In this tutorial, I will show you how I made this parrot illustration. You will learn how to use the standard Illustrator brushes and make your own brushes to add more detail to your illustrations, for example the feathers on the parrot. You will also learn how to make a thick outline around your subject and how to make a soft focus background with the Mesh Tool.

Step 1

Normally you would start with a sketch, then make the line-art, add the base colors and finally add some shading and your illustration is finished. For this tutorial that’s only the state where we just begin. As you can see in the image below, I already made the line-art and colors for my parrot illustration. Here is the reference photo I used.

I only used the Pen Tool for this and made sure I painted everything on a different layer. This is handy if you want to select and edit specific parts. You can lock the layers you don’t want to edit, which makes it easier to select the things you do want to edit.

I made the base colors in 1 layer, shading for each body part on different layers and placed line-art on different layers. For example, I wanted the claws to have a different line thickness than the rest of the body so I made them on a different layer.

Step 2

When drawing animals I always think eyes are very important. Animals have beautiful eyes and it’s one of the first things viewers look at. The first opportunity to use a brush is on the white spots around the eye.

Select the Brush Tool (B) and open the Brush Window (Window > Brushes). Select the first standard Illustrator brush (2 pt Oval) and then paint some short lines around the eye, the result will be more like ovals than stripes because you are painting with an oval brush.

If you want the brush to be bigger or smaller you can double-click on the brush in the Brush Window and change the diameter. If you have a pressure sensitive tablet you can also change Fixed to Pressure and set an amount of points for Variation. In the image below you will get a 1 pt brush if you press softly and a 2 pt brush if you press harder when using a tablet.

Step 3

You can experiment with different standard Illustrator brushes and the brush options like angle, roundness and diameter. If you still can’t get the exact shape like you have in mind, you can also select the shape you made and go to Object > Expand Appearance. This will break the brush into a normal vector shape and you can edit the anchor points like you are used to with normal vector shapes.

Personally I like the randomness of brushes and don’t use this very often. Most of the times I remove a brush stroke if I don’t like it (Command + Z) and try again and again.

Step 4

Now Let’s work on the branch the parrot is sitting on. In the first image the only hint that it’s wood is the color, but it looks more like brown plastic. To solve this we will add some wood texture.

In the Brush Window, click on the arrow with three horizontal lines next to it, just under the cross (see image below). Go to Open Brush Library and you will see some categories containing brush libraries. Illustrator has a pretty nice collection of brushes, be sure to check them out! For this step, we will use a charcaol brush, so go to: Open Brush Library > Artistic > Artistic_ChalkCharcaolPencil.

Step 5

I made the textures with the brush “Charcaol pencil.” For the first step, I drew some waves with the Charcaol pencil and stroke set to 0.5. In the second step, I used the same brush, but with a darker fill color and stroke set to 1.0. This time I also drew some circles instead of only waves.

Step 6

Now you know how to use the standard Illustrator brushes. We’re going to make our own brushes! We’ll make a brush for the feathers of the parrot. First you have to draw one feather using the Pen Tool. It’s handy if you draw it horizontal or vertical (instead of diagonal).

Select your shape and click on the arrow button in the top-right corner of the Brush Window, then go to New Brush. In the new window that will pop up choose New Art Brush. Don’t delete the original shape you made with the Pen Tool, as you will need it for making more brushes.

Step 7

Now you can set the options for your new brush. The Direction is very important. Here you can see why it’s handy to draw your shape horizontal or vertical.

If you use a diagonal shape, it will not follow the line you make. In this window you can also change the size, but it’s handy to get the size right before you make the brush. At the top of the window you can also give your brush a name, which is handy if you want to use your brush more often.

Step 8

Your new brush will appear in the Brush Window. Try it out by drawing some random lines next to your real drawing, just to see how your brush reacts. Draw straight lines, curved lines, go from right to left, from left to right, vertical, etc.

Maybe you want to change the direction or the size, you can do that by double-clicking on your brush in the Brush Window. Once you’re satisfied with your brush, you can start painting your first feathers.

Step 9

To achieve some depth I will paint multiple layers of feathers, each with a different color. The feathers on top will have brighter colors because they get more light. To make the same brush in a different color simply select the single feather you made with the Pen Tool, change the color and make a new brush like in Steps 6 and 7. I also set the size of the top feathers to 60%, which makes them smaller.

Step 10

For the feathers on his belly and wings I made a second brush because the feathers are smaller and thinner in those areas. You can see the shape of the brush in the image below with the result on his belly next to it.

Step 11

If you want to use as many brush strokes as I did in this illustration, I highly recommend a drawing tablet. It’s possible with a mouse, but it just goes quicker with a tablet.

