Vector Workshop 2024

[Julie Magerka]

17 hours ago, middie said:

I believe that the adjective that you are looking for is  "mephistophelian"  derived from an evil spirit to whom Faust sold his soul. 

 

I have actually read Goethe's book, but in English of course!

[Julie Magerka]

10 hours ago, Cristina said:

Yeah, same here about sometimes the arms being too small and having to move the cursor around to see where the arrows are. 

 I also have my nodes small, and zooming in is a must. 🙂

Sometimes, I click and click on the nodes and nothing happens. Then, if I check the Tool Options Palette, I see that, for whatever reason, the MODE has been changed from EDIT MODE  to DRAW LINES AND POLYLINES.

Working with Vector does require lots of attention to detail. 

 

You said it so well about the change in MODE! I have to always remind myself: am I on the right layer? Is the mode in edit? Do I have the pen tool selected? These vectors are demanding.

[Ann Seeber]

2 hours ago, Gerry Landreth said:

Jnet: I wish you the best on the move. The stress can take a toll on you, so take care. 

For the passwords, yuk and double yuk! When you can, check into password managers. There are several free versions of the more popular ones. Also, current browsers have built-in managers. I use one that can store information in the cloud and access it from anywhere and on any device.

Good luck!

Jnet, I agree a password manager is a good idea. I use LastPass and I only have to remember (or write down) one master password and the app secures everything. It generates unbreakable passwords up to 15 characters long. I used the free version for a while but I ended up upgrading to premium for further needs but the free version is certainly sufficient. 

[Julie Magerka]

3 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

These are so  cool.  You could make a whole alphabet.  LOVE the snowgirl!  I cant imagine the temperatures you are having.  Is your A/C fixed?  We have had so much rain and two nights ago almost 0 degrees.  Should be in the high 20's or low 30's (Celsius) by now.  Weird weather everywhere.

Oh, I just dream about cool weather. The A/C got fixed next day, but it felt like a longer time than that. I had to be out in the sun today (I use a hat and sun umbrella) for a few hours and I'm just done in! Temps feeling like 104-106 F.

[Julie Magerka]

2 minutes ago, Ann Seeber said:

Jnet, I agree a password manager is a good idea. I use LastPass and I only have to remember (or write down) one master password and the app secures everything. It generates unbreakable passwords up to 15 characters long. I used the free version for a while but I ended up upgrading to premium for further needs but the free version is certainly sufficient. 

I have used KeePass (free) for many years. Same idea as LastPass, only one p'word to remember. I also have a portable version on a USB so I can take it with me.

[Donna Sillia]

I redid my leaves using the pen tool and the nodes. I filled the first one with the photo of one of my leaves. I made wonky veins with the pen tool, added a gradient and filled with the fine leather texture. The stems were isolated--one filled with a gradient green and one filled with a brown gradient. 

This time was easier than the last time.

[Jnet Allard]

Thanks for the suggestions from a manager, I note everything
Here is my lesson 3

[Jen Brown]

Thanks for Lesson 2 ... the hearts were fun to design. I like how wonky the last heart is.

[Alicia Garbelman]

Third time was the charm. The first time, I tried using Ctrl-V at the "paste" step, and my cut-out disappeared into the ether. Second time, the Cut-out didn't actually cut out. The line appeared on my object, but no "hole." Third time, all worked as planned. Hooray!

[Ann Seeber]

8 minutes ago, Alicia Garbelman said:

Third time was the charm. The first time, I tried using Ctrl-V at the "paste" step, and my cut-out disappeared into the ether. Second time, the Cut-out didn't actually cut out. The line appeared on my object, but no "hole." Third time, all worked as planned. Hooray!

Alicia, I'm glad it finally worked. Your stories are rather amusing... 😉

[Ann Seeber]

12 minutes ago, Jen Brown said:

Thanks for Lesson 2 ... the hearts were fun to design. I like how wonky the last heart is.

Jen, "wonky" is the word of the week here! 😉

[Corrie Kinkel]

1 hour ago, Julie Magerka said:

Oh, I just dream about cool weather. The A/C got fixed next day, but it felt like a longer time than that. I had to be out in the sun today (I use a hat and sun umbrella) for a few hours and I'm just done in! Temps feeling like 104-106 F.

And I just dream of warm and sunny weather, because over here the last 6 month have been the wettest since it is being recorded! We have one nice day and the rest of the week it is dreadful and that for months in a row! Gloomy, everybody is fed up with this weather for now; farmers are becoming desperate because the crops are rotting or not growing at all. Spinach for instance isn't available in the shops!

