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tsukishoujo — Vector tutorial - Introduction

Published: 2008-01-01 21:44:33 +0000 UTC; Views: 34292; Favourites: 534; Downloads: 1738
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Next part: [link]

Alternative next part: [link]


EDIT:

Previous version of this tutorial was submitted over a year ago I decided it's time to update it I edited some parts, adding more details to my explanation. Hope you don't mind being notified about all five parts

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As you can see, after several months of making promises, I finally finished my vectoring tutorial It’s my first tutorial ever, English is not my native language and I suck it explaining things, so it’s not prefect but at least I did my best. I hope this will help people to start their own vector gallery, be it on dA or anywhere else.

This tutorial was strongly influenced by Unmei’s vector tutorial on Ferricorp.Com. I learned how to vector from him. It’s a good, beginner-friendly tutorial and so far I was linking it to all people who asked me for vectoring guidelines but one day I decided to make my own version [longer, a little more detailed, with a few of pieces of advice and my own thoughts].

If there are any parts you find unclear, please don’t hesitate to note me. I’ll try to explain it for you once again in different words, if possible. Also, I’ll be more than happy to see your own vectors, made with the help of this tutorial. ^.^

I’d like to thank =Realm-Of-The-Shadows for checking my spelling and grammar Any mistakes you find in the text above is my fault as I added some last-minute explanation right before submitting the tutorial. Please don’t hesitate to note me about them and I’ll correct it

It’s also the right place to say ‘thank you’ to all my watchers who offered their help as beta-testers In the end I didn’t have time to ask you for your opinions before submission and I’m sorry about that. If you still feel like helping me, please tell me what you think after reading this tutorial.

Before you open Photoshop [I hope you decided to read my comment before downloading this tutorial? xD] a word of warning. Vectoring screenshots and scans [in other words: tracing them directly line by line] is against dA policy. As far as I know, if someone reports your vector trace while providing original screenshot/scan you used, it will be removed from your gallery. That’s why I encourage you to treat screenshot/scan vectors only as a form of practice before you move on to more complicated things. You can vector your own drawings and sketches, other people’s linearts and/or drawings [after asking them for permission, of course], realistic photos [photo traces are allowed, as realistic trace demands more time, skills and creativity than anime ones] – or images combined from several screenshots [as I sometimes do].

In other words - please keep in mind that when you submit screenshot/scan vector trace to your gallery, you do that at your own risk. According to dA policy, it doesn't belong here: it should stay on your hard drive. My intention isn't to encourage you to trace and I take no responsibility if you decide to submit a direct vector trace to dA.
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Comments: 133

r3mmel [2012-05-02 07:56:39 +0000 UTC]

do you have tutorial about pen tool and layering? btw, thanks for the tutorial! this really helps me.

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aurorawitch1 [2011-08-06 22:17:49 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for tutorial. I really needed it

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aurorawitch1 [2011-08-06 22:16:48 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the tutorial. I really needed it.

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InsanityDriver [2010-03-17 18:52:01 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the great tutorial, i'll be trying it and hopefully with time i'll be able to make such good vectors as yours

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tsukishoujo In reply to InsanityDriver [2010-03-19 20:20:20 +0000 UTC]

No problem, have fun vectoring! <3

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ayinvui [2010-01-17 09:05:52 +0000 UTC]

Yo! I read the whole tutorial & it was really really helpful. I wanna thank you so much!!

Here's what I made thanks to ya[link]

Again, thank you~!!!