It also isn’t necessary to cover your whole drawing with feathers or texture, as this effect also looks great if you only use it on certain areas where you want some extra detail. After I’m done with all the brush strokes (this took me a lot of hours), my parrot looks like the image below.

Step 12

There are two more tricks before this image is finished. First I made a thick outline around the parrot. Unlock all layers that contain line-art and lock all other layers.

Select all line-art and copy it (Command + C). Make a new layer under all other layers and paste the line-art in the exact same place, you can do this by pressing Command + F instead of Command + V. With Command + V it will past in the middle of the screen. Using Command + F will paste it in the same place you copied it from, which is what we want.

Now set the stroke size higher than the other line-art. I used 5 pt while my normal line-art is 2 pt. This will make a thick outline around your subject because the lines in the middle of the drawing are hidden by the colors. You can see the result in the image below.

Step 13

Now the illustration only needs a background. I made a background with the Mesh Tool. First draw a normal rectangle with the Rectangle Tool (M) and make it the right size. Then select the Mesh Tool (U) in the toolbar and click somewhere in your rectangle.

A white anchor point will appear every time you click. Each anchor point can hold a different color and the lines between it will make a gradient that changes the color of one point to the color of another point. Make a few points, then select a point with the Direct Selection Tool (A) and change the color. Do this with a few points and then move the points and lines around. Simply play around until you get a nice result.

I was going for the look of a soft focus photo of a forest.

Conclusion

The final image is below. Have fun applying these techniques in your work.

Let’s not forget that the Web 2.0 hype was not just about glossy logos and round cornered buttons; the added value of this new wave of websites is the social part and the huge potential to ?make things together’. So here’s a roundup of the most popular and interesting services that offer us the opportunity to find or submit designs or ideas.

Kickstarter

Kickstarter is a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, explorers…

Crowdspring

By helping Buyers reach countless creatives across the globe, we’re changing the game for the little guy.

99 Designs

Need something designed? 99designs connects clients needing design work such as logo designs, business cards or web sites to a thriving community of 39,698 talented designers.

Brandstack

A Spring is our voting system. When someone likes your portfolio or your uploads they can Spring it. Items that receive more Springs will receive more exposure.

Social Designer

Buy stuff, design stuff, vote on stuff and be an agent of change.

Name This

Namethis makes the otherwise time-consuming process of finding a market-ready name quick and painless.

BigCarrot

The site allows people with a common interest to come together and pool their contributions to create an inducement prize.

Collab Finder

The Place To Find Designer & Developer Collaborators.

Collab.ie

Enabling collaboration by helping people with ideas meet people with skills.

Pikkoo

The first social community for user generated interactive mobile screensavers & wallpapers.

Genius Rocket

Advertising and marketing projects for a tenth the cost of traditional ad agencies.

For the most part, being both a film geek and design geek are two completely separate interests of mine that rarely coexist. Occasionally I’ll be enticed by a great poster design, or appreciate the font choice in a title sequence – but usually the two worlds never collide.

However, lately I’ve noticed a trend of artists and designers paying homage to their favorite films in their own creative way. Whether it be the re-imagining of a film’s poster or the designing of a cover for a film’s novelization; I simply can’t get enough of this stuff.

It is in admiration of this movement that I’ve hand picked my favorite 25 Imaginative Illustrations Inspired By Film. Hope you like them.

Network – Source

Annie Hall – Source

The Shining – Source

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – Source

The Dark Knight – Source

Groundhog Day – Source

Big – Source

American Psycho – Source

M – Source

Rain Man – Source

Office Space – Source

The Philosopher’s Stone – Source

Highlander – Source

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure – Source

The Great Dictator – Source

Pulp Fiction – Source

Ghost Busters – Source

Synecdoche, NY – Source

Die Hard – Source

The Order of the Pheonix – Source

Fight Club – Source

Deer Hunter – Source

Vacation – Source

The Chamber of Secrets – Source

The Shining – Source

Similar Posts

(Source:vandelaydesign)

Last year I published 25 of the Best Photographer Portfolio Websites. Today I’d like to follow up with another set of 25 sites for your design inspiration.

In this collection you’ll see a good deal of variety between the sites. Some use a minimal layout that showcases the photos without distraction, and others are a bit more flashy.

