Cool pics!
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Today I created a few images with Photoshop that took me years to figure out. But I thought I'd show it. Not giving out the clues yet, but just opinions on ideas and how it could be used:
Trying to present this properly.
I want to aid others who might want to make graphics such as these a lot more easily than taking years (although I very much respect the time put in to learn Photoshop!).
In 2003 I was shown a much more logical and simple laid out program by a professional graphics artist and friend, Bob Alexander. He had bought/used programs like Photoshop, Corel, and every other program he could buy to compare and try to find the easiest one (time saving) on the same level as Photoshop's abilities.
Ulead Company's Photo Impact (not program of same name by another company) was the best one he found. Most people pick the program up quickly without the need for the manual b/c the layout is just too logical and user friendly.
Note in the pics below that any text, borders/frames, arrows, shapes, and all their attributes are
easily and
totally user definable with an easy interface. This includes shapes/pathways, shadows, 2D vs 3D, backdrops, fills (gradients and materials - also customizable simply) etc. can be done with UPI. As you define one attribute, options for more definition can be accessed with a right click until you reach the end of your editing. Then clicking Ok steps you backward to your original point of option choosing. These type of graphics/text actions are where the power of UPI lies.
Putting graphics (like Bugs Bunny) into an image and merging with objects (like where he is holding the coin), take learning how to copy/paste resize, and then zooming in and erasing pixels )other methods out there - but this is simplest for a beginner). Those actions can be done in about any graphics program. The power of UPI is what was mentioned before.
Wy have most never heard of UPI? It was not put out by a huge company like Adobe. So UPI remained in the shadows. Version 8 (I use 10) I believe will do whatever graphics/text you see below. Corel bought out Ulead after V.10 and ruined the program by dumbing it down and removing the user-friendly/logical interface (I ea. upgrade and used them).
The power it has for text manipulation; frames and borders; warping and wrapping; material design and selection; 3D options for anything; shadow (defining attributes position etc.) is unparalleled.
The Cost? 10.00-20.00 used on eBay! It was only 75.00 when the company was still in business.
Some of you are familiar with the graphics I have posted, and those graphics attest to the power of this program. I am not an artist! Some samples of what has been posted over the years are below. UPI made it easy for me to do without taking a course, reading the manual (seriously), and/or watching tutorials. "Ain't been there, ain't done that!"
First a taste of the power:
To make the name "COOP" appear as it does in Coop's first graphic is really easy.
After typing "COOP" simply pick the shape of the curvature by left clicking a "tile" of that curvature from the "Easy Pallette" which is always accessible on the side "dock."
BUT...this is no paint by numbers program!
Right clicking on the same tile shows a pop up edit attributes option/window with every imaginable attribute of that curvature being selectable/user definable by a click.
Want to change the text? Click on the now-altered text and edit like in any word processor. The program keeps the formatting and dynamically formats as you type to fit your parameters.
To make the circular text in the middle of Coop's graphics:
Type the text you want to be appear circular, open the Easy Pallette as before, find the Text Wrap section and click the circular one.
- right click the tile and the pop up, like before, allows tweaking every attribute of the text's pathway.
Frames and borders: Click on the add frame button and a Pop-up appears allowing everything from thickness, material fill (including a pop up tool for defining new materials and/or loading them), shading (defining its colors, direction, new ones, loading them, saving them etc.), shadows (and all options you can imagine, etc). And each time you hit OK for a pop up, you are back where you were before. Mnay more editable options inside that window.
How long did it take to learn the program enough to make a graphic like Coops that he said takes years in Adobe? Don't shoot me Coop
!
I was literally making stuff like that after a couple hours (1998!) of first opening the UPI box. Oh, the warped image in the middle took longer as I did not know about the warping tools. And making every item in those graphics 3D instead of 2D is one option click for each.
OK, I did have some basics behind me such as knowing what a text tool was, a brush, a pallette, and was familiar with a graphics program interface (Deluxe Paint IV for the AMIGA platform)...had no idea what a magic wand was though!
One more thing - you don't NEED to use the Easy Pallette and tiles/options. The program allows everything to be done manually as well. This is NOT a "paint by numbers" program by any means.
Try it...you'll like it!
Cons:
1. Ulead was bought out by Corel who "improved the program by dumbing it down to make it very complex requiring memorization of steps, multiple more clicks to achieve what was a simple task, etc. starting in version 11.
2. It only runs on Windows - meaning I run windows on my Mac and then can run UPI (acts like a native Mac program though with dockabliity etc.). In fact UPI is the ONLY reason I run anything Microsoft anymore - there are no Mac programs to compare to UPI without spending hundreds.
Previous graphics posted (many more) in this forum in the past:
The pill itself was not made by me. The mill wrapped onto its bottom was put there eby me, but I did not draw the mill. Everything else took about 10 seconds.
Kennedy text:Circular text below simple to make with all its texture, shape, starting and ending arc, linked together in a logical layout. To change the text, I would click on the text and type - the format is applied automatically and dynamically.
1967 and SMS - type, choose material tile, choose warp tile. I liked them like they were or could edit.
Below: Made the curve by drawing the curved line, right clicked the line, chose <add text to curve>, started typing the text and it was formatting to the line as I typed. There was some tweaking for spacing.
Frames and background very simple with click options linked in logical sequence (literally 10 seconds to do that part).
The hardest part about making the NIA currency shown was finding the elements online to use and then making them artistically look right together.
Posted 02/26/2021 3:15 pm