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tsukishoujo In reply to ayinvui [2010-03-19 20:20:43 +0000 UTC]

No problem, I'm glad I could help <3

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ayinvui In reply to tsukishoujo [2010-03-20 17:11:06 +0000 UTC]

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ayinvui In reply to tsukishoujo [2010-03-20 17:10:28 +0000 UTC]

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sana24 [2009-09-15 22:11:10 +0000 UTC]

wow i never knew you could make vector art in photoshop. I guess it just depends on how you use the program

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tsukishoujo In reply to sana24 [2009-09-16 11:52:56 +0000 UTC]

Many people have no idea, arguing that PS is 100% raster/pixel program But like you said, it's a matter of how you use the pen tool option ;]

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Pocoya [2009-06-08 13:46:32 +0000 UTC]

Wow, nice tutorial ^^ I'll try to do it n_n
Thanks for doing it

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tsukishoujo In reply to Pocoya [2009-06-20 11:41:58 +0000 UTC]

I'm glad you like it ^^ Have fun vectoring

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Pocoya In reply to tsukishoujo [2009-06-20 20:48:24 +0000 UTC]

Thank you ^^

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JenWithAPen [2009-03-09 09:43:12 +0000 UTC]

thanks aoot I suck at photoshop and want to become better

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tsukishoujo In reply to JenWithAPen [2009-03-10 22:43:13 +0000 UTC]

No problem ^^ Have fun with vectors

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JenWithAPen In reply to tsukishoujo [2009-03-11 12:09:06 +0000 UTC]

well I am learning this at school and I suck at it and I need to practise ^.^

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ashkerdolce [2009-03-07 18:47:51 +0000 UTC]

sorry to bother but i am looking for the first part of this tutorial and it seems to be missing

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tsukishoujo In reply to ashkerdolce [2009-03-07 19:52:20 +0000 UTC]

I had to submit it again but forgot to update the link, sorry It's here: [link] and here [alternative method]: [link]

Thanks for commenting, I'll edit the description ^^

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ashkerdolce In reply to tsukishoujo [2009-03-10 00:00:12 +0000 UTC]

thanks but i have a different version so i cant use it anyways (no pen tool) damnation

lolz

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Alec-Ikiiki [2009-02-26 06:13:57 +0000 UTC]

I thought that creating crisp clean lines with paths were vectors, but apparently, I've been making vexels this entire time. Thank you for this tutorial. Just from reading the introduction alone, I've already learned quite a bit. I'm looking forward to reading the other pages and trying my hand at true vector art.

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tsukishoujo In reply to Alec-Ikiiki [2009-04-08 06:57:40 +0000 UTC]

First of all, I'm sorry for such a late reply I'm not around dA much these days and I got a little lazy with cleaning my message box xD

If you like the final result, it doesn't matter whether you vector or vexel It's just a change in dA category xD

No problem, and I'm glad you like my tutorial ^^

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KalineReine [2009-02-26 05:21:30 +0000 UTC]

I read this because I was curious what vector art is... And I still have no clue what it is. How frustrating. I already looked up DeviantArt's policy on vector art, and their definition didn't make sense to me either... I think it's great that you're making a tutorial. But as for me, I am still lost.

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tsukishoujo In reply to KalineReine [2009-02-26 16:10:13 +0000 UTC]

*sigh* Sorry, I have no idea how to explain the theory better

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KalineReine In reply to tsukishoujo [2009-02-26 19:21:21 +0000 UTC]

I know, it's not your fault... I don't really draw but I was just thinking that maybe I could do a vector. IDK. I was reading the rest of it, and this is really good tutorial. But I can't afford photoshop so I use gimp. XD I'm cheap. But yeah, I still think you did a good job with it. I tyhink I kind of get the concept. ^_^

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selenlanoir [2009-02-25 06:48:51 +0000 UTC]

m(_ _)m Thank you for the tutorial!

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tsukishoujo In reply to selenlanoir [2009-02-26 00:29:08 +0000 UTC]

No problem ^^

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RhadaNinja [2009-02-24 14:15:01 +0000 UTC]

I love this toturials Thanks for uploading them again!

I have a question:Is tracing and colouring a manga page against DA policies?

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tsukishoujo In reply to RhadaNinja [2009-02-26 00:28:51 +0000 UTC]

That's a good question... To tell you the truth, I have no idea. I know that taking manga scan and just coloring is against the rules, but if you vector/trace the lineart first and then color it... Hmmm. I guess it would be more acceptable But I'm not sure.

