Need Help How to create smooth graphics to export to Photoshop 7

[graywoulf]

Since I retired from sign making, I have found a different use for my Flexi skills in that I want to create custom shapes to export to Photoshop 7. I am using Flexi 10 Pro and I have been trying to figure out how to create round or curved shapes that I can export to Photoshop that would then be modified to have sharp beveled edges. All I get so far is jagged pixelated shapes that make rough bevels. Creating these shapes in Flexi is way easier that all of the steps it takes to create the same in Photoshop. This application is new to me as I never had to worry about the rough edges when cutting vinyl shapes made in Flexi. I appreciate any assistance that is offered.

 

[kcollinsdesign]

Alien Skin Eye Candy has some great bevel effects you can use with Flexi (not supported but they can work). You will need to covert to raster image, so make sure your output resolution is appropriate for your application. You can also retain your original vector art to use as a cutting path if need be.

Honestly, though, this kind of stuff is much easier accomplished with Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop (or Corel Draw).

 

[Fred Weiss]

I agree with kcollinsdesign that your way to go is with Illustrator as part of the path. That path is:

1. Export from Flexi as an EPS file that displays correctly on screen.
2. Open in Illustrator, inspect it and resave as EPS in a legacy version such as version 8 or even version 3.
3. Open in Photoshop where you will be asked to fill in the color mode, size and resolution of the resulting raster file. You can set it to be as large as you want and the result will be smooth and impressive.

You can also just try opening the EPS in Photoshop that you save out of Flexi. It may or may not do it. If Photoshop recognizes it as a correct EPS file, you will get the same prerasterizing questions and you may also see the kind of results you are looking for.

 

[Bobby H]

I prefer using vector paths in Photoshop as sources for things like beveled objects. The paths can be scaled or modified without any loss of quality. If the resulting bevel effects or other raster-effects being applied are too jaggy looking then change the image's resolution to a higher pixel count and re-apply the fills and effects. The only downside to this approach is it requires the user to have Adobe Illustrator (or a working copy of Macromedia Freehand) in order to copy paths to the clipboard and paste into Photoshop's paths palette. Other applications like Flexi or CorelDRAW cannot paste paths into Photoshop.

 

[eahicks]

Since I retired from sign making, I have found a different use for my Flexi skills in that I want to create custom shapes to export to Photoshop 7. I am using Flexi 10 Pro and I have been trying to figure out how to create round or curved shapes that I can export to Photoshop that would then be modified to have sharp beveled edges. All I get so far is jagged pixelated shapes that make rough bevels. Creating these shapes in Flexi is way easier that all of the steps it takes to create the same in Photoshop. This application is new to me as I never had to worry about the rough edges when cutting vinyl shapes made in Flexi. I appreciate any assistance that is offered.

Not sure I understand....you're saying that you export from Flexi and import to Photoshop and the shapes are jagged? What are you exporting as? You should export as AI or EPS, and when you bring in to Photoshop, be sure you have created a new document in High Resolution (300 dpi or more). Your vectors should import just fine, and all bevels, effect, etc. will be sharp. I do this ALL the time, as I find creating vectors in Flexi to be the easiest for me as well.

 

[graywoulf]

Thanks to all of you for your help. I admit that I am very rusty in working with Flexi as well as Photoshop. I did create a shape in Flexi and export is as an .eps file and that worked great. I was for some reason thinking that I had to export the file as a .png file. Photoshop handled the .eps file from Flexi just fine. I need to do some tweaking and experimenting with the resolution to get it just right. I guess that I should explain what I am using these graphics for. I use and wear a smart watch to which I can create custom faces in an Android app called "WatchMaker". I want to create custom shapes to use in building these faces. I would appreciate it if someone could tell me how to cut these shapes out of image backgrounds such as a carbon fiber image. I know that I could probably add that image into Photoshop as a pattern file but I have many textures I want to use eventually. I tried importing a carbon fiber image into Flexi thinking that I could cut the shape out somehow but I can't get that to work either. I have added the attached image of a watch face style that I want to use in my quest for learning all of this. Again, I thank all of you for your help.

 

[Bobby H]

IMHO, it's generally best to do any kind of cutting or masking of graphical shapes through image backgrounds (such as carbon fiber texture) using a combination of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. If it's just going to be a pixel-based display on an electronic watch face then all the work can be done within Photoshop. That's a scenario where pasting a vector-based design into Photoshop's paths palette works very efficiently. You can see outlines of all the paths in the design and turn any number of parts of the design into selections that can be filled or used to cut through other images. It's a lot easier and faster than working with vector smart objects, vector shape masks or importing EPS or AI files, which get rasterized into pixel form once imported.

I create a lot of my digital billboard graphics first using CorelDRAW and/or Adobe Illustrator. I paste those paths into the Photoshop layout (from Illustrator). Depending on the nature of the artwork the vectors may already have RGB fills and be ready to save directly into pixel-based format. But often I do other things over in Photoshop to dress up the artwork a bit before saving PNG images to send to the billboards.

 

[graywoulf]

I appreciate your advice. I never got proficient with AI back in the day. I was pretty much hard core Flexi but then I was never in the big leagues in sign making. I only worked in small town sign shops which was never into much more than printed vinyl on a Roland VP-540 printer. That is why I never really needed to get into this area. If the WatchMaker app had the ability to work with more than square, round and triangular shapes then I would not need all of this. I'll get there eventually. Thanks again.