Preserved Topic: smooth curves

I need help about drawing smooth curves.I tried to search this topic from your archive first but i could not found any related topic, i think i failed to find.
The problem is when i define a path i can not stroke it smoothly.I think there must be an anti-aliase option but i could not find it.After defining path ,by right click i choose stroke sub-path.I use pencil tool to stroke because paintbrush is too thick.Is there an anti -aliase option or something like that?
Thanks a lot.

I think using the pencil is your problem. From what I understand, the pencil tool always draws at 1 pixel with no anti-aliasing. There is a paintbrush size that's 1 pixel and the paintbrush defaults to anti-aliasing, I believe.

When you want to stroke a path, use the fly-out menu on the Path Palette. This brings up a dialog box that lets you select the tool used to stroke the path. When you select the tool from the dialog box, the Brush Size and Options currently set for that tool will be used. For example, if the last time you used the PaintBrush you set it to a 35 px brush with 50% pressure and 20 px fade, that is the brush that will be used to stroke the line when you select PaintBrush from the Stroke Path dialog box.

To change this set the PaintBrush tool to the options and BrushSize you want before selecting the fly-out menu.

Once you have selected the PaintBrush from the fly-out menu, you can continue to use it to stroke paths by clicking on the StrokePath Button (second from left) at the bottom of the Paths Pallete. If you change the BrushSize or options of the PaintBrush, the new values will be used when you click on the StrokePath Button.

You can set up the Pencil Tool, AirBrush Tool, Eraser Tool, etc in the same way and switch back and forth between the various settings by using the fly-out menu to Stroke Paths.

when i draw a circle and stroke with marquee tool it is not identical with th one i draw and stroke by defining paths.Even using 1 pixel paintbrush it makes darker lines.

Here's an alternative... create a new channel and generate a white, straight-angled shape, for example, a square if you want a right angled curve. Gaussian blur the channel with a value of anywhere from 4 to 16, then select Image/Adjust/Levels... and move the sliders so they are within a difference of 32 from each other... this should give some good anti-aliasing. You can slide them higher or lower and keep your eye on the shape... when the curved edge looks like what you want, you've got your curve... just cut off the unwanted parts.



[This message has been edited by Human Shield (edited 06-18-2001).]

hee hee, Kai's Power Tips lives on....

If you're using 6.0 you can always make your paths layer clipping masks and then just apply stroke in the layer effects and then it's all VECTOR! Let me know if you need more guidance in this direction

:: j e n i ::
fist-eater

Thanks all. I did not understand the channel solution i think.Can you explain a little more please.

Well what part of it didn't you understand... I can try to clarify that part.

I'm intrigued by these layer clipping paths, could you shed some more light on how to use these Jeni? It'd be cool to turn an existing path into a modfiable stroke, but I haven't been able to figure out how to do this...

Certainly. You need to have a saved path. Click on the path in the paths pallette. Then go to "Layer" > "New Fill Layer" > "Solid Color". It will prompt you for a fill color. Pick whatever. It doesn't matter if you're only wanting a stroked path. You'll notice your new layer shape is that of your path. Double click on the layer name and it brings up the Layer style dialog box. Look for "advanced blending" and pull the opacity down to 0%. Notice your shape disappears. Don't worry! Look for stroke in the left division of the dialog box. Select it and adjust to your liking. Voila.

Now, to keep that layer and any other vectors as vectors when exporting, here's what you do:
Save your layered file as a psd like you normally would. Then hide any undesirable layers. Go to save as and select eps. You'll get a warning. Don't worry bout that. Save and make sure the dialog box has the "Include vector data" box selected. It's really one of the nicer additions to 6.0.

Let me know if you need to know anything else.
Edit> I need to add that if you want to modify the path you need to have that layer active and click on the layer clipping path and just edit it how you want.
:: j e n i ::
fist-eater

[This message has been edited by Jeni (edited 06-19-2001).]

I tried that out and it seems to work pretty well, but can you get just the outline for shapes that aren't connected? For example, I have a wing-wang symbol I made with paths. This consists of a circle and a curved line that have been grouped together, but when I do it it fills in the curved shape. Consequently my outline of it has a straight line going through the center :P

My God!! It's Human Shield!! Long time no chat buddy! how ya been?




In the beginning, there was the word...and the word was 'God', although by the time it reached the other end of the phone line... the word was 'Gznd'

Hey Skarjj! I'm doing well... got a new job that I'll be starting on July 9th... for more info you should check out the thread I started in the Ozone forum!

Frag-I don't think so. The way around that would be a layer mask.

:: j e n i ::
fist-eater

Wing wang = yin yang?

If so, an easy way to do the symbol is to use one of the fonts that it can be found in... like wingdings... If you do a left bracket ( [ ) in wingdings, it's the yin yang symbol.

Yeah, ahem. I wasn't gonna ask what wing wang was....

:: j e n i ::
fist-eater