've always used the 'Liquid Warp' tool installed with Xara Xtreme/Designer Pro and Xara Photo & Graphic Designer (with the exception of the new 64bit version of DPX9) to flow artwork around folds and ripples in fabrics. It is often quickly done.
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
I've used the liquid colour before for this kind of thing too but I always like to practice other methods for doing things. :) Here is my shirt done following Gare's tutorial.
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Excellent tutorial, Gary.
The beauty of doing it Gary's way as opposed to using the plug-in is that it's completely vector and therefore lossless when scaled.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sledger
I've always used the 'Liquid Warp' tool
You mean the Liquid Colour filter. The Warp filter is another filter entirely.
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Yes, you're right :oops I mean't the 'Liquid Color' Fx.. My mind is warped..
Yes, Gare's method is fine for vector I agree. But I often use bitmaps, so the Liquid Color is most suitable in those instances.
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
If you were doing, for example, a t-shirt printing website and all you had was Xara, I would definitely do it with the filter for speed. But if you were working on a design that required a decent resolution and detail then there's no way I would use a bitmap tool.
Once again, if nothing else, it proves that in Xara there's always more than one way to skin an orange (I'm vegetarian, I don't do cats).
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Big Frank
If you were doing, for example, a t-shirt printing website and all you had was Xara, I would definitely do it with the filter for speed. But if you were working on a design that required a decent resolution and detail then there's no way I would use a bitmap tool.
Except that Gare's t-shirt resource file is a bitmap, so the benefits of vector resolution independence is in this instance restricted to working with a 1044x1423 pixel bitmap (at 96dpi).
But of course, horses for courses as you say and I fully agree with. This particular horse was (for me) a racing raster ;)
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sledger
Except that Gare's t-shirt resource file is a bitmap
Stop being so picky! :banghead:
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Quote:
Originally Posted by
angelize
Nice one Frances :thx
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sledger
This one too is extremely well done - very realistic effect. :thx
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
The Liquid color filter would be fine if you could preview in its proxy box shapes and photos underneath your targeted text.
Without a live preview of your entire composition, you have to move the proxy box so you can see your composition, and then guesstimate the specific areas that need to be "pushed" up and down. And because the Liquid color proxy box doesn't offer a cursor size, it's still more guesswork.
This is one of the reasons why I wrote the Tips and Tricks tutorial the way I did: to give designers and artists the practice and skills with a manual technique that offers completely predictable results.
-g
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Here's my effort at mapping Gary, not great but pleased to be able to use such a technique, also one that my granddaughter insisted we put Magnuss (my cat) on :D Watched the digi-cartoon vid. and it is great as per usual, not able to do it yet as I have not upgraded yet so must get round to it. Thanks for two excellent techniques.
Stygg
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
You obviously put a lot of effort into it, stygg.
Sorry, but I get encouraged by TPTB to post tutes every once in a while that are based on the current version.
:(
-g
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
No problem Gary I understand that, I will be upgrading shortly, not going to miss out on the digi-cartoon and all the other benefits of upgrading. :)
Stygg
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Call it a hunch, but I believe some of the monies The Xara Group collects for software goes back into TalkGraphics as an advertising expense.
:)
Gotta make it pay off, or we'll wind up emailing each other or something.
My Best,
Gary
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Okay, text on dimensional fabric isn't limited in real life to T-shirts.
I covered the Displacement Map plug-in a few months ago, but flags and other planar shapes that show folds can also have text added to them using his month's mini-tutorial:
Attachment 98273
A blank blanket file is attached!
My Best,
Gary
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Very interesting Gare. I was attempting to do just that but failed at the time. So it is possible to add a graphic using this technique, does this work with any bitmapped image and text? Well it's back to the drawing board for me.
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Hi Larry—
All the tutorial images are in the tutorial this month. Not sure what you're asking.
-g
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Gary as a matter of interest, could I export the textured image in #16 and use it as a displacement map?