Joshua Sterns

Corey Arnold

Christian Oth

Jo Liu

C & J Willis Photography

Carlos Alonso Bodas

Meg Perotti

CirilJazbec

Jan Sochor Photography

Charlatan Messiah

Lisa Bettany

Little Hellos

Chase Jarvis

Evaan Kheraj

Dennis Reggie

Rinze Van Brug

Sherri Barber

Emmanuel Rouzic

David Vasiljevic

Mark Lobo Photography

Scott Lawler Photography

Raven Photography

Kenn Reay

James Day Photography

Jesus Vilamajo

If you enjoy getting inspiration from excellent portfolio sites, you’ll love our new gallery site Folio Focus, which showcases the best portfolio sites. ]]> http://design.twmarketamerica.com/2009/09/25-of-the-best-photographer-portfolio-websites-part-two/feed/ 0 http://design.twmarketamerica.com/2009/09/retro-photoshop-fun-from-dull-digital-photo-to-sweet-old-school-album-cover/ http://design.twmarketamerica.com/2009/09/retro-photoshop-fun-from-dull-digital-photo-to-sweet-old-school-album-cover/#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:26:10 +0000 Mike http://design.twmarketamerica.com/?p=1305 (Source:fortysevenmedia.com)

I love having a digital camera, but it is definitely lacking in the vibe department. Old school film camera’s like the Holga and the Diana have a great feel to them, especially when they are cross processed. So I’m going to show you some ways to fake the funk and give your digital images a healthy dose of awesome sauce. (I’ve been listening to Fundamental Elements and I blame them for making me say things like ?Fake the funk? and ?awesome sauce.?)

[......]

继续阅读

There are numerous ways a Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) can improves our web design and it’s not difficult to implement a few to make our website looks better and more user-friendly. Listed below are 10 cool CSS tricks that will improve your web designs instantly. The good thing about these tutorials is that they make complicated CSS tricks look easy (and you don’t have extensive coding work to do!).

If you are new to web design and development, I suggest you bookmark this article for further reference in future.

1. Image gallery with hover box preview

Isn’t it nice to allow your users to preview thumbnail images by just rolling their mouse over? The Hoverbox Tutorial offers free coding sample and detail guides on how to do just that. If you wish to build a fast loading image gallery then this is a must-read.

See how hoverbox image gallery can be made.

2. Style A-to-Z index like BBC

It’s tedious to deal with index files – especially when you have a lot of glossary terms. Christian Watson offers a wonderful way to organize and style your index files using simple CSS tricks.

Learn how to make your A-to-Z index file looks cool.

3. Alert Box

Creating an alert box is certainly good way to attract users’ eyeballs and make sure the users pay enough attention to the important content. Bruce shares his idea how this can be done nicely with some neat CSS code.

Learn how to create an alert message in CSS.

4. CSS Sliding Sprite Window

CSS allows you to show different images in different states of a link – Rogie’s tutorial shows how ?dynamic’ a link can be with a little work on CSS. It’s not something new but I’m certain that it’s a good read for newbies.

Read tutorial on CSS sliding sprite window.

5. Gradient text effect using CSS purely

Stop rendering every single heading text on your website using Photoshop. There’s better way to get the job done – CSS! Not many webmasters are aware that text can be rendered using CSS. If you are one of them, read Nick La’s tutorial on how to create a gradient text effect easily with pure CSS.

Learn how to create gradient effects on text.

6. Creating a sliding image gallery

Often used in photographers’ website, the sliding image gallery is a simple yet beautiful way to organize your web images. You’ll learn how a horizontal or vertical sliding image gallery can be made in Stu Nicholls’s tutorial.

Read sliding image gallery tutorial.

7. Round corner in CSS

Greg Johnson offers more than just tutorial in making round corners using CSS; more over, he created a web apps to automated the process. With just a few clicks, you can generate the CSS and HTML you need to create anti-aliased corners without using images or javascript. (Greg also offers Spiffy Box – another great tool to create simple rounded CSS box.)

Learn how round corner can be created in pure CSS.

8. Pure CSS Line Graph

Okay I admit this is not as easy as I promised earlier in this article; but this is certainly a cool (and extraordinary) way to use CSS. Alan’s experiment demonstrates the power of css and present a way of using css a bit differently – to create a line graph. His tutorial and sample codes are as valuable as gold for experienced web designers and I strongly recommend everyone to spend some time crunching his article.

Read Alen’s guide on CSS Line Graph.

9. Pure CSS Accordion Effect

The Accordion Effect is becoming a common effects of the Web 2.0 world. We’ve seen a lot how this can be done using JavaScript frameworks but can we do this in CSS? Well the answer is yes. Learn from Rob Glazebrook how this effect can be made by only using CSS.

Learn how to create the CSS-only Accordion Effect.

10. CSS rollover buttons

Rollovers are a nice way to add visual feedback to your website’s buttons. As a visitor moves their mouse over a rollover button, it changes to indicate that it’s click-able. It looks something like the ?Sliding Sprite Window’ we talked about earlier but the mechanics behind this is quite a difference.

Websites that use horizontal scrolling in addition to, or instead of, vertical scrolling are becoming more popular. While this trend isn’t a good idea in every situation, the sites showcased here may give you some ideas or inspiration for using this approach in one of your own projects.

