Digitizing Pictures

[Crede]

Hello everyone,

I, like many others, am interested in custom cards and their designs. A couple weeks ago, I thought to myself, why shouldn't I try and design my own custom deck? Even if the deck never went to production, I think it would be a fun project to do.

Now, my parents are both conservators, and have done a lot of work in Turkey and Greece on archeological sites...in their time there, they've picked up a number of ceramic Turkish plates, many of which have incredible patterns, colors, and in general look pretty cool.

While these could simply be a form of inspiration, I've found a few that I think could, with some modification and additions of course, for the basis of a card back design. What I'm asking to the theory11 community is, how would I go about "digitizing" the image of the plate? I could take a picture and upload it to the computer, but that wouldn't let me tweak color, design, size, shape, etc. I could enlarge or shrink a simple .jpg, but I'd like to be able to modify the photo more than that. Microsoft Paint sure isn't strong enough to change an image well-- I don't think it's fill feature is good enough for what I'm thinking about.

I'm not very computer savvy, so I don't even know if "digitize" is the correct word, but does anyone here know of a program or a way to do what I've described? Just FYI, I'm on a Macintosh, so please don't suggest Windows programs

Lastly, I haven't taken a picture of said plate(s) yet. If for some reason someone would like to see one, I'll try to get around to that, and PM you.

Thanks so much!
Crede

PS: These plate designs are NOT simple enough to be freehand drawn. I considered it, but I'm reallly not very much of an artist anyways, haha.

 

[JButterfield]

You could alter the colour of an image, and tweak it to your heart's content, but not cheaply or easily...

Photoshop and Illustrator are both expensive and complex. I was a production artist/prepress operator for 10 years.

 

[Crede]

Yeah, that thought actually came to mind shortly after posting the thread...Photoshop (or programs like it) are, as you said, pretty darn expensive and would take a while to learn to use well. Since I wouldn't be selling a deck-- well, it's a wild dream, but incredibly unlikely-- I don't think it would be worth it.

There are however, on the App store, a couple Photo Editing programs that run cheaper, some tagged as $1.99. Do you think those are worth it at all? They're sure to have less features, but you never know...

Also, out of curiosity, when you say you were a "production artist/prepass operator," do you mean for playing card companies? If so...wow! What a job. I'd love to hear more, if you have some time. PM me if you'd rather talk privately...

Thanks though for the thoughts!

 

[RickEverhart]

I was just going to suggest Adobe Illustrator as well but I'm venturing to guess the cost and time commitment is not something you want to jump into.

 

[s710]

There are 2 open source image editing suites available for free online. The links are below.

Inkscape
This is the one I would recommend first. It does well with Vector graphics, which is what you will want to do since you will be resizing for things like the box cover and card backs.

GIMP
Another decent one if you don't like Inkscape

None of these are as good as Photoshop or Illustrator, but honestly both of those are going to be way too expensive and be way too much program for you at this point in time.

 

[Crede]

Yeah, I don't think it is. A couple of my friends may have it though (that or Photoshop), AND a tablet for drawing ( ) so maybe I'll pop over and check if it's really too far out of my realm (no previous experience with computer design) or I want to try it.

I could also always download the 30-day, or however long, free trial for either Photoshop or Illustrator That'd be quite a story, a deck of cards designed in 30 days, haha.

Thanks guys!

 

[S.G]

Are you a student anywhere? Because if so, you can get it for much cheaper.

 

[etherealictrinity]

ROfl i bet everyone is thinking "Just torrent it" but is worried what other magicians on here will say since torrenting is looked down upon here.

 

[rocket92]

Try using "The Gimp". It's basically an open source version of photoshop, albeit with less features. (I think, I've never actually owned photoshop) But it's a good program and it's completely free, so it can't hurt to check it out.

 

[Crede]

@ S.G: Yeah I am, well, I'm a senior in highschool, college will be next year anyways, so I probably could..thanks, I'd forgotten that!

@ etherealictrinity: Hahaha admittedly the thought came to mind but it'd probably be a bad idea to design a deck of cards (to be potentially sold....?) with an illegally downloaded program, haha

@ rocket92: Thanks man! I think I've heard of that before, I'll be sure to check it out ASAP

 

[JButterfield]

There are however, on the App store, a couple Photo Editing programs that run cheaper, some tagged as $1.99. Do you think those are worth it at all? They're sure to have less features, but you never know...

Not familiar with 'em, so I couldn't say...

Also, out of curiosity, when you say you were a "production artist/prepass operator," do you mean for playing card companies? If so...wow! What a job. I'd love to hear more, if you have some time. PM me if you'd rather talk privately...

Nothing quite so cool as that... did design for a public health department (mainly forms, flyers, posters and the like), then for a giant printing company that did mainly business printing (quarterly/annual reports for almost every mutual fund company), signage and translites for a nationwide sandwich chain, some books for a few art galleries (a couple in New York, one in England), and a bunch of other stuff. Then some freelance stuff, mainly for the business school in a university, and the Law Society of Upper Canada.

I'd think that if there's any kind of trade school near you with a graphic arts program, any student there would be happy to take on a project such as yours for a very reasonable rate.