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i want to do something like this?

hi there I am going to be doing some screenprinting when I get back to uni, so I would like to do something like the picture below.

Can anyone show me how to do this sort of effect (the quicker the better) using Photoshop.

I have not done vectors before and dont want it to be too detailed either, because i will be screenprinting it.

thanks.

Basically you'll be using the pen tool for this.

Photoshop has a stupid trick called Cutout but it won't look good even after you try converting it to vector. It will look dirty, awful, and with too many points (which you said you didn't want).

Vectors are usually 90 to 100% manual work. There are no "easy" ways for doing it when you are learning, things get easier when you acquire experience.

There have been several posts regarding the pen tool around here, all you have to do is use the search feature located at the bottom of the forum.

Use Illustrator or Freehand.

Photoshop created vector containers that hold raster elements. It's not true vector work and, honestly, you may as well run the cutout filter if you're using Photoshop. It won't make much difference in the end. If you really want vector art Photoshop is never the proper tool to use.

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Since this is for screenprinting and you don't want to go too far into detail then the pen tool and illustrator are probably not the way to go.

You can get the same effect by opening your picture in photshop, dropping the colors down, (in image mode>>indexed color?) pick like 9 or whatever looks decent enough as something you can paint over and just pick through the options till you find something you like.)

Afterwards you can also play with the brightness and contrast to give you a decent kind of outline to work with and this will seperate the colors nicely though you amy have to play a bit to get it right.

Then to make it nice and smooth and have the illusion of vector art simply select each area, use the eyedropper thingy to get a solid color for that area and just fill the selected area on a new layer. Once you have all your areas filled with a solid color, (for screen printing I am assuming it would be either black and white or perhaps two or three colors?) just apply the blur tool to any areas that didn't get covered and you should end up with a pseudo-vector result.

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"So your face has fallen sad now, for you know the time is nigh. Well I must remove your wings and you, you must try and fly..."
The Ship Song
Nick Cave Feat. Johnette Nepolitano

Quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Stilts
Since this is for screenprinting and you don't want to go too far into detail then the pen tool and illustrator are probably not the way to go.

Sorry I could not disagree more. This is exactly the type of art Illustrator was BORN to do. In addition, Illustrator will handle the spot colors much easier. If you use Photoshop, you'll need to create the correct file that separates correctly for the screens, using spot color channels. Then manually knockout and trap the art.

And FYI.. youshould NEVER use Photoshop's brightness and contrast on an image. You destroy image data when you do. Use levels or curves.

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http://www.pixeladdiction.com
My Work

Well I have never had a problem with corrupted files in photoshop from using image/brightness and I've been fooling with it for over five years now. and that's never the finishing of any of picture I do. I guess actually I wouldn't really know because I alter the original but don't save it and work on the adjusted one in a new file...

Anyways when I said to not get into too much detail because of the screenprinting is that unless it is going to be professionally done where you have access to multitudes of colors, most DYI'ers that I know that make t-shirts opt for the black and white kit since it's more affordable, so for simple black and white designs it may be easier...

Illustrator illustrator, one day...

___________________

"So your face has fallen sad now, for you know the time is nigh. Well I must remove your wings and you, you must try and fly..."
The Ship Song
Nick Cave Feat. Johnette Nepolitano

I did not say corrupted files. I said you damage image data. Professionals, that know and care about what they do to and image never touch brightness/contrast. Levels and Curves are non-destructive ways to alter an image in the same manner. And I've been using Photoshop and Illustrator for over 15 years.

___________________

http://www.pixeladdiction.com
My Work

Good thing I am not a professional then eh?

I think of it as the same way as when you leave film under the bulb too long and the film starts to burn and sometimes I like that and is a useful result for certain things I do.

I will keep in mind about levels (which I use) and curves but I have found many great uses for brightness and contrast again none of these are for an end result of an image nor is it used on the original

___________________

"So your face has fallen sad now, for you know the time is nigh. Well I must remove your wings and you, you must try and fly..."
The Ship Song
Nick Cave Feat. Johnette Nepolitano

Quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Stilts
Since this is for screenprinting and you don't want to go too far into detail then the pen tool and illustrator are probably not the way to go.

If you don't know what your talking about, don't go making things up.

You will want to use illustrator for screen printing. Make sure everything is only in a few colors, and is line art.

You can get the image you posted done by using the pen tool in ILLUSTRATOR. Basicly you break down the image to simple shapes by outlining key parts of the image.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Didn't know I was making things up...

Never had a problem with NOT using illustrator for designs for t-shirts

___________________

"So your face has fallen sad now, for you know the time is nigh. Well I must remove your wings and you, you must try and fly..."
The Ship Song
Nick Cave Feat. Johnette Nepolitano