Best Software for creating lettering and graphics

[ranchak]

I'm looking for some software that I can create lettering and some graphics. I don't want to spend alot of money, but I want something that works and is easy to use. I see some great art work on some of the boxes here. What do you guys use?

[Kholinar]

I'd imagine most people here use some sort of Vector graphics program.  The most popular of these are probably Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw.  Lesser known programs and hybrids are Xara and Macromedia/Adobe Fireworks.  A good free alternative to these would probably be Inkscape if you're on Windows or a Mac.  http://inkscape.org/download/

Inkscape is also available for Linux, but I prefer Xara, as it's curve drawing tools are second to none. 

Any of these will take some time to learn if you've never used a vector-based graphics program, but once you learn one it's not terribly hard to move to another. 

I guess maybe some people use Raster-based programs like Photoshop, but I really consider doing anything with fonts in Photoshop a mistake.  If you want something like that... Gimp is a relatively hard-to-use but free alternative.

[choklitlove]

there is a way to get good looking fonts in photoshop that involves saving as a bitmap, then doing some other stuff that i can't remember.  yeah, photoshop sucks for fonts.  the gimp isn't much better, but it's a very nice program and will probably make you mad if you ever spent money on photoshop.  for pretty much anything else, i can highly recommend both.

i'm about to try inkscape...

thanks for the link!

[tommy.genes]

You can get much better final text quality in the Gimp by using the "Create Path from Text" button under the text tool. This keeps the text in an almost vector-like virtual state instead of creating a raster image right away. You can then resize, move and otherwise modify the path over and over without introducing the distortions that come with repeated modification of raster images. When you are happy with the layout, you can "stroke" the path (sounds a little seedy, I know) to create the final raster image. It may still have some pixelation depending on your overall resolution, but it's a lot better than if you had resized and moved raster image text around several times.

Some more details can be found in Section 3.7 (esp. 3.7.2) of the online Gimp Docs.

-- T. G. --

[user]

But how is it that those awesome graphics get transferred to your box? Ive read some articles about PnPBlue and etching but i still dont get it how you reproduce the colours...do you paint them yourself or leave it to the Ferric Chloride?

[Kholinar]

For etching you'd still use pnpblue or toner transfer.  If you're wanting colored etching you'll have to etch then mask of each area that has a separate color, then spray, then sand off the excess.  There's a guide on this in the gallery. 

I'm more interested in sticker applications at the mo...

[Kholinar]

btw... has anyone tried using airbrush frisket for etching boxes?  It's plastic, I'd think it'd work fine for graphics...

[cab42]

You can get much better final text quality in the Gimp by using the "Create Path from Text" button under the text tool. This keeps the text in an almost vector-like virtual state instead of creating a raster image right away. You can then resize, move and otherwise modify the path over and over without introducing the distortions that come with repeated modification of raster images. When you are happy with the layout, you can "stroke" the path (sounds a little seedy, I know) to create the final raster image. It may still have some pixelation depending on your overall resolution, but it's a lot better than if you had resized and moved raster image text around several times.

Some more details can be found in Section 3.7 (esp. 3.7.2) of the online Gimp Docs.

-- T. G. --

Hey, why didn't you post that yesterday I spend the entire evening trying to do curved text in the Gimp with no luck. Used "curve bend" and the "text on circle" script.

After seeing this thread I downloaded Inkscape (which i didn't know) and did it in 10 minutes.

Regards

Carsten

[keko]

Low quality text when using Photoshop isn't Photoshops's fault per se. If thats the case, then it a resolution issue.

Photshop, The Gimp (an open source versino of photoshop), and Fireworks behave as raster images software; Imagine a net, a grid of pixels, and start "painting" each little empty dot until you create a figure. If your original grid (resolution) has only a few spaces (low resolution), you are going to get a low quality image (jagged, pixelated), not only regarding fonts, but all across the picture.

So, if you are comfortable using raster software like the above, or even MS Paint, Corel Paint and such, what you have to do is work on higher resolution documents. The simplest way is to think in doubles. If you want your image to be 3 x 6, then make it 6 x 12. Do the artwork, and scale it down when you print it. Or, when creating a new document in Photoshop, set the document size to your desired measurements, but the resolution (in dots per inch, or dpi) to a high value, like 144, or even 300. If you don't "rasterize" your type layer in your Photoshop document, it will behave as vector until the moment you print it out.

All the other vector drawing software (Illustrator, Freehand, Inkscape, Corel Draw) have no issues regarding resolution, because the keetp fonts and figures in the vectorial, mathematical world.

[Kholinar]

Low quality text when using Photoshop isn't Photoshops's fault per se.

Yeah, it's really not a fault, just not what it's made for...  a bit like asking a baritone guitar to substitute as a bass... it can kinda get close.

Photoshop (or CorelPaint) is made for pictures and can do some things for text in a pinch.  Illustrator (or Coreldraw) is made for vector graphics and title-type text or maybe a little longer text at a pinch.  InDesign/Pagemaker (or, if you want to go really far back, Ventura) is made for layouts and longer text strings.  Using any of these outside their intented purposes ultimately gives you problems, especially where typography is concerned.  It's gotten better, but back a few years you'd absolutely stay within those boundries.