Photoshop Vector Type

[JayMarvalous]

Hi all,
Im experiencing with creating custom text using cs4 and Im having a "subpixel" "ghosting" type of problem.

Here is my work flow: I open a new doc / set the color mode to RBG or CMYK (I tried both and different bit settings but no dice) /Pick a font and type in the text / select the layer, then convert to shape (Layer-Type-convert) / customize text with the pen & direct selection tool and thats that.

The problem is that when I zoom in, my characters edges have that pixelated, 'stairs of death' look instead of a clean sharp finish (which is the whole thing about using vectors, right?) Some people have suggested playing with individual anchor-point positions, and I gave that a try and it works to a point but not even close to being satisfactory.

Im working on a logotype and I want to make sure that my client can expand it as much as he wants.

What am I doing wrong? Any workarounds? (My thoughts on this are that Im converting something already flawed to image, so of course the image will retain the flaws...) Your help is appreciated. This will save me from having to learn Illustrator in 24hour which will leave me only half a day to create the artwork.

Cheers,
-JM

[Know1]

Im having a "subpixel" "ghosting" type of problem.
Pick a font and type in the text / select the layer, then convert to shape (Layer-Type-convert)
The problem is that when I zoom in, my characters edges have that pixelated, 'stairs of death' look instead of a clean sharp finish (which is the whole thing about using vectors, right?)

Are you zooming in more than a 100% ? Because photoshop vectors will still seem pixelated if you zoom in higher than a 100% (Unlike Illustrator and Xara Xtreme) That's just the way Photoshop works with vectors.
You can scale them up with no problem but they will not appear to have a higher resolution than the rest of the document they are in.

[JayMarvalous]

As a matter of fact I am. I do all editing at 100% (I read somewhere that it actually helps), but then when I zoom in above 198% I start seeing the pixelated shadows. Are you implying that its just the way it appears on the screen but it actually isn't there?

-J

[Know1]

I'm not sure if I can explain this correctly but how you can look at it is that the vector in Photoshop gets rasterized in your document at whatever size you specified, so the pixelated shadows will always be there if you zoom in over a 100%.
Zooming in does not cause photoshop to rerender the vector to show smooth lines. It's at heart still a pixel based editing program so when you zoom in you will see pixels.

But when you scale a vector in Photoshop up or down it will Re-render the vector and then show the new rasterized representation of it on screen. Crisp and clean (That is until you zoom in over a 100% again..)

So let's say you want to print the vector in Photoshop at 10X the size it is now, you then actually need to make the image document 10X bigger to do that.
If that document also contains any 'real' pixels than those will not look good when the image size is increased.

[JayMarvalous]

Stellar!!! Thanks a lot Know1. The issue drove me so nuts that I picked up Illustrator and worked with it all day. Should have seen me trying to figure out where the 'move tool' was! I actually got a bit of work done with it (the colored anchor points and handles were a welcomed feature), so I guess I'll need to figure out exporting to photoshop so I can work on familiar ground again.

I appreciate the replies, let me know if I can return the favor.

-J

[Know1]

... I guess I'll need to figure out exporting to photoshop ...

When you export from Illustrator make sure that "Create PDF Compatible File" is turned on. Otherwise photoshop will probably not even recognize the vectors inside the *.AI file.

You can import it in Photoshop by going to File --> Place. That will automatically convert it to a 'smart object' in Photoshop. When you double click that layer in Photoshop, Illustrator will open up and you can continue editing the vectors in Illustrator.
There you can make your edits, save the file again, and photoshop will update to the modified design but keep the things like the layer styles on top of it.

One thing to keep in mind is that after you use the place command in Photoshop the AI file basically becomes part of the PSD file. So double clicking the smart object layer and editing it in Illustrator will not actually do anything to the original AI file. Only the smart object located in Photoshop will show those edits.

[Albacore]

Best way if your using both programmes is to copy & paste if you have the newer versions of both programmes i.e. CS2 and above. Place is used when it is not a Adobe format or if it is a multi-page PDF. This work in all of the Creative Suite DreamWeaver & InDesign it use to be called "smart objects" in CS. Sorry it maybe CS3 when it started but I have to time to check!

[JayMarvalous]

Thanks for going the extra mile Know1. I was so concerned with my own thing I didn't realize it was your birthday. I hope you had a good one .
Good call, I clicked the layer and Illustrator opened up (I thought I was doing something wrong).
"Happy Belated B-day"!!!


Albacore, Thanks for the suggestion. I am using the latest of both and just like that I went a little further and I tried dragging and dropping, and what do you know?!! It did ask me to place before I could do anything to it though.

-J