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Pen Tool Pixel Issue (Read 10898 times)

Started by TheFclass97, November 04, 2016, 11:07:02 pm
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TheFclass97

Pen Tool Pixel Issue
New #1  November 04, 2016, 11:07:02 pm
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So basically, i'm trying something new for a change, and actually trying to sprite a thing for a character. I'm currently working on this masterpiece of shit and it's looking good I guess... until I see that filling the colors in is a chore and looks messy. Is there a way to make the pen tool have cleaner pixels? I've tried disabling "anti aliasing" but I didn't really see any changes, and I would use the pencil tool, but getting decent curved lines is a pain in the ass (using mouse). What should I do? Thanks in advanced. (Using Photoshop CS6)

Last Edit: November 10, 2016, 11:25:10 pm by TheFclass97

hatter

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#2  November 04, 2016, 11:13:34 pm
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Posterize then clean it/trace (w/ pencil tool) on top of it w/ a new layer.

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TheFclass97

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#3  November 04, 2016, 11:25:12 pm
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So wait, would I fill it first or somethin'? Sorry, for time doing this sorta thing :/

Slayer.

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#4  November 04, 2016, 11:46:59 pm
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That's easy. On the childwindow 'Stroke Path', in its drop-down menu choose Pencil. Ta-dah!
Clean pixels. :D
One day someone will rip the Inuyasha stages... Not today nor tomorrow, probably not even in this decade. But you know, someday... :')


Did you play the new
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hatter

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#5  November 04, 2016, 11:48:32 pm
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TheFclass97 said, November 04, 2016, 11:25:12 pm
So wait, would I fill it first or somethin'? Sorry, for time doing this sorta thing :/

No, that's not needed. Just apply it over the layer with the line art, and set the number of colors to 2. It should give you a result that you can clean with your pencil tool.

Also, what Speedster said as well works, and will def be more into what you want, I should have mentioned that in the first place. My bad.
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TheFclass97

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#6  November 05, 2016, 12:04:54 am
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I mean like, I tried the pencil tool and well...



Curves are horrible. Am I just horrible?

Slayer.

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#7  November 05, 2016, 12:17:29 am
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The thing about pixel art is that you work with some limitations. That's why anti-aliasing is so important.
All "raw" curves will look like that before the due treatment. There is no a "magic" way.
Try some anti-aliasing tutorials and you will see. :smash:
One day someone will rip the Inuyasha stages... Not today nor tomorrow, probably not even in this decade. But you know, someday... :')


Did you play the new
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Last Edit: November 05, 2016, 12:49:08 am by Speedster

hatter

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#8  November 05, 2016, 12:25:45 am
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You aren't horrible, its just like what Speedster said. You work with limitations in pixel art.

And heck, my curves come out like that too, its just a matter of clean-up and anti-aliasing.

Here's a great tutorial about anti-aliasing
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altoiddealer

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#9  November 05, 2016, 12:38:28 am
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Fill the path.
Then select the whole thing and Contract the selection by 1 or 2 px.
Refine edge > 100% Contrast.

You might get better results selecting the background and expanding the selection, inverting it, refining the edge...

HQ

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#10  November 05, 2016, 01:01:45 am
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3 things when you want to do pixel art:
a) NEVER use Anti-Alias in any photoshop tool, especially not the pen & fill tool. If you move something or adjust any selection with cmd+t (transform) then always use "nearest neighbor"
b) Always save as PNG
c) Be sure to use the default brushes not some kind of special effect brush that you scale down to 1px (this can also lead to some weird behavior)


Best way to make curved lines in photoshop and in pixel art in general is to use a method that I adapted from a completly different art form: graffiti - I kid you not.

Draw a curve with your mouse the way you want it to be (pen-tool 1px width). Then erase pixels (called "cutting" in graffiti) or add pixels to that line to make the curve smoother. until you find the best possible solution for the curve - yeah there are different solutions possible

Look how lines can be made in different angles and how curves build up from pixels.
http://makegames.tumblr.com/post/42648699708/pixel-art-tutorial
http://opengameart.org/content/chapter-2-lines-and-curves

altoiddealer

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#11  November 05, 2016, 01:35:44 am
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One of the shortcuts I used to outline my character:

-Take a solid shape with no anti aliasing.
-Set "Fill" to 0 (under "Opacity")
-Add a 1px inside stroke (as FX)
-This creates the kind of stroke you are looking for, except PS antialiases the edge with exactly one more color.
-Rasterize the layer, then you can use the "Select > Color Range" function to select all pixels with this exact RGB.  Always refine the selection with 100% contrast before deleting.

Just spitting it out there as another technique.