Edited June 20 by Corrie Kinkel
Forgot something

[Corrie Kinkel]

Day 4 and I still keep it simple, nothing fancy after creating the shapes and I haven't exported them because I think I will not be using them and if I ever would want that, I know how to make them. The cut outs on my dinosaur egg are not completely round but I could adjust their sizes without a problem. After doing the tasks I have to go away from the computer, my eyes are giving me a headache if I 'm too long at the pc. In 3 weeks time when it hopefully is a bit better I'm allowed to go to the optician for new glasses. Before those are ready it will be another 2 weeks at least, so maybe by the end of July the situation will be more or less oké for the time being.

[Anja Pelzer]

wow you all have done a great work,

here is my day 4 , a cup , a pot , and a table , all saved as shapes

this time is was great to work with the knots, no problem with the cut out,

last year it works also , but not so nice

 

[middie]

Lesson4 - nothing fancy. Just tried to get the nodes & layers right. looks like something I did in my first pottery class (it didn't survive the kiln).

[Jeni Simpson]

3 hours ago, Julie Magerka said:

I have used KeePass (free) for many years. Same idea as LastPass, only one p'word to remember. I also have a portable version on a USB so I can take it with me.

I have been using a password manager for many years now, RoboForm, it is certainly a huge help for me as my memory is not as good as it was.

[Emerald Jay]

Lesson 4

 

[middie]

19 hours ago, Cassel said:

@Mary Solaas Good work. Yes, the Layer Styles are the way to go if you want to add glow or shadows to a vector. I am not covering it in the lessons as people already have enough with the nodes!

@Jeni Simpson I hope you are feeling more comfortable after all those labels!

@Emerald Jay Great assignments. Simple but you did what was asked. You worked hard on that maple leaf! And you now have a great preset shape to reuse endlessly!

@Cristina Yes, I agree that if you don't click on the right place, you "lose" it and have to click again. It is annoying but with practice, it becomes just part of working with them. That flower is great!

@Anja Pelzer Great work on both assignments! Is it getting easier?

@Ron Yarborough Yes, vectors are often feared by many PSP users. Hopefully, you will also feel more confident once you go through the lessons. Looking forward to seeing your assignments too.

@Trevor Andrew Yes there is a lot of switching node type. I am not sure why one cannot start with a cusp. Maybe there is a reason, but I just don't know it. As for a shortcut, Ctrl-S is supposed to be for Save as... not changing to Cusp. I don't think there is any shortcut for those nodes.

@Donna Sillia I would rather you don't use that script to create vectors as the workshop is to help you edit them. Once you are comfortable editing the nodes, then you can take shortcuts to start the initial path and edit it later.

@Alicia Garbelman Yes, using food items is a good way to play with those nodes and paths. Those leaves are great!

@Jnet Allard Welcome back. You started very well with this lesson. Keep it up!

@Susan Ewart Yes, sometimes, the arms are very short. That is one situation where changing them to symmetric might make both ends the length of the longest one, which then allows you to grab them correctly. You are moving along quite well!

@Julie MagerkaDon't dispair. The "holes" in the middle will come in a different lesson as a cutout. It requires extra steps otherwise, every path wants to be filled the same way. Keep that image, and you will see, tomorrow.

@Louyse Toupin Great labels. Maybe you can use them in a project soon.

@Corrie Kinkel Great flowers! See, with practice, you will get to aim on the right place on the nodes and get going smoothly.

@Gerry Landreth Too bad the cats are so demanding!!! 🙂

@middie That is a great question about managing all those preset shapes. See, when you export the preset shapes, they are likely saved in the folder in My Documents > Corel PaintShop Pro > [version number] > Preset shapes. Simply go to that folder and delete the ones you don't want to keep. They should be .pspshape files. As for Photoshop, if you have access to it, it is fine. Each program has its strengths and each one has features the other doesn't have (Photoshop does not have scripts or picture tubes!)

We have over 150 people who signed up for this workshop. If you are registered and following the tutorials, don't be shy. We have all been beginners, and we know how it is. Show us your assignments, and over time, we will cheer your progress too!

For Cassel - Thank you for that deletion information. PSP can get bloated if you are not careful and I always like to bury my mistakes as I get better. I agree about the scripts & picture tubes for PSP.  I must have about 95% of the ones in your shop. I guess that PS actions are the closest to PSP scripts but I find the PS actions to be "clunky" and the PSP scripts to have more finesse. I do love the PS layer styles though, especially any that have to do with brocade or lace. I start my projects in PSP, import to PS for the styles, then import back to PSP to complete the project. It took me a while to learn how to manage that without creating a disaster. My photography club has been trying to get me into Lightroom but that is were I draw the line. I can create rolling fog, rain with lightening flashes, softly falling snow, and blowing leaves in PSP9 & AS which is more than they can do.

