Creating a vector drawing in Photoshop. How to properly open a vector image in Photoshop. Filling a shape with color
In this lesson we will talk about how to convert a raster image into vector form in Photoshop. Of course, Photoshop is primarily designed to work with raster images, and the vector in it is some addition in the form of paths with a vector layer mask that is applied to the object and creates a vector shape. In such a vector form (Shape), the outline will be vector and the fill will be raster.
In this lesson we will cover the following steps:
Creating a Document and Drawing an Object
First, create a new document of any size and a layer.
Now let's draw any image. Take the Brush tool with unblurred edges and full opacity. Let's draw some simple geometric figure, for example, as shown in the image.
Selecting a raster object
To translate a raster image, you must first select it with any Select tool. Now select the drawn object either using the Wand Tool, or click on the layer with the left mouse button while holding down the Ctrl key.
Convert a selected object to a vector path (Path)
Using any Select type tool, call the context menu. To do this, point the tool at the selected object and press the right mouse button. In the menu that appears, select “Make Work Path...”.
A window will appear where you will need to enter the tolarence parameter, which determines how many control points the vector shape will contain; the more there are, the smoother the vector object will be, but the quality of the control points will be low.
Creating a vector mask for a layer from a vector path
Go to the Paths tab, where the vector path we just created should appear.
Double click on it to give it a name.
Then from the main menu select “Layer -> New Fill Layer -> Solid Color...”. You can name the new layer something, then click “ok”. Select a color for the future shape in the color selection dialog.
Now a new layer with a vector mask should appear in the Layers tab.
How to Save a Vector Object to a Vector Shape Library in Photoshop
You will then be prompted to name the new vector object. Click "ok" and then test the new object in the library using the Custom Shapes Tool.
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Final result 
As you know, vector illustrations are currently very popular in web graphics. Professional designers can create such illustrations in a matter of hours. If you are a beginner or an amateur, web graphics lessons will certainly be extremely useful for you. The purpose of this tutorial is to shed light on the process of creating the selected image. I will demonstrate the entire process step by step and explain all the steps with the help of my comments.
To create a really cool image, you must choose the right program and follow certain rules. If you want to draw a vector illustration, you should keep in mind that editors such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw. At the same time, Photoshop has sufficient funds to develop vector illustrations. I will clearly show this in my lesson on how to convert a drawing into a vector. I chose a sketch of a cat as the basis for the illustration. I decided to depict a blue cat with pink flowers in its paws.
Step 1
Let's start by creating the background. Let's draw a shape using the selection tool () (in mode Shape Layers(Shape Layer)). Settings - (Fill Opacity) = 0% . Now use a gradient overlay: ( (Layer Style - Gradient Overlay)) to fill the created shape. All settings are default, you just need to change the angle (I will indicate the degree) and the gradient. Add Stroke(Stroke) ( (Layer Style - Stroke)). We use all the default settings, except for the width in 1 px and colors.
In this tutorial I will tell you how to make a black and white vector drawing from a color photo without using the Pen tool.
Step 1. Open the photo in Photoshop.
Let me make a reservation right away that photographs in which a human figure is on a white background are suitable for this lesson. If you do not have one available, then before starting the lesson, the existing photograph must be prepared.
Using the selection tools, separate the figure from the background and copy the selection to a new layer. Rename this layer “shape”. Create a new layer, fill it with white, rename it “background”. Move this layer in the Layers panel so that it is below the “shape” layer. Merge the “background” layer with the “shape” layer. Rename the resulting layer “Base”.
Step 2. Next, we'll apply an Isohelium adjustment to the Base layer to create a black and white silhouette. It is quite possible that the first time you will not be able to ensure that all the details you need are visible on the silhouette. Therefore, we will make several copies of the “Base” layer so that on each one, using different settings for “Isohelia,” we will obtain a silhouette with the necessary details.
After making two or three copies of the “Base” layer, turn off their visibility. Make sure that only the "Base" layer is active.
Step 3. Apply (Image - Adjustment - Threshold). To obtain the basis of the silhouette, I used the following settings:
Step 4. Now we'll apply the Diffusion filter to the layer to smooth out the jagged edges. Filter - Stylize - Diffusion(Filter - Stylize - Diffuse)
Now to make the edges of the image clearer we go Image - Correction - Levels(Image - Adjustment - Levels), move the right and left sliders closer to the center. To make it easier to control the result, zoom in to 300% before applying the adjustment.
