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Ed,
From the FX puzzle maker. I haven't figured out how to make the edges yet. It might be in changing the size of the pieces. For this one, I cropped the image after shaping. It appears that the application makes transparent separations between the pieces. I used gel to shape the pieces, but this can be done in the puzzle app. I imagine this is something simple. They never go into enough detail for me. Rich
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Ed,
From the FX puzzle maker. I haven't figured out how to make the edges yet. It might be in changing the size of the pieces. For this one, I cropped the image after shaping. It appears that the application makes transparent separations between the pieces. I used gel to shape the pieces, but this can be done in the puzzle app. I imagine this is something simple. They never go into enough detail for me. Rich
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Very cool Rich http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/cool.gif
I gotta try this!
OK ... I found AV Bros. Puzzle Pro ... but no FX puzzle maker. Am I looking in the right place?
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Ed,
Puzzle Pieces is part of AutoFX Series Two effects. The effect is available as a single effect. As a single effect, you need to install the engine then the individual effect. the engine was about 31 MB, and the effect was about 12 MB, additional material (not required) about 20 MB and the manual about 16 MB. There were four pages in the manual for the puzzle plugin.
It installed as a plugin to Photoshop and as a standalone.
I looked at Av Bros Puzzel Pro. I thought I was downloading an earlier version, but got a trial version of the latest release. Looked like it woud work, too.
Rich
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Ed,
I made a blank image and puzzled it. The AutoFX application makes transparent paths, and I thought I could use this to trace to vector in X1. It was actually betted to trace a JPG. Anyway, you can see what I got. Rich
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Setting the aspect ratio didn't do it. Maybe adjusting piece size.
As a comparison th AV Bro. Puzzle Pro 2, FX can manipulate the pieces with in the plugin. It appears possible to load a different image into a piece or make the piece transparent. You can scatter the pieces, too. In AVB the movement of the pieces is done in the host. After cutting, the pieces are selected and saved to PSD in layers. I selected all pieces, but I think you can select individual pieces.
In FX, you can load a special shape. This is a grayscale JPG. AVB uses AI and EPS.
I didn't seem to have the edge problem in AVB, and it appeared that you can delete specific cutting lines. You can combine pieces in this way.
Rich
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An AVB puzzle saved to PSD. The line image was on a separate layer. I was able to save to PNG with transparent spaces between the pieces. Then applied Gel effect with texture. Rich
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Hi Rich,
I downloaded the demo version of AutoFX series two ... it doesn't allow you to change the image or save it. I might try downloading AV Bros. tomorrow when I have a bit more time.
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Ed,
The AV Bro works very well. It is a small plugin as compared to the AutoFX plugin. It isn't demanding on resources. I don't think you can do much with the demo. Anyway, I have both if you have any questions. Rich
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Ed,
An AVB puzzle with wide cut lines. Not possible with FX.
John,
I had transparent shoe polish, and everything disappeared. still can't fine the thing. Good idea, though.
Rich
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I was trying to extract the splitter as a vector. However, I was only able to do this as a bitmap. It was possible to save the individual knife to EPS. The EPS didn't open correctly in X1, but did in E3. I saved to AI in E3, and that opened in X1. I haven't tried AI from AVB. An X1 trace of the PNG didn't work. Rich
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I extended the lines to a rectangle, and did some X1 magic to create a group of pieces. I loaded an image into the group, and then ungrouped to release the individual pieces.
I got a response from AutoFX saying to change the piece size to minimize the small objects.
Rich
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I saved a cutting line to AI, and opened the file in X1. Then duplicated the line to get a pattern. This has fewer nodes, and would be much better for bevels and such. Rich
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Very promising Rich! Thanks.
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Ed,
Your puzzle looks great. I thought I would try molding the shape, and see if the pieces could be released. Rich
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oooH ... Cool idea Rich! Looks Great!
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Thanks John,
I was wondering about how to trim to a line. Your drawing got me to try that. I'll have to try making the lines longer and see if that has an effect. i.e. If I get something beside the pieces. I want to try the shape edit smoothing, too. I think your drawing would be a good example for that. I wanted to extract the full cutter from AVB, but I can only save a segment. the segment is vector, however.
What I did was to size the segment to a even pixel width, and duplicate slightly less than that length. Then the segments would add together. I like adding shapes and breaking shapes to get objects. I have been doing the wing drawings that way. I also like the feature of filling into a group, ungrouping and being able to move individual pieces.
