Get advice to help you create your t-shirt graphics. Discuss t-shirt design software, special effect techniques, or other topics related to creating a t-shirt design on your computer. If you'd rather hire a graphic designer to do the work for you, please post in our Referrals and Recommendations section here.
Im tired of dealing with graphic designers who cant illustrate my design concepts how i want , so im gona get down and dirty and learn them myself ..
I know a little photoshop but never even touched illustrator .. I have no free hand drawing skills ,,, but i have samples on the computer of how i want the design to look .. so i know exactly how the finished product should look .
Is the learing curve to steep to try and do these designs myself if i am working on a dead line ..
I put up a post of craigslist for anyone thats is a good graphic designer to sit down and work on helping do these projects.
did most of you start off as graphic designers ,,, or contract out the work you need done ...
Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs
I still learn something new every dayand have been working in this industry with CorelDRAW and Adobe Photoshop for at least 10 years. Depending on what your designs are trying to learn as you create on a deadline might not be the best way to go. Again this all depends on how complex the art is. Starting out small and try designing one and contracting out the others might be your best bet.
Just get behind the comp and start creating. Be prepared to spend many hours. I would highly suggest reading the user manual/guide that comes with your software. it will clue you in on how to use the various tools. expierence will come into play as to how fast you render, what tools work best for the effect your after, etc.
Good Luck and excuse any mispellings
Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs
just like richard (and probably everyone), i still learn something new all the time. i started using illustrator on my own about 8 or 9 years ago, trying to teach it to myself. it was hard and i really struggled. i finally decided to get the proper training and enrolled in a class. it made a HUGE difference in how i use the programs (photoshop, too) now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by peacegod
I put up a post of craigslist for anyone thats is a good graphic designer to sit down and work on helping do these projects.
this is a good start. i also recommend looking into a community college or learning annex.
it wasn't until i had someone actually show me the tools that it finally all made sense. i guess i'm more of a visual learner...monkey see, monkey do.
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Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs
Quote:
Originally Posted by peacegod
Is the learing curve to steep to try and do these designs myself if i am working on a dead line ..
In my opinion, yes. Especially since you "have no free hand drawing skills" (you can certainly learn to use Illustrator without them, but it would be a lot quicker if you had a more advanced starting point).
In my experience the programs have fairly steep learning curves, until it all clicks together and you suddenly realise that it's much easier than you've been thinking... how long that takes is going to vary from person to person.
By all means start teaching yourself the programs (or taking a course or etc.), but if you're on a deadline I think you're going to need outside help.
Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs
yah free hand drawings seem to be the most capturing to me , because that have that degree of human touch/flavor .... so yah illl just stay on the hunt for the right design person , while at the same time trying to soak in as much as i can ..
are most of you using the up to date CS Adobe suite , is it any easier to learn then older versions , i heard it had some more user freindly feeatures?
Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs
The majority of my shirts are going to be text only. Would Corel Draw be the way to go, or would that be a waste of my money? Any suggestions on what programs to use for text only? Also, does Corel Draw come with graphics that I can use, or is it a program that I would have to create my own graphics?
Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs
Quote:
Originally Posted by peacegod
are most of you using the up to date CS Adobe suite , is it any easier to learn then older versions , i heard it had some more user freindly feeatures?
I started using Photoshop when it was on its 3rd version in my teens and to be honest once you know one version you'll probably be able to pick up on the new releases. My advice to you would be to get the newest version you can and spend as little as possible while doing it. I've known alot of artists who prfer PS7 over CS. I've also used both and it's apples and oranges. By the same token by using one Adobe program you get an idea for how the other ones work.
Just remember that its the idea and not the tool. You just have to get your hands wet.....or feet dirty......or whatever.
Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs
Quote:
Originally Posted by Natitown
The majority of my shirts are going to be text only. Would Corel Draw be the way to go, or would that be a waste of my money? Any suggestions on what programs to use for text only? Also, does Corel Draw come with graphics that I can use, or is it a program that I would have to create my own graphics?
Coreldraw will never be a waste of money.
As for creating your own graphics.... do it! If you have a scanner, then bust out the pencil and pad... scan them doodles in and get the nodes to work. Manual
redrawing (hand tracing) is a good way to go. Its alot of nodework involved but rewarding in the long run. Use of Trace proggies like PowerTrace(Corel) & Live Trace(Illust) are nice but tend give you graphics that seem like someone else did that you HAVE to clean up. I dunno, its just me i guess.
Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs
peace... peacegod
at the beginning of the summer, i started to self-educate myself on both photoshop and illustrator. i've come along way from then to now thanks to online tutorials. just google it and hundreds of sites will come up showing you how to create any and everything. the hardest thing to learn is the pen tool (bezier curves), but a thorough tutorial guided me through the learning process.
so now, i decided to go back to school for graphic design. until then, the online tutorials is the way to go. anything that's free... is for me!
if you're willing to put blood, sweat, and tears into it, try sites like photoshop101, planetphotoshop... just google photoshop/illustrator tutorials and you'll be surprised at how much info is out there.
Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs
right on foxylox ill look them up .. are you going to one of those techincal schools to inhance your skills? ... i noticed graphic design schools are crazy expensive , 20,000 and up out here in the bay area.... community colleges have some basic programs, thats where ill start along with the online stuff
Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs
Im doing it for about 4/5 years now i started when i was a little kid :P
first program i've touched is photoshop Read tutorials online start off VERY BASIC all the basic things are the most important.
If you want to use illustrator to create figure's logo's, etc. starting off Drawing with hand could be very usefull it isnt a must but it helps only thing what to do left is scan the drawing and trace and color it with illustrator.
I recommend to start with photoshop because it's alot easier in my eyes then illustrator.
Read and learn with tutorials on the internet it doesnt cost you anything.
Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs
oh please, i wish i had that type of cash. i go to a community college... took a semester off, but will be returning in the spring to change my major to graphic design. i hope and pray that i'll get a scholarship or something so that i can get a B.A. at a 4-yr art institution in NY.
Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs
If it was that easy to pick up on the fly, myself and many other designers would be homeless. We go through training and schooling for a reason. It IS possible to teach yourself the programs, and that would probably work for you if you didn't have a deadline, but knowledge of the programs is not all that is needed to produce good design.
What I'm gathering from your post is that there is some sort of communication gap between you and the designers. Somewhere between your head and their hands there has to be good, detailed, descriptive communication in order for them to understand what you expect of them. This is very hard sometimes, cuz it is impossible for them to actually see what you are thinking. Or you've simply run into designers that are much more effective at communicating visually than they are verbally. Which is fine when they are creating their own work, but not when working with a client. This is entirely possible.
But if you decide to teach yourself the programs, you should expect to put in a lot of time and effort before you are able to utilize the programs effectively.
Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs
Learning... learning... learning... every day I learn something new in Photoshop and Illustrator and I'll never stop.
I preffer Photoshop as I find Illustrator to be too robo-mechanic but for those without the 'talent' I think illustrator is better.
I've started myself with my mouse, I didn't have a graphic tablet at that point, and finding as much tutorials as the internetnet has, and they are a lot.
Working with text will be easy for someone without artistic experience but dealing with complex stuff like characters, faces, mixed graphics will be hard.
how long did it take you to learn these programs 
Re: how long did it take you to learn these programs 
