pixelzfairy

[pixelzfairy]

Procreate For Newbies Tutorial - 1.1 Introduction

Being an iPad owner was cool in the past, especially for Apple fans. But for artists, the whole world changed when Procreate appeared on the scene winning Apple’s 2013 design award. So what is so special about Procreate? The guys from Savage Interactive, based in Tasmania gave artists all the benefits of working digitally (the ability to easily delete and correct, create art faster, and to share work instantaneously) while recreating the familiar experience of pens, pencils, and paint on paper; still keeping the traditional touch in the background.

  How to get Procreate

Starting with Procreate is very easy even though for some, it can look a little bit overwhelming, especially if this is your first software for digital painting.  The only thing what you will need is an iPad and preferably Apple pencil (unluckily Procreate is only available for iPad and newly also for iPhone).You can download Procreate from App Store for €9.99, there is no trial version available but if you are serious, believe me, this piece of software is worth the small price.

Starting up the app

Gallery Interface

First time opening of Procreate will bring you to a Gallery, a collection of paintings. For now you will only see a few samples, but later on you will have here all your artwork. If you want to edit something old, easily tap on the image, and your canvas will open. If you want to interact with any image, swipe left on it, and you will be able to delete, duplicate or share it. You can long-press to select multiple drawings for bulk actions, or you can group them (standard drag and drop).

1. Selection

Clicking on select will change the menu for you in the top righ corner. You can select multiple ‘canvases’ and do following actions:

stack, preview, share, duplicate and delete.

To stack artworks - select more than one artwork to stack, or press and hold on an artwork and drag it on top of another stack to add it into the stack. To move an artwork out of a stack press and hold on the artwork and move it above the words ‘stack’ on the top left, hold there until the page jumps back to the main gallery page. Then release your finger.

To preview - a full-screen view of the artwork, swipe left and right to see other artworks. If you’ve selected a few artworks to preview, only the selected artworks will show. Share will allow

To share - choose your artworks(s) a press Share, you will get and choice of multiple formats as Procreate, PSD, PDF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF or animated GIF, PNG or MP4. Using sharing will actually allow you to make ‘back up’ for yourself onto iCloud for example.

To duplicate - choose your artworks(s) a press Duplicate, you can do the same for stack as well

To delete - pick the desired pictures what you no longer need and press Delete, confirm that you for sure are not going to cry of regrets :)

After you are done, press the cross in the top left corner to ‘unselect’ pictures and the cross will change into +again.

2. Importing

For importing photos, Procreate files, PSD files from different storage places like iCloud, DropBox etc. Very easy, press import and choose your desired file what will automatically open in a new canvas (just note, you cannot import brushes or other assets using this button)

3. Photo

This one will take you immediately into your iPad gallery to import photos from your device.

4. New canvas

Tapping on the + sign will let you create a new canvas for your artwork, you will see some premade canvases. Press on an option to create a new canvas and start drawing. If you are not satisfied the offered resolution you can also create custom canvas.

For custom canvas you need to fill in and choose from these options: width and height in px, DPI, colour: sRGB or P3 wide colour, name. P3 wide colour allows you to use extremely saturated colours

And check this out - as you increase the size of the canvas, the number of layers you can work on will decrease. You can see the maximum layers allowed on the top of the number pad.

Shortcuts

Swipe left on an artwork or stack to share, duplicate or delete.

Rename canvas in the gallery by tapping on the name below the picture

In selection mode, drag a finger along artworks to quickly select multiple artworks (keep the finger on the display, its like a long press almost dragging over pictures)

Rotate your artwork in the gallery using 2 fingers, left, right, clockwise and reverese, not a problem

Use two fingers to pinch out zoom to open preview of the picture, you can then swipe to left or right to preview other pictures in the gallery

To change the position of an artwork, press and hold and move to the desired location and let go (same for stacking)

Next Chapter

Play around with the gallery and explore more. It’s also handy to get the grid how to operate with gestures. In the next tutorial we are going to look on the canvas interface and basic tools to start with. If you are missing something or need advise, jump immediately to the comments below.

"For the ones who enjoy reading books, there is a free e-book on Apple Books App. Full 452 pages filled with basics for this beautiful software. Look for Procreate Artists' Handbook on your device."  -- Pixelz Fairy

[pixelzfairy]

How to Overcome Creativity Blocks Using Affirmation Technique

The self-realization in creativity

When I was a little kid I wished, I was promising to my mum and my grandparents that I will become a lawyer. I was seriously convinced that it would be best for me. Even though inside of my heart I knew, that I want to be a dancer, actor or writer. My mum always used to tell me, that I wouldn't make a living as an artist. I know she didn't mean it is wrong, she always supported me in my creativity but she had to think also in a practical way. That is what parents do.

