texts: How to recolor artwork while preserving shading?

texts: I want to change the red flower to blue but whats the fastest way to match it with the shading and make it look good? Or do I have to manually put colors?


texts: How to trim a bunch of open curves with a closed shape in Adobe Illustrator?

texts:
Suppose I've drawn a bunch of open curves like these:

Then I add a closed shape (circle) on top of them:

I know that I can use a clipping mask to only show the parts of the curves inside of the shape:

But I would like to "apply" this clipping mask, in the sense that I'd like to literal cut each curve by the outline of the closed shape and only keep the parts that remain inside. I can use the scissors tool to do this manually and then delete.

But is there an automatic way to do this?

I've tried all combinations of the pathfinder tools but cannot get this result.

(I'm also open to non Illustrator solutions so long as the output is a set of vector graphics curves).

Edit: I'd really like to do this on the strokes rather than resorting to outline/expanding the open curves first. In that case, I could use Outline Stroke, then Make Compound Path, then Intersect to get:

But this results in filled regions shaped according to the original width of the strokes. They're no longer editable as open strokes.


texts:
The place where I worked had this font, I can't remember the name it nor can I make any "font finder" recognize this one to identify:

Also, if you know any font with similar "f", "s" and "r" letters it would be really nice.


texts: Connect two strokes perfectly in Illustrator

texts: I have these two separate strokes - how would I go about connecting them perfectly, so there is no bend where they meet?


texts: When prototyping in Figma, can I make the frames automatically fit the device screen width?

texts:
I'm new to Figma, just started learning it today, so maybe I'm missing something obvious.

I have a frame with a design that uses constraints to scale nicely to different screen widths. When I manually resize the frame, I can see the content align correctly. But when I preview it using Prototype on different devices, it seems to use the frame's initial size instead of fitting the device screen. So that the frame can be either too wide or too narrow depending on the device. Is there a way to make the frame width fit automatically?


texts: What is the purpose of always locating/starting new chapters on odd pages?

texts:
I notice that in every book I have always start a new chapter in an odd page and it leads me to wonder why.

I have some written work that's about 40 pages long and 7 chapters; should I follow that rule?

If I do, the reader will definitely see blank pages before the start of a new chapter occasionally.

Why do new chapters in books usually start on an odd page?


texts: Changing isometric drawing's constraint angles in Illustrator

texts: I'm doing some isometric drawing in Illustrator, and moving my objects around on 0°, 30° and 60° constrained angles.  I keep having to go to preferences (Control + K) to change the constrain angle depending on how and where I'm moving something around.  Is there a quicker way to handle this?


texts: What are the essential must-read magazines for the design industry? (UK)

texts:
What are the essential must-read and industry magazines in the design & advertising world? (UK, printed)

What should I expect to find on a coffee table at a high end design house?

(Why? you ask...)
I am about to launch a service aimed at designers and advertising houses, and want to know which are best to advertise in, the 2 I have to start with are Campaign and the British journal of photography.


texts:
I'm making a website now, and to be honest I'm not really a designer. Currently the site I'm making does not have a fixed header, and I'm not currently sure if I should make it fixed or not. A lot of sites I use do not have a fixed header, but I see the potential and use of it.

My question: What do you think of fixed headers? Does it make the website easier to use, or do you think it's waisted pixels? Or do you think a fixed header is a great option for a site when the screen is only x pixels width?


texts: What's the best way to create a subtle, barely noticeable texture?

texts:
Using Gimp (or other free software), how would I go about creating a subtle, "mild" texture, like the green in the header at forrst, or the gray in the background of the backbone.js home page?

Those textures seem random and very evenly distributed.


texts: Is Sketch good at exporting jpgs and pngs containing pictures?

texts: I designed a pictures grid in sketch, and wanted to export the hole grid as one jpg or png, and then add it to my website. I am wondering if the quality of the jpg or png would be as good as photoshop? Is there specific settings I should use? What about color management?


texts: Is it mandatory to keep images at 72 dpi for web design?

texts:
I have been designing web banners for more than a year but never considered the DPI.
I was using the default 72 dpi, but now I want to know is it necessary to create web designs in 72 dpi? What if we use more than that, for example 200 dpi?
I know that more DPI means more quality image and that's why I want to use high DPI, but recently I read somewhere that for web banners we should use 72 dpi. I just want to know if it is mandatory and if it affects negatively in any aspect?


texts: Are there too many colors on this web page?

texts:
I colored a couple of table columns on this page and I think I've overdone it: now it's starting to look to me like a Tijuana whorehouse.

Are there already too many colors on the page?

Thanks!

Any other comments also gratefully received by this non-designer.


texts: Digital way of detecting and removing pencil traces?

texts:
I draw pencil sketches on paper and "ink" them using a variety of pens. (I'm using the term "inking" very loosely here to describe the process of drawing the final lines over a pencil  sketch, no matter whether actual ink is used - in my case, I use a variety of felt-tip pens and Indian Ink.)

Of course,  the final ink  lines will never match the pencil lines 100%. There will be deviations and additions all the time:

To get rid of the pencil lines, one would usually use an eraser before scanning.

However, with some papers and inking materials, this tends to damage the canvas and/or the final lines, no matter how carefully you use the eraser. Also, it's a lot of work.

Is there a clever generic digital method to get rid of the pencilled lines without touching the final lines?

Merely playing with contrast and brightness doesn't produce good results, as it will destroy or alter details of the final lines as well.

I can use a very recent Photoshop (CS5.5 to be exact, but the more generic the advice, the better.)


texts: Find out opacity and color value of a semi transparent PNG?

texts:
I have a semi transparent PNG. I want to know the exact hexadecimal and color value so I can create it in my website with CSS. How can I find this out?

I have Photoshop and Fireworks on my computer but I cant just use the eye dropper tool as that will give me the effective colour of the semi transparency over the background.


texts: Illustrator Stroke Brush Definition Changes Color

texts: As you see in the image, the shape and stroke are the same color, however when I apply Brush Definition to the stroke and it the colors looks lighter when technically they should be the same color. How can I fix that?


texts: How do you make this colour displacement type image

texts:
I found this on itunes radio and want to know how this was achieved like how the triangle was made.

I have come up with this so far in photoshop


texts: Business cards: Cannot save according to Illustrator template

texts:
I want to make a business card in illustrator.
Here is my design:

Question 1:
The design labeled (1) is perfectly aligned from back to front.
I've downloaded a template for illustrator here.

The problem is when I export as tiff, the image doesn't follow the guides, the lines that  are already in illustrator. Instead, it saves the whole image, I mean they didn't cut just until bleed line, or am I misunderstanding something?

Question 2:
If I want to print there and to have it perfectly match the design labeled (1) I must follow this right? So do I have to make the design in illustrator like the design labeled (2)? I'm having a difficult time matching these up.


texts: How to change (and KEEP) appearance of button in Indesign?

texts:
I'm creating a simple button that I want to change the colour of when clicked. Currently the appearance changes upon clicking, but the button does not KEEP its new state.

Is it possible to have the button toggle between the desired colours, or can this only be achieved using layers??


texts: Tri-fold Brochure in Indesign - How do you handle fold lines?

texts:
How do people handle margins and gutters when designing a tri-fold brochure in InDesign? When a brochure is folded in three, the inside flap ends up being smaller than the other two flaps, so if I want things to align exactly, I can't just use the margins and columns panel and be done with it. You can see in this image how the automatic gutters don't line up with the fold lines that I have put in:

Do you set up your columns manually within your adjusted fold lines, or do you use the default columns and gutters, or perhaps some other method? I know I can accomplish this manually, but I'm just looking for the most straightforward way to do it.


texts:
I have a booklet that is set out as a landscape orientation. This contains hundreds of pages. I need to be able to turn them all (with contents) to a portrait orientation.

Is this possible?


texts: Creating tabs/spaces in-line between Character & Paragraph Styles?

texts:
so I'm typesetting a play for an assignment and cannot for the life of me figure out how I can get a tab space between the character's name and their following dialogue whilst maintaining Character/Paragraph styles so that I don't have to go through the entire document manually.

I'm only allowed to use one text box.

Here's an example of what I'm going for:

(Redacted portions added by editor to keep image "family friendly")

Any help is appreciated!


texts: Just started experimenting colorizing with GIMP. When I add a layer on the pop up window I choose foreground color (which has been set previously) however I keep getting a grey shade no matter what color has been chosen before. Any ideas how to fix this ?


texts: Convert anchor point tool one side curved one side straight

texts:
When working on a shape using the pen tool, I want to curve one side but keep the other side straight. However when I convert it curves both sides. I have previously remedied this by cutting the paths and then rejoining. This is probably a basic question but I never seem to figure it out when I am using the pen tool and it is quite annoying.

I am drawing a bustier for a fashion drawing so I wanted to keep the side of the bodice unchanged while adjusting the neckline of the bodice but the curve changes both sides


texts:
I am totally new to this sort of thing.

I have been sent a template of a banner (see below) that I need to edit.  It is a simple four layer PSD file that I am going to open in Gimp as I can't justify the cost of Photoshop.

I just want to change the title and the picture of the music notation but, as a complete novice, I don't know where to start.

There are plenty of YouTube clips, but they deal with creation rather than editing.

I'm sure, to those in the know, what I am wanting to do is very straight forward.

Can anyone offer any help, using the simplest of language - assume you're talking to a three year old!!


texts: How to design the title of this map of topics well?

texts:
This is a map of topics that are discussed in my project:

Click to enlarge. SVG file
The reasons I choose concentric circles to present the information are:

Each group of topics has a another group of topics lurking beneath
All topics are interconnected, even though they are in different groups

(I feel the pyramid shape doesn't convey these purposes as significant as concentric circles.)
Overall, I think the emotions I want to convey are deepness, curiosity, intellectuality, and contemplation. I was advised to use blue because it is typically emotive calm, trust, and confidence, which are also important, and I have done that to the content. However, I wonder how should I design the title? Should it be blue as well, or should it has another color (maybe red)? What typeface should it be? How big should it be?
Related: How to choose a good color palette that is easy for the eyes, yet convey the deepness of the topic?


texts: 1:I want to know how to make this effect. Please help me


texts: Can you use the Blob brush in illustrator to add to an existing "blob" with a gradient color?

texts:
I drew a "blob" or a sketch and then colored it with a linear gradient. I then selected the eye-dropper tool and picked that same gradient.