Stygg
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Quote:
Originally Posted by
stygg2003
Gary as a matter of interest, could I export the textured image in #16 and use it as a displacement map?
Stygg
yes, i believe so.
But there's a better way to do this, and this is getting O/T.
How about if I take you through it next week?
-g
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Gare, at the time it seemed to work on text, but I didn't see it happening with the bit-mapped image. I had grouped the two lines of text and image, was that wrong? I did that because I had text above the image, the image, then a line of text below the image. I hope that makes sense.
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gare
yes, i believe so.
But there's a better way to do this, and this is getting O/T.
How about if I take you through it next week?
-g
Gary I apologize for going O/T but look forward to next week to see the better way. :D
Stygg
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
This morning's discussion was moving far too much into ImageSkill's displacement plug-in, which is terrific, but doesn't promote a discussion on this month's manual approach.
It was getting O/T, in other words.
You can find Ernie's excellent mini-tutorial, a professional Print Man's approach HERE
My Best,
Gary
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Okay, here's a problem I'll leave somewhat open-ended because it has nothing to do with wafting fabric but instead crumpled paper.
Attachment 98296
Any thoughts/suggestions/inspirations on how text cam be modified so it looks like it's on the bag?
Attached is the Xara file with converted text and a locked image.
-g
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
O.K. here is my quick and dirty result for this challenge and all in vectror – no plugins no bitmap!!!
Wat I've done:
First i set a perspective mould to Garys text-object and made a duplicate.
With the freehand brush I draw around the bags crumples. One for the highlite (ad shape) and one for shadows (ad shape too).
Attachment 98299
The mould group I convert into editable graphic and slice with the shapes i create with the freehand brush.
The result.
Attachment 98300
Now I color the objects and give them a stained glass transparency and play arround i think is good.
Attachment 98301
Finaly i put some nodes and move them to get the displaced/crumpled effect.
Attachment 98302
Thats it. The ready drawing is attached.
Servus Ernie
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
You are FAST!
And you did it really well!
Congratulations!
Lat's all talk about tihs, okay? I'd like to see how some of our pros on tg do this!
—Gary
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Here's my effort, best I could manage, have to think about it a bit more :D
Stygg
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
@stygg—
Two things you did right: you innovated and I like your brown text much better than my black text. If you actually printed a solid on brown, you'd get a very dirty colour unless you did two passes, the first with an opaque white "undercoat".
The other thing is that you threw the text slightly out of focus: now, the bag itself is in focus, but I "read" the lack of focus around the edges to be the ink bleeding into the bag. Actually, it's a waxed paper bag, so the ink probably won't bleed, but it did catch my eye! :)
Try messing around some more if you have time!
-g
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
I should have took note it was a waxed bag and as you say the ink would not have bled but if I remove the focus from the text it looks like it's just stuck on the bag instead of blending with it making it look like one with the bag, if you know what I mean. Thinking head back on again :think:
Stygg
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
I think I've said it before, here goes again:
When you're engaging in photo-phoolery ad want to deceive the audience, you play "detective" first. What are the clues and hints you can find in the photo to help you accomplish your deception?
Take a look at the lighting on the crumpled bag, stygg (and everyone). It has light and dark areas. So one approach is to divide up the text as Ernie mentioned, and then assign the pieces over the dark areas Stained glass at high opacity, and the lighter areas get more transparency.
No kidding, this takes work. And creep that I am, I'm not going to post my version at all, because my status on tg lets me dictate while goofing off.
