illustrator smooth tool equivalent

[duer_des1]

i'm using freehand mx and would like to know if there is an equivalent
functionality to illustrator's smooth tool (under the pencil tool). or any
advice on controlling bezier point(s) quicker but more tactile then the
simplify tool.
thanks in advance.

[Martin Gamache]

Nothing as interactive.

Pat Dunlavey has a freehand plug in that can be used for line smoothing
[url]http://www.pdcarto.com/[/url] under the freehand section.

mg




"duer_des1" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:cdjpd6$mph$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> i'm using freehand mx and would like to know if there is an equivalent
> functionality to illustrator's smooth tool (under the pencil tool). or

any

> advice on controlling bezier point(s) quicker but more tactile then the
> simplify tool.
> thanks in advance.
>

[Judy Arndt]

duer_des1 wrote:

> i'm using freehand mx and would like to know if there is an equivalent
> functionality to illustrator's smooth tool (under the pencil tool). or any
> advice on controlling bezier point(s) quicker but more tactile then the
> simplify tool.

FreeHand has no equivalent, but it would be nice to have.

You could experiment with the Freeform Tool. Try Freeform Tool Push/pull by
length. It works nicely with a pressure sensitive pen and tablet.

To smooth jagged lines I often subselect points with option-lasso. Then in
the object inspector click on the 'curve point' icon and then Automatic.

Judy Arndt

[Martin Gamache]

"Judy Arndt" <jarndt@shawbiz.ca> wrote in message
news:BD22EEF7.1F84B%jarndt@shawbiz.ca...

>
> FreeHand has no equivalent, but it would be nice to have.

An equivalent to editing a selected path by redrawing segments of it with
the Illy pencil tool would also be highly desirable.

mg

[Martin Sammtleben]

In article <zYgLc.5660$iK.2435@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.n et>,
"Martin Gamache" <alpinemappingguild@earthlink.net> wrote:

> "Judy Arndt" <jarndt@shawbiz.ca> wrote in message
> news:BD22EEF7.1F84B%jarndt@shawbiz.ca...
>

> >
> > FreeHand has no equivalent, but it would be nice to have.

>
>
>
> An equivalent to editing a selected path by redrawing segments of it with
> the Illy pencil tool would also be highly desirable.

O.K. adding to the others' advice I have an off-beat solution to offer -
it might not be appropriate in the case at hand.

Alternative 1:

1. I give the path I want to smooth a solid, black fill and export it
as an EPS.

2. I open that EPS in Photoshop at an appropriate resolution.

3. To smooth the path I either experiment with the Gaussian Blur filter
and bump up the contrast afterwards with Levels or Curves or use the
Median filter until I get a distinctively black shape with a nicely
anti-aliased edge.

4. I do some fine tuning with the pen of my Wacom tablet.

5. Then I save the bitmap as e.g. a b/w tiff, import that into FH and
have FH auto-trace it.


That usually produces a smooth and simplified path.


Alternative 2:

Hold your breath: sometimes it's even easier to print out the path and
draw your corrections with a pen or brush, scan in the result, touch it
up in PS and trace that in FH.

The intuition & precision of a human hand outperforms any digital
drawing-aids ;-)

--
Cheers Martin

[Judy Arndt]

Martin Sammtleben wrote:

> Hold your breath: sometimes it's even easier to print out the path and
> draw your corrections with a pen or brush, scan in the result, touch it
> up in PS and trace that in FH.

Martin, I've been doing this for years with artwork from various sources. It
works especially well on organic types of subject matter. I often enlarge
the artwork before printing. Then, on a light table, I draw with black felt
tip pen on translucent vellum laid over the printed artwork.

Scan the hand-tracing at 300 ppi. Sharpen in Photoshop. Autotrace in
FreeHand with 2 colors, conformity tight.

> The intuition & precision of a human hand outperforms any digital
> drawing-aids ;-)

You're absolutely right!

Judy Arndt

[Martin Sammtleben]

In article <BD2352B5.1F916%jarndt@shawbiz.ca>,
Judy Arndt <jarndt@shawbiz.ca> wrote:

> Martin, I've been doing this for years with artwork from various sources. It
> works especially well on organic types of subject matter. I often enlarge
> the artwork before printing. Then, on a light table, I draw with black felt
> tip pen on translucent vellum laid over the printed artwork.
>
> Scan the hand-tracing at 300 ppi. Sharpen in Photoshop. Autotrace in
> FreeHand with 2 colors, conformity tight.

Exactly!

I have found it to be most rewarding to combine flowing, organic,
hand-drawn art with clean, digital graphics in the way you describe.

It kind of adds "the extra spice" to things.

It's a revelation to see both techiques merging while taking advantage
of their respective strengths.

> > The intuition & precision of a human hand outperforms any digital
> > drawing-aids ;-)

>
> You're absolutely right!

Perhaps we should write a book on that subject ;-)

--
Cheers Martin

[Judy Arndt]

Martin Sammtleben wrote:

>>> The intuition & precision of a human hand outperforms any digital
>>> drawing-aids ;-)

>>
>> You're absolutely right!

>
> Perhaps we should write a book on that subject ;-)

Heh, heh. That sounds like an awful lot of work, Martin. You write the book
and I'll volunteer to write the Foreword. How's that for a deal? :-)

Judy Arndt

[S. Gordon]

Couple a smoothing tool with auto-kerning of path-text and you've got a highly
valuable tool for mapmakers.

Until it was broken in AI11, the smoothing tool was a fast way to iron out
wrinkles in kerning when type was attached to tightly curving paths (rivers,
roads, boundaries).

Hopefully the next version of FH will add both the pencil and auto-kerning.

[Martin Sammtleben]

In article <BD255583.1FDA7%jarndt@shawbiz.ca>,
Judy Arndt <jarndt@shawbiz.ca> wrote:

> > Perhaps we should write a book on that subject ;-)

>
> Heh, heh. That sounds like an awful lot of work, Martin. You write the book
> and I'll volunteer to write the Foreword. How's that for a deal? :-)

Phew, sounds like a lot of work to me, too.

I might get back to you the day I can afford more time to play than to
work! I think it could be a real eye-opener for folks trapped in an all-
digital workflow.

:-)

--
Cheers Martin

[Martin Sammtleben]

In article <BD255583.1FDA7%jarndt@shawbiz.ca>,
Judy Arndt <jarndt@shawbiz.ca> wrote:

> > > Perhaps we should write a book on that subject ;-)

> >
> > Heh, heh. That sounds like an awful lot of work, Martin. You write the book
> > and I'll volunteer to write the Foreword. How's that for a deal? :-)

>
> Phew, sounds like a lot of work to me, too.

Dear Judy,

I also want to mention that I (being on and off of the freehand forum in
recent years) have always appreciated your insightful tips showing that
you are a highly-skilled user, capable of out-of-the-box thinking when
it comes to elegant solutions for problems at hand - thank you so much
for that!

--
Cheers Martin

[Judy Arndt]

Awww, Martin. Thank you so much for your kind words. I honored. :-)

Judy Arndt

Martin Sammtleben wrote:

> Dear Judy,
>
> I also want to mention that I (being on and off of the freehand forum in
> recent years) have always appreciated your insightful tips showing that
> you are a highly-skilled user, capable of out-of-the-box thinking when
> it comes to elegant solutions for problems at hand - thank you so much
> for that!