After having the gradient set as my fill color I attempt to draw and add to the blob but it does not add to the existing image. Instead the previous color is drawn (not the gradient) and the new blob is not attached to the old one.

Is there a way to draw and expand an existing blob with a gradient applied?

For reference:

Before drawing with gradient

After drawing with gradient


texts: Is a cross for a "clear all" button acceptable?

texts:
I am testing an application where there is a button with a cross on an "add new contact" form.

I was expecting the cross to close the form (cancel the new contact request), but instead it cleared all the fields in the form.

In fact, it seems that the most common results in google image for "clear button image" include a cross:

What is the best icon for a "clear all" button that has no text?

Is a cross acceptable?


texts: Usefulness of the grid on tablet surface?

texts:
There is an unobtrusive grid of points on the surface of some graphics tablets as in this Wacom Intuos:

What is the purpose of it? Is it possible to take advantage of it in a some manner?


texts: So I have a rounded rectangle and a parallelogram. The parallelogram is inside the rounded rectangle, but part of it is sticking out of the rounded rectangle. How do I cut off this portion of the parallelogram in Photoshop CS6?


texts: How to construct "lowercase digits" (i.e. text figures)?

texts:
Is there an accepted way to adjust font glyphs in order to simulate text figures?

Background

Text figures are "lowercase" digits. You normally use lowercase digits where you also use lowercase text (e.g. in the middle of a sentence).

Keyboards were never created with uppercase and lowercase digits; and Unicode doesn't specifically encode them, as "they are not considered separate characters from lining figures, only a different way of writing the same characters."

Which brings me to my question; what is the accepted way to create lowercase figures out of a font's standard "uppercase ones?

Wikipedia mentions that normally:

012 are x-height
68 have ascenders
34579 have descenders

My first attempt (in photoshop) would be to:

smush 012
nudge 34579 down
leave 68 where they are:

But the skwooshed figures (0, 1, 2) look distinctly unpleasant.

If the Unicode consortium suggests that "lowercase digits" can simply be constructed from te "uppercase" ones - what do they recommend i do?

Ideally in HTML

My end goal is to display lowercase text in a browser. i know some fonts (e.g. Georgia) already display all their digits as lowercase:

But i'm not asking how to switch to using Georgia; i'm asking how to construct lining figures out of non-lining ones.

And since this is for display on the web, i realize that i'd probably end up having to apply per-character formatting:

<!doctype html">

In the year 2156 the Romulan war...

Rendering as:

Which, again, doesn't look as pleasing as i think it should.

Hey look, a penny!


texts: How can I create an abstract sea/wave effect in a free vector package?

texts:
I'm looking to create a vector (ideally) illustration with an abstract sea, much like this (not the dolphins or sun):

How can I go about this using free tools such as Inkscape?


texts:
I am working on different documents to create a Book. I have managed to fix all references, figures, numbering, etc But I do not know how to solve the following problem with appendixes:

I have 3 chapters: Chapter 1, 2 and 3. I have 2 Appendixes: Appendix A and B.
The numbering works fine when I mix them all, but I have a problem with the list of my Figures. It is defined as: Figure ^H.^#: so Figures are named 1.1, 1.2... 2.1, 2.2... etc But when it comes to the appendix they are 4.1, 4.2... 5.1...  instead of A.1, A.2... B.1... because, of course, the appendix is considered one more chapter.

How can I redefine "^H" so it is a letter and not a number in the appendixes? Of course this letter has to increase at every different chapter, such as the number does.


texts: Is it possible to split the view in InDesign?

texts:
I want to look at two parts of an InDesign document simultaneously.  Is it possible to "split" the view in one window so that I can see the two parts together in one window?

edit:  In CS5 at least, I can open a second window with the same document and arrange them side-by-side, which would really be good enough, except that command-tab application switching doesn't properly return focus to the active window in InDesign—when I command-tab back to InDesign, most keystrokes still go to the text frame that was active, but spaces in particular do not, until I click somewhere in that window or text frame.


texts: Fastest way to create a 'network of connected dots' graphic?

texts:
I'm looking to create several images of this type:

As you can see, there are a lot of lines and dots. Obviously, this can be drawn manually. But what is the fastest way to generate this sort of graphic?

Note the key features of the graphic: the lines form a web/graph, with each node having many connections; and there are dots at every intersection.

Speed is important as I may need to create many of these, each different; or large-dimension versions; or versions which are denser or sparser. Ideally I need a vector output for onward editability.

You can find a lot of flattened images of this type on stock websites (each with their own style that may be inappropriate for the given project, hence I want to be able to make them). I'd be amazed if these are being hand-drawn, but maybe they are?


texts: Found strange red duplicate of artwork in Illustrator file called "white underneath". What is it?

texts:
This might be an error but i've got a feeling its something to do with preparing artwork for printing.

I've received some packaging artwork from my client that i need to edit, it's made by a different graphic designer. It has two main layers, one called "artwork" which has the basic artwork on it, here is a selected area of it:

And then you have the second layer below it which is called "White underneath", and its a duplicate of the artwork but in red. Here is the same area on that layer:

I have not seen this before but i assume this is somehow related to making the colours print right? perhaps the red areas are meant to be printed white, perhaps to enhance the colours that will be printed over it? Am i in the ballpark here?

If that's the case then what is this technique called? When is it necessary to do?

Any help appreciated, seriously scratching my head over here.


texts:
Could someone please tell me which font is used in this image?

UPD (Ilan: better background + other letters)


texts: How to get rid of jaggered edges in Photoshop?

texts:
I used Photoshop and Illustrator to draw a black circle of size 44 x 44px. For some reason, the edges aren't smooth. I've exhausted myself of all techniques to figure it out.

It looks particularly ugly within the iOS app where I'm using it.

I noticed that circular icons of similar size in IconFinder have same issue. Jagged edges. http://www.iconfinder.com/search/?q=black+circle#

Why can't the edges be smooth? If they can, what's the trick?


texts: Leading error in Text box in InDesign, do you know of a way to fix it?

texts:
I am creating this text box in InDesign CS5 and on the last row of a paragraph I get a bigger leading for no reason. If I select the text and check the leading setting it is the same for all rows in the text box but it just doesnt look right... it happend to me multiple times... and I don't know how to get rid of it... even if I write a diffrent text the error leading still remains... annoying bug...

Do you know of a way to fix it ?

Have a look at the picture to understand what I mean:


texts:
I'm trying to figure out how to subtract two images in Photoshop so that the result is an image with transparent layer. Basically it all boils down to the fact that if color of the pixel is the same, it sets pixel in transparency layer to black. What's the easiest method to achieve this kind of result in Photoshop? Below is a visual example of what I'm trying to achieve (a figure with transparent background, NOT WHITE)

Thanks!


texts: How to make rectangle with text in its border?

texts:
I am using Sketch App and I want to create the exact illustration:

Creating rectangles is really easy, but how can I make a text in the border like <html> as you can see above?


texts: How do i recreate this low quality camera, really zoomed in photograph:

texts:
How can i recreate this effect on my images?

I assume, i need some kind of chromatic aberration and making the resolution worse. i came up with something like this:

but it's nowhere near what i want.

The effect im looking for isn't really about low resolution but just low quality and the chromatic aberration's not the same. The picture i showed as an example of what i want is 568 x 425 px so it's not that small, i don't know how to express it but it looks like it's smaller than it is cause of the way it "presents the pixelation" and i don't know how to achieve that in editing.


texts: Can you help me identify the font used in this text that says "EXPERT WITNESS"?

texts:
What is the font used in this image?

It is too squat to be Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, or any of the other typical non-serif fonts, and the image isn't crisp enough for me to make any headway on Identifont.


texts:
I used cmd+J for two perfectly symmetric shapes to join them (points are tied to the pixel grid and that shapes are close to each other with no space between). Works fine if we'll use fill color. But something weird happens when I set the stroke:

How to merge / unite two shapes in Photoshop to avoid that?
I found only one way to fix that: overlap one shape over another, but it won't work if we'll have more complicated shapes.


texts:
I want to make a simple gear. I made first circle, and then made a second circle. Next, I used the Difference operation on the two.

The problem is the resulting object has a stroke on the outside and the inside. I don't need the stroke on the inside. How do I get rid of it?


texts: Photoshop CS6 - Export Layers to files always exports frames backwards

texts:
I have been having the most frustrating issue when exporting animations as layer files. Here is how it goes:

I create my animation on the timeline and then choose "Flatten frames into layers" from the timeline options. I then delete my original layers and just have the flattened frames as layers.

Now I want to export these layers ad individual PNG files so I go File > Scripts > Export Layers to Files. I name my file, choose settings etc and it exports my files.

The problem I'm having is photoshop exports the last frames first and adds this annoying numbering system so all my files are numbered backwards.

Here are examples of what the file names will look like:

countdown_0000_Frame-42.png, countdown_0001_Frame-41.png
and
countdown_0041_Frame-1.png, countdown_0040_Frame-2.png

Now when you try to add the frames into unity for example, you have to add each one individually instead of being able to drag in the whole folder.

If someone can help me with this i will be eternally grateful!!


texts: Photoshop Pen Tool fills outside of path

texts: When using the Pen Tool in shape mode, the shape is filled outside of the path instead of the inside. How do I make the Pen Tool fill the inside?


texts: Client won't return my emails. What do I do?

texts: I am a graphic design freelancer and I have a client. I designed banners for him for his business. I charged 2 banners for only $80. Also, I gave him MULTIPLE options to choose from. I also told him, if there is anything that needs to be changed and edited, I can do it. First, I send him online multiple options of each banner in b&w. He liked them and chose one of the banners to add colour/background. So, I gave him multiple colour options. And since then, he hasn't emailed back for 4 days. He won't email me back and I haven't gotten paid. What do I do in this situation? I should have asked for 50% deposit up front. Please help.


texts:
I have this map of Europe, and my problem with it is that there is white space between the country shapes after I removed the outline.

