Gazzer Posted November 16, 2022 Posted November 16, 2022 (edited) Been an Illustrator user for 25+ years and began using Designer recently. I was hoping that we would get vector brushes in V2, the real kind like in AI. With that said I will have to try and create brushes with PNG files. Since these are resolution dependent (bitmapped) what is the work around to keep these PNG files, that are masked within a vector drawing, from looking so pixelated if I have to resize elements within the poster? Is there a "best practices" resolution for the PNG file when creating to keep the PNG file as crisp as possible? This would be for print output at sizes up to A0/A1. Have been looking for a definitive answer on the forum but could not find. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Edited November 16, 2022 by Gazzer more descriptive title awakenedbyowls 1 Quote
StuartRc Posted January 11, 2023 Posted January 11, 2023 Hi I tend to output vector Brush PNG's at 300 dpi but you can go higher if you are not getting the results you expected. As far as I am aware there have been no significant changes to the Vector Brushes between V1 and V2 so the process of creating brushes should not have changed. When experimenting with the early brush sets I tended to build 'vector brushes' with lengthy images (X= 2000px+ ) This give you a smoother brush but not really necessary. You can easily produce adequate brushes that are much smaller (say x=500px + n height) Also advisable to set up a template to export multiple PNG's from the Export Persona. Where you can also control size options automatically from the output ...Saves a lot of time if you are creating lots of brushes! Some time ago I put together a PDF based tutorial which may be of help with the design and construction of Vector Based Brushes. Linked as below: There are also some additional 'off Forum' links in the information section of this thread that are also very useful when constructing vector brushes. (NB Need to be updated..as I am sure there are a few more references online that would be useful!😀) Also consider that the Size of the DPI in the document can influence the function and size of the vector brush. There is a thread relating to this here Quote Affinity Version 1 (10.6) Affinity Version 2.5.7.2948 All (Designer | Photo | Publisher) Beta; 2.6.0.3106 OS:Windows 10 Pro 22H2 OS Build 19045.5371+ Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19060.1000.0 Rig:AMD FX 8350 and AMD Radeon (R9 380 Series) Settings Version 21.04.01 Radeon Settings Version 2020 20.1.03) + Wacom Intuous 4M with driver 6.3.41-1
Gazzer Posted January 13, 2023 Author Posted January 13, 2023 Cheers Stuart, really appreciate all the info and links. Think the last link is very useful but not clear it really answers my question--will certainly study it again later. I appreciate the brush tutorials if I ever need to do that they will be helpful. However, I already have what I need that I created in AI over the years--"true" vector brushes (see attached). I am trying to convert all of them to PNG for Designer and not quite clear on scalability relating to resolution. Why they are called "vector" brushes in Affinity when they really are not is perplexing but I digress. These will be for textures similar to that old "airbrush" look and stippling effects, so will not be a dominant aspect of the posters and doubt I will use over 600 pixels in size in any of my poster sizes (A0/A1). So if my final document output in print is ~150 LPI I could achieve a "crisp" look with PNG brushes created at 300 DPI at 600 PX in diameter? Even if I resize a vector object here and there within the poster during the creation? Is that what you are saying? Just attempting to figure out a "best practices" formula that illustrators like yourself use that I can apply to my particular situation. I have experimented with this but have never printed something out at a print shop, just zooming in on a 4K display. Three things I would like to do. One: avoid, if possible, having to go to press as a trial and error process; Two: bloat my files with unnecessary resolution settings; Three: have the ability to scale elements upward during the creation process without loosing the resolution. Perhaps I am missing out on the overall concept of why Affinity uses the method of rasterized brushes in a vector application. In theory I love the idea but mixing resolution-dependent with resolution-independent seems counter intuitive when Affinity offers these personas in Designer and Photo. Not trying to fight this just trying to ensure the fidelity of my printed artwork and wean myself off of AI. At least in Illustrator I knew the outcome was going to always be crisp no matter what size I printed. Surely Affinity realizes a need for this type of information when most of its customers are coming from a complete vector application like AI with "true" vector brushes. Quote
StuartRc Posted January 13, 2023 Posted January 13, 2023 8 minutes ago, Gazzer said: Cheers Stuart, really appreciate all the info and links. Think the last link is very useful but not clear it really answers my question--will certainly study it again later. I appreciate the brush tutorials if I ever need to do that they will be helpful. However, I already have what I need that I created in AI over the years--"true" vector brushes (see attached). I am trying to convert all of them to PNG for Designer and not quite clear on scalability relating to resolution. Why they are called "vector" brushes in Affinity when they really are not is perplexing but I digress. These will be for textures similar to that old "airbrush" look and stippling effects, so will not be a dominant aspect of the posters and doubt I will use over 600 pixels in size in any of my poster sizes (A0/A1). So if my final document output in print is ~150 LPI I could achieve a "crisp" look with PNG brushes created at 300 DPI at 600 PX in diameter? Even if I resize a vector object here and there within the poster during the creation? Is that what you are saying? Just attempting to figure out a "best practices" formula that illustrators like yourself use that I can apply to my particular situation. I have experimented with this but have never printed something out at a print shop, just zooming in on a 4K display. Three things I would like to do. One: avoid, if possible, having to go to press as a trial and error process; Two: bloat my files with unnecessary resolution settings; Three: have the ability to scale elements upward during the creation process without loosing the resolution. Perhaps I am missing out on the overall concept of why Affinity uses the method of rasterized brushes in a vector application. In theory I love the idea but mixing resolution-dependent with resolution-independent seems counter intuitive when Affinity offers these personas in Designer and Photo. Not trying to fight this just trying to ensure the fidelity of my printed artwork and wean myself off of AI. At least in Illustrator I knew the outcome was going to always be crisp no matter what size I printed. Surely Affinity realizes a need for this type of information when most of its customers are coming from a complete vector application like AI with "true" vector brushes. The second link was just to highlight the info section where there are some external links to help with creating brushes. (There are a few more 'tutorials' added to YouTube since I created it!...I might have a trawl through to see if I can add to the list!) Yeah!😀..they are raster along a path rather than true vector... To get around it I just create some grunge vectors and transform into shapes I need...no big deal! I believe true vector brushes have been requested many times on the Forum.. just have to see what V2 brings as new features in the future!.😀 With regards to the brushes you are trying create.. I have not really had any issues with 300dpi brushes.. but I tend to avoid creating very large brushes as the process slows down (Just like in most other apps!) You can go higher with the res for the Nozzle (stretched in the case of 'vector' brushes). I made all the brushes initially vector and then just exported as .PNG in export Persona. This made it much easier to create different effects. With raster brushes and patterns (Base textures) I increased the size of these to 400 x 400px last year just to get a scaled pattern when scaled up The 'vector. brushes are pretty good for laying down textures and quick sketching. I tend to group all the lines and raster the result..it is a pretty quick method and useful in the pixel persona There are also some threads on the Forum that could help youVector Shading BrushesPNG REs I made a stack of vector brushes a long time ago here and a mix set here updated V2 dot brushes you could try them to get a better insight into creating brushes for your own sets Hope this helps! Quote Affinity Version 1 (10.6) Affinity Version 2.5.7.2948 All (Designer | Photo | Publisher) Beta; 2.6.0.3106 OS:Windows 10 Pro 22H2 OS Build 19045.5371+ Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19060.1000.0 Rig:AMD FX 8350 and AMD Radeon (R9 380 Series) Settings Version 21.04.01 Radeon Settings Version 2020 20.1.03) + Wacom Intuous 4M with driver 6.3.41-1
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