Suie Paparude

Sonido

Eric Ryan Anderson

Hasrimy.com

Peter Pearson

Dean Oakley

Visuall

Tyler Thompson Blog

The Horizontal Way

Jason Love

Luke Larsen

LoveBento

Richard McCoy

Nile Inside

Snohetta

Miguel Perez

Alex Flueras Photography

C’N'C Costume National Blog

Publicidade Viva

The Box Doodle Project

Jan Sochor Photography

WallSwaps

Candace Holloway

Sursly

Exit 10

Lucuma

Nana

Synthetic Infatuation

F Claire Baxter

180 Degrees

Eolo Perfido Photography

Paolo Boccardi Photography

Graphic Therapy

Blue Vertigo

Work at Play

Faub.org

Gavin Castleton

Swear Words

Some time has passed since we didn’t put together a free Wordpress themes compilation. Our previous free Wordpress themes compilation was a huge success, but most of the themes we presented then have now become obsolete. We’ve seen a lot of beautiful theme designs over the last year, a lot of worthy candidates, but we’ve narrowed it down to about 50 New and Beautiful Free Wordpress Themes.

Details : 2 columns, widget ready, XHTML and CSS standards compliant, Gravatar, Flickr and Twitter ready, SEO optimized, tested with IE 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 2+, Opera 9+.

Requires : Wordpress 1.5+

Details : magazine style grunge design, 3 columns, multi-level drop-down javascript navigation menu, featured post section with javascript gallery, featured video section, site wide customizable 125×125 banner ads, Adsense enabled, random news display with mini thumbnails, Mini posts with thumbnails.

Details : WooThemes back-end, 9 different color schemes, integrated banner ad management and video player, Flickr and Twitter ready.

Details : multi-level dropdown javascript navigation menu, custom sliding elements with images, site wide customizable 125 x 125 custom banner ads, adsense 728×15 link unit on the index page, 468×60 ad unit sitewide on header, 300×250 ad unit on single posts, tabbed content area, featured video, flash tag cloud, popular posts, Flick ready, Related Posts enabled,

Details : widget ready, 2 columns, right sidebar, threaded comments ready, Page Navi included, Adsense ready.

Details : widget ready, 2 columns, right sidebar, threaded comments ready, Page Navi included, Adsense ready.

Details : widget ready, 2 columns, right sidebar, social bookmarking enabled, 125×125px ad spaces included, footer sidebar.

Details : 3 columns, right sidebar, preview image on articles with automatic resize, 468×60px top banner ad ready, Gravatar enabled, SEO optimized, threaded comments enabled, PSD files included.

Details : 3 columns, right sidebar, tab sidebar, widget ready, support Gravatar, threaded comment ready, tested in all major browsers (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera, Chrome)

Details : two-column homepage with featured posts and normal posts, jQuery widgetized slider in the footer, cufon javascript font-replacement for titles, 8 different colour schemes, WooThemes backend.

Details : 3 column, magazine-style layout, sliding carousal of featured post images, featured post section, featured video section, Flash tag clouds, 125×125px ad spots, Adsense enabled.

Details : 2 columns, right sidebar, magazine layout, automated jQuery latest posts image preview, category latest posts drop-down menu, featured posts section.

Details : web gallery layout, jQuery slide hover effect on thumbnails, lazyloading for thumbnails, social media integration for each gallery website, BuySellAds plugin, integrated WP-PostRatings and Contact Form 7.

Details : 2 columns, fixed width, right sidebar, XHTML 1.0 Transitional and CSS 2.1 valid, PSD files included, extended footer with Popular Posts, Recent Posts and Latest Comments, social bookmarking enabled.

Details : 2 columns, right sidebar, dark grungy wooden layout, logo PSD files included

Details : 3 columns, fixed width, gallery layout, thumbnail covers style, Flickr, Twitter and delicious integration, not-widget ready, PSD files included.

Details : 3 columns, available in 3 layouts (both sidebars on the left, both sidebars on the right, sidebars to the left and right of main content area), Flickr enabled, widget ready, Gravatar and Recent Comments enabled,

Details : 3 columns, right sidebars, zdcomments enabled, PSD logo files included, Twitter and Adsense enabled.

Details : widget ready, 3 columns, right sidebar, complatible with IE6, IE7, IE8, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, W3C XHTML and CSS compliant.

Details : widget ready, 2 columns, right sidebar, complatible with IE6, IE7, IE8, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, W3C XHTML and CSS compliant, FlickrRSS included, Gravatar enabled.

Details : widget ready, 2 columns, left sidebar, complatible with IE6, IE7, IE8, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, W3C XHTML and CSS compliant.

Details : WooThemes back-end, Twitter enabled, widget ready, accordion sidebar, 5 color schemes.

Details : 2 widget ready sidebars, threaded comments enabled, 5 color schemes, Feedcounter in text, SEO friendly, Adsense ready, custom admin panel.