I want the paths of the different countries to fit perfectly to each other. The simplest solution I thought of would be making all the countries 2% larger so the paths overlap and you use trim on that.

How do you make objects larger in every direction? Or is there a better solution where you can have the paths calculate half the distance between each other and come together in the middle?


texts:
I am creating a vector artwork and finalising it to print. I don't usually use illustrator and have discovered transparency flattening. I was wondering why its used? If its an old school preset no longer needed?

Thanks


texts: How to convert and slice jpg to psd and keep layers

texts:
MIGRATED FROM ASK UBUNTU

I have several JPG designs of a website I'm developing. I did a pure HTML website and then did a full webpage screenshot for the design part. Now the client is asking for the PSD files, is there any way I can convert the JPG designs to PSD in GIMP or any other software?

I am using Ubuntu 12.04 and don't have a running copy of Photoshop.

EDIT
Is there any way I can slice up the JPG into the individual layers?

For confidentiality reasons, I can't upload the actual designs but here is a sample from creative market:


texts: How to show the link is clickable ? Mobile UI Design

texts:
I am prototyping a profile interface for a social network app and I can't figure out how to show that the links in the "Progression" card are clickable.

I put some interrogations points, to point out you can get explanations by clicking on the titles but my testers always miss them.

Do you have any tips ?


texts: Active stylus touchscreen options for drawing

texts:
I am researching active stylus touchscreen options and think I have a comprehensive list: Wacom, Apple Pencil, Dell Canvas, Microsoft Surface. Are there any that I'm missing?

Although I'm not exactly a graphic designer, my job requires me to draw most of the day (think CAD, hand drawn maps and cross sections). In light of my industry not currently using touchscreens, I am curious if there is a preferred touchscreen for drawing among graphic designers?

I was looking for an active stylus touchscreen with excellent palm rejection, pin point accuracy,  large size ~35", stand-alone monitor (no attached tablet-computer) with cost almost a non-issue. The Wacom Cintiq Pro 32 seems to be the best option but perhaps I've missed something?

Thanks in advance for any help!


texts: InDesign: reset assets to their original dimensions

texts:
I want to resize placed vector graphics to their original dimensions they had upon importing. In Photoshop I was used to the transformation tool showing percentage relative to the original size, so typing in 100% would revert the image / asset / graphic (you name it) back to its normal size.

However in InDesign it always shows 100%.

Probably I am just looking in the wrong place, however I am unable to find where I can achieve the desired outcome.

This is probably a pretty standard question, so I hope it is not a duplicate. I could not find an answer on here, though. Feel free to link me to any existing questions regarding this topic and I will shut this one down.


texts:
I am basically a developer. I just want to know the difference between diffuse and texture.

My assumption (as a new to 3D game development), from what I read is that diffuse is the texture applied to a surface/3d model which is used to render the surface/model. If this is correct then diffuse and texture are synonyms.

Please help me understand the differences if there are any


texts:
Ever since I was a little girl I've discovered my passion for drawing. I didn't finished a college related to drawing or graphic design, and as a result I don't have an idea of what it means to be a graphic designer, but I would like to know.

In what categories is graphic design divided? What jobs can you have? What do you need to learn to become a graphic designer? What programs/software should I learn?

Please do not take this as a joke, I want to learn and start my career in this field and I don't know where to start.

Thank you.


texts: Photoshop transform selection on a single layer

texts:
I am not a photoshop expert, but have used it quite a bit over the years. I thought what I am about to describe below was a doable task using select and transform selection

So here is the problem.....

I have a multilayered PSD file. I just increased the canvas size by 30px to the right. Then I selected the bottom layer which is a blue gradient graphic meant for the background of the image. Then I selected the right side of the bottom layer just described.

Next I clicked on select and picked Transform Selection. Then I pulled the Transform selection to the right to stretch blue gradient into the empty canvas I created, but it does not pull anything but empty pixels.

Am I doing something wrong? I could have sworn I did this with CS3, but I just got CC and I noticed the settings are a little different in some places, but not much.


texts: Affinity Designer: Change What Node of Shape Snaps to Grid

texts:
I am using affinity designer to do some precisely positioned icon design.  I have a 1pt grid in place and am having things snap to it, which works well.

However, sometimes I have a shape that I'm dragging around that is not regularly shaped (not all points align to the grid).  I would like to have a particular node snap to the grid while the others maintain their shape relative to this node.

For example, let's say I have a shape that is 3.5pt tall.  I may want to align the bottom-left node to the grid, but the snapping will only use the top node.

Is there a way to pick which node is snapping to the grid?


texts:
I have a rather technical question. I'm trying to find the Yule-Nielsen factor n in the equation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neugebauer_equations

I've read that n is empirically derived from the "best fit" of the model to the training data:
link here

My understanding is that the training data consists of random colour patches and the spectra of each is measured using a spectrophotometer. But how do you build the best-fit model of a collection of spectra? Suppose each spectrum is formulated as a M by one matrix. How do you come up with a best-fit model without knowing the value of n? Is the best-fit an M dimensional plane?


texts: What is the general stance on "jump headlines"?

texts:
This is more of a design opinion question, and this might be the wrong place to ask this, but I digress.

I work on a weekly newspaper that up until now has used "jump headlines", that's to say there's a second headline where the article picks up on a different page.

Looking around at other publications, especially the big ones, I've noticed that very few newspapers do this so I'm just looking for some opinions here. Are jump headlines useful in newspaper layout or do they just take up space and act redundantly?

To clarify, I'm not asking for opinions on completely removing jumps, but rather the reasons to have/not have a full blown 40pt. headline for a jump.


texts: How to vertically *and* horizontally ditribute all objects in a grid in Illustrator?

texts:
I have somewhat of a mess on my hands with a certain file. So I was given a (.ai) file by a client that contains 20,000 circles (210 circles high by 90 circles wide where each circle needs to be labeled with a different letter (that corresponds to a pre-agreed upon color scheme) to indicate what color the balls will be in real life when this file is turned into a physical art piece.

So, I have already labeled each circle with the correct letters, but since this file is going to later be used by a cnc cutter to etch the letters into the bottom something of a half-dome/cup-like shape (in wood) I am told each letter needs to be EXACTLY in the center (horiz and vert) of each circle in order for the cuts to come out correctly. Currently, they are not perfectly centered.

Is there a quick, easy way to select all the letters (and/or maybe all the balls?) and 'tell' illustrator to space them all out in a perfect grid to match up to the balls (the balls are perfectly spaced, but my placement of the letters within them is unfortunately not)?

The only thing I can think of so far is to center-align each line....line-by-line....which is taking AGES and I have a tight deadline. Surely, there has to be a better way that I am ignorant of?


texts: Color not transferring from Illustrator to Photoshop

texts: I have an Illustrator file and a Photoshop file, both are setup as RBG color spaces. But when I copy and past from Illustrator to Photoshop the color changes. For example #b74eab becomes #a6349b. I have never had any issues with copying and pasting between the two programs. Is there anyway to fix this>


texts: Adobe Illustrator error creating text constrained by shape (Area Type Tool)

texts:
I am newer than new to Illustrator, but am trying nontheless to design a logo for my friend.

The most basic of operations is to create an ellipse, correct?

I have created a circle with this tool, but every time I then try using the Area Type tool I get the message:

YOU MUST CLICK ON A ON-COMPOUND, NON-MASKING PATH TO CREATE TEXT INSIDE A PATH.

I have managed to "release" the compound path (apparently) but must still be using a "masked" path.

How do I release this, so that I will be free to create text within this circle?


texts: What software can graphic designers work with?

texts:
What software products can a graphic designer work with?
What do you like about these programs?
Which do you prefer working with?


texts: I need to find a japanese font that matches copperplate in english. would be grateful for any help. Thanks in advance.


texts: Apply a "Convert to shape: Rectangle"-style dynamic effect on a Text on a path

texts:
I'm looking for a dynamic solution where I can dynamically put a background behind a type that is bent along a path.
So far I've only come up with the dynamic effect "Convert to shape: Rectangle"-option for straight text boxes.
Here's an example of what i am trying to achieve dynamically:

1.) Have text around a circle's path
2.) Have a background applied automatically to cover the underlying circle, and have it the cover-background end up with the right angles so it looks as if cut out of the underlying circle.


texts: How much can I scale a photo before the quality will degrade

texts: I'm thinking of purchasing a photo on iStock to make a poster size print. I'm pretty familiar with resolution and how it works, but before forking out the money and ending up with a print that might not be how I want, I just want to see how much I can scale the image, which is now 5474 x 3649 px (18.25 x 12.16 in.) @ 300 dpi, before the quality shifts. I'd like to keep it as sharp as possible, but I did want to have either the height or width at least 30in. If I try to do that with this particular image will it noticeably ruin/distort the quality?


texts: Convert image to monochrome image with details

texts:
I found several explanations how to convert an image to outline image but I would like to have also the details from the image like below.

Could someone give me some clues how I could start to do it?
Is it better to use Photoshop or Illustrator?


texts: How to get the contour of an image in Inkscape

texts: I have an image of a human brain, but I only need the contour of it; its outer shape and not everything that's on the inside of the brain. I tried using Trace Bitmap, but I still got the inside of the brain. Hope my question is clear and thanks in advance for any help.


texts: Best dpi for printing a 48x18 inch at 200%?

texts:
I have an image in photoshop I want to print at 200%, and right now it's 48x18 inches, and the resolution is 72 dpi. I read somewhere that changing it to 600dpi would allow me to scale it by 200% at time of printing without any degradation, but I want to make sure. Should I change the dpi to something larger like 600dpi? Or what would be good?

