My Blog Page
As of my freshman year, I will be posting content centered around a certain topic. You can expect my blog posts to feature well-written sentences.
Brady Bryan
One of the main differences between Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator is that Photoshop makes bitmap graphics, whereas Illustrator creates vector images. Both type of images are very different, and can come in handy depending on what you are trying to make. Vector images utilize mathematical calculations in its placement, whereas bitmap images utilize pixels. This is made clear when zooming in on an image as the edge of a shape will either appear smooth or pixelated. Deciding on what you're trying to accomplish may influence your decision in utilizing Photoshop or Illustrator. Photos fall under the category of bitmap images (also known as raster graphics), as the image appear pixelated when zoomed in. "When using a raster program you paint an image and it's similar to dipping a brush in paint and painting," according to vector-conversions.com. "You can blend colors to soften the transition from one color to another." This is another to tell the difference between the two graphic types, as a vector image's colors will appear solid and smooth. This image provides a good visual of the differences, as well as the top image on the previous hyperlinked site. Another difference between bitmaps and vectors are the file types. The main file types of bitmap images are .jpg, .png, and .gif. The main file types of vector images are .pdf, eps, svg, and the case of Illustrator, .ai. As a result, bitmap images generally have a larger file size than vector images. In terms of creative use, bitmaps are recommended for printing ink drawings and for use in screenprint software. Vector images are primarily used for logo design, specifically for use digitally and physically (on an object). Vector images can be scaled up or down and still retain its original quality, whereas you have to convert a bitmap layer to a smart object in order to retain its quality when resizing (somewhat). Despite all of these differences, vector images can be converted to bitmap. However, the opposite cannot be said as some bitmaps cannot be converted to vector based on the process. There are plenty of other differences between the two graphic types. However, it's your call on whether or not you want to create one or the other. Recap:
0 Comments
Brady Bryan
It's no surprise that Photoshop has a variety of options and tools to enhance your design, and while this is common knowledge, utilizing them properly is no easy feat. Neophytes to Photoshop may not understand most of the fancy jargon and icons that appears when using a certain tool for the first time. The addition of several hundred drop down menus doesn't help either, and although that is a slightly hyperbolic statement, it can intimidate many new users. With enough explanation, however, one will not only be able to interpret the "language" of Photoshop, but will also have the ability to use them. Once understood and used repeatedly, it will become muscle memory. The toolbar is the column at the far left of the interface, and sure enough, all of the tools can be found there. What most people wont recognize on first contact is that a majority of the tools have alternate versions that can be accessed simply by right-clicking on the appropriate icon. You can tell the difference between tools that have alternate versions and tools that don't based on a small arrow located in the bottom-right corner of the tool icon. If the arrow is present, then it has at least one alternative. These are especially useful when it comes to performing a specific action that can be accomplished efficiently. When using certain tools, a "Tolerance" option will appear at the top of the screen. This describes the sensitivity of that tool. For example, lowering the tolerance of the magic wand tool changes the amount of what the tool will select, making it more sensitive and aware of differing colors. Needless to say, this is useful when the requirement of selecting a specific portion of an image is necessary. This rule generally applies to paint tools such as the brush and paint bucket tool. The amount of tolerance caps out at around 200, so you have quite a bit of breathing rooms to experiment with the tolerance option. Anti-aliasing is an option that seems useless at first, but is sometimes necessary when importing images such as pencil sketches. Disabling anti-aliasing makes an image appear sharp and clean, making it easy to fill in certain parts of the images that are bordered by faint marks. Anti-aliasing is activated by default, so be sure to deactivate when necessary. An alternative to disabling anti-aliasing is by changing an image's image interpolation to nearest neighbor, which does the same thing. Photoshop has hundreds of options waiting for you to discover them, so don't be afraid to explore. If you ever want to go back to the default interface, simply reset the workspace by going into Windows > Workspace > Reset Essentials. Make sure to visit Adobe's forums if you have any questions. Recap:
Brady Bryan
Video games are one of society's most influential and defining creations. They are also one of the most critically acclaimed creations of our generation, and it's easy to see why. Some have amazing plots, others have memorable characters such as Mario and Pikachu, and others have visually enticing graphics such as Journey and Super Mario Odyssey. While the first two video game aspects are critical to a game's success, the latter is not as substantial when it comes to creating a video game, which begs the question: How important are graphics when it comes to video games? If we take a look at old games such as the original Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System, it's apparent that the game developers were not heavily concerned with graphics (if at all), and those games were prodigious in terms of both sales and the gratification of the masses. In those days, video games had simple concept, and weren't as complicated and intricate as they have become recently. A majority of them were pixelated, depicting their characters as 8-bit or 16-bit figures. Since then, video game graphics have ameliorated over the years as advancements in digital media are made in hopes that they will look as realistic as possible. As a result, more 3D games are being made. Despite this, there are a plethora of 3D games that aren't selling as impressively as the old games, and while this very well may be due to aspects other than graphics, the statistic remains true. This proves that graphics aren't necessary when it comes to creating an exceptional game, although most people will tend to choose games with professional graphics. Are good graphics required for a good game? Obviously not, but they certainly are appreciated. The main problem occurs when people are more focused on improving graphics instead of improving the plot or other prominent in-game features. This Gamespot forum depicts the evolution of graphic through the years beginning as early as Pong. In short, don't let graphics define your taste in video games, as they aren't everything. Recap:
Brady Bryan
We've all seen a plethora of professional designs and logos that display words or an image with another image or picture inside it. These designs are commonly featured on postcards such as this one for commercial use, which is a primary use for layer masking in the field of business and commerce. In this vintage Florida postcard, there are different images inside each letter of the word. This was done to make the postcard look more enticing instead of featuring standard, colored text. Luckily for Photoshop users, this can be achieved through a process called layer masking. If you would like to make a vintage postcard, I recommend following this guide. However, it requires Adobe Illustrator instead of Photoshop. Simply put, layer masking is the process of revealing the background of an image/design while keeping the image(s) on the higher layers intact. This is one of the easier methods of combining two or more images to make it look realistic and professional (to an extent that is). An example of this would be adding a stop sign to a road in the desert since both components were originally separate. Layer masking is a fairly easy process. In order to do so, you must have you background image opened in Photoshop. Next, you must open the image of the person or object that you would like to incorporate into the background and adjust it so that it is in a suitable position for masking. Select the layer with the person or object and click the icon with the rectangle and circle located at the bottom of the "Layers" panel in the middle. A second thumbnail should appear beside the layer's thumbnail. Select the brush tool and confirm that the foreground and background are black and white (click the icon above the colors to go back to the default colors). Ensure that you are editing the second thumbnail by clicking on the second thumbnail, and paint over the parts of the image that you want hidden. Remember that black is used to conceal, and white is used to reveal, so if you accidentally paint over a part in black, you can use white to bring that part back. Once you are content with your layer mask, you can right click on the layer mask thumbnail and choose to apply the mask so it permanently becomes part of the layer. The best part about layer masking is that it is classified as nondestructive editing. This means that the design does not suffer from permanent edits. "Nondestructive editing allows you to make changes to an image without overwriting the original image data, which remains available in case you want to revert to it," according to Adobe.com. There are many different uses for this technique, so be sure to practice and experiment using filters and the like. Recap:
|
AuthorBrady Bryan is quite familiar with blogs since he had to frequently post on his blog in 6th grade. Although its been a long time since then, he still knows what a proper blog should look like. Archives
May 2021
Categories
All
|