Stupid Photoshop Question

[Steve]

My wife got me a Wacom Intuos4 Medium Tablet for Christmas. I have Photoshop and Illustrator. I was playing around in Illustrator and love how it smooths out the lines when you draw them. Is there a way to set this function up in Photoshop? I've searched and can't find it which gives my art the end result of looking like I have Parkinson's. I know PvP is drawn in Photoshop and it appears Scott's lines smooth out when he draws them but for the life of me I can't figure it out.

Help.

 

[drifter]

Illustrator is vector-based, while Photoshop is raster-based, which is why the difference in line quality. You can use vectors in Photoshop, but it's a pain in the ass. However, the Parkinson's-like lines are usually just a matter of unfamiliarity with the tablet. Practice more, and your line quality will get smoother. It's a matter of keeping your hand/arm movements controlled and fluid. Also, some people recommend laying a sheet of paper over the tablet to get a more familiar feel, but YMMV.

-edit-

I forgot, there is a workaround where you can turn raster lines into vectors. I think you'd be better off simply practicing, but if not, here's what you can do:

Spoiler: Show Spoiler

Spoiler: Practicing is really the way to go, though

1. Draw your lines
2. Use the selection wand to select the lines.
3. Click on the Paths tab (should be in the same window as the Layers tab)
4. Click on the Make Paths button (should be on the bottom next the the new document button)

You will now have a vector path like in Illustrator, and if you want, you can export to an .ai file and adjust the fill/curves/whatever in Illustrator. If you want to use the paths to make clean lines in Photoshop, here's what you do:

1. Use the path selection tools to adjust the curves (you could skip this part and use the paths as is, but the conversion usually leaves something to be desired)
2. Making sure the path is selected, click on the Load Path as Selection button (down next to the Make Paths button)
3. Flood-fill the selection.

I think there might be a much simpler way to do this, but I'm using an older version of Photoshop, plus I can't remember. Anyway, hope that helped.

 

[PatrThom]

Yep. Big difference between Vector/Raster. That's why Illustrator files can (usually) be arbitrarily scaled without losing quality and Photoshop files can't.

--Patrick

 

[Steve]

Thank guys. Yeah, I think it's going to take me some time. I need to get more familiar with the tablet and more familiar with Illustrator. Part of it is my frustration in trying to find basic functions in Illustrator like cut/paste and erase. I've found some great tutorials on youtube. No easy away around just good ole practice.

 

[drifter]

If you want a reference guide handy without constantly having to browse through Youtube videos, used tutorial books for older versions of Illustrator can be had fairly cheap. They might not explain all the newest bells and whistles, but the basics are usually the same, and would be useful for a beginner, especially if you have a specific question. For example, Amazon has used CS2 books for 4 bucks, shipping included.

 

[checkeredhat]

Exactly what PatrThom said. But just as tips for getting the line smoother in photoshop:
Make sure you have pen pressure turned on under brushes (F5).
You could also try using the pen tool and right click> stroke path to get those perfect lines. If you have it set to brush, and simulate pen pressure it should give you a nice smooth line no matter what. It will go from minimum brush diameter to maximum though, so in order to make sure the line actually goes the length of the path you create with the pen tool, adjust the minimum diameter under the brushes tab (Again, F5). You may also want to adjust size jitter a tad, if you wish to simulate a hand drawn line without going scratchy.

Learning hotkeys in photoshop is definitely important too. So much quicker. Off the top of my head, the ones I find most useful are:
[tab] will hide or bring up all your tabs
W= Quick select/ Magic Wand
T=Text
I=Eyedropper
S=Clone stamp
D=returns your foreground and background colours to default
G=Gradient
L=Lasso tool
X=swaps your foreground and background colours.
M=Marquee select tool
B= Brush
Holding shift while hitting the tool hotkeys will cycle through the different subsets. ie shift+B will cycle between the Brush, pencil and line tools
F will go full screen and back
R will allow you to rotate the canvas without actually affecting the file
[ and ] adjust the brush size. You can also hold alt, right click and drag left and right. Dragging up and down will change the brush from smooth to hard edge.
F5 brings up your brushes tab
F9 brings up your history/actions tab
Ctrl and - or Ctrl and + will zoom in and out

I also like shift+F5 (Fill)