(I've also chosen Bicubic smoother in the image size dialogue box)

Thank you for any help!


texts: Apply an action to each item in a selection in turn?

texts:
If you use an Illustrator action on a selection, it applies it to that selection as a whole.

Illustrator actions can be applied as 'batches', but this means batches of files, not batches of objects.

Is there a way to apply an action to each object in turn (like Transform Each does), not the whole selection?


texts: How to deduplicate paths from a LiveTrace operation?

texts:
I vectorized a raster image with LiveTrace and want to turn it into a line drawing for children to color.

Here is part of the design, which covers the mouth:

Here is the original design as a line drawing (stroke and no fill):

I want a line drawing similar to the above where the paths are simplified, otherwise tiny children will lose patience coloring every small patch.

When I expand the LiveTrace object, each anchor point is specified twice, e.g. once for the white of the teeth and again for the light green of the gums. In the above line drawing, the result is that the outer line looks lighter than the inside lines. As another, in the image below, I moved one of the anchor points on the right and not the other, and it created a vacuum between them:

I want to remove color and deduplicate paths, so I can then use the Object > Path > Simplify tool. When I run it now, the simplification moves each of the duplicate lines in different ways, so it creates either an overlap or a vacuum. I used an extreme case of 60% accuracy and 10º angle so the result shows:

How can I deduplicate the paths to avoid vacuum and overlap in path simplification?


texts: How can I use a printer with duplex printing to flip pages horizontally?

texts:
An office printer  had an option for automatic duplex printing, but not manual.  So I had to command it to print firstly all even pages in normal order, and they ended at the paper output tray face-down (p. 2 was at the bottom).

Then I turned them upside down, and placed  them back into the paper feeder tray, so that p. 2 now faced up and was the topmost sheet. I printed all odd pages in normal order. At the paper output tray, the most bottom sheet contains p. 2 (facing down), p. 1 (facing up; reverse of p. 2). The second most bottom sheet contains p. 4 (facing down), p. 3 (facing up; reverse of p. 4). So the front-to-back order is wrong, as it's p. 2, p. 1, p. 4, p. 3.

How can I manipulate this printer to flip pages horizontally, rather than wasting my time flipping manually? Yes, I was foolish not to research first and read this.


texts: How can I bend a LaTeX equation as a SVG in Inkscape so that it follows a curve?

texts: I am trying to design an image where I take equations that I type in LaTeX and export as SVG images and bend them along curves. All the methods that I find leave me doing thsi for individual characters. The equation aren't text so I can't use text to path. Any suggestions before I abandon this idea. Alternatively, is there a way to type LaTeX equations in inkscape?


texts: Cyan always remains when deleting unused swatches

texts: I am guessing this is a bug because all my students have experienced this regardless of the colors they were using in their designs (we were working in PMS). Is there any rationale for Cyan having to be removed manually when deleting unused swatches in InDesign? Is there anything else outside of the design area using it?


texts: How to fit text inside a shape using iDraw

texts:
I'm trying to design a logo, and would like to fit the name of the product inside a shape. In this case, the shape is a closed path in the shape of a smile. Any ideas how I might achieve that?

Basically, the top of the letters should follow the path along top of the smile, and the bottom of the letters should follow the path along the bottom of the smile - with the size, shape, shear (etc.) of the letters adjusted accordingly.

I've tried both manually manipulating the outlines of text (once converted to an outline) to try and fit the shape, and using the fit to path. Neither of these really worked, and I was hoping that there was a better 'automated' solution that would produce better results than me trying to do it by hand.

I'm currently using iDraw on the Mac to do the design (so SVG for those unfamiliar with it).


texts: "Live" layers in photoshop to reflect changes in another PSD file

texts:
I shoot with Sony A7r4 and I use sections from multiple photos to stitch together a perfect shot. I work with 16 bit layers only and typically my PSD files reach the size of 10GB+. My shots have appeared on billboards so I will need to retain every bit of quality possible.

Once a file becomes too big, saving takes a long time so my strategy so far is to break a workflow into multiple files.

For example: Let say I have a photo (let's call it base) that involves 5 operations A, B, C, D, E

v1.psd will be the base image + operation A.
v2.psd will be the output from performing merged visible in v1.psd + operation B
v3.psd will be the output from performing merged visible in v2.psd + operation C
v4.psd will be the output from performing merged visible in v3.psd + operation D
v5.psd will be the output from performing merged visible in v4.psd + operation E

The merged visible of v5.psd will become the final output.

The only issue with this is that if I make a change in v1.psd, I will have to propagate the changes by merging visible in v1, copying that to v2, merging visible in v2, copying that in v3 etc etc.

It would save me a lot of time if it is possible to create a live layer in PS based on another PSD file. What this means is that if the imported file is modified, the corresponding layer will automatically update. If this is possible, I wouldn't have to merge visible multiple times for every file downstream from the change I made.

Does such functionality exist?

How do you deal with really large files?


texts:
I am a photoshop user who is looking for a free alternative.
Gimp is usually the answer.  When looking for downloads I stumbled upon 'gimpshop', a gimp distro that is layout for the convenience of photoshoppers.

But is it equally good as Gimp?


texts: Is it possible to create a diagram in one of the adobe products, whereby next to each shape there is a label displaying the size of the shape. for example if i draw a 100x500 box it displays this number automatically and it changes when i re-size the shape.


texts: Which tool for UX design should I choose?

texts: I am a novice designer that's why I would like to ask you which UX design tools you use in your daily work? I know some basics of Figma and I am quite fluent in Adobe XD but I've heard that many UX design companies use Sketch and InVision working on their projects. So which one should I learn to have more job opportunities?


texts: Is there a tool to extract the primarily used colors in a picture?

texts: I was wondering if there is a tool that can identify all primarily used colors in a picture and show me a list or color code?


texts: Scale for Large Typography (Much larger than 72px)

texts:
I'm currently doing a mockup for a website that has a few large typographic elements. For scale, I'm using the one provided by Typeplate (18, 21, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 90, 117), but after spending some time looking at the scale, which is made by multiplying 18 by various numbers (1, 1.1667, 1.3333, 2, 2.6667, 3.3333, 4, 5, 6.5), I've been unable to figure out how to calculate larger font sizes that adhere to the scale.

Is there a way for me to calculate the proper size for fonts upwards of 250 or is there a better scale that has a much higher range? I'm not committed the scale I'm currently using, so if there is a more visually pleasing one, I'd be more than happy to switch to that, but my primary concern is keeping large fonts from disrupting the harmony of the website.


texts: Is it possible to correct the aspect ratio of font after resizing in Illustrator?

texts:
I have a plot with lots of labels on the x- and y-axes in Illustrator. I want to downscale the image vertically, but not horizontally. Obviously, when I do this the text looks silly as it becomes distorted.

Is there a way, after the fact, to change the text aspect ratio back to its original, while keeping the image vertically scaled?

Googling I didn't find an answer. Note this is different from asking how to maintain global aspect ratio when resizing (I know to do that to hold down shift key when resizing).

What I'm doing now is very time consuming: I ungroup, pull the text away, resize the image, and then drag the text back in manually and resize it separately. This is incredibly inefficient and time consuming. It feels stupid.


texts:
I make vector illustrations and I also do a little bit of web design. I really want to combine the two. I have some ideas for some image heavy websites that use vector images in SVG format, and I basically want to experiment and play around with some ideas.

I've read that SVG is a good format because they're small in size, but I've also been told that there's a limit to how much a browser can take, and therefore maybe it's best to go easy on the SVG.

So Im wondering if anyone has any thoughts, or examples of SVG websites that have got the balance right? Or any examples of sites that use too much.. I'm just trying to see what people's general views are on this. I think a heavily vectored website could look pretty awesome, but how practical is it?


texts: Font Fill Color with Offset Path (Illustrator) Doesn't Work

texts:
When I write text with script font on Illustrator > create outlines > unite > offset path > group, I cannot select the original text to give it a contrasting fill color. The whole design turns white when I try to make only the text white (without the offset path).

Sometimes I right click after the 'offset path' step and the characters are already grouped.

There is something major/basic I am missing. A solution would be much appreciated. Thank you.


texts: Normalize transformed rectangles with photoshop

texts:
Let's say I have some transformed rectangles like the ones here (fig 3,4,6,8):

Is there a simple way to click on the 4 corners of the rectangle and make the whole image adjust so that the lines are parallel to the image borders?

I can use Photoshop CS 5.1 here, images are very high quality and should stay it.


texts: What are some common mistakes that a designer can make when designing for web, and how can they be avoided?

texts:
What are some common mistakes to avoid while designing? I know color, text and images play a major part in designing, but there are so many other things that we need to take care of! I don't know those other things but I know there are so many...

Many times we get the end result with mistakes (minor-major-visible-hidden)...

So my question is :

What are some of the common mistakes that we make? (you are also included honey) (it's not like nobody makes mistakes, everyone does)
How can I/we avoid these mistakes?


texts: Calculating and aligning the rolling edge for print in Adobe Illustrator

texts:
I'm trying to work out how to set up the rolling edge on a circle in Adobe Illustrator.

It's for a design/pattern that will be printed on the face of a ceramic casino token, which will be wrapped around the face, along the edge and onto the reverse side.

I know that the spacing needs to be different, so that the edges don't merge at the ends when wrapped around... But can this be calculated programmatically by any native tool?

I'm struggling to work out the best way to do the alignment to the edges/faces.

Further, the edges are very slightly curved - they aren't sharp, so what's the best way to set up my mapping of the face/edge to ensure they're joined up.

Not sure what tools/features on Illustrator best support this?


texts: How to Insert a Custom Arrowhead to the Default Arrowhead List in the Stroke Dialog Box

texts: After finding the Arrowheads.ai file and following the required steps to create a new symbol of a custom arrowhead (which I named Arrow 40), I want to know if there's a way to add Arrow 40 to the default arrowhead list in the Stroke dialog box. The reason for this is to be able to scale the arrowhead, just like I can with the first 39 default arrowheads in the Stroke dialog box. Is there a way to add my custom arrowhead as a default to this list?


texts: Aligning button backgrounds to pixel boundaries in photoshop

texts:
I'm having trouble with getting exact locations and sizes when creating background graphics for my buttons. I can never get a clean x pixels by y pixels - it always ends up having a couple decimal places. This happens for the both the size and location of the shape.