[Jeni Simpson]

1 hour ago, Corrie Kinkel said:

And I just dream of warm and sunny weather, because over here the last 6 month have been the wettest since it is being recorded! We have one nice day and the rest of the week it is dreadful and that for months in a row! Gloomy, everybody is fed up with this weather for now; farmers are becoming desperate because the crops are rotting or not growing at all. Spinach for instance isn't available in the shops!

And we are in winter downunder, winter is not my favorite time of the year, although wonderfully, after today, we are on the downhill slope to summer...I say downhill because I want to race there as fast as possible, however, we get our worst weather after the shortest day, which is today. Where I live we might be lucky to see snow on the ground one day of the year, and we have frosts at about -5C, too cold for me!

[Jeni Simpson]

Day 4.
I had trouble with this one, even though I had cut and pasted the handle into the cup vector layer, I still had no hole between the handle and the cup!
However, when I exported it as a shape, that hole was there!
So I then saved to a raster layer and filled the shape with a gradient, and I had a handle again!

[Cassel]

@Jeni Simpson Glad that you are learning. Vectors will be less intimidating with practice.

@Michele Take care of yourself. The lessons will wait!

@Cristina Those multiple checks will become second nature. How are you getting an outline through both sides of the mug? If you make a cutout, it should not show a line through the handle.

@Trevor Andrew Yes, it requires practice to switch like that quickly. Over time, you will do it automatically, without getting frustrated. And yes, the forum only takes jpg images 🙂

@Jnet Allard That is a good start! you are really doing good.

@Ann Seeber You are catching up well!

@Gerry Landreth Great practice. I like that leave that you outlined from a photo!

@Cindy Sheets You will get there. It will get easier and easier with practice.

@Louyse Toupin Great work. Was it getting easier?

@Bonnie Borntrager You are getting the hang of it!

@Donna Sillia Yes!! It looks great for that re-try!

@Jen Brown There are all kinds of "wonky hearts" and many of them are available as fonts. Why not as preset shapes?

@Alicia Garbelman It is great that you are persevering!

@Corrie Kinkel Great work. Those little holes on the eggs are fine the way they are! As you say, you can always tweak them if needed.

@Anja Pelzer That is a really cool composition!

@middie Your shape did survive the kiln here! 🙂 Do you know that there is a way to "simulate" some of the layer styles? Using the Sculpture effect (yeah, not the most obvious).

@Emerald Jay That is good. Do you still have to read the steps one by one to do the cutout?

Keep it up. You are all doing great. I hope you are getting more comfortable with the vectors and the nodes now.

[Jeni Simpson]

1 hour ago, Cassel said:

@Jeni Simpson Glad that you are learning. Vectors will be less intimidating with practice.

Keep it up. You are all doing great. I hope you are getting more comfortable with the vectors and the nodes now.

Thank you, Carole, I understand vectors more now, and I still find them formidable beasts, however, I go back over the videos and 'get' something more each time. I am pleased I chose to do this workshop. I noticed the lessons from 2023 in a folder and hadn't even remembered I registered for it last year.

[Julie Magerka]

14 hours ago, Corrie Kinkel said:

And I just dream of warm and sunny weather, because over here the last 6 month have been the wettest since it is being recorded! We have one nice day and the rest of the week it is dreadful and that for months in a row! Gloomy, everybody is fed up with this weather for now; farmers are becoming desperate because the crops are rotting or not growing at all. Spinach for instance isn't available in the shops!

I suppose it's human nature to see the grass as greener on the other side! But I have not been a fan of excessive heat & humidity for many years. Canadians talk about weather more than any other topic.

[Emerald Jay]

@Cassel When I did the cut-out for the opening at the top of the cup, I had to play back the tutorial so I could see step by step again what I had to do. The reverse path makes no sense to me.   My old brain doesn't retain stuff very well anymore either. 😞

Edited June 21 by Emerald Jay

[Daniel Hess]

Here are Lessons 2 and 3.  I ran into a snag...somewhere sometime, I had added the Corel_11 preset shape folders for 2019 to 2022 inclusive to my file locations for Pre-set shapes as well as the "documents/Preset shapes folders for all four years.   Whenever I tried to export a new shape, the program locked up tight and refused to work.  When looked, the new shape was in the 2022 preset shapes folder so it had saved...but forever and a day I could NOT select preset shapes to try out my new vector...the program locked up tight.  Had to Ctrl/Alt/Del and go back in.  Finally I compared my preset shapes file locations to others that worked i.e. Picture tubes etc...and the ONLY Corel_"number" folder in those was the current/latest year.  When I deleted those file locations for 2019, 2020, and 2021, everything started working again.  Woo Hoo !  Anyhow, I'm behind a lesson now...need to do the cutout lesson and whatever is in Lesson 5 (haven't yet looked. )