Edit-able Art
by: Carla Ballatan
Ways to Edit Art Graphics
If you’re an individual who’s someone less than an art graphics expert, you might think that a good piece of digital art is just something that didn’t take as much as a drop of sweat from digital artists. You might think that all it takes is raw talent and the absence of which results in nothing but digital garbage. This article aims to illuminate the fact that the techniques on designing an unforgettable piece of digital art also have a significant weight on the magnificence of its output.
Art graphics does not only serve as visual delight for your readers to lure them into appreciating your articles or websites. It may also serve to illustrate and get browsers “really” interested to dig in. Get the drift? Well, like in newspapers, the cartoons serve not only as entertainment but also to sum up several heavy-going political and economic news that some readers to not care to read. By having the cartoon turn the whole thing into a light-hearted presentation – the readers gets caught and reads the articles anyway.
But are you fed-up of conventional graphics clip-arts from computer hardware that is not anymore eye-catching? Illustrating articles are tricky business – thus, we give you some tricks on how to edit and create fascinating graphics.
Turn clip-arts into “cut & paste” art – here’s how! Sometimes, looking for the appropriate graphics needed to illustrate important points in your article could get you in a dither. Now, with a bit of luck and skill, create your very own clip-art masterpiece. Look for graphics of similar styles and pair them out depending on what effect you would like in the outset. Then, after finding the right pairs, cut them out, either by scissors or in your computer software and merge them according to the effect you like.
Try exporting logos into GIF 89 (under the file menu) format instead of doing a “save as”. But remember the logo you need must first be in RGB format before you export it. The effect? The logo will be turned into a small, easily downloadable GIF file with indexed color and transparent background.
Create composite colors electronically. There are two easy ways to achieve this: first is to make an exact copy of the black version of the item you want to appear as a composite. Then, place the over the top of the black one and change its color to the color you want it to overprint in at whatever screen tint you desire. If you use QuarkExpress, the trapping function for that image can be defined as “overprint”. In PageMaker, create a 100% tint of the PMS color you want to overprint with and the click the “overprint” box in the definition. Make sure your item’s cloned copy that you want to appear as a composite is also in that color.
Second is mixing colors ahead of time for your very own produced graphics. In Photoshop, the “duotone” function works well for photos since it allows you to assign a specific color to each of the two copies of the photos you are combining. In Illustrator drawing programs, however, mixing colors is trickier. The composites won’t really translate into your layout program unless you “mix” process colors. This means a four-color process, CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black.
With all these said, I hope I don’t have you under the impression that I am downplaying raw designing talent with digital technology expertise. I too know for a fact that excellent designs still stand out and it takes more than clicks and shortcuts to get them done. I only stand to encourage frustrated designers and to impart the message that with the help of available graphic designing software, they too can come up with something that’s more than mediocre.
About The Author
Lala B. is a 26 year-old Communication Arts graduate, with a major in Journalism. Right after graduating last 1999, she worked for one year as a clerk then became a Research, Publication and Documentation Program Director at a non-government organization, which focuses on the rights, interests and welfare of workers for about four years.
Book reading has always been her greatest passion -- mysteries, horrors, psycho-thrillers, historical documentaries and classics. She got hooked into it way back when she was but a shy kid.
Her writing prowess began as early as she was 10 years old in girlish diaries. With writing, she felt freedom – to express her viewpoints and assert it, to bring out all concerns -- imagined and observed, to bear witness.
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