Details : WooThemes back-end, banner ad management system integrated, widget ready, right sidebar, 2 columns, 5 color schemes, Flickr enabled.

Details : available in 2 versions (light and dark), 3 columns, widget ready, right sidebars, full width, Twitter and Flickr enabled, integrated logo changer.

Details : widget ready, 3 columns, right and left sidebar, complatible with IE6, IE7, IE8, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, W3C XHTML and CSS compliant, Gravatar enabled.

Details : widget ready, 2 columns, right sidebar, complatible with IE6, IE7, IE8, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, W3C XHTML and CSS compliant.

Details : 3 columns, right sidebars, widget ready, Flickr enabled.

Details : widget ready, 2 columns, right sidebar125×125px ad spots.

Details : widget ready, 2 columns, right sidebar125×125px ad spots.

Details : jQuery menu, FlickrRSS included, XHTML 1.0 Transitional compliant, 2 widget ready sidebars, ad spots.

Details : magazine layout,drop-down menu for categories, automatic image resizer, featured content section, custom page template for archives, categories and search results, widget ready, Asides enabled, Flickr enabled, integrated social bookmarking, email and print buttons in posts, author bio section, multiple banner ad sections.

Details : 2 columns, grunge style , widget ready, right sidebar, Flickr enabled, custom paragraph styles, social bookmarking included, PageNavi and Democracy Polls enabled, alternative comment styles.

Details : magazine layout, widget ready, right sidebar, 300×250 and 160×600px ad spots included, featured article section.

Details : magazine layout, Flickr enabled, featured videos section, Feed count in text, integrated popular posts display, PageNavi enabled, relative dates in comments, custom control panel, 3 layouts to choose from, child pages ready (up to 4 level drop-downs), embeded AdSense support, fully widgetized (4 widget spots), auto image re-size, featured posts on homepage, AJAX tabs (sidebar + video panel), 7 color schemes.

Details : widget ready, 2 columns, right sidebar, social bookmarking ready.

Details : widget ready, 2 columns, left sidebar.

Details : widget ready, magazine layout, Gravatar enabled, auto catch images for thumbnails, auto resize images, social bookmarking Ready, easy logo change via theme option, breadcumb in post ( for SEO ), drop down menu.

Details : 2 columns, right sidebar, widget ready.

Details : feature block at the top of the layout, with a style switcher on the left-hand side, Flickr enabled.

Details : magazine layout, 3 columns, widget ready, right sidebar, Flickr enabled, extended footer, featured articles section.

Details : widget ready, 2 columns, right sidebar, 125×125px ad spots, alternating colors in comments, Gravatar enabled.

Details : widget ready, 2 columns, right sidebar, sticky posts enabled, Gravatar enabled, custom post-image thumbnails, detailed theme options page, separate comments and trackbacks, popular posts enabled.

Details : 2 columns, widget ready, right sidebar, Twitter and Last.fm enabled, javascript hook for comment replies.

Details : magazine layout, 3 columns, widget ready, right sidebar, Javascript featured articles section, Adsense enabled, 125×125px ad spots.

Details : magazine layout, advertisment ready, Flickr enabled, Gravatar enabled, SEO friendly, popular posts section included, featured video section, PSD files included.

Details : 2 columns, widget ready, right sidebar, Flickr enabled.

Details : 2 columns, widget ready, right sidebar, Flickr enabled.

Details : widget ready, 2 columns, right sidebar, gallery enabled.

Details : magazine layout, custom Admin page, JQuery featured article section, 125×125px ad spots, Twitter enabled.

Details : 3 columns, widget ready, right sidebar, image slider module, multi-level dropdown javascript navigation menu, featured sliding posts, site wide customizable 125 x 125 custom banner ads, Adsense enabled, tabbed content area, threaded comments ready.

Details : magazine layout, 4 columns, PageNavi enabled, Gravatar enabled, SEO friendly,thumbnails on posts, PSD files included.

Details : magazine layout, 3 columns, PageNavi enabled, Gravatar enabled, SEO friendly,thumbnails on posts, PSD files included, threaded comments enabled, Flickr enabled, advertisement ready, featured video section.

(Source:gomediazine)

So you just spent 10 or more hours creating a crazy t-shirt design and your client has officially signed off…so what now?

You may have created stellar photo-realistic mockups and used tons of really cool colors- but none of this means ANYTHING if your screen printer can’t clearly interpret your vision!

I find that many of my clients have had bad experiences with low-budget designers in the past who have been able to create great art, but don’t know the first thing about how to put it on apparel. This can end up costing the client a lot of time, stress, and additional set-up fees at the printer. Over the years, I’ve found that a client truly appreciates the fact that my designs come ready to hand-over to the screen printer that very same day – with no questions asked.

