Re: basic photo vectoring techniques?
I took a digital photo of a model airplane (a low-wing single-engine WWII fighter) and used it as a background to trace the plane. It was a 3/4 photo with the nose pointing down to the left, the right wing pointing toward the upper left corner, and the left wing pointing toward the bottom right corner. For what it's worth, you might want to "trace" some of my steps. Use the Shape Editor Tool to set points along outlines of individual shapes (e.g., the right wing) and close the shape by clicking on the starting point. It doesn't matter if the object has curved lines. You can use the same Shape Editor Tool to bend your drawn straight lines into curves that will follow your photo's outline. When things go wrong, you may need to set your points as either 'smooth joins' or 'cusp joins', straight lines or curved lines (read the tutorial and experiment). Do create layers for individual objects. First, create a layer for the earth and sky. It will be at the far back of the drawing. Come back to it later. Begin with the right wing and right-side stabilizer (at the tail) because these shapes are farthest away from the viewer and some parts of the wing and stabilizer will be partially covered by the fuselage in a higher layer (closer to the viewer). Draw a rough outline of the wing. Set a beginning point where the leading edge begins to curve back at the tip of the wing. Set a new point where you think the leading edge meets the fuselage. You can't see that point in your photo. Set another point toward the tail where you believe the trailing edge of the wing meets the fuselage. Set another point where the trailing edge of the wing begins to curve forward. Now close your shape by clicking on the original starting point. Press <ESC>. It took four points to create a rough outline of the wing. Your shape is filled in black so you need to remove the fill. Set line width to 1 pixel or less. Use the shape editor tool tool to drag the four points (especially those behind the fuselage) so the straight lines fall on top of your photo's edges. Place the cursor along the line at the tip of the wing (you'll see an arrow for a tool tip) and drag the line into a curve. Presto. You have the outline for the wing. Fill it with colors and smaller shapes. You may want sometimes to fill shapes with blends to create color graduations. I used a layer for earth and sky, right wing and right stabilizer, fuselage and vertical fin, left wing and left stabilizer, canopy, nose and propeller, and one for lettering, decals, and "kills". Always display the Layer Gallery. Be sure to select a layer before initiating a new drawing. If you draw something into the wrong layer, select the drawing, select the correct layer, and click on "Move" in the Layer Gallery. Sometimes you can begin by drawing a circle or an ellipse on top of the the object in your photo. Convert to a shape. Then use the Shape Editor Tool to add points along the outline and to drag those points into the shape you want. Try to avoid using the Freehand Tool. Hope this helps.
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Originally Posted by gwpriester
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) but this brings in issues of transparency and reflection - perhaps for Lesson 2!
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