We repeat the steps again with the “Diffusion” filter and the “Levels” correction
Step 5. Turn on visibility for the “Base_1” layer. We apply Image - Correction - Isohelium(Image - Adjustment - Threshold).
Step 6. Repeat step 4 for the “Base _1” layer.
Step 7 Create a new layer, fill it with black, and move it in the layers panel below the “Base” layer. Change the blending mode for the “Base_1” layer to “ Difference(Difference). This is what happened at this stage.
Step 8 The girl turned out to be quite ugly, but this can all be fixed. Make the “Base” layer active and add layer mask. Using an eraser, we erase the “frightening” areas on the girl’s face.
Much better already. However, in my opinion, the left eye is a little let down.
Step 9. Turn on visibility for the “Base_2” layer, apply Isohelium so that a clear outline of the eye appears. Repeat step 4. Using the “ Lasso» Select the area with the eye and add a layer mask.
If you are happy with the result, then glue the layers together.
Computer graphics is a very broad concept. When someone mentions this term, three-dimensional masterpieces from the Pixar and Dreamworks studios will come to mind, others will think about digital photography, and still others will decide that we are talking about the design of computer games. But there are also sure to be many who associate this phrase with vector graphics. Despite the extraordinary popularity of vector graphics, many users are completely unfamiliar with the feature of vector drawings. What lies behind the words “vector graphics” and why is it so in demand?
A typical raster image is an array of dots. This array can be rendered with maximum precision or approximate precision. In the first case, information about the bitmap is transmitted losslessly, but takes up a lot of memory. In the second case, the graphic image can be transmitted with conditional accuracy. A direct analogy arises with sound, which is compressed “without noticeable losses” into the MP3 format. For graphics, a similar format is JPG. With a moderate and not very high degree of compression, the original array of points is quite recognizable. Algorithms for visualizing raster graphics may differ, but their essence is the same - the image is strictly linked to the pixel matrix.
To render a vector image, a completely different approach is used. Each vector design is created using geometric shapes and curves. Using mathematics when describing a picture gives a huge advantage: when scaling vector elements, the original picture does not lose any quality. A raster image behaves differently when resizing - the lines of objects in the image, when enlarged, become overgrown with a noticeable “comb”. These artifacts are present in the image initially, since a raster image a priori cannot contain continuous elements - lines, geometric shapes, and so on. All this in a raster looks like a matrix of pixels, which is more noticeable the more the raster image is enlarged.
Vector formats are not without their drawbacks. The need to use simple elements to construct a picture often becomes a serious obstacle to the interpretation of a complex picture. For example, it is extremely difficult to convert an ordinary landscape photograph into vector format, since there are many objects in it and their geometry is very complex.
In industrial printing, vector formats look equally good when printing images of any size - large and small. Raster images, when enlarged, not only turn into mosaics, but may also contain compression artifacts. In addition, vector formats are convenient to use in programming because they are easily described by mathematical expressions.
Professional designers use time-tested tools such as Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw to create vector graphics. But for the hobbyist who needs to quickly create a T-shirt logo or technical illustration, there is no need to resort to such cumbersome and expensive applications. You can get by with free and sometimes even online tools. With their help, you can convert a raster image to a vector image, sketch a simple design, generate a guilloche pattern, and so on.
⇡ “Google Drawings” is the simplest vector editor that is always at hand
The most famous, simple and accessible online vector editor is “Drawings” in the Google Drive service. This web application is part of Google's Online Office and is more focused on collaboration and adding graphic elements to other types of office documents than on creating vector graphics. However, there are still some basic tools for working with it.
Using the Drawings web application, you can create various shapes, arrows, callouts, graphic elements of formulas, add straight lines, curves, polylines, arrows and scribbles. It is also possible to add text elements and import raster images. Vector drawings can be imported, but not edited (only viewing is available).
⇡ Autotracer - free raster image to vector converter
When it comes to complex vector graphics, it is sometimes easier not to create them from scratch, but to vectorize the raster image, that is, convert it to a vector format. This process is also called tracing.
Almost any vector editor has the corresponding tools, but vectorization can be even easier thanks to online tools. You can find more than one web service that offers similar services. For example, the free resource Autotracer is very easy to use. It can be used to convert PNG, BMP, JPEG and GIF files into vector format and save into SVG, EPS, PDF, DXF format.
