Author Topic: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing  (Read 87538 times)

Offline Erica McPhee

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Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« on: November 02, 2013, 02:11:50 AM »
Our first tutorial! I hope this helps. I tried to keep it as succinct as possible while also giving the details you need. Please ask any questions! And let me know what kinds of tutorials you'd like to see here at the forum!

« Last Edit: January 09, 2015, 04:51:10 PM by Erica McPhee »
Warm Regards,
Erica
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Offline Jenny Muffler

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #1 on: November 02, 2013, 09:27:00 AM »
Thanks Erica!!!  Amazing to watch how others do their photoshop clean up.    I do almost everything differently, so can't wait to try some of the tips you gave!!!   I'll have several chances next week to put it to use!  Will report back on how it went! 

Offline lisaridgely

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #2 on: November 02, 2013, 09:44:22 AM »
Wonderful tutorial! Thank you for sharing - I am sure this will be so helpful to many! I also do some of the steps differently, but I am excited to try your method - it looks great!

Offline Erica McPhee

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #3 on: November 02, 2013, 11:17:42 AM »
Great! I would *love* to hear how you all do your adjustment as well. There is no right or wrong way - just whatever works best for you. So I'd love to hear how others do it!
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Erica
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Offline Roseann

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #4 on: November 02, 2013, 01:43:48 PM »
Hi Erica,
Thank you so much for posting this.  I am completely new to photoshop.  I'll  study the tutorial more, and I'll let you know how it's going.

Love,
Roseann
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Offline Jane Farr

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #5 on: November 02, 2013, 03:10:10 PM »
Hi, Erica! Thanks for sharing your process; I loved hearing your voice! I do things differently as well, but I especially look forward to trying these two tips you gave: minimum pixel and color overlay.  (and FYI, I thought **I** was the worse housekeeper ever!)  :D Jane
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Offline Erica McPhee

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #6 on: November 02, 2013, 04:30:11 PM »
Great Roseann! If you get stuck, just let me know and I'll try to walk you through it.

LOL Jane! I'm pretty sure that award goes to me. I'm famous for my "Stash and Dash" when anyone comes over. And no one can look at my ceiling fans!  :D My voice -  :-X UGH!  :D But thank you!

I'll be making another video shortly on how to keep the shade in lettering (not pure black and white) and how to adjust the color on that as well. It's a little more involved and a completely different process.
Warm Regards,
Erica
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Offline Roseann

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2013, 02:03:06 AM »
Erica,
What would happen if I just cleaned up the scanned version?   Is it possible to erase the dust, and flecks?  What would happen if I didn't transfer the calligraphy into it's own layer?  How would it come out if I submitted it just like that?  Would it print the background an off shade color, or would it print white?

Love,
Roseann
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“The world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.”   R. L. Stevenson

Offline FrenchBlue Joy

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #8 on: November 03, 2013, 06:06:29 AM »
Go Erica!! 

The minimum one pixel thing is new for me, and I'm very glad to know about it now!  The color overlay too... 

Offline Erica McPhee

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #9 on: November 03, 2013, 08:27:02 PM »
Joy, glad that is helpful!

Roseann - you can just clean up the scan, however, you may end up losing some thin lines. It depends upon how much contrast there is in your document. I like to letter in walnut ink which when scanned doesn't make for a good camera ready. However, sumi ink does.

Also, most printers are savy about what will and won't print well. So they should be able to look at what you submit and tell you if it will print OK.

You can erase some of the dust and noise. There are a few filters which do this automatically. Filter, noise, reduce noise. And also filter, noise, dust & scratches. However, both add a slight blur to the image or scan. You can overcome this by sharpening. Filter, sharpen, unsharp mask. I use the following settings:
Amount: 75-100%
Radius: 1.0 pixels
Threshold: 2 levels

Play around with the filters to see if there is one or the other you like or makes the best impact.

You can also use your eraser tool to erase unless it leaves the white showing through in which case I would use the clone tool. This will keep the same color as the background and go over whatever needs to be erased.

The healing brush and newer spot healing brush work great, too. You just touch where ever you want to erase and it replaces it with the background. Pretty slick!

Let me know if you have questions!
« Last Edit: November 03, 2013, 08:29:33 PM by Erica McPhee »
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Erica
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Offline Sherry Lu

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2013, 01:41:54 AM »
Oooh! :) This is awesome!! I'll try scanning some (practice) calligraphy soon! And who knew it was so easy to add colour?! Thanks for sharing!!

Offline Erica McPhee

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2013, 11:12:13 PM »
You're welcome! Isn't the color tip useful?! I was thrilled when I learned that as it made things so much easier. You can also add a gradient this way, too. It is very useful!
Warm Regards,
Erica
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Offline Selle.A

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #12 on: December 01, 2013, 04:47:11 PM »
Hello!

I tried going to BestBuy yesterday but I was surprised by how many different types of photoshop software are out there and the prices ranges from $79.99-$1200 :o :o :o

I didn't want to get the wrong one... I know there is a free trial for 30 days but if I do decide to get one which one do I get?? There's Photoshop Elements, lightroom, etc


Offline emrdesignstudio

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #13 on: December 01, 2013, 05:01:22 PM »
This is a great tutorial. Thank you!
Elsa Martinez
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Offline emrdesignstudio

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Re: Preparing Calligraphy for Printing
« Reply #14 on: December 01, 2013, 05:06:29 PM »
Hi Selle.A,

It really depends how you will use the software.
Photoshop Elements is for beginners, it will ease you into transitioning to the full Photoshop program, however it does have its limitations and many features will be missing.
Photoshop Lightroom is strictly for photography and photo library management.
Photoshop CC is the full version of the software, which is the latest version in the market. Erica is using a full version. I recommend getting the trial version for Photoshop CC and testing it out.
Hope that helps!

Hello!

I tried going to BestBuy yesterday but I was surprised by how many different types of photoshop software are out there and the prices ranges from $79.99-$1200 :o :o :o

I didn't want to get the wrong one... I know there is a free trial for 30 days but if I do decide to get one which one do I get?? There's Photoshop Elements, lightroom, etc
Elsa Martinez
Graphic & Web Designer
Site: www.emrdesignstudio.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/emrdesignstudio
Twitter: www.twitter.com/emrdesignstudio