:)
-g
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Ernie that is great how you did, please keep posting on the forum
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
I've used a different approach. My perspective is off on this one now that I look at it again but here is how I did the text. first I took note of the resolution of the paper bag photo which is 96 dpi
I molded the text to the bag then converted it to editable shapes. with my text group still selected I went to the transparency tool and chose bitmap from the drop down list of transparency shapes this gives you the default striped bitmap so on the info bar I opened the bitmap name dropdown and chose the paperbag bitmap and set the transpaency to stained glass. Lastly I clicked on the text group (while still in the transparency tool) anywhere just as long as you don't click the transparency handles. This brings up a fractal resolution box and I typed in the resolution of the paper bag bitmap (96 dpi)
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sledger
Not to detract from the method described by Gare which certainly has equal merit, I've always used the 'Liquid Warp' tool installed with Xara Xtreme/Designer Pro and Xara Photo & Graphic Designer (with the exception of the new 64bit version of DPX9) to flow artwork around folds and ripples in fabrics. It is often quickly done.
this is lovely! it looks alive and love the liquid color.
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
That is great way of doing the Text Francis and gives a great finish, it looks part of the bag and not plonked on it :D Going to give your technique a try as well as Ernie's, but your method seems quicker and less fiddly, no offense to Ernie's method as I will try both. Thanks Francis for sharing.
Stygg
@ Ernie - thank you for showing how you did it.
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
I think what this thread proves is that there are many ways in Xara to produce extremely realistic effects, especially if you're doing web work, but if your end result requires a high resolution, e.g. for printing onto quality magazines (1200 or even 2400 dpi) exhibition stand panels or advertising hoardings, the vector path is the better one for scalability. Remeber, if you're printing in a high quality magazine, an 8 inch by 10 inch image with a 300dpi resolution would have a pixel dimension of 2400 px (8x300=2400) by 3000 px ( 10 x 300=3000), so unless your image displays crispy at that size in Xara, you're better off using vector for that media type. But for web work, the quick and dirty path is the obvious path where speed and efficiency matter. :thx
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Thanks for that info. Frank, I'm not up to scratch about size, printing, dpi and
such, so all info. welcome. Anyway after looking at the methods used by Ernie
and Francis, I did one with elements from both. :D
Stygg
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Let me point out a minor caveat regarding outputting text to 300dpi: you're never going to get text as sharp as with outputting vector art, close, but I tried using 300dpi text as art in a book once, and at small sizes, it still came out fuzzy compared to vector files sent to a PostScript imagesetter.
Say you export some vector shapes, okay text shapes, to Xara EPS file format, and send the file off to the poor misguided publisher that doesn't use Xara for Desktop Publishing but instead has foolishly chosen InDesign. They place that EPS file where it needs to go, and when the PostScript imagesetter hits the vector part of the file, the instructions are to print this area at as high a resolution as the imagesetter is capable.
I haven't seen a lot of difference between a high res bitmap and a vector rendered to dots, but my experience has been is visible, at large display sizes.
My Best,
Gary
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Hi again!
@stygg2003: You did it well, it looks better then my. But I'ld done it only with vectors and no bitmap(effect).:D
@Gare: I go with you! A path as vector send to an imagesetter would be exposed in the highest resolution the machine and RIP (Raster Image Processor) can do.
A Bitmap-Text in 300ppi is limited to 300dpi. That's physic, the Imagesetter usally (the modell limites) has a expose resolution about 2450 dpi.
An image which is limited to 300 ppi can be exposed only to 300 dpi even the imagesetter does 2450 dpi.
Greets from Germany
Ernie
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Thanks for the comment Ernie. Yes I used a bitmap as in the method by Francis and took the tip from your image in adding nodes and shaping the text a little to the crumples on the bag. As Gary put it, a little photo-foolery and speaking of which, I added my little foolery and it must look ok as no one as noticed it? :D
Stygg
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Re: August 2013 Tips and Tricks: Mapping Text to Wafting Fabric
Could I ask a risky question, I mean maybe that is evidence but - what can be considered as clear vector from Xara tools?
Drawing a shape and color okay that is vector. Also as learnt Xara does bitmap bevels so Bevel tool is out, and also the shadows are bitmaps.
But for example are the applied Feathers vectors? Or applying Fractal fill or transparency, those are vectors in Xara?
My first thought to solve this bag task with maybe opacity mask from the paper and paste it on the text, but so that is probably also would be bitmap like that