I have snapping on, but it doesn't seem to be working. How can I ensure that everything is precise?


texts: Tracking in photoshop vs LBearing and RBearing

texts:
I wish to modify the spacing in a font such that it matches the look in photoshop.
In photoshop I have set the "tracking" to be 200.
In FontForge (fonteditor), I can only modify LBearing and Rbearing.
Does 200 trackin in photoshop mean 100 LBeargin and 100 Rbearing in FontForge?
Or is it 200 LB and 200 RB?


texts: Illustrator Artwork, from only one of our artists, is extremely slow to work with

texts:
I work for a company that mainly sells city and state art transfer-printed, etched, engraved, etc. onto dinnerware.

Most of the time i deal with the art, personally, i see that it contains anywhere from 15,000-30,000 paths but have no problems working with them quickly . However, one of our artist's illustrations always has a tremendous amount of paths in the 150,000-250,000 range...and i wanted to see if there was anything i could do.

What I have tried

Fix bad plug-in global object names(no idea what this meant, just
saw it here
Object>Path>simplify (made sure to not include text outlines. Has
never worked in a year's worth of attempts.)
Object>Path>Clean up : says it isn't needed.

Image below is of Sixteen pieces of artwork for a square dinner plate. Here is a link to a single piece of artwork from that product, so you can take a look and hopefully help me out.

Do you see anything i can correct in the file supplied?


texts:
This may be a very basic question for this forum but here goes.

I am beginning to create masks for sandcarving using UV film and I need to use B&W vector line art to be able to print a clear film with blacks dense enough to block the UV light during exposure.  My images are in JPG, BMP, GIF, etc and I need to convert them to vector line art. I downloaded a copy of Inkscape which the film manufacturer said will work but this level of graphics is new to me.  I only want to do simple B&W so I do not need the full art experience, anyone have any simple reccomendations?

Thanks in advance.


texts: How to convert an .ai file to a .svg file?

texts:
I don't have a copy of Illustrator and cannot work with an .ai file I received. I've tried Inkscape and it won't work as the uniconverter is for 32-bit machines and it doesn't appear to read the .ai file.

Any suggestions?


texts:
I want an image of 320x80 size so that whenever I put this image above any image it will create a blur effect. Just like a translucent mirror. Below is the sample image of iPhone app.

Here the navigation bar is blurred and what happens there is that when I scroll down the content below this nav bar gets blurred.

Is this possible to create an image like this? Which can blur everything behind it at run time (what ever the content it has behind it, not static but dynamic)

P.S. I know how to blur an image but that will be static


texts: The exported image does not match the preview I see whilst editing

texts:
I basically exported an image after editing and found that it does not match the one I see while editing.
This is the image while editing:

This is the preview in the export window:

And the exported image:

The exported image is much brighter. How do I fix this?


texts: Crop tool doesn't fill background when increasing canvas size

texts:
When increasing canvas size with crop tool in older versions of Photoshop, background filling occurred automatically, but it doesn't seem to work anymore.
I've tried to switch to the classic mode, but it does not help.
Is it possible to do as before?


texts: How can I edit text on a JPEG file that was emailed to me? I can figure out what program to use? It is currently saved with my pictures in my gallery, how can I move the file to a different program? I've tried and it will only let me save it to my gallery.


texts:
I'm a photographer and I recently shot a food cook book. We did over 100+ shots. The client asked me for CYMK files with a specific colour profile.
We processed them as CYMK and my assistant spent a day or two doing colour adjustments and retouching bits and bobs on PS. I ended up paying for this out of my pocket as I don't like what they in house retouchers do to my colours.

Now the book has gone to repro and now they have decided that actually they need RGB files. They also won't say why despite me asking several times. Its the art director asking me on behalf of repro, so I don't think she knows why and just won't find out. I cannot fathom why this would be?

I'm planning to use the finished CYMK files & change the colour space to RGB in photoshop. I can't see any visible difference to the eye, my monitor is calibrated and they look great to me.

It all seems totally pointless as they will be converted back to the original profile & printed in CYMK anyway... Heavens knows why they asked for CYMK in the first place.

Do you think this will be okay and would the client be able to tell them that they have been converted back?

Any advice would be much appreciated.


texts: How to paint black mask in After Effects?

texts:
Ok, I have some custom effects that I need to paint a mask for in an animation - my idea was either to use After Effects or Premiere.

I'd prefer AE. Basically what I need is to be able to paint with a soft brush, like in Photoshop, and apply a black mask:

How can I do this?


texts: Delete only one step in the middle of history (Photoshop)

texts: Is it possible to delete only one step in the middle of history (keeping all steps after it) without juggling with multiple files?


texts: Moving to next slide after completion of animation which requires MouseClick (PowerPoint)

texts:
I'm working with a Presentation and I have some problems...

Before asking them I'd like to show up objects/element of slide I'm working on:

I've added some elements in a slide and I'd like do something like this:

The slide is looped with PlayButton with animation of 'Spin' and its being repeated until next mouse click
Viewer of presentation clicks Mouse Button and Object 1 : GIF Cat along with Object 2 : Text CTS should disappear
This should be followed by 'Grow and Shrink' animation of Play Button
Then the slide show should be proceeded to next slide

So, here are the applied animations:

Finally and ultimately my question is how to advance the slide show to next slide after the last animation (of whole slide) has been played... The last animation plays but doesn't proceeds to next slide..


texts: What is the name of font used in this design

texts: I have been searching the font name using font matching services but couldn't find any reference, can someone please tell me what font is used in this design?


texts: Software/library to create artistic plan view of a floorplan

texts:
I'm looking either for a software or for a clipart library to create a top down plan view of a flat. But that should not be simply schematic, but actually look nice with shading and color and so on.

Something like this:

It could be actually even more detailed with nice textures and so on.

Anyone can recommend a dedicated software or clipart library?


texts: Clip studio paint issue: "Unable to edit canvas because canvas contains data which cannot be used in this version"

texts:
I'm using clip studio paint 1.911 and this message pops ups when I open some clip documents:
"Unable to edit canvas because canvas contains data which cannot be used in this version"
How can I fix it?


texts: How to listen for document events that user triggers while palette window is open

texts:
Is there a way to listen for document events that the user triggers while a palette window is open?
I have looked at the documentation for something like document.addEventLister or something, but I have not found anything.
For example, I want to listen for the Paint Brush Tool and update my open palette window ui based on that.
Here is what I have tried:

var isDone, s2t, waitForRedraw, win, windowResource;
var count = 0;
var document;
// Shortcut function
s2t = function(stringID) {
  return app.stringIDToTypeID(stringID);
};

waitForRedraw = function() {
  var d;
  d = new ActionDescriptor();
  d.putEnumerated(s2t('state'), s2t('state'), s2t('redrawComplete'));
  return executeAction(s2t('wait'), d, DialogModes.NO);
};

//sentinel variable
isDone = false;

windowResource = "palette {  \    orientation: 'column', \    alignChildren: ['fill', 'top'],  \    preferredSize:[130, 130], \    text: 'Brush Stroke Counter 1.0',  \    margins:15, \    \    sliderPanel: Panel { \        orientation: 'row', \        alignChildren: 'right', \        margins:15, \        text: ' Brush Stroke Count ', \        st: StaticText { text: '0', characters: 5, justify: 'left'} \        } \    \    bottomGroup: Group{ \        cd: Checkbox { text:'Count Enabled', value: true }, \        cancelButton: Button { text: 'Close', properties:{name:'cancel'}, size: [120,24], alignment:['right', 'center'] }, \    }\}";

win = new Window(windowResource);

// Button listeners
win.bottomGroup.cancelButton.onClick = function() {
  return isDone = true;
};

win.onClose = function() {
  return isDone = true;
};

win.show();

activeDocument.addEventListener("Pnt ", function(){
     alert("I'm painting!");
});

while (isDone === false) {

     //listen for user painting here?
  alert(app.currentTool);

  app.refresh(); // or, alternatively, waitForRedraw();

}

Any help is appreciated.
Thank you :)


texts: Affinity Designer: how to clean up compound path

texts: I don't really know how to describe this problem, but I just want a clean cut if you know what I mean. It seems like the ellipse is trying to form an ellipse again and so there are new lines in the middle, how can I get rid of the lines in the middle? Adobe Illustrator does the same thing.


texts: Vectormagic.com-style-design by Inkscape with Bitmap-trace aka potrace?

texts:
I have used the Vectormagic.com -hxck i.e. copy-pasting to get quantified and nice-looking pictures fast but doing this is too slow with overwhelming amount of pictures. My friend is mocking that this thing cannot be done quickly with offline -tools but I feel the story is different, it probably requires some expertise to use the tools such as bitmap-trace in Inkscape correctly.

For simplicity, suppose you have some simple comic character with 10 colors, background transparent and alpha-channel added. How can you improve the quality? Inkscape uses the term quantification with bitmap-trace but I cannot yet understand what is actually happening under the cover when Vectormagic.com does the trick and makes the photo looking good.

Please, explain. And special plus if you can provide reproducible commands, look potrace/autotrace are commandline tools eventually.

Perhaps related

https://photo.stackexchange.com/a/7798/9379


texts: Can I use anything other than Photoshop for my needs?

texts:
I have been using Photoshop (I believe 7) for what seems like forever on Windows 7 and my Photoshop was a pirated copy.

However my computer crashed and I have acquired a new one with Windows 10. Now I am not sure wether or not to splurge on Photoshop or if something free will serve me just fine.

