Lettering in Photoshop

vartemis · 03-10-2008, 04:49 PM

Don't worry, I don't think I've lost my mind, but I am looking for some feedback.

The reasoning behind this crazy idea is that I was goofing around lettering over some water colors, and I found that the captions and balloons created in Illustrator stood out too much from the soft art.

I was thinking I would still do all the text in Illustrator, and possibly the bubbles, but have any of you ever done any lettering work in Photoshop, say like designing fancy caption boxes or making it look more organic? There are certain things you just can't do with a vector based program, or, if you can, the execution is difficult, like blending the lettering with watercolors or acrylic. What would be the best way to do this?

Thinking out loud, I think the best bet would be to letter as usual using AI, and do all the text and bubbles I need, then save it as usual as an EPS. Next open up Photoshop and place the eps file, and do the art underneath that layer. The real question I have is, what is the best way to capture it? Is there an easy way to merge the photoshop file into the EPS file? I think the best way may be to save the layer on its own as a PSD, and then place it in AI, and then save it yet again as an EPS. If that doesn't work, I may end up with two separate lettering files for each page; a PSD file and an EPS file. As long as I mark them properly, it shouldn't be an issue, other than causing the assembly person more work.

Have I lost my mind?

j

Thomas Mauer · 03-10-2008, 11:42 PM

Keep in Illustrator and mess around with filters, effects, opacity, and blending modes. As a last resort, import your vectors in Photoshop, create an empty layer, and merge the vectors with this layer to rasterize your lettering on a separate layer, then mess with Photoshop. Avoid flattening your letters on the page because you'll do the publisher a disservice in case they can get the book into foreign markets where it needs to be translated.

Also think about completely changing the way you do balloons and captions on watercolors and acrylics to fit the tone of the book better. Normal balloons don't work on everything. Here's an example of what you could do: http://takisoma.com/comic/?page=43

03-10-2008, 04:49 PM	#1
vartemis Onomonopiaphile Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 480	Lettering in Photoshop Don't worry, I don't think I've lost my mind, but I am looking for some feedback. The reasoning behind this crazy idea is that I was goofing around lettering over some water colors, and I found that the captions and balloons created in Illustrator stood out too much from the soft art. I was thinking I would still do all the text in Illustrator, and possibly the bubbles, but have any of you ever done any lettering work in Photoshop, say like designing fancy caption boxes or making it look more organic? There are certain things you just can't do with a vector based program, or, if you can, the execution is difficult, like blending the lettering with watercolors or acrylic. What would be the best way to do this? Thinking out loud, I think the best bet would be to letter as usual using AI, and do all the text and bubbles I need, then save it as usual as an EPS. Next open up Photoshop and place the eps file, and do the art underneath that layer. The real question I have is, what is the best way to capture it? Is there an easy way to merge the photoshop file into the EPS file? I think the best way may be to save the layer on its own as a PSD, and then place it in AI, and then save it yet again as an EPS. If that doesn't work, I may end up with two separate lettering files for each page; a PSD file and an EPS file. As long as I mark them properly, it shouldn't be an issue, other than causing the assembly person more work. Have I lost my mind? j

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03-10-2008, 11:42 PM	#2
Thomas Mauer http://thomasmauer.com Join Date: May 2005 Location: Magdeburg, Germany Posts: 818	Keep in Illustrator and mess around with filters, effects, opacity, and blending modes. As a last resort, import your vectors in Photoshop, create an empty layer, and merge the vectors with this layer to rasterize your lettering on a separate layer, then mess with Photoshop. Avoid flattening your letters on the page because you'll do the publisher a disservice in case they can get the book into foreign markets where it needs to be translated. Also think about completely changing the way you do balloons and captions on watercolors and acrylics to fit the tone of the book better. Normal balloons don't work on everything. Here's an example of what you could do: http://takisoma.com/comic/?page=43