The best rule of thumb when preparing files? Leave nothing to chance and pretend that your screen printer is about 6 years old. (As you establish a working relationship, you may be able to edit out some of these steps once your screen printer knows your file ?style’. Remember that, like designers, every printer is different!)

This tutorial will set out to give you step-by-step instructions for ensuring that your files are properly set up and ready to go to print! (AKA: Creating a ?Tech Pack’) Hold on, ?cuz it’s long, but once you get it down, your clients and printers will love you!

This Tutorial will Cover:

• File Preparation for Apparel
• Creating A Full-Size Blank Shirt Template
• Setting Up Your Tech Pack Template
• Completing Technical Callouts
• Full-Size Screen Separations
• Double Checking Your Work

Equipment needed:

• Adobe Illustrator
• Pantone solid coated booklet (or use Adobe Illustrator’s included PMS swatch set and take your chances)



• Any linked files or fonts
• Any additional artwork (neck labels, custom rivet art, pattern swatches, etc)
• An actual blank apparel body that your client wants to use, or a clear photo and accurate measurements (shoulder-seam to shoulder-seam and top to bottom)
• Digital camera
• Ruler

Step one: File Preparation

For this particular tutorial, I have decided to use a t-shirt design for one of my more recent clients- the Nastia Gold line by Olympic gold-medal gymnast Nastia Liukin for Vanilla Star Jeans. Though a little girly and basic for Go Media style, it works well for the purposes of this tutorial.

We are already assuming your shirt has been broken down into halftones, bitmap files, etc and brought into Illustrator.

The first thing that I like to do is to change my document size to be about the size of a real-life t-shirt. In this case, for a standard girls’ tee, I know that I need a document approximately 24?x 30? in order to leave plenty of room for call-outs, headers, and all the other things we will go into later.

Before diving in, I go to my ?Links’ menu and highlight all of my links, which makes sure that no layers are locked. Click the arrow at the top right, and select ?Embed Image’.

If I had used any special fonts (mine happen to be hand-lettered), this would also be the time to make sure that you select them, go to the ?Type’ menu and click ?Create Outlines’. This ensures that your printer won’t be calling you looking for attached files or fonts later.

Next, in a separate file, I like to create an accurate template of the blank t-shirt or hoodie I will be using to gauge correct size and placement. This way, I don’t have to waste time trying to print out my artwork and re-sizing it until I get it just right. Instead, I take a clear photo of the blank garment that my client wants to use, or ask them to send me one. Keep in mind that you generally want to use a middle-of-the road size shirt (Medium is good), as your art has to fit on both a size S and XL.

For this particular client, they didn’t have a blank supplier picked out yet, so I used an existing template that I had already traced from a photo. Simply drop your garment photo into Illustrator, set the image transparency to about 75%, and using your pencil tool, trace around your blank garment. (It doesn’t have to be super accurate, as different shirts will have different wrinkles and curves)

Once you have traced your shirt and created an accurate template, enlarge it to real-life size using a few key measurements. Measure the distance from the top of one shoulder seam to the other. You may also want to measure the distance from the top of the shirt (top of shoulder) to the bottom (hem). For this garment, my shoulder-to-shoulder distance is approx. 12? as this is a juniors tee. I make sure that my ?Rulers? are turned on, then size my template accordingly.

Save this file for future use as a shirt template, or click below to download the one that we have provided for you! Now you are really ready to begin!

Keep this template on it’s own layer called ?Shirt? and lock it. Now in your layers palette, create another layer called ?Art?. This is the layer that you will be playing in- doing all of your masking and sizing. Also create a third layer and call it ?Details?- we will get into this layer last.

From here, copy and paste your original art into your ?Art? layer. Begin playing with placement, seeing which parts of the design may run off the edges, how they might align to the collar or seams, etc.

Once you find a placement that you are happy with, unlock your ?Shirt? layer, and using your white arrow, select only the main body area (not the lines representing seams) and copy and paste it into your ?Art? layer. You can now use this as a clipping mask to make your art look like it is bleeding off of the edges. The main body area of the shirt should appear to cover the art in your ?Art? layer. Under your ?Layers? palette, click the little circle to the right of the layer named ?Art?. This will select everything in your ?Art? layer. Then simply hit COMMAND+7 or Object>Clipping Mask>Make to mask out your art.

Step two:SETTING UP YOUR TECH PACK TEMPLATE

Now that you have your art where you want it, lock both your ?SHIRT? layer and ?ART? layer. From here on out, we will be working only in our ?DETAILS? layer until we do color separations. I like to start setting up my tech pack by copying and pasting my client’s logo into the top left corner of the document. I then align my type to the left and right underneath the logo I type in all caps:

SHIRT PRINTER

SHIRT BRAND

SHIRT COLOR

SCREENPRINT COLORS

Next, I align my type to the top right and type in all caps:

NAME

JOB #

From here, fill in any and all information that you know.

