[FAQ] Tools of the Trade

[Chibi Altaria]

Tools of the Trade
FAQ & discussion thread for artist's tools / programs


~*~



Welcome, guys, to Tools of the Trade! This thread is where artists of all kinds can gather and share tips, tricks and knowledge about the tools we use. What kinds of tools? There's traditional mediums, such as pencils, paint, or maybe chalk. And then there are also tools for specific art programs such as Photoshop, GIMP, Paint Tool Sai and many more. If you're into photography, you might want to also learn about lenses, shutter speeds and cool effects.

So that's where you guys come in. If you've got lots of artistic knowledge, it'd be awesome if you'd share it with us! Maybe take a few screenshots, show your settings, or do a quick tutorial around a certain tool. Have a graphics tablet? How do you use it? You can even just explain a few tips and tricks if you'd like. If you're just starting out in Photoshop and not sure which way is up, feel free to ask a question here! That goes for any kind of artistic tool. If you're curious and want to know, just ask away! We'll all try our best to help get you started with whatever tool of the trade you need. :D As questions and answers pop up, they'll be added into the FAQ below.

This is also a general thread for the discussion of art tools and/or programs. So feel free to ask around if you just need a little help, or have something to share. c:

Happy creating!





TOOL FAQ

TRADITIONAL ART
--

DIGITAL ART

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
(note that this must be activated in the preferences menu -- it is on by default)
Alternatively, a full list of keyboard shortcuts can be found here (https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/default-keyboard-shortcuts.html).





Hitting the "A" key will select the Path Selection Tool
Hitting the "B" key will select the Brush Tool
Hitting the "C" key will select the Crop Tool
Hitting the "D" key will switch the two primary colours back to the default (black & white)
Hitting the "E" key will select the Eraser Tool
Hitting the "F" key will switch the Screen Mode
Hitting the "G" key will select the Paint Bucket / Gradient Tool
Hitting the "H" key will select the Hand Tool
Hitting the "I" key will select the Eyedropper Tool
Hitting the "J" key will select the Spot Healing Brush Tool
Hitting the "K" key will select the 3D Object Rotate Tool (PS Extended only)
Hitting the "L" key will select the Lasso Tool
Hitting the "M" key will select the Marquee Tool
Hitting the "N" key will select the 3D Camera Rotate tool (PS Extended only)
Hitting the "O" key will select the Dodge / Burn / Sponge Tool
Hitting the "P" key will select the Pen Tool
Hitting the "Q" key will switch the mode to Quick Mask
Hitting the "R" key will select the Rotate Tool
Hitting the "S" key will select the Clone Stamp Tool
Hitting the "T" key will select the Type Tool
Hitting the "U" key will select the Rectangle (Shape) Tool
Hitting the "V" key will select the Move Tool
Hitting the "W" key will select the Magic Wand Tool
Hitting the "X" key will switch your two primary colours
Hitting the "Z" key will select the Zoom Tool

PHOTOGRAPHY
--



RESOURCES

FREE ART PROGRAMS


• Corel Painter Essentials 30 Day Trial (http://www.corel.com/corel/product/index.jsp?pid=prod3430222&storeKey=us#tabview=tab0)
• Open Canvas (http://wistinga.online.fr/opencanvas/)
• GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/downloads/)
• Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended (http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=photoshop&promoid=EBYEU)
• Paint.NET (http://www.getpaint.net/)
• Pixlr (http://pixlr.com/)
• Inkscape (http://inkscape.org/)
• Pencil Animation (http://www.pencil-animation.org/)
• Fire Alpaca (http://fire-alpaca.deviantart.com/)
• MediBang Paint (http://medibangpaint.com/)

[Chakramaster]

I'm not too great at Photoshop myself. Maybe you could show us some basic tutorials to start out using a few basic tools? I'd love to learn more =0

[Nekomata]

I'm quite familiar with photoshop! But I've no idea how to write a decent photoshop tutorial. xD

[Noblejanobii]

I'm okay at photoshop. I'm learning. Like Neko though I probably can't give a good tutorial.

[Chibi Altaria]

I'm not too great at Photoshop myself. Maybe you could show us some basic tutorials to start out using a few basic tools? I'd love to learn more =0

THERE ARE LITERALLY TONNES. But sure, I'll try to make a few tutorials when I have time. xD Might not be able to use the mic though, since my house is primarily occupied by loud people.

Also, guys, you don't need to create tutorials! If you just wanna write a quick tip about a tool or something, that's perfectly acceptable too! :D For example:


KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS:


Hitting the "I" key will select the eyedropper tool in Photoshop if you have keyboard shortcuts active.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

My question is about lineart in Photoshop. Is it possible to do really clean, smooth lineart drawing with a tablet, or does everyone still use the pen tool? As far as I know, there is no setting that makes your drawn lines smoother (like in Illustrator)?