The service is completely free, but there is one limitation: the size of the source file should not exceed one megabyte. Before conversion, you can set some settings: decide on the number of colors that will be left on the raster image before vectorization, as well as get rid of noise, and indicate in which cases lines will be taken as curves. The process itself happens very quickly, so if the quality of the final drawing is not suitable, you can always experiment with the settings and try again.
⇡ Vector Paint is a vector editor in Chrome that can work without a browser
Vector Paint is a web application for Google Chrome built in HTML5, but it can work without a browser. It belongs to a new generation of applications introduced in early September of this year. You can launch such applications directly from your desktop - an open browser, as well as access to the Internet, is not required to use them.
Vector Paint contains a fairly large collection of various preset shapes that can be used in projects: there are clocks, clouds, arrows, animals, music notes, and much more. Shapes can also be created manually using straight and broken lines, a tool for drawing freeform shapes, a rectangle, an ellipse. For each element, you can choose the color, thickness and type of stroke, as well as the fill color, make it partially transparent, add one of many effects (distortion, shadows, textures, pseudo-3D, etc.). There are also tools for managing elements in the project: they can be moved to the front or moved back. For more precise placement of elements, there are numerous alignment tools, and you can also enable the display of a ruler.
By default, work is carried out on one layer, but if necessary, you can add the ability to work with several layers. This feature is implemented as an add-on. To install it, you don’t need to download anything, just select the plugin in the menu of the same name. Working with layers includes the ability to combine selected layers, hide some of them, and move selected elements to a separate layer.
Vector Paint has other add-ons that can be easily added to the application. These are advanced features for working with text (additional fonts, setting spacing, individual elements of inscriptions), adding markers, using images to create repeating patterns on forms. The Plugins menu also includes additional stroke and fill options.
Finished projects are saved in SVG format and can also be exported to PNG and JPEG.
⇡ SVG-Edit - online vector editor
SVG-Edit is a JavaScript-based vector editor that can run in any browser. It can be used as an online service (in this case, a demo address is used for access), and also as a web application (in this case, you need to download the archive with SVG-Edit files, unzip it and run the application file in any browser).
SVG-Edit fully works with SVG files, making it possible to both save projects in this format and open such files and make changes to them. In addition, the SVG file can be imported into the project as a separate element.
To create vector graphic elements in SVG-Edit, you can use polylines, rectangles, squares, ellipses, circles, polygons, outlines, and text. It is possible to fill elements with color and also use gradients, including radial ones. It supports working with layers, displaying a grid, and displaying elements as a wireframe. There are tools for changing the arrangement of elements (above, below), for quickly cloning selected vector forms, and for grouping them. Many commands are available from the context menu (as in regular desktop editors). Quite a lot of attention is paid to tools for alignment on the canvas: you can align elements in relation to selected objects, to the largest or smallest object.
The program has a large library of ready-made shapes (the same one used in Vector Paint), but in addition, it provides access to a huge free library of vector graphics elements IAN Image Library. To work with it, you will need to register, but then you can view collections of vector graphics samples directly from the editor and immediately add them to your current or new project.
⇡ Chittram - a simple online editor
Chittram is another vector editor that can work as a web application. Unlike SVG-Edit, it is implemented as a full-fledged online service with the ability to save projects on the server. A Google account is used to view and edit previously created projects.
Chittram's capabilities are more modest than those of SVG-Edit, but this editor will certainly seem more friendly to novice users. The application has the ability to use a raster image as a background, but you cannot select an image from your hard drive - you can only specify a link to the file. There is also no import of local vector images, but you can add files from the web service user gallery to the project and edit them. The site implements a search in the gallery by keywords, as well as by tags.
To create your own projects, you can use a standard set of tools: straight lines, curves, Bezier curves, polygons, circles, ovals, rectangles and squares. Text creation is also available. For each element, it is possible to set the stroke size, fill color, gradient color and direction, and transparency percentage. For more accurate drawing, you can use a grid for which the size of the cell is adjusted. You can also control the canvas size and orientation.
If your project uses multiple forms, it is useful to display a panel that provides a list of all the elements. It is used to rename and quickly select objects. The same panel is used to work with layers.
⇡ Inkscape is a full-fledged alternative to commercial packages
The Inkscape vector editor has a lot of advantages. Firstly, it is cross-platform (can run on Windows, Linux, Mac). Secondly, it supports a large number of popular vector formats, including SVG, SVGZ, EMF, DXF, EPS, PostScript, WMF and others.