Your printer is the name of the client’s chosen screen printer (if you know it).

Your shirt brand would be, for example, American Apparel.

Color is self explanatory. Name is the name of that particular design.

Job # will most likely be given to you by your client, if they have one.

Once you get to screenprint colors, you will want to grab your trusty Pantone Solid Coated book to accurately choose your colors. In my experience, this is the book that most printers use to accurately show inks. There are also separate Pantone books just for metallics, neons, etc, but we will stick with the basic book for now.

After selecting my colors, I create little boxes with my rectangle tool to act as little swatches for each color. Next to each swatch, I list the name of the color- for example, my first color is PMS (Pantone Matching System) 7499 C (Coated).

TIP: if you use the Pantone swatches that Illustrator provides, they will look very different on the screen than in an actual Pantone book. Always go off of the book, and try to make the ones on your screen look like the book, instead of the other way around.

Also note that even though I can see that PMS 871 C is a metallic gold in my Pantone book, I made sure to note that I wanted it to be metallic foil, not just metallic ink. The more information you can provide, the better.

STEP THREE:COMPLETING TECHNICAL CALLOUTS

Now we want to really get into calling out any special art placements, special treatments, etc. I begin by calling out that it is OK for the PMS 7449 C color art to run off the sides. I show this by drawing a clean line using my line segment tool, and writing exactly that.

?PMS 7499 C ART CAN RUN OFF EDGES?

Next I want to point out that it is OK if the art runs off the collar and prints on the inside back of the t-shirt, since I know we will have a neck label sewn in over the top. So again, I call that out:

?INK RUNS OFF COLLAR. OK IF INK GETS INSIDE OF SHIRT.?

I also decide that I would like my art, for the most part, to appear centered. This is up to the eye of the printer, but lets him know that I will be looking for that. So I add that in:

?ART CENTERED?.

Hopefully, by this point you are starting to get the picture. The more info that you can provide your printer, the better. I also always like to provide at least one measured point of reference – in this case, I would like the top of the black screen (the top of the rose) to be approx. 2? from the base of the collar. So again, I draw a line pointing to that place and write:

?BLACK SCREEN BEGINS APPROX. 2? FROM BASE OF COLLAR?.

Finally, I know that my client has custom neck labels that they would like sewn into the neck of these t-shirts. So I copy and paste the neck label art, placing it in a red rectangular box so that there is no confusion about which label goes with which shirt. (You’d be surprised). If there is an associated ID# for that particular label, go ahead and include it. If your client wants to screen print neck labels, go ahead and include that art too, just in case. Or, at the very least, make mention of the fact that it needs to be there.

Don’t forget to include any other custom treatments such as: contrast stitching, various garment treatments and washes, rivet or rhinestone embellishments, embroidery, etc.

STEP FOUR: FULL-SIZE COLOR SEPARATIONS

Hang on guys, you are almost there! While many printers are smart and able to figure out how to ?unmask’ your ?Art? layer to make separations, many aren’t. To eliminate any confusion, I like to provide color separations at the bottom, off of the art board, but on my ?Art? layer. Lock your ?Details? layer, and unlock your ?Art? layer. Select everything in that layer and copy it. Now paste that art directly below the art board and unmask it (ALT+COMMAND+7) Delete your mask, leaving just the art.

This next part gets a little tricky, so pay attention! Depending on how many colors your art has, this will determine the number of separations that you need to make.

My particular file has 5 colors, so I need to make separations for 5 separate screens. The way that I approach this (and others may do it differently) is to copy and paste the art that we just unmasked 4 more times in a row. I then write each Pantone color’s name above each separation, like this:

Now – PAY ATTENTION – depending on what color you are separating (my first color is 7499 C)- wherever that color is shown in the art, it needs to be made BLACK. Every other color in the art needs to be made WHITE (so that it won’t show up).

As you click on each piece of the art, turn it the appropriate color and then LOCK IT! This should leave only the areas that are 7499 C showing!

NOTE: This will mess with your brain, since you are used to thinking in terms of colors, not translating those colors into black-and-white. But I promise, it gets easier.

Proceed to do this for every color, leaving only the areas that are that specific color showing. IE: If you are on the ?green’ screen, then all areas that are ?green’ should be black when you are done with separating that screen. When you get through every color, you will have screen print separations!

STEP FIVE: DOUBLE CHECK YOUR WORK!

Double check everything, send a JPG to your client for final approval with all of the callouts shown (in case the client has any revisions), and off to the printer it goes! Send a copy of the final AI file to the client, and kick back until the samples roll in! Whew, you made it!