If you will look at history, we have been taught that artists were almost always drunk, addicted to drugs, without proper living, their partnerships or marriages lasted maximally one year and other not so much responsible aspects. But if you look closely, you can find 1000+1 examples, that it is not true. Paulo Coelho - one of the best-payed artists, Franz Kafka - so afraid of alcohol like it is the devil, Hollywood singers, actors. Fame can be hard, but it is up to us how we are going to deal with that. I think they are teaching us so, to keep us interested in history and literature data.

I am not saying that you will be billionaire immediately, or ever. If you are creating money, then probably you will never succeed. Because in art, there is no time to play a big businessman, if you are the artist. There is only time and focus on creativity and many more important things.

Exercise

I am suggesting a small exercise what requires a little bit of creativity but more to help you know yourself and realize how much dirty stuff we are carrying from our pasts. Take a paper and pen and write into the column as many things as you can think about under this sentence:

WHY NOT BE AN ARTIST, WHY NOT TO CREATE, WHY NOT TO TRY

"Attention! You don't have to worry about a professional career - you can be creative at home and in private life (for example, mums can embroider during the nights, managers like to relax in a form of taking photos of nature, a busy chef can escape from work to dreamland by painting, etc.)"

See examples:

It costs too much money (all the supplies, courses etc.)

The talent was not given to me. I wasn't born as an artist.

Spending time with my family is a priority, nothing else can't go between that.

I can't write, especially I am not good at grammar.

Everyone will leave me, I will be alone.

People will be jealous of me.

I feel better like an average person with an average life.

I don't deserve it.

Too old for experimenting or starting some artist career.

Creativity is not my strong side.

Thinking about yourself is the key

Think about it, read it few times and when you are satisfied with your answers, make a second column next to it. Reverse all the negatives into positives. See examples of the negative answers above:

There is no need to have everything immediately. I can start in small.

Maybe I don't have the talent but I can level up my skills. I can do it!

My family is a priority but as a healthy person, I have a right to have some time for myself. A happy mum is a good mum.

Grammar can be taught and writing can be skilled.

True friends and family will never leave me and the ones that will be gone were not real.

There will be always jealousy in this world.

I am not Lady Gaga (nothing personal). Art doesn't mean extravagance, always.

Oh, hell, I should not think like that at all. Look at the most beautiful artist in this world - nature.

There is no limit to creativity. Not even age. I will be never too old to explore something new.

How can I know it, if I didn't try?

Do you feel better now? Read the two columns again and compare them. Do you want to create, now? Did you explore anything new, inside of you, what was blocking you? You can now think about it for some time.

Affirmation

Keep your list and you can go back to it from time to time. Edit and update it. Or you can just scratch the parts that you already solved. There is also another way how to improve it even more. It is called an affirmation. Choose the 3 most important things from the positive list which are really touching you. Write it on a piece of paper, post-it papers and stick it to someplace what you see very often like a mirror, fridge, closet etc. All the time when you see it, you will feel much better and more positive. Maybe it will even kick your creativity side. I used to do it in my bad times at secondary school. Sometimes I even do it at my work. Nobody can understand it anyway because I always write them in my native language - Czech :)

This exercise can be useful in many other areas too. It's a well-known trick thanks to which you can really break down the blocks. But - it requires a great deal of self-esteem and honesty. Without that, you can not work on yourself.

"If you are proud on your list, feel free to share it with me and I will check it out. You can ask me for feedback or I can answer any question you have. You can send it to info@pixelzfairy.com"

[pixelzfairy]

What Software You Should Use For Vector Artwork? Top 5 Programs For You.

When we are deciding which software we are going to use for our artwork we have to consider some main points. Let’s give yourself these questions:

which artwork I want to create

what is my current budget

which platform I will use

how much time I want to spend on the learning curve

Which artwork I want to create

It’s good for you to know which software is suitable for a specific project.

creating logos and graphic design, illustration

painting landscapes, creatures, people etc.

edit photographs

create books, flyers, event invitations etc.

I DO ASSUME THAT YOU ARE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RASTER AND VECTOR, IF NOT READ VECTOR VS RASTER.

For creating logos, graphic design and illustrations you will need vector based software, so in today’s post, we will be focusing on the top 5 programs for your vector based artwork.

Adobe Illustrator

Illustrator is professional, popular and well-known software on the market. It’s a part of Adobe Creative Cloud. It can be used to create incredible illustrative artwork, corporate logos, page layouts, website mockups and almost anything else that you might need. Many artists are working with it and you can find thousands of tutorials on the internet. The main disadvantage is its very expensive pricing and restrictions of Adobe itself. The basic understanding shouldn’t take too long to learn but deeper knowledge will require some time and nerves. Also for beginners, it can be very overwhelming.