What I use in Photoshop are the following:

Layers.
Magic Wand Tool (with different tolerance).
Selection tools (the lasso).
Dodge, Burn.
Brushes (mainly pixel soft and hard, in different sizes).
Zoom in to pixels.
Colour correction (saturation especially).
Cut and Paste.
Resizing selected areas and pasted pieces.
Text tool (sometimes with layer effect, but this is not a need).
Rotate items, and mirror items.
Directly scan my hand drawn artwork and whiten the background, correct colours etc.
Make images ready for printing at high resolution (300ppi or higher. My scanner actually does 1200ppi).
I save work in PSD when I work on them due to layers etc.
Save finished work as JPG.

Will anything other than Photoshop do for me? I cant really afford that software now.

I do not use it for photo editing, it's more for "scrap booking" really. Cut and paste from images onto blank canvas (usually international A4 or A5), as well as editing hand drawn images.


texts:
I’ve never made a dashed line before. Thought it would be simple enough: I went to stroke, checked dashed line and set my dash and gap on the stroke I made with the paintbrush.

You can see this here:

However, my line remains not dashed. Why isn’t it working? I need dashed.

Still not working:


texts: How can I create a "crazy mirror" distorted portrait in Photoshop?

texts: I am absolutely in love with this effect. Do you have any advice on how to accomplish something like this in Photoshop?


texts: Illustrator Layer vs Group, how to distinguish them?

texts:
In Adobe Illustrator (2020) one can organize elements in the layer panel in 2 ways (AFAIK) : layers or groups.

The behaviour is slightly different for both.

To select elements : when arranged in layers, a single click is enough to select an element, when an element is inside a group, a double-click is needed and you can then select the element in Isolation mode.
To move elements : grouped elements move altogether whereas elements in same layer can move independently (this is logical).

My question is : how to distinguish in the Layers Panel if a container is a group or a layer ? Indeed, when elements are grouped a container is created with brackets in its name, however once renamed there is no way to my knowledge to distinguish it from a layer.


texts: Data missing when importing a spreadsheet into InDesign

texts:
I am currently having a bit of a delima importing excel spreadsheets into InDesign.

The spreadsheets in question use formulas to pull data from other spreadsheets on the network (using vlookup) - currently set as, Part Number (Alpha-numeric, Description (Paragraph), case qty. (number), Price (currency).

When importing the spreadsheet (using File > Import), it imports everything correctly, including the headers; except for the description paragraphs.

I am currently using ID5.5 and the spreadsheets are .xlsx

Is it a bug with InDesign? Am I doing something wrong?


texts:
I have a design in a circle as shown in the image below.

Now I want this same design in a straight line. How can I do this? using this same design.


texts: "One of the objects is not a path , cannot perform boolean operation" error when using division tool in Inkscape

texts:
I want to cut the object below in Inkscape 0.92 :

opengl.svg

After converting it to path , I was unable to use the division tool because of the following error:

One of the objects is not a path  , cannot perform boolean operation

I also converted that black box into path but nothing special happened.

Thanks in advance.


texts: Page numbers reversed from 10 - Indesign

texts:
I have a strange thing in Indesign. I put automatic page numbers in my master A both for the left page as for the right page.

On the right pages everything is ok, but on the left pages as from "10", Indesign puts 01 - 21 - 31 - 41... instead of 10 - 12 - 13 - 14... I removed the placeholder and put it back, but the problem stays.

Can anybody help me?


texts: how to get images as if they are in the multiply blend mode?

texts: I have this very intricate cutout with very bright colors. They are so bright I like them better when they are in multiply blend mode against its backdrop. However, I can't leave them that way, because I need to export these cutouts to use them as transparent pngs in an interactive way later. So what's the easiest way to get these cutouts in the shade as if they are in the multiply mode? I mean potentially I can re-edit each individual cutout by changing its curve and saturation, but what would be a good workflow for this? Any suggestions?


texts: Looking for a font name typically used by sign shops

texts: no luck on any automatic identifier sites


texts: Implementing dark image in light website

texts:
So I have the following problem. I need to make
a website for a company who does the effects on parties etc.

They have light colors (blue, gray, white) as their website-colors.
But the problem is, parties are dark and so pictures of their work
exist out of dark colors.

I want to implement some of those images in their website.
And for sure one on the main-page.

But how do you implement a picture on a page if the colors
in the picture doesn't match the colors of the page/website?

Here a small example:
https://ibb.co/n2uufb

How would I implement that dark picture in the light design
of the website?


texts:
I'm using Photoshop CC.

I've created a GIF animation with a text, circles etc etc.

This text (and other items) is showing fine in Photoshop, but, when I do "Save for web" and open the GIF, the text become not clear at the end of the animation, like the image above:

The problem seems to be related to the background color. I mean: on each step of my GIF I've a background (white), just on the last step I removed the background 'cause I don't want it on my animation.
In fact when I add a background color to my last step the result is this:

So, the question is: how can I correctly create a GIF with transparent background and mantain a good quality?

Thanks


texts: Are rhetorical devices, like metaphors, part of the encoding of a message?

texts:
The "Process of Communication" attempts to codify the act of communication. That is taking an idea, transmitting that idea to an audience, and receiving it by the audience. Here is one of many diagrams that can be used to quickly summarize the act of communication:

How can we better encode messages so that metaphors and visual items are transmitted as part of the encoded message?

For example, if we put an image of a half-filled glass on a presentation slide discussing "ideas" meaning (put your thoughts here) is that part of the encoding?

What strategies are there to make sure imagery is correlated and understood strongly enough to be part of the encoded message?


texts:
I would like to know the best way to set up my designs for print by others.
I will be sending my clients PDF's of designs I have created specifically for them.  They will either print them on their own or bring to print center, most likely Staples type.

I need to send in PDF
Clients needs to be able to choose size - especially poster size.
Prints need to look good

I have created a design in Photoshop & saved it as a PDF, however when I try to print it as Poster I am only seeing an 11x14 size??

Thanks any help is much appreciated!


texts:
I have to do some prototyping for an iPad app, and just realized why I was having so much trouble: this is an iPad app. I am used to design website pages/templates, computer interfaces, etc.. I have my usability rules, I know when and how to apply them, but these don't work on an iPad, mainly because it is not a computer (took me a while to figure it..).

The main problem I have is about screen size / sliding. For my usual designs, I would start a canvas of a standard resolution (usually 1024*768 or 1280*1024) and start throwing stuff at it. I create a page for each menu, and voilà. Websites have scrolling, but it is not too problematic as you still have on screen roughly the same arrangement of header/footer/sidebars/content

But on iPad, sliding is an integral part of navigation, and is even preferred over buttons navigation.

So I would like my app screens to rely more on sliding than button-pushing. What would be the best option for this (I am only prototyping/designing, not building the actual app)?

start with a canvas bigger than an iPad screen, and say to the client: "so, the screen is actually displaying only this portion of the design at at time, and the user can slide it"
create several pages, and assume them independant from each other, and the user will just slide between them
some other options I am not seeing?

(don't hesitate to ask questions as comments before proposing answers, as it is pretty late, so I doubt my question is pretty clear; I'll correct and explain it based on feedback)


texts: Full-time Illustrators - I'd really appreciate any salary advice

texts:
I’m chasing a bit of advice regarding pay rates and contract terms for illustrators...

I’m currently working full-time for a start-up as a graphic designer and being paid a decent rate for someone in a mid-weight graphic designer role. The company I work for is a web-subscription service, customers pay a flat rate and can download PDFs.

The thing is, almost every project I work on involves illustration work, and while I’m not the best illustrator in the world, I’m now at a point where I’m starting to develop a style and I’d feel comfortable calling myself an illustrator rather than just a graphic designer.

I work jointly with writers / content creators some of the time, and sometimes a PDF that is for sale is wholly my own work. I feel like I work quite quickly and would complete between 70-100 spot illustrations and 6-10 full-pages or character sets a month.

Since I was hired as a graphic designer I don’t currently any stipulations in my contract specifying how my illustrations are used. I like my job, and I don’t consider my employer to be intentionally ripping me off, but there are some alarm bells going off. I’m not 100% sure but I’m guessing there’s potentially nothing stopping my employer from reselling my artwork on a stock website, selling it to manufacturers under a licensing agreement etc

Are there any full-time illustrators out there with contract advice? Should I be happy with my current wage? Should I be freaking out about not owning copyright over my images? Should I be moving to something more along the lines of an art licensing agreement? Does anyone have advice for art licensing agreements for digital products?

Thanks in advance


texts: Can I make a straight line in Photoshop and rotate it without it getting pixelated?

texts:
I want to draw a straight line in photoshop without it getting pixelated when I rotate it at any particular angle. Is there a way of doing that?There are numerous solutions in google but none works.

Thanks in advance.


texts: What is this pseudo 3D technique called?

texts:
Usually the animation contains a few moving 2D layers that make pseudo 3D effect. I'm looking for the name of this technique and any tools/services/frameworks/tutorials that may help me to make such an animation.

Please have a look at these examples:

https://dribbble.com/shots/2565628-Joysticks-n-Sliders-Test

https://dribbble.com/shots/2825622-Character-Test


texts: Circumvent problems with banding in Inkscape

texts:
I came up with a design as shown in the image below. It consists of multiple rings - each of them has a radial gradient going from black to transparent. Unfortunately there are massive banding issues - best seen on the leftmost page on the image below. This seems to be a known issue in Inkscape.
Any ideas how I could avoid this problem?


texts: Trouble with MS Word templates and 'sections'

texts:
I'm trying to create a letterhead template that works like so:

Front page containing one header image
Continuation page containing alternate header image
All additional pages automatically use continuation / alternate
header

Here are the steps that I've taken so far:

Created the first page and added the header image
Clicked Layouts > Breaks > Next Page
Unchecked Link to Previous
Added alternate header image

So now I have a 2-page Word doc, with different headers on each. I can see in the status bar at the bottom that page 1 has 'section 1' and page 2 has 'section 2'.

However when I move my cursor to page 1, and type a load of text until it's full, the spillover doesn't go into page 2 as I'd hoped.

Instead it creates a new page, using the same header as page 1.

Am I doing something wrong? How do I set it so that the spillover goes into the second page that has already been created?

