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IamSam

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That video is great! I now have an inside look at the insanity! That is one of the most unique approaches to creating paths that I have ever seen!

I think that both approaches can work. How one might arrive to paths and anchor points, is obviously a personal choice and neither method is wrong. Once the paths have been created you still have to know how to manip the anchor points, handles, curves,etc.
 

MrToM

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...That video is great! I now have an inside look at the insanity! That is one of the most unique approaches to creating paths that I have ever seen!...
Thank-you Sam.

Thats how I've always done my paths, I've never dragged one out as it were....ever!

If you check any of my other 'path' videos you'll see its how I always do them.

The only thing to note, which I didn't mention, and may not be that obvious in the video, is that when you convert the corner anchors to curves you MUST drag them in the same direction as the path was drawn.....so in this example that would be CCW.

You get a loop if you do it backwards.

The one big advantage of this method is that it keeps the number of anchor points to an absolute minimum....that's probably the hardest part....finding the transition points.

If you look closely in this video you'll see me trying to 'visualise' were those points are by tracing over the curve with the cursor....looks like I'm going mad but I'm really just trying to figure out where one curve joins the next.

Regards.
MrToM.
 

IamSam

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MrT said:
If you look closely in this video you'll see me trying to 'visualise' were those points are by tracing over the curve with the cursor....looks like I'm going mad but I'm really just trying to figure out where one curve joins the next.
LOL! NO........I knew what you were doing.


Yes, I have seen you use this technique before, maybe not to this scale. There's one thing that we all do but it was never so obvious as it was in the video (at least to me), was in leaving the handles where they move together in order to keep the curve consistent on both sides of the anchor point. This is critical and I have seen many people make the mistake of using the 'convert point tool' to isolate one handle, including so called seasoned professional tutorial makers.
 

dv8_fx

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That video is great! I now have an inside look at the insanity! That is one of the most unique approaches to creating paths that I have ever seen!

Yup... I agree with you. Which is why it's a great addition of knowledge we can point future visitors to. Bookmarking that post.



As to your method of creating a work path from a selection....have you seen the mess that makes? I believe you would spend more time cleaning that up than just starting afresh.....in my experience with selection to path conversions.

MrToM.

I agree with the mess it sometimes creates. But that depends on what you're working with.

https://www.photoshopgurus.com/foru...-logo-help-post1533720256.html#post1533720256 ... The second image was the result of my procedure. Despite the artifacts pointed out in the first image, the resulting work path did not contain any trace of the blemishes. Of course, I had to crop out the excess you pointed out and made sure there was nothing else in the layer (there were actually none).

In the conversion, there were several uneeded anchor points - like double nodes at sharp angled areas and along certain curves. These were easily deleted and I'm still left with enough nodes along the transition (areas of inflection as referred to in other vector apps) to get the symmetry right.

I might be wrong but others may probably get different anchor point results from converting the selection to paths. Happened to me before in my old workplace when another guy was doing the same thing on an image I was also working on but on another computer... lol.

The only problem I had was wrestling with the anchors but it was worth the wrangling. I reused/tweaked the work path when I wasn't satisfied with my first try.

I think what I posted above was my third try? Yet whenever I accessed the paths, they stayed true to the last modifications I did.

Again... it depends on what you're faced with. And with the OP's layer images, converting to a path did the trick for me.
 

hawkeye

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You don't need to be an expert in Illustrator for something like this. Place the file in to Illustrator then use Image Trace. Not perfect but pretty good for no effort.
 

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dv8_fx

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Thats how I've always done my paths, I've never dragged one out as it were....ever!

If you check any of my other 'path' videos you'll see its how I always do them.

The one big advantage of this method is that it keeps the number of anchor points to an absolute minimum....that's probably the hardest part....finding the transition points.

Regards.
MrToM.


You guys are aware I use something else to create vectors. Its version of the pen and path tool is more intuitive.... hihihi.....

But MrTom's procedure is what I also use to trace/create a shape. Even in PS, it works excellently. I'm surprised not a lot of YT tute authors make use of this.....
 

dv8_fx

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You don't need to be an expert in Illustrator for something like this. Place the file in to Illustrator then use Image Trace. Not perfect but pretty good for no effort.

I totally agree with you, Ralph. In my case, I would run it through Corel's TRACE..... lol.

But as mentioned by the OP.... https://www.photoshopgurus.com/foru...-logo-help-post1533720197.html#post1533720197 ... Illustrator is not in his realm and I doubt he even has it...... Gotta work with what the guy's got.....
 

MrToM

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...You guys are aware I use something else to create vectors...
Yeah...but you told us not to mention it again because of the restraining order.

....Gotta work with what the guy's got...
The OP keeps posting PSD files so I concluded it was Photoshop they were using.

Call me old fashioned but...

Regards.
MrToM.
 

dv8_fx

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Yeah...but you told us not to mention it again because of the restraining order.

Regards.
MrToM.

You've been watching too much of the boss penguin of "Penguins from Madagascar".... lol.



So folks... I go back to my earlier question/comment to the OP.....

With all the knowledge we've so far provided not to mention the backup we promised him, don't tell me he can't learn in the process while getting the job done himself?
 

IamSam

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I commend all of our members who have made the effort in attempting to help the OP, not only in this thread but all the previously posted requests by the OP. The ball is now in their court. I'm curious to see if any of our efforts will have any impact on the OP's original request.
 

hawkeye

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I totally agree with you, Ralph. In my case, I would run it through Corel's TRACE..... lol.

But as mentioned by the OP.... https://www.photoshopgurus.com/foru...-logo-help-post1533720197.html#post1533720197 ... Illustrator is not in his realm and I doubt he even has it...... Gotta work with what the guy's got.....

Based on his post I assume he does have it, but doesn't know how to use it.

"I have tried many times I cant use Illustrator full stop. If someone can help me out?"
 

dv8_fx

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Based on his post I assume he does have it, but doesn't know how to use it.

"I have tried many times I cant use Illustrator full stop. If someone can help me out?"

Point taken..... which is why we go out of our way to help him. But in the end, be it PS or AI, it is he who has to put in the hands on effort.

Not to mention that even if he manages to get it duplicated with Image Trace, he still has to tweak it to balance the gaps and shape.... which will require more AI (or PS) tutelage..... will he be willing to go through that?
 

Tom Mann

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You don't need to be an expert in Illustrator for something like this. Place the file in to Illustrator then use Image Trace. Not perfect but pretty good for no effort.
Yesterday, after my 1 post in this thread, like Hawkeye, I was about to suggest Image Trace to the OP, then I re-read his posts and concluded (like someone else ... V ???) that although the OP probably has a copy of AI, he probably has almost zero experience with it, so suggesting AI would likely just muddy the waters, so I never bothered to post it.

Definitely a good effort by everyone in trying to help this person get over his reticence to take his skills to the next level!

Tom M

PS - MrToM - great video! FWIW, I also generally use pretty much the same method as you showed in your video to generate a path. It's fast, and because you can minimize the number of anchors to the bare minimium, IMHO, it tends to produce more "elegant" / stylish paths than the pulling-it-out-as-you-go method, and certainly more elegant than using Image Trace in AI. If one is tracing something, with so few anchor points, there may be slight deviations from the overall shape from the original, but I almost always like the new version better than the original with this method, even completely ignoring the obvious and expected improvement in sharpness and bumpiness on the scale of a few pixels. It's a great method. Thanks for taking the time to post it.
 

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