PROS

Professional

Known software all around the world

Many possibilities

Precise and unlimited resolution

Integrates seamlessly with other Adobe apps

CONS

Very expensive

Long learning curve

Can’t open files from other vector programs (Adobe restrictions)

Illustrator doesn't do as great a job when it comes to working with images.

Bouncing between Illustrator and Photoshop when you need to incorporate an image into a project can be frustrating

Supported platforms

Windows

macOS

Affinity Designer - Draw Persona

Affinity Designer is kind of a newbie in this world but its already considered as a competition to some of the Adobe’s programs. It’s a very friendly and modern interface is a big plus. Still, there are features that AD is still missing compared to Adobe Illustrator. One of the advantages is that in Affinity Designer its easy to switch between three personas (draw, pixel, and export, more about personas here) to be able to use vector and raster together. For beginners, the pricing is very more than affordable and also not subscription based as many creatives are complaining by Adobe.

PROS

Modern and user-friendly interface

Affordable price

Supporting more platforms

Personas

Lightweight, not crushing

CONS

Missing some features comparing to AI and other softwares

Missing ability to live to trace an image

Sometimes it's hard to locate certain settings

Text tools should be improved

No support for plugins, harder to find extra resources (like extra brushes etc.)

Supported platforms

Windows

macOS

iPad

Inkscape

Inkscape is another very popular vector program used by professionals. Open source software helps ensure that people have access to excellent software tools irrespective of their capability to pay. Inkscape is cross-platform software- a fact that allows the use of Inkscape on Windows, Mac, or Linux and ensures that Inkscape documents can be opened on all computers. This is useful in organizations where various people must work together on documents, but may be using different operating systems.

PROS

Open-source

Cross-platforming

Inegration with GIMP (GIMP to Inkscape is the same as Photoshop to Illustrator)

Rich in features

Easy to learn, many tutorials online

CONS

Not very fresh looking interface

Occasional limitations or glitches in programming

No official support. Development is slow, updates are rare.

CMYK isn't supported properly

Not easy for beginners unless you want to spend a lot of time looking for tutorials

Supported platforms

GNU/Linux

macOS

Windows

Sketch

Sketch is another very popular vector-based program, only it is more focused on UX/UI design. If you are then planning to create a logo you will not succeed. Also a disappointing for many of you could be that’s available only for Mac users. It has a lot of adding and plugins and the pricing system is also not bad. The admirable feature is mirroring app when you can preview your designs In real time on your iPad, iPhone And web browser.

PROS

Fast opening big files with many layers

Tons of addons and plugins

Huge community to find templates and free samples

Integration with many other ecosystems

Symbols management

CONS

Only available for Mac

Prototyping functionality needs improvement

No lifetime license (only annual)

Support for SVG needs improvement

Missing basic image editing

Supported platforms

macOS

CorelDRAW

DRAW is a professional graphic design software to help you quickly and easily create modern fashion designs. Includes thousands of high-quality images, fonts, and templates. CorelDRAW delivers a collection of award-winning design applications that meet the needs of business and education customers across industries. If you will decide on this software you should be prepared for high pricing even though you can also choose subscription based, still, pricing can be compared to Adobe. On the other hand, the lifetime payment is worth it for many users.

PROS

CorelDraw combines the features of apps like Ai, Ps, and Id in one intuitive and easy to use application

High-quality outcome

Symmetry drawing tool

Vector preview tools

Possibility to do almost anything

CONS

High pricing model for artists with low budget

High pricing model for artists with low budget

Required powerful processor on your PC

Windows only

Not suitable for image editing

Supported platforms

Windows

Conclusion / personal opinion

If you would’ve asked me, I would suggest giving a try to Affinity Designer. I do own a subscription for Adobe apps. But its very pricey and I don’t like Adobe’s way of thinking and restrictions. So eventually I can’t wait to cancel my plan and move fully to Serif’s team. Especially now when they released beta competition for Adobe InDesign – their Affinity Publisher. The team behind Affinity it’s really interacting with their customers and trying to offer very high-quality software for the very reasonable price. The other thing is that I love to use my iPad to create artwork and because many apps don’t have any support for tablets I felt in love with Designer immediately. I needed to go through some learning curve as well but for me personally, there is not much to complain about.

"Let me know in the comments which software you are currently using or which one you are considering to use. Also, don't be afraid to contact me with questions related to this topic, I will be happy to advise!"  -- Pixelz Fairy

[pixelzfairy]

The Best painting Software For Digital Artists. Top 5 Programs For You To Explore.