Last Edit: November 05, 2016, 01:39:25 am by altoiddealer

Rai Tei

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#12  November 05, 2016, 02:41:13 pm
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HQ

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#13  November 05, 2016, 03:23:17 pm
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For Pixel Art in general. PNG is the best- the file size is small, it will not screw up your pixels, neither in shape nor color  + it is the most widely used format on the internet I guess (which makes it possible to upload it to ANY (at least the ones I use) image hoster without automatic compression/altering/screwing up your file). Of course if we want to get into a discussion about when to not use PNG, it is clear that Mugen uses PCX (which can easily converted to from png) and that animation require GIF format. PSD is the working file and only ever needed if you work on more layers- I'm sure you don't go uploading psd files to imgur or any other image hoster to show either :mustache:

I also recommend PNG because it actually allows transparency ;)

Hannah Montana

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#14  November 05, 2016, 05:02:22 pm
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hello everybody.
for me CS3 is better than CS6.
To deal with pixels i installed old ps version:CS1 or try PS7,for work with mugen and pixels i use PS7-I lost CS 1 after a virus problem.
the line tool worked great for ps5 but since 7 that became bad and useless for pixel stuff.

Last Edit: November 05, 2016, 05:13:41 pm by Hannah Montana

TheFclass97

Pen Tool Pixel Issue (Now Ft. Pencil)
#15  November 05, 2016, 05:14:44 pm
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Welp, thanks for the suggestions and tutorials. I tried the pencil tool once again and did a rough draft (very little clean up). I know the hair is kinda fucked up and a few other pixels but I can't get the feel for it... Like, I see the tutorials and read some stuff, and it seems clear as day but I can't seem to get a grip on it... What's the best way to practice anyways? (It seems that I'm kinda jumping the gun a bit with trying to make custom Peridot sprites, lel).


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Edit: Ok, I'm gonna try an approach I should have done earlier, and thatw as trace the original one with the pencil tool... Hold on...
      Posted: November 05, 2016, 07:43:40 pm
TAKE 2!!!



Re-did the whole original pixel by pixel. It might not be perfect, but I think I'm getting the hang of things... right?
Last Edit: November 05, 2016, 07:45:45 pm by TheFclass97

TheFclass97

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#16  November 05, 2016, 08:02:34 pm
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Did I do a thing?

Hannah Montana

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#17  November 06, 2016, 02:06:36 am
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hello.
i use and show a grid to work with pixels.  that help.

HQ

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#18  November 06, 2016, 03:08:38 am
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If you save it as png in 100% size and show us that, we can guide you to a better result ;)

TheFclass97

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#19  November 06, 2016, 03:16:50 am
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hatter

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#20  November 06, 2016, 03:26:50 am
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That's a great result already man, all you have to do is clean up the lines, and apply some anti-aliasing.

Here's a quick run on some of the parts (I didn't do all of it):





See how it changes drastically?
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TheFclass97

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#21  November 06, 2016, 03:31:11 am
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  • Every night fucks every day up
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Hatter said, November 06, 2016, 03:26:50 am
That's a great result already man, all you have to do is clean up the lines, and apply some anti-aliasing.

Here's a quick run on some of the parts (I didn't do all of it):





See how it changes drastically?

Ahhhhhhhhh, I see it. Looks fucking great. So uhh... What should I do now?

hatter

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#22  November 06, 2016, 03:38:01 am
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Smoothen out the rest of the outlines, and apply anti-aliasing to the rest. If you want to go the extra mile, add another dark color to give it shading.

However if you want to do the other, darken the colors used for anti-aliasing a bit.
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HQ

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#23  November 06, 2016, 01:05:49 pm
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Here a quick tip of how you can also approach pixel art.
With black outline - With colored outline - with little Shading - and of course one without selective outline (which I don't have the time to do, but is basically breaking the outline - showing only outline on some parts)

Made some improvement suggestions (going from the model sheet I found online)

TheFclass97

Re: Pen Tool Pixel Issue
#24  November 06, 2016, 05:04:47 pm
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  • Every night fucks every day up
  • Every day patches the night up
    • Puerto Rico
Hatter said, November 06, 2016, 03:38:01 am
Smoothen out the rest of the outlines, and apply anti-aliasing to the rest. If you want to go the extra mile, add another dark color to give it shading.

However if you want to do the other, darken the colors used for anti-aliasing a bit.

I'll try this method along with the others and see what I can do. Thanks man.


HQ said, November 06, 2016, 01:05:49 pm
Here a quick tip of how you can also approach pixel art.
With black outline - With colored outline - with little Shading - and of course one without selective outline (which I don't have the time to do, but is basically breaking the outline - showing only outline on some parts)

Made some improvement suggestions (going from the model sheet I found online)



Holy shit, that looks so cool! I'll definitely mess with these options and see what works.


I guess I can stop for now and mess with it and see what I can create later down the line. I honestly didn't expect this much help from all you guys, so thanks a lot dudes! Hopefully I can improve with all the referencing and info/ideas ya'll sent. Again, thanks a lot. :D I'll see what I can do from now on...


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