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From Sketch to Vector : Shutterstock

From Sketch to Vector : Shutterstock: “- Sent using Google Toolbar”

Some basic but quality Guides on making Vectors from your sketches from SHUTTERSTOCK.

From Sketch to Vector

by tracie andrews | March 05, 2010

Here’s a way to turn your doodle or sketch into a clean vector.

1. First, choose your doodle or sketch. (If you draw it in pencil, you should go over it with a fine liner ink pen – preferably black so it will be clearer when you scan and live trace it.) Scan it into any graphics program and Place it in Illustrator by going to File > Place.

Here’s mine:

2. Now we want to Live Trace it, so select your drawing and go to Object > Live Trace > Tracing Options. In the dialogue box choose Simple Trace from the Presets drop down menu and check the Ignore White box. Then click Trace and Expand it by selecting Expand from the top toolbar.

3. As you can see, some of your lines will be quite messy so we’ll have to tidy them up. Use the Direct Selection Tool (or white arrow tool). My general rule for keeping the lines clean is to have as few points as possible. So try and spend some time editing your points. Here’s my before and after:

4. Now create a New Layer (should be Layer 2) and drag it underneath Layer 1. Select your image and copy it into Layer 2. Then lock Layer 1 and hide it (click on the eye icon). See image:

5. Now select your image from Layer 2 and go to Object > Live Paint > Make. Select the Live Paint Bucket from your Tools panel on the left and choose a color. Click in the unfilled areas to fill with color. Ignore the outline for now. When you’re happy with what you’ve got (again, you can add more detail later) select your image and Expand it again. Then Ungroup it (you might have to do this more than once). Now, select your outline – this can be done with the Magic Wand tool from the Tools panel and delete it. You should end up with something similar to this:

6. Unlock Layer 1 and make it visible (click on the eye icon again). Select your entire outline and change the color. Now, if you zoom in a bit, you can see some white bits showing through.

7. We need to get rid of this by making the outline slightly larger. To do this, select the outline and make it a compound shape (Object > Compound Path > Make). Then go to Object > Path > Offset Path and enter these setting values (Offset: 0.2 pt, Joins: Round, Miter limit: 4). This makes a copy of the outline underneath the original. Now you can delete the smaller original.

8. And there you are, from sketch to a nice clean vector.

What you need to know about Intellectual Protection « Intellectual Protection

What you need to know about Intellectual Protection

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Intellectual Protection does not have to be a mystery. Lets look at the five most useful methods of intellectual protection, Patents, Copyright, Trademarks and Design Rights.

Patents

Patents are basicly an intellectual protection reward for the inventor of a product or system to share the knowledge of how he or she done it. With the granting of a patent, the methods and technology become public knowledge and can be seen by all. In return, the holder of a patent has exclusive rights for a fixed period of time to do whatever he or she sees fits with the product including exclusive rights to commercialisation. It is possible to patent an idea. See more information in the patent section below.

Copyright

The most common form of intellectual protection is copyright. It is not possible to copyright an idea. Copyright comes into force instantly when something is created in a tangible form. This can include songs, music, photos, manuscripts, books etc. Copyright gives the creator of a work exclusive rights to reproduce and profit from that work. Copyright law is accepted by 163 countries who signed the Berne convention. Copyright can be registered online as proof that a person actually made the material in question. A name can not be copyright. See more information in the copyright section below.

Trademarks

A common form of intellectual protection used by companies are trademarks. Names and words used to trade under can be protected by Trademarks. Trademarks come in two forms a non-registered trade mark (TM) and a registered trademark (R). Non registered trademarks are free, but you have to be able to prove that you were the original claiment of the trademark in court to be able to fight off infringers. Registered trademarks have to be payed for but give more protection in court as a date of registration is known. See more information in the trademarks section below.

Design Rights

Design Rights are a similar form of intellectual protection to copyrights, but apply to things such as patterns , fabrics, forms etc. They can be unregistered or registered in a similar way to Trademarks. The first ever design right was granted in the United Kingdom in 1787. See more information in the Design Rights section below.