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RhadaNinja In reply to RhadaNinja [2009-02-24 14:18:19 +0000 UTC]

Forget the question. xD

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GreyEye [2009-02-23 22:49:28 +0000 UTC]

"considered art theft"

yeah, by people who have no idea what the hell copyright law and fair use have in common

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tsukishoujo In reply to GreyEye [2009-02-26 00:30:47 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I hear you ;/ But I gave up on arguing with those people long time ago >_<

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GreyEye In reply to tsukishoujo [2009-02-27 14:53:01 +0000 UTC]

still, your traces are badass either way

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tsukishoujo In reply to GreyEye [2009-03-01 19:16:04 +0000 UTC]

They're not exactly traces anymore, except for the ones based on other artists' drawings I'm trying to do things on my own, without screenshots... >_< It's irritating because the result is more or less the same either way, only now I have to spend 10 times more time on one vector -_-' But at least stupid people don't come to flame me.

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EdElricsGirl [2009-02-23 22:43:29 +0000 UTC]

since i'm really good at vectoring on illustrator i dont really need this. But it is a awesome idea to have tutorials. And for which is easier to learn, i think ill. is alot easier to use than photoshops pentool. But its all opinion xP

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tsukishoujo In reply to EdElricsGirl [2009-02-24 10:41:31 +0000 UTC]

I find Photoshop much easier to use xD I hate Illustrator's pen tool So yeah it's all the matter of personal preferences

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EdElricsGirl In reply to tsukishoujo [2009-02-24 23:53:23 +0000 UTC]

Indeed it is. And how you learned it. I learned more about Illustrator than the photoshop pentool so i got used to using Ills pentool and when i tried photoshops i was confused and i just find it different. In the end you get 2 different results that both look good.

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IceLevian [2009-02-23 19:01:15 +0000 UTC]

Well done.
Everything is clearly and in easy way described, so even beginners should understudy.

Good Job ^^

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tsukishoujo In reply to IceLevian [2009-02-26 16:11:23 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

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Evilness321 [2008-11-23 02:31:55 +0000 UTC]

Love the tutorial, and your wording on some of it made me LOL! (nearly, at least).

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tsukishoujo In reply to Evilness321 [2008-11-23 02:35:06 +0000 UTC]

Hmmm, well... I didn't intend it to be funny xD Sorry for my poor English, I hope it was understandable at least

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Evilness321 In reply to tsukishoujo [2008-11-23 02:46:00 +0000 UTC]

It is! It helped me a lot! I just have a strange sense of humor is all...

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tsukishoujo In reply to Evilness321 [2008-11-23 02:47:02 +0000 UTC]

I'm glad to hear that xDDD May I ask which part was the most amusing? *curious*

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Evilness321 In reply to tsukishoujo [2008-11-23 02:52:00 +0000 UTC]

It was the part where you were explaining how to resize the vector. "If it looks like shit, it's (I can't remember that phrase) but if it looks the same as before, it's a vector" that part made me LOL

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tsukishoujo In reply to Evilness321 [2008-11-24 19:29:35 +0000 UTC]

Those aren't my words, I just quoted what VectorLovers club wrote in one of their journal entries

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Evilness321 In reply to tsukishoujo [2008-11-25 01:25:42 +0000 UTC]

It still made me LOL!

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Kalira-Liadain [2008-10-12 15:01:49 +0000 UTC]

Super helpful thanks!

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tsukishoujo In reply to Kalira-Liadain [2008-10-27 20:02:51 +0000 UTC]

No problem

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Schmalicey [2008-09-27 20:47:54 +0000 UTC]

when i try to get the bigger image to read the words, it wont come up.
just thought id let you know, cos ive used this before and it really helped but i cant remember some of the stuff on it

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tsukishoujo In reply to Schmalicey [2008-09-27 23:13:47 +0000 UTC]

That's weird, I have no problems with getting a bigger image... Have you tried the 'Download' button?

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