The editor also has tools for creating graphics that are standard for any vector editor: shapes, curves, text, fill, full support for layers. Inkscape allows you to perform various actions with paths, make strokes, and also apply Boolean operations (merge, intersect elements, exclude one from another, and so on). The user has at his disposal a large library of filters and a special editor with which you can create your own effects. The program supports graphics tablets, so you can manually draw in it by controlling the tilt and pressure of the pen.
It is worth paying attention to the built-in tools for vectorizing raster images. To ensure that important objects in the foreground are taken into account when tracing photos, the SIOX (Simple Interactive Object Extraction) algorithm is used to help identify such objects automatically.
⇡ ZebraTRACE - free guilloche creation
Any banknotes, as well as documents of national importance (diplomas, certificates, certificates, etc.) are easy to recognize at first glance. This “recognizability” of the document design is given by subtle repeating patterns that run throughout the main drawing. Such lines are called guilloche.
Guilloche patterns can be drawn manually in a vector editor, but without special add-ons and skills to create such patterns, this process can take a long time. The free ZebraTRACE utility helps solve such problems.
This program traces images and combines them with a guilloche pattern. ZebraTRACE uses parametric guilloche generation. Each type of pattern that can be created using the application is determined by a mathematical formula. So, if there is a desire and free time for experiments, the user can get unique drawings.
Creating new guilloches is very simple. Try making minor changes to the pattern generation formula, for example changing the coefficient value from 2 to 3, and the pattern will change. For those who do not want to get creative with ZebraTRACE, the program includes a dozen and a half presets with formulas that allow you to obtain the most common guilloches.
⇡ Conclusion
Free tools for working with vector graphics are not as common as we would like, but nevertheless they exist. It is also good that with the development of the HTML5 standard and other web technologies, it has become possible to use the browser as a vector graphics editor - previously one could only dream of this. For simple projects, such tools save a lot of time, and if you use Inkscape, you can completely avoid purchasing a vector editor for your design needs.
Vector drawings are increasingly used in various printing tools to create beautiful designs from wood, plastic, metal, paper and other materials. Today, we will figure out how you can make a vector drawing with your own hands using Photoshop. Having spent very little time, we will get a high-quality vector drawing, and we will be able to use it in the future without any problems.
How to convert a drawing to vector?
First of all, it should be noted that only drawings that are depicted on a white background can be converted into vector format. If the background is not white, then first you need to remove everything unnecessary and clear the background.
1. Using the selection tools, we select only the element that we want to convert into a vector drawing and copy it to a new layer called “shape”. Then create another layer and fill it completely with white; this layer can be called “background”. Now, move the “background” layer under the “shape” layer and merge them. We call the resulting image “Base”. Copy the “Base” layer twice and name them “Base_1” and “Base_2”. We turn off their visibility.
2. Let's begin our operations to convert the drawing into vector format. First of all, apply the “Isohelium” correction to the “Base” layer in order to get the drawing in black and white format. The first correction does not always produce the image we need, so we can make several copies of the layers and make corrections with different values until we get what we need.
So we got the most normal effect.
3. Next, we apply the Diffusion filter to the resulting image to remove jagged edges. The path to enable the filter: “Filter - Stylize - Diffusion” (Filter-Stylize-Difuse). In the window that opens, select “Anisotropic”.
4. The next step is to smooth out the edges so that they become sharper, to do this, click “Image - Correction - Levels” (Image-Adjustment-Levels). In the open window, move the left and right sliders closer to the center. In order to see the result of the correction, it is best to enlarge the drawing to 300% before opening the levels.
5. We repeat points 3 and 4 in the same order.
6. Turn off the visibility of our main layer and turn on the “Base_1” layer. Perform the action “Image - Correction - Isohelium” (Image-Adjustment-Threshold). Set the parameter at level 138.
7. We perform the operations specified in paragraphs 3,4 and 5 with this layer.
8. Create a new layer and fill it with black. Let's call it "Background". Set it below the “Base” layer. In the “Base_1” layer, change the mode to “Difference”.
Here's what we get:
9. The picture turned out to be a little scary, but we'll fix that now. Make the “Base” layer active and add a layer mask. Then, using an eraser, we can remove excess areas on the girl’s face and body.
10. Now we have a drawing, now we need to convert it to vector. We use the “Magic Wand”, select the entire black area of the picture, and on the image, press the right mouse button, in the menu that opens, select “Create work path”. Set the value to 1.0.