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How does one draw these kind of wobbly lines?


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I'm trying to figure out how to draw lines as in the pictures below.  Does anybody know if this is all hand drawn or with a special (preset) brush??

I kind of assume that the letter "m" is just a regular font (as opposed to drawn by hand).  I tried to make a brush simulating this, but the result was very disappointing.

(not the brush's fault though) I also tried to use the ripple filter in AP, but it just not what I'm trying to accomplish.

Does anybody at the forum have any experience with making these kind of lines and willing to share this well hidden secret?

Dutch

 

IMG_20170720_152404.jpg

IMG_20170720_152454.jpg

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There's a thread somewhere about the ability to roughen lines being just as desirable as the ability to smooth them. If we ever get a Roughen Tool in AD it would do the job nicely, but I'm pretty sure it isn't on the roadmap; I don't know if it has even made it onto the Common Feature Requests Index.

 

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Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
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If you look closely at the strokes, you can see areas that are both very regular, and others where the troughs and peaks are shifted slightly. My guess is that there was a lot of hand work involved. I've used the Illustrator pucker and bloat tools a little, and the results I got tended to be much larger. 

 

So here's an approach. It is somewhat time consuming. 

 

Chose an appropriate font, and give it a fairly thick stroke. Convert to curves. Slightly flex any straight lines.

 

1MsForExpanding.thumb.jpg.7235def4b1ee915e43c8d3f9fa4d8faa.jpg

 

Expand the stroke. Pictured, the slightly distorted with strokes expanded., showing the nodes.

 

3MidleAsExpanded.thumb.jpg.c72e0d9c13c02c1dbe8a4837cefc70b8.jpg

 

I spent a few minutes deleting some of the clusters of nodes. Reduced the number by at least 1/4. Then, began warping the arcs between the nodes..

 

5970b7d87a9bb_5FirstArcWarp.thumb.jpg.cfdc32d0925718de0d7a10a67072ff2f.jpg

 

Results after 5 minutes. Whole shape probably would have taken close to 1/2 hr, which seems too much. I suppose w. some practice, I might come up with a slightly safter method.

 

6Warpsafter5min.thumb.jpg.e4db1280a2e2a6528ce1027a03a143dd.jpg

 

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1 hour ago, jer said:

@gdenby  Love how you always find a solution for peeps!   :)

 

Thanks, wasn't the best solution. I also spent some more time working back and forth with GIMP and Inkscape. Was able to come up w. something closer to the original image, but as much work, maybe more. I'd love to know how the original images line edges had so many standard ogee curves.  Any rate, an interesting exercise.

iMac 27" Retina, c. 2015: OS X 10.11.5: 3.3 GHz I c-5: 32 Gb,  AMD Radeon R9 M290 2048 Mb

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I used XDP, made the little squiggly line one sees above my m character, made that line into a brush (remains vector in output that supports vector), and applied it as an outline to the m character.

 

If it isn't that easy to do in AD (don't have it on this computer to try), then Serif needs to work on its brushes.

 

Mike

 

 

capture-001263.png

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12 hours ago, Alfred said:

There's a thread somewhere about the ability to roughen lines being just as desirable as the ability to smooth them. If we ever get a Roughen Tool in AD it would do the job nicely, but I'm pretty sure it isn't on the roadmap; I don't know if it has even made it onto the Common Feature Requests Index.

 

Hi Alfred, thanks for your quick reply. If there isn't any request for this kind of tool, I guess there isn't any demand for it.  Would be nice though...

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7 hours ago, catlover said:

I think this may have been achieved with the help of a bottle of Whiskey, a tablet-pen and someone else's reading glasses.

Although not necessarily in that order ...:D  :)

 

Hey catlover, why didn't I think of this myself? Heck, I could  use my wife's glasses.... Nah... I think I'll just go for the whiskey and save the drawing for later....

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8 hours ago, gdenby said:

If you look closely at the strokes, you can see areas that are both very regular, and others where the troughs and peaks are shifted slightly. My guess is that there was a lot of hand work involved. I've used the Illustrator pucker and bloat tools a little, and the results I got tended to be much larger.

Wow gdnby! That's a lot of work you did there! First of all thanks but also own you an apology.... I guess that you (and others)  assume it's the lettering I'm after... That's not the case...

I'm trying to get those wavy lines to draw pictures and I mentioned the "m" font as an indication that whoever did this design, perhaps used some special brush or filter to get these results. (since the artwork and the lettering look very similar) Really sorry that I wasn't more clearer about that, gdnby. The result you got is very nice, but if I'm going to do 16 pages like this, I might have to settle for straight lines.... and the wiskey catlover suggested ;-)

Dutch

 

 

iMac : 2.3 Ghz Dual-Core  intel Core i5
Affinity Designer 2.0.3 : Affinity Publisher  2.0.0 : Affinity Photo 2.0.0

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37 minutes ago, MikeW said:

I used XDP, made the little squiggly line one sees above my m character, made that line into a brush (remains vector in output that supports vector), and applied it as an outline to the m character.

Hi Mike, thanks and I just did a quick search on XDP, this is what Yahoo gave me: Xtreme Diesel Performance.... I'm pretty sure that's not what you used...  But looking at your picture it seems you made a brush to get those wobbly lines and this is close to what I'm trying to accomplish.

I did make a few brushes before but they s#cked big time... I take it that I need to spend more time on trying to find the right "balance" for this brush.

Dutch

 

iMac : 2.3 Ghz Dual-Core  intel Core i5
Affinity Designer 2.0.3 : Affinity Publisher  2.0.0 : Affinity Photo 2.0.0

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Hah. Xara Designer Pro. Sorry about that. It is my main vector application but I'm trying to love AD. AD has unparalleled OpenType support and that is more important for me than drawing...I have trouble drawing stick men. And XDP is over-priced. Xara may be improving certain features that are important to me, but it is mostly at a snail's pace.

 

I'll see what I can do with AD as regards brushes when I get back to the office. Seems like someone here has to have made such brushes, but I really don't know if that is so. In any case, making such a brush ought to be "easy" and its application to an object just as easy. And if it is not, then that's an area Serif needs to improve things.

 

Mike 

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14 hours ago, Alfred said:

There's a thread somewhere about the ability to roughen lines being just as desirable as the ability to smooth them. If we ever get a Roughen Tool in AD it would do the job nicely, but I'm pretty sure it isn't on the roadmap; I don't know if it has even made it onto the Common Feature Requests Index.

 

 

1 hour ago, Dutch said:

Hi Alfred, thanks for your quick reply. If there isn't any request for this kind of tool, I guess there isn't any demand for it.  Would be nice though...

 

My point was actually that there was more than just a request about it: there was a whole thread discussing the subject! My comment about the Common Feature Requests Index (CFRI) was simply intended to indicate that although the thread generated a lot of discussion I don't know if there have been enough requests to get this feature added to the CFRI.

 

Edited to add: This is the thread that I had in mind, but there have been several others.

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Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
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48 minutes ago, Alfred said:

My point was actually that there was more than just a request about it: there was a whole thread discussing the subject!

Found it! Thanks for the link Alfred. The "free roughen" sample from Herbert123 is exactly what I'm looking for....

And yes, you're right, seems there is definitely demand for such an option... and quite a variety of uses as well...  Let's hope the AD Design Team takes notice, because it would be a great addition.

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