Rich
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this looks like fun think i will give it a try
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Trying to refine the drawing. Rich
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The puzzle with reflection maps. Rich
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Very nice Rich ... I'm downloading.
Mike,
Let's see it guy ... give us your best puzzle!
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Rich,
Your lobe3.xar template works fabulous. I changed the line width to .1 ... applied a circular mold ... added a bitmap fill and bevel. The results are posted in the STOP and POST thread. Nice work!
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didnt really put alot of effort or thought into it as my mind is tired from staying up all hours of the night tending to roxie. as you can tell by the puzzle. she sems to be tellig me to kiss off in this goofy pic of her. sorry about the quality to.
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Nice effort Mike. Give her my best.
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Another approach. I made a blank image, loaded it into PS and applied the AVB plugin. I wanted to try an application that you can point to an area and get a trace. It took a little while since I haven't used the application in a while. I needed to save as a black & white non compressed TIFF. The application is Express 7.5, and it could read the TIFF from PS. Just an expirment, and I wasn't worried about accuracy. I pointed to each area and got a vector drawing. I saved the group to EPS and open the file in X1. Rich
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The test file for fiddeling. Rich
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Nice Ed real nice. i will be giving my puzzle another working on here maybe tonite. i get off work at 7 so i should be able to do ALOT BETTER than my 1st attempt. i actually got 4hours sleep last nite WOOHOO!! opps sorry about the ot remark there http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
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Very nice Ed,
Guess you can replicate rows and columns to get a larger size. At least with the puzzle that has uniform shapes.
I was wondering if I could use a PS selection of the slicer from AVB to make a vector drawing. I have read about making a selection into a vector mask, and saving the mask to a file format.
I was looking at making adjustments to the slicer, and could see the result on screen while I was making the adjustments.
Rich
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Thanks for the encouragement gentlemen.
Rich,
I took your lobe3.xar and added columns and rows to make a 144 pc puzzle ... then added a slight bevel (see xar file below).
It wasn't as easy as it would seem ... there are some slight variances in the uniformity of the pieces ... which multiplies with the number of pieces you add. I couldn't figure out a way to eliminate the discrepancies by combining/slicing, so I think this is about all we are going to get unless (like you say) a template can be saved in vector.
This has been a fun exercise http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif
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i tried again with Ed's 144pc. the bad thing is the quality after exporting it.
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Ed,
I think you could use the single knife and make a 3 X 3 puzzle. I joined the lines and estimated the positions. So, you would get accumulative errors. Just need to make a better drawing.
I was trying the Express method. I made a blank image and opened it in PS. I used the AVB plugin and adjusted the parameters. I performed the cut, and saved to PSD. I wanted wide black lines between the pieces. I picked that layer and loaded the selection from the alpha channel. Then filled the selection. The file was save to a TIF. Still not sure about 1 bit TIFFs in PS. Opened the file in X1 and added a border, and exported to a 1 bit TIFF. I opened the file in Express, and point and traced each area. I copied the objects to the clipboard and pasted into X1 as a WMF. I found some artifacs, and deleted them. Performed smoothing to reduce the nodes. So, this is a non repeating puzzle.
Rich
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Hi Mike,
Nice puzzle of Roxie. How much compression are you using on your jpeg export. I generally set my jpeg quality to 85 or higher (so long as the exported file is no larger than 100k). You might also play with a touch less bevel to get more clarity out of the photo ... it's a "trial and error" thing.
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part of the problem is to the pics i have average 2-3 meg. and are about 1024x768 or larger. but i am having fun with everyones puzzle .xars that have been posting. they look great b4 i compress them http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif i am tempted to print one out and use some spray adhesive and card board and make a real puzzle. would like to do it in wood but i dont have a clue as how to do that so anyway i dont have the time for that fun stuff anyway. (SIGH)
oh well back to tending to my sick little baby.
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Mike,
You'll have to take a pic of your cardboard puzzle ... gotta see that.
Rich,
Here is a puzzle using p2.xar ... with a couple of cuts.
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ED,
I found a line segment above the top of the pieces. I did a selection and saw the handles. I didn't see it otherwise. Rich
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I found another shape within the pieces. It looked like a shape, but I couldn't apply a fill. Rich