Conclusion

As a full-time art director for the new skate apparel line Self-Destruct (www.teamselfdestruct.com), as well as full-time freelance designer for my own firm (www.marenkellydesign.com) I know the ?tech-pack’ can seem like a lot of extra work that you may not think you have time for. But once you get the process down, it really shouldn’t take you longer than 30 minutes, and it acts as a major selling point to your clients. In my experience, it even helps to justify a slightly higher, flat-rate per design, since the client knows they are getting quality, print-ready art!

Thanks to these easy-to-understand files, I have also gotten a lot of work over the years from screen printer referrals. Remember- everyone loves someone who makes their job a little easier, and it will payoff in the end!

Each month we round up some of the best vector content on the web and post it here for everyone to enjoy. This month we had a lot of fun identifying the best vector tutorials, freebies, and articles. Please take a moment and review some of the best vector content from around the web for the month of June.

Tutorial Wrap

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  Create a Realistic Candy Bar in Illustrator

  Photo-realism in Illustrator can be a difficult goal to achieve. This tutorial from Web Designer Depot will guide you through the process of creating a photo-realistic candy bar in Illustrator.

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  Creating an Amazing Palm Pre Icon in Fireworks

  If you follow technology, you my have heard of the Palm Pre. The Palm Pre is an awesome new gadget that hopes to compete with the iPhone. This tutorial from Abduzeedo demonstrates how to mockup the Palm Pre in Adobe Fireworks.
  
  

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  Create a Cute Furry Vector Monster in Illustrator

  Character creation can be one of the most satisfying uses of Adobe Illustrator. This tutorial from Spoon Graphics guides us through the process of creating a cute, furry monster in Illustrator.

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  Turn Any Font into a Sketch Font

  There are a lot of sketchy fonts out there. Some of those fonts are free, others are not. Save yourself the trouble of tracking down your favorite sketch font and just create one out of your favorite font for free. This tutorial from Vectips demonstrates how to turn any font into a sketch font.

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  Perfect Silhouette with Live Trace

  Drawing a silhouette with Adobe Illustrator’s pen tool can be a long and painful process. This tutorial from Vector Diary shows how to create vector silhouettes with ease using Illustrator’s Live Trace tool.

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  A Comprehensive Guide to Illustrator’s Live Trace Tool and More

  Speaking of Illustrator’s Live Trace tool. Check out this article by Kevin Kirsche on my website that explains the functions of Illustrator’s Live Trace tool in detail. This tutorial also compares the features of Illustrator’s Live Trace to some of the other tracing tools available on the Internet. Visit Tutorial

(FREE!) Download Picks

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  Stylized Clouds 1

  Seamless patterns are excellent tools to have in your arsenal. They are great to have to add a bit of interest to an otherwise boring background. This beautifully unique set of stylized vector clouds from Pattern Head will make a wonderful addition to your graphic design arsenal. Visit Download Site

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  Floral Curves

  Everyone loves floral curves right? This set of vector floral curves from Vector Diary is fantastic! Use this set of floral curves to spice up your backgrounds, add interest to part of your design, or to create a cool background. Visit Download Site

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  15 Paint Brushstroke Illustrator Brushes

  Ever wondered how to create photo realistic brush strokes in Adobe Illustrator? It’s actually not that difficult. This set of 15 paintbrush strokes for Adobe Illustrator is fantastic and a lot of fun to play with. Download it and give it a try. Visit Download Site

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  Free Cuties

  Mascots and cartoon characters can make excellent additions to your web designs. This uber cute freebie from Pehaa includes three characters that can be used in your children’s illustrations or designs. Go cute and download this fantastic set of children’s characters. Visit Download Site

Vector Inspiration

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  100 Inspiring Character Designs

  Need some inspiration for your latest character design project? Check out this fantastic round up of character designs from Design Blurb. With over 100 inspiring designs you should have no problem coming up with a unique idea of your own!
  

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  Vector Backgrounds in Web Design: Examples and Best Practices

  You may have noticed that a lot of websites are now using intricate vector backgrounds to make their designs a bit more interesting. This article from Web Air shows examples and describes some best practices for using vector backgrounds in your web designs.

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  15 Cute Vector Scenes

  There is no shortage of cute vector art on the Internet. This round up from Graphic Mania shows 15 examples of some of the cutest vector scenes out there. Take a look at this excellent round up if you’re in the market for some inspiration for your next cute project.

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  Vector Inspiration

  Illustrator, artist, and frequent Vectortuts+ contributor Ryan Putnam from Vectips always does a great job of identifying stunning vector artwork on his blog. Check out his round up from earlier this month for some fantastic vector inspiration.

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  Creative Process of Maxime’s Quoilin Final Year Project

  While not entirely vector, this article from Abduzeedo details the process behind the creation of a fictional brand of bottled (or canned) water by graphic designer Maxime Quoilin.

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