[Chibi Altaria]

My question is about lineart in Photoshop. Is it possible to do really clean, smooth lineart drawing with a tablet, or does everyone still use the pen tool? As far as I know, there is no setting that makes your drawn lines smoother (like in Illustrator)?

Ooooh, you mean like a tool to smooth out lines? Mmm, nope. Unfortunately Photoshop doesn't have anything like that, since it's primarily a painting/editing software. The Smooth Tool is exclusive to Illustrator (and there's a similar tool in Paint Tool SAI). So yeah, if you want SUPER smooth lineart it's best to use the Pen Tool. But that doesn't mean you can't get smooth lines in Photoshop with a tablet! It just takes a bit of practice. I tend to use a lot of shorter strokes myself, over longer ones, and then erase the parts I don't need.

The best advice I can offer you for lineart is that you want to use a hard, round brush with pressure sensitivity and/or transfer turned on. If you're a little shaky, maybe try zooming out and making longer strokes. Also rotate the canvas to get the best angle! Pen pressure can be emulated with the Pen Tool by using "Simulate Pressure" when you go to stroke the path. Sorry I can't help more, Sarah. D:

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Ooooh, you mean like a tool to smooth out lines? Mmm, nope. Unfortunately Photoshop doesn't have anything like that, since it's primarily a painting/editing software. The Smooth Tool is exclusive to Illustrator (and there's a similar tool in Paint Tool SAI). So yeah, if you want SUPER smooth lineart it's best to use the Pen Tool. But that doesn't mean you can't get smooth lines in Photoshop with a tablet! It just takes a bit of practice. I tend to use a lot of shorter strokes myself, over longer ones, and then erase the parts I don't need.

The best advice I can offer you for lineart is that you want to use a hard, round brush with pressure sensitivity and/or transfer turned on. If you're a little shaky, maybe try zooming out and making longer strokes. Also rotate the canvas to get the best angle! Pen pressure can be emulated with the Pen Tool by using "Simulate Pressure" when you go to stroke the path. Sorry I can't help more, Sarah. D:

Thanks Gem! That's good advice! :) Annoying that Photoshop doesn't have a smoothing tool, but I can understand why. xD

[Chibi Altaria]

Thanks Gem! That's good advice! :) Annoying that Photoshop doesn't have a smoothing tool, but I can understand why. xD

I really, really want one, though. xD You're welcome!

[Chakramaster]

I really, really want one, though. xD You're welcome!

It would be nice if PS were more simple to use, but not everything super awesome is gonna be simple huh? Thanks for the tips so far, Gemma! It'll be nice to come back here after I get Photoshop and see all the tips to go by for creating something! :p

[Neo Emolga]

Any Paint Tool SAI users here?

My process is I sketch twice (first sketch is mainly just to get the proportions right, second is to refine things and add the details), and then I do a Linework layer and use the Pen tool to do the line work. The nice thing is you can modify the lines so you get perfect curves and delete any extra anchor points that contributed to wobbly lines. It SOOO much feels like cheating, but it looks so much nicer. XD I can't... entirely recommend it because it takes gobs worth of time.

My question is with the Pen Tool lines, is there a way to merge anchor points so two separate lines can be linked as one? That would save me from having to compensate for these gaps. I've tried Ctrl, Shift, Alt, and all kinds of dual combinations of those and nothing really seems to do the trick, so I'm not sure if there's some other way of doing it.

If you need a picture reference to explain what I'm referring to, just let me know. :3

[Coru]

I originally used Paint tool SAI but now I have a Mac I don't think I can get it because it isn't compatible? So for one of my artworks I had to use Photoshop. What I did to get my smoothish lines was I used the brush tool and used pressure sensitivity. It took a while to get the hang of but as long as you have got a decent brush selected then all should be good. I used a round-edged brush and then went to the Brush settings, went to the Shape Dynamics section, changed the control preset to Pressure sensitive and changed the minimum diameter to 0. You just need to be mindful of the pressure you are putting down on the tablet because if you change it suddenly, the line will not be smooth enough, but that depends on the sensitivity of the tablet. If there are any brushes that have certain textures you need theres an extensive amount of them on deviant art, some of them you have to give credit when you do art with it and some you can use freely, just make sure you check before you use it to know what the creator asks. :)

[Chibi Altaria]

Neo Emolga Sorry this is late, and I did try a while back, but I couldn't find a method to do what you're talking about. D: Anchor points you usually just have to connect yourself. I don't even think you can do that in Photoshop. O: They should add that feature, seeing as there is a "merge anchor point" option in Adobe Illustrator. And that makes sense there, since Illustrator is primarily a drawing program.