I've tried it without unchecking Link to Previous but then my alternate header overwrites the one on the first page


texts: How to extract text and preserve shading effects?

texts:
I have a logo and I am trying to extract the text while preserving the shading effects.

I have tried several approaches, such as using magic wand to delete the background color, but this results in artifacts as you can imagine near the text and icon boundaries. Does anyone know of another approach that will allow me to extract the text and icon with the shading so I can save as transparent png?

Regards


texts:
I've always felt curious about graphics tablets, but I've never even used one. Most people I know either give up or love them.

I'm not a big illustrator myself, but I do the occasional doodle and would like to know if there are any other advantages for non-illustrators.


texts: Tool that will do a circular blur/convolution

texts:
I'm primarily a gimp user, but I want something to blur an image similarly to the way a lens would blur an out of focus background. AFAIK this is essentially a circular blur/convolution (assuming circular aperture and ignoring diffraction).

The operation is very straight forward, but I've been searching for a while and the only thing I can come up with is ImageMagick:

convert image.png -define convolve:scale=! -morphology Convolve Disk:20 blurred-image.png

This is great for automating tasks, but is rather cumbersome with trial and error edits. I'd also like an alternative just to double check results. Does anyone know of a tool that does circular blur?

If someone with rep could add more tags, please do: convolution, depth-of-field

[EDIT]
An example...

Custom convolutions give quite a small matrix (for example nothing close to 30x30) and I can't be bothered typing in weights. I'm also very much a fan of live previews with easy adjustments.


texts: How to display better a product on a outdoor photo, without making it look childish and unrealistic?

texts:
For my next campaign, I have to use a half back and white, half colored photo of any Indian monument (Represents our Independence Day).

I also have to show 2 products --- they are EKG / ECG Machines --- one less colored, one little colorful and bright. Split is used to show one product was launched 50 years ago, and 2nd product is launched in this century. But I can't figure out if it's even possible without making it looking childish and ugly.

Right now it looks very bad at least to me.

The main problem I see is because the monument is basically outdoor. And product doesn't fit outdoor. Even if I place a table in place of that greenish/white area, it was looking very odd and unrealistic, as there's highway in front of monument.

I tried some options, and I guess it's not working. So is there any other approach that I can try out?

PS: The monument can change, but the products are a part of campaign. Positions can also change, but BG should be visible.

EDIT: Okay, I realized one thing after posting this question (read a comment under this question). Hand might seem a bad idea here. So I'm instead, using 2 products (2nd product will be different, more colorful). One for dark side, one for colored side, as shown below):

So it's slightly less childish (IMO). But still the question remains same. I don't find it very aesthetic.


texts: Find color where alpha at value `a` equals a given hue

texts:
I want to achieve a certain hue but also have the color that carries that hue contain a certain opacity.

For example if I were after #ff0000 with 50% opacity, the color I would want to identify is the (dark) shade of red that when at 50% opacity yields #ff0000.

Is there an equation I can use that lets me plug in the desired hue and alpha to identify the color values that produce that hue when at the given opacity value?

(I know this won't exist for all target color / alpha combinations, but I'd like to find the equation that specifies the parameters for those combinations that are achievable.)


texts: How do I adjust anchor points correctly?

texts:
The way I have just learned to use the Pen tool, if you hold Cmd/Ctl while selecting the end of a guideline, it will move the guideline on BOTH sides of the anchor point and adjust the last curve that was made. Conversely, if you hold Opt while selecting the same point, it will leave the curve as is and simply adjust the guideline on the same side of the anchor.

In the below example, I find that on the top anchor point, holding Cmd/Ctl while selecting the left end of the guideline, will in this case perform exactly the same function as holding Opt in the above description, while holding Opt will move the entire guideline, i.e. The exact opposite of the above! On the other hand, performing the same actions on the bottom guidelines will cause the expected (above) behaviour...

Does anyone have any idea why this is happening?


texts: GIMP - export to PNG changes the color completely (from RGB to GRAY)

texts:
Could somebody please help me to export an image from GIMP to PNG?

I have an RGB image in GIMP.

When I export the image to JPG I got the expected results:

However, when exporting to PNG Orange color will be changed to GRAY:

Why is this happening? Am I missing something?

Image is in the PNG mode. Here is the Export PNG dialog which I'm using:

Layers dialog is here:


texts: What are some obscure/rare/endangered/extinct typographic symbols?

texts:
Just discovered the "asterism" today:
⁂
Super cool. I had never heard of it or seen it before. Wikipedia has more about it.
What other typographic symbols are out there that were never all that popular or have fallen out of favor? What were they used for?
I placed in two that I know as a community wiki; I encourage others to build out a list.


texts: Why is pressure in Calligraphic Brush inactive in illustrator while using wacom tablet?


texts: Adobe illustrator CS6 typography - term for kerning between two specific words

texts: Is there a term in typography for the spacing between two specific words? Working in Ai CS6 there is an overall word spacing setting for selected blocks of type, which applies to all words there-in. I tried kerning between two words, tho didn't seem to work. I guess I am looking for the term for individual word spacing that has the same meaning as kerning applies to type


texts: inkscape very slow: 5-15sec to insert or select a line with a marker

texts:
in inkscape (0.92 and 1.0) if a file has many objects:
 1. "copy & insert" / select lines                               < 1sec
 2. "copy & insert" / select lines with enpdoint (e.g. arrow)   3-15sec

It does not matter if inserting 1 new item or 20 at a time ... both take up to 15sec (I mention this just for clarity of the effect - cloning is not the point here).
It is the same behavior on a laptop i5 as on a high performance desktop i7 under windows.
Any idea how to speed up working or is this a bug?


texts: Adobe Illustrator | Edit subdivisions in 3D Revolve > Wireframe

texts:
Is there a way to edit the amount of subdivisions (or lines) in the adobe Revolve Wireframe tool?
With subdivisions I mean this. Fig. 1 is a close-up of Fig. 2


texts:
I would like to create a highly stylized QR code. Namely, I want to transform all of the squares into circles (diameter = square width).

Question

Does Illustrator have a built-in means for a task like this? For the isolated squares, it doesn't seem too daunting, but when many squares are stacked together, it creates a solid irregular shape which seems to pose a greater challenge.

The file I'd be working with is a .PNG exactly like the one below, not an existing .AI file.


texts:
Ive creating an email footer in Photoshop. The footer is 650px W x 300 px H. I want to set the resolution of the footer to 300dpi so that the text is readable at a smaller size, but when i do so the size of the canvas area doubles.

I will be exporting this as a .png, is there any way to get a 300dpi 650x300px footer without it becoming 1300x600px ?


texts: Easy way to create stacked boxes with equal margins

texts:
I'm a bit of a n00b to Illustrator (at least I think so anyway)!  I have a bunch of text that is columnar and need to create boxes that stack (one above another) and serve as a container for this text.
So basically boxes in the background that are basically a box around the text.  All of the margins and boxes need to be equal height & width.

Instead of creating a shape, copying it and manually fixing the margins so they're all equal, is there any easier way to accomplish this?  I tried using the Grid tool but no dice.

Thanks for the help in advance!


texts: Converting Ai Graphic Styles to Photoshop patterns

texts: Is there anyway to convert Ai graphic styles for use in Photoshop as a pattern? or swatch?


texts: Are CMYK color profiles used when printing PDF files?

texts:
I have a PDF file, where all colors are in CMYK.

Are CMYK color profiles used when printing this PDF file?

There is a color profile on the PDF file, and then there is a color profile for the printer.

Are either of these used for printing? That is: Will the print look different if I change the CMYK profile on the PDF file, or for the printer?


texts: Why is my brush stroke lighter than the same fill color?

texts: I created a stroke with a brush but the color appears lighter than the color in the fill. What is going on?


texts: How to make blue color transparent on the heatmap in inkscape?

texts: I would like to remove the blue color and make it transparent, sort of removing the background. The heatmap looks like this:


texts: Preserve Photoshop PNG transparent margin from generator

texts: I am trying to create a new color for a drawer icon in AS. The stock one has margin to the right that I would like to preserve since it keeps the actionbar icon from sitting on top of it. When I create a new drawer icon in PS and then generate the .png all the transparency is excluded. I think I'm failing to understand something simple here. I know default is 32bit png, just in case I generated the image using .png32 to force it with no difference in the final image. I tried making a transparent box and creating a smart object from it hoping that layer would be preserved but that didn't work either.


texts:
I have been working on a typography project and wanted to find a font which I wanted to use.

I have tried all the methods finding fonts using images online like WhatTheFont  But I couldn't find even similar kind.

Can you please Help me find this font?


texts: What is the best way to create a 3d effect text ( see pic )

texts:
I'm trying to recreate a similar effect,

I've tried to copy the text 6 times ( as the colours are ) and then use the pathfinder, to find the intersection, and color that in black,
but it just doesn't work as nicely as this...
any suggestions?

Many Many thanks,
Giulia


texts: Aligning three circle intersection equally

texts:
I am having trouble aligning my objects and I just rely on my eye to have them aligned.  What I really want is to have the three "red" intersection to be equal in size

Please see image below.

I wanted the three circles to intersect at some point but I am not sure if they do intersect equally.

Here's what I did.

I align the top of the the two circle above and have them intersect at some point.
And then align the bottom circle and have them intersect the two.

I just rely on my eye to see if they are aligned but I am thinking if illustrator has some tool to do this.


texts: Photoshop: Text on top of image looks bad when saved for web

texts:
When I put text over an image and then save as a jpeg using the File -> Save for Web defaults I always end up seeing noise in the text even though it's 100% opacity..

This a a screen shot of what I see in Photoshop:

And this is a screen shot of the jpeg after saving. I think the noise I'm describing is most visible in the "A" and the left diagonal of the "Y".

It's not on an edge/corner so I don't think it's an anti-aliasing issue. Is there anyway to prevent this?


texts:
I have a situation trying to figured it out how o properly use and set the css leading when we have something like this:

Even if the line-height is the same, the first 2 lines look pretty far away from eachother. On the other hand, line 2 and 3 look closer. Having said that, is it ok to use different custom line-height values in order to create equal visual space between the lines? thanks.


texts: Straight lines can be created by holding the shift key.  Is there a way to snap to horizontal (or vertical)?


texts: Multiple Duplicated Layers in Photoshop like Illustrator

texts:
Is there a way to duplicate layers in Photoshop, similar to Illustrator?

