rota
I thought I'd write a couple of lines about the process I went through to make the images for the Ator Tarot. They *look* as though they were done with brush and ink, but they began their lives in Flash MX. This software is generally used for making web animations. (Those idiotic flashing sales banner popups are often made in Flash...)
But with a Wacom tablet and Flash, it's as easy to draw onscreen as it is on paper. You don't *have* to make idiotic flashing sales banners. I recommend this to anyone who has even a little facility with drawing; it's a highly addictive way to work. The beautiful part of it is that, with the pressure-sensitive Wacom and stylus, you retain the thick-and-thin linework that you might get with a brush and ink. No erasing, easy coloring... There are downloadable tutorials on the net to teach you how to draw with Flash; just search around.
After using Flash to draw, you save your final design as a Symbol in the Library. Eventually (months later, probably), you have 78 symbols. Since Flash works as vectors, not bitmaps, the filesizes are actually quite tiny.
Each of those symbols has to be exported as a separate .eps file. You can copy your symbol easily into either Illustrator or Freehand; then save it there in .eps format. (Use the CMYK color option, not the RGB. Printers think in CMYK.)
[The printers take those .eps files and (magically) turn them into aluminum plates for their offset presses. ( Don't ask me how they do this; they just do. And it's expensive.)]
So, if you have access to Flash, give it a try. It's big fun.
http://www.glowinthedarkpictures.com/tarot.html
http://www.glowinthedarkpictures.com/colorflash-tarot.html
But with a Wacom tablet and Flash, it's as easy to draw onscreen as it is on paper. You don't *have* to make idiotic flashing sales banners. I recommend this to anyone who has even a little facility with drawing; it's a highly addictive way to work. The beautiful part of it is that, with the pressure-sensitive Wacom and stylus, you retain the thick-and-thin linework that you might get with a brush and ink. No erasing, easy coloring... There are downloadable tutorials on the net to teach you how to draw with Flash; just search around.
After using Flash to draw, you save your final design as a Symbol in the Library. Eventually (months later, probably), you have 78 symbols. Since Flash works as vectors, not bitmaps, the filesizes are actually quite tiny.
Each of those symbols has to be exported as a separate .eps file. You can copy your symbol easily into either Illustrator or Freehand; then save it there in .eps format. (Use the CMYK color option, not the RGB. Printers think in CMYK.)
[The printers take those .eps files and (magically) turn them into aluminum plates for their offset presses. ( Don't ask me how they do this; they just do. And it's expensive.)]
So, if you have access to Flash, give it a try. It's big fun.
http://www.glowinthedarkpictures.com/tarot.html
http://www.glowinthedarkpictures.com/colorflash-tarot.html
I do remember Flash as having a much better drawing tool than many packages. Line smoothing and all that good stuff. Fwiw, I use it's cousin MM Fireworks and that (imo) isn't quite as good in this (unskilled) fist. But Hey, it's fine for my middle-of-the-road web graphics. True - the many merits of having a tablet. I have a "cheapo" one by UC-logic, but the Advantages of ANY tablet are immediately manifest over a mouse. 