In Photoshop & Illustrator you can use the select tool and press the alt key to move and duplicate a layer. But in Illustrator after I duplicate the layer I can press Ctrl D to keep duplicating the layers in a equal distance apart.

Indesign can also do this by pressing Shift, Ctrl, Alt & D at the same time.

As far as I know Photoshop can not do this.

Does anyone know if this can be done in Photoshop?


texts: What is a way to print a design onto coffe cup lids?

texts: Considering the plastic that coffee cup lids are made from what would be the best quality way to print onto that, that wouldn't transfer of rub off?


texts: Make Grey elements pop over-top of greyscale photo

texts:
I have a complicated task. Client would like this grey UI to pop, and problem is, they want greyscale photographs in the background. The photographs are on a fade-carousel and they each have different levels of contrast in the area where client wants the UI to sit.

Is there a good way to make grey pop over top of grey?
Drop shadow only seems to do so much, it still gets lost on the background photo.

My pleas for a white-card beneath the UI are not fully welcome, so I really need to find a way to get grey to appear on top of grey.


texts: In Photoshop, if you choose View > Show > Layer Edges, a blue border will appear around the currently-selected layer. Is there a way to make the marquee tool select that exact area? I know I can command-click on the layer thumbnail to select all visible pixels in the layer, but is there a way to quickly get a rectangular selection that matches the layer boundaries, or do I need to manually drag the rectangular marquee tool to match the layer boundary that Photoshop is showing me?


texts: Is there any software that can make drawing transitions for us?

texts: I want to start a 2d game containing pixel sprite as characters. To make a walking animation, I know I need to simultanously put different sprite to make it seem like he walk and I can make it more or less fluid by adding or removing  sprites. I know I also think I need at least two images. My question is, even if I already think the answer is no, for a pixel character sprite, is there any free software that can make different character pose based on one or two images ? (look the images to clearly understand). If not, is there any simpler way to animate a pixel character sprite ?[


texts: How to fit svg drawings to their canvas on the command line?

texts:
Cropping .svg files on the command line is simple:
$ inkscape --verb=FitCanvasToDrawing --verb=FileSave --verb=FileClose *.svg

I need to do the opposite.  I want to fit the drawing into a 64 x 64 points canvas (already set in all .svg files).  Unfortunately Inkscape doesn't provide a FitDrawingToCanvas command.
Moreover, the fitting should keep the aspect ratio of the drawing.

If it matters: I'm using Ubuntu raring.


texts: How can I make Photoshop automatically save the image as PNG in the background whenever I make any changes in Photoshop (brush strokes etc.)?


texts: Selecting individual layers in Photoshop

texts:
Hi :) Does anyone know if there is a way to select individual layers on a canvas in Photoshop without having to select it in the layer window first?

I know I've done it before but I can't remember if it was in illustrator.


texts: Gimp clipping mask doesn't work any longer

texts:
Up until recently I was able to scale images in Gimp without any problem, but I have may touched something and now everything that goes beyond the original size boundary gets cropped. I have made sure the option "Clipping>Adjust" is selected, and have tried the "Reset to default values" to no avail.

Does anybody know what is going on/ what I'm missing?


texts: Legally use UI design of iOS platform as website design

texts:
I'm creating a web page which has an inherent link to smart phones, and therefore I would like to mimic the design of the iOS and/or Android platform in the website.

In the case of the iOS platform, this means that all website content appears as it would appear on an iPhone or iPad. It has the blue title bar, the gray header which indicates signal strength and battery (of course, the battery indicator does not make much sense on the website).
In the case of the Android platform, this means that the buttons appear in the same gray/green design as on any Android device.

I'm not yet sure about the details, but I hope you get the direction I want to take.

My question is: Am I infringing some copyright? Specifically, does Apple object to websites which are using parts of the iOS UI design? I mean, the web site's purpose and content is strongly linked to iPhones and such.


texts: Illustrator CS5 Import/combine files as artboards

texts:
I have about 8 PDF (not one PDF with multiple pages, each a single PDF with single pages), AI editable files. I have been searching around and playing around with illustrator, but haven't had any success, unless of course I want to copy and paste everything, but that is a pain and time consuming.

Is there anyway to import a file into an AI doc as an artboard?


texts: Right-aligned tabbing not working as expected in InDesign

texts:
Working on creating a table of contents. It's right aligned, and since the page numbers go into double digits, I wanted to have a tab in between the page number and the page title so I know that the titles are flush right to each other.

So, I start with a left aligned text frame (first one below) with a tab and then the number. This works as expected. But, when I change the alignment to the right, it behaves like the second frame below shows, which is not what I expect! It pushes the titles to the left of the frame, and no amount of left- or right-justified tabs were able to affect that space.

I want it to look like the third frame below, but I don't want to have two text frames to do it, because I want to have the table of contents automatically generated into one frame if possible. Does anyone know how to get the result I want with tabbing only?


texts: Portfolio web site with adobe illustrator

texts:
I do a lot of interface design in Adobe Illustrator. I'd like to use my designs to create a portfolio web site.
Is there a simple way to build a website directly with the Illustrator files?
Any thoughts appreciated.


texts: InDesign CS6: How should I structure pages of lists?

texts:
I'm having several different parts of a publication I'm doing where I'm presenting essentially a list of compound data. Examples are contact specifications (data points are [Name,Phone,Email]), recent and upcoming events (data is [What,When,Where]). These are then enumerated in some way in the document, most often by just having the data entered as text in one text area (possible being linked over several pages) with some paragraph styles to make the items look separated. This feels kind of strange, since the "paragraphs" are not really paragraphs but rather separate entries.

I have tried in some instances to instead have one text area per data entry (ie one box per contact). This feels more natural, and makes it easier to get creative with placement around images etc. On the other hand, it is a major pain to introduce a new item in the middle of the lists, since all subsequent items must then be moved (esp when the layout is columnized), possibly in such a way that it needs to be done manually on every item. Same problem if the boxes are a bit unregular in their size requirements, or if they change.

What are the best practices for this? For instance if you'd be creating a phone directory, how would you do it? Long text areas, or one for every entry? Why?

When using the "single-box style", I have tried using anchoring and auto-resize to have automatic layout help for the changing sizes problem, but this only works when I know that they won't cross a page break (as far as I've come so far, at least). Can this be refined to cover more situations?

EDIT: I've found some mentions of stories in InDesign saying that they are a collection of text boxes. Is this relevant? It sounds like it could join the two above strategies, or am I mistaken?


texts: Tool to create the icons for an Android app

texts:
I am an Android developer. Currently I am working on an Android app where I need to to create the icons even though I don't know of any tool to create the icons.

Is there good websites which can help to get the all types of icons and use them, and any best tool to create icons then generate according to screen density?


texts: Can Inkscape be associated to SVG as the primary tool of the trade?

texts:
I'm planning to make an icon to represent SVG. I know there are official logos, but I never saw them until I looked for them, and I don't believe many designers associate SVG to these logos.

My icon design would be based upon the idea that (if the viewer ever worked with an SVG) he/she would associate the concept of an "Inkscape document" to SVG, by borrowing a few items from its logo:

So my question is, if you use/used SVG, would you associate Inkscape to SVG? Or maybe you used another tool, and an "Inkscape document" wouldn't ring a bell to you?


texts: How to create a 3D pixel art style extruded cube design?

texts:
How to design the 3D red cube in the 1st poster? (Love the design!)

http://www.coroflot.com/kevinburke/Posters

Of course, they have mentioned that they used Pixel Art, Maya etc, but is it possible just to create the 3d red cube and map background in photoshop?

Would really appreciate some tips! :)

sammydude


texts: How can the "dress" optical illusion be accurately reproduced on other images?

texts:
By now pretty sure the entire world is familiar with the "dress" optical illusion as it will one day be known. My question is how can this illusion be reproduced on other images?

For those living in the social media dark ages, here is the image:

In general terms, some people have to refocus in order to see the correct colors of Black and Blue. It is possible to re-"tune" your eyes and see the Gold and White but very difficult. For the most part once you see it Black and Blue you can't go the other way.

Again though - the question is how can this illusion be reproduced in order to use it in various designs?


texts: What software should I use to design a poster of IOT?

texts:
I want to design my own poster as shown in attached image. Which will mainly consist various IOT devices and village objects. Does anyone knows which software is used for designing such images?

Hey Guyz finally made this design using Adobe Illustrator.
Thanks alot for your suggestions.


texts: Perspective with google map or bing image

texts:
I have a common google map image and I would like to transform to a one-point perspective changing its shape to a trapezoid filled with the original map.
The new map would have streets and building footprint also transformed. I have been testing the transformation tools of Gimp 2.8.22 but I do not get the desired result.
Is there any possible tool to do it? and how I could use it?

Thank you very much


texts: Smart guide helper text not shown when hovering over an anchor point

texts:
On Illustrator CC 2017, after I turn on smart guides (CTRL+U) when I move the cursor over an anchor point it shows a strange small gray shape rather than the green text that was shown in CS6.

How can I fix it?


texts: How can I apply this FX to the font only and not the whole artwork?

texts:
I am using Illustrator 2018 on Windows.

I am creating an artwork/page/image in Illustrator which is basically all text and part of its design the text is distressed using Illustrators Pixelate Plugin.
The setting I use is Pixelate > Pointillize = Cell Size 3.

It does exactly what I want on the text but as you can see from the before/after image I attach it also changes/pixelates the white background which I do not want.

Is there a way to tell it to ignore the white background and only apply the FX to the text?

I have tried playing with the Cell Size and placing the text on a separate layer and then applying the FX but the result looks terrible. The plugin does not pixelate it in the same way. I also have Photoshop 2018 so can I do this better using that maybe?

Any hints, advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.