In the previous article, we were talking about vector based software for graphic designs. But what if you don’t want to create logos? What if you want to paint landscapes, horrifying creatures, and monsters, mysterious people or snapshots from your fantasy book? Here comes raster based software on the scene. Unlike in vector art, you can really dive deeply into a huge palette of brushes, effects and texture feel. That’s why raster based painting apps are better for people who want to express themselves more freely and be closer to traditional art touch. I prefer my artwork to be done on iPad so many apps below will be more oriented on iOS users and I also do prefer just to use few apps so I do have very basic experience or none.

Adobe Photoshop

Apart from photo editing and UI/UX design Adobe Photoshop is used by many digital painters all over the world. It is on the market for a very long time and can offer powerful tools. You can buy many assets and plugins on the internet not always very cheap though. Because Photoshop is coming so well packed you need to have good computer and it requires a long learning curve. Do you have a graphic tablet? Not a problem to connect it to Photoshop for much better drawing experience.

PROS

Well packed - highly functional, extremely versatile

Working with many layers

Many external features available online

Freehand coloring, precision

Full customization brushes and many more

CONS

Very pricey for students and hobbyists

Long learning curve

Good computer required to prevent crashes

Cloud-based system

Some tools and features are very hard to locate

SUPPORTED PLATFORMS

Windows

macOS

Affinity Designer - Pixel Persona

We already do know that Affinity Designer has more personas. Draw persona for vector art, Pixel persona for raster and Export persona for all kind of exporting settings of your art. If you are enjoying doing digital design and painting as well, this is a very good combo in one app. The Designer is very friendly and fresh-looking and doesn’t need so deep and long learning curve as for example Adobe PS. There are some resources available on the internet to get or buy but still not as many as for PS. Affinity is kind of a newbie on the market.

PROS

A user-friendly and fresh look

Affordable price

Many free tutorials

Combo packed for your digital artwork

Precision, 1 million+ % zoom

CONS

Confusing interface for artists coming from different platforms

Lack of image organizing features

Sometimes printer issues compatibility

Occasionally crashing with high res artwork

Missing some features (compared to other programs)

SUPPORTED PLATFORMS

Windows

macOS

iOS (iPad)

Procreate

Procreate is very famous within iOS users. It’s one of the best programs for iPad for sketching, painting, and illustration. It offers exceptional performance, powerful layers support, no painting-line lags, awesome precision, there are thousands of brushes available on the internet and its very easy to make custom ones. One big advantage is that you can capture the whole process of your artwork within the app itself and export it easily.

PROS

Work saved on the background automatically

Supports large canvases

Zero stroke lags

Many redo and undo

Recording videos in HD

CONS

No animation tools

No free version to test it out

iPad only (there is a less powerful Procreate Pocket for iPhone)

No rulers or stencils

Occasional it can crush and then you need to repeat the last step

SUPPORTED PLATFORMS

iOS iPad

iOS iPhone (Procreate Pocket)

Clip Studio Paint

Clip Studio Paint is a professional graphics program for animation, illustration, and manga, comic art and storytelling.

There are two different versions, a Pro and an EX version, and has quickly become one of the most popular programs in the manga and comic art industry due to its impressive features, capabilities, and affordable pricing.

One of its main competitors in the field is Adobe’s Photoshop, but many artists are starting to turn to Clip Studio because of affordable price and all the features it does offer.

PROS

Extensive materials library

Multiple brush Options

Extensive coloring tools

Enhanced 3D capability

Comic book panel creation, word bubbles

CONS

Lack of options to edit text and fonts

Paid monthly subscription for iPad (even though you have a version in the PC)

No audio support (for animation)

Longer learning curve

For some the interface (that’s on the taste of the artist)

SUPPORTED PLATFORMS

Windows

MacOS

iOS (iPad)

AutoDesk Sketchbook

Unlike other popular graphics software that claims to cover everything, SketchBook focuses on drawing and sketches and pays great attention to detail. Its user-friendly interface helps turn work into an enjoyable experience. The desktop version of the software contains all the advanced tools pros need to complete their projects faster and more intuitively. The Windows 10 app helps unlock the drawing power of tablets and is optimized for touch input, resulting in a more natural drawing experience. The Android and iOS apps offer a similar experience that travels with users wherever they go.

PROS

Now free for everyone

Cross-platform

Paper to digital in the snap

Very easy to learn

Simple interface

CONS

Sometimes too simple (lacking some features)

Not many official tutorials available

Some glitches may occur

Very limited in script tools

Word balloons need to be created hand drawn

SUPPORTED PLATFORMS

Windows

macOS

iOS (iPad, iPhone)

CONCLUSION

My preferred programs are Procreate, Affinity designer and Clip Studio Paint, so these programs you will see here more often especially for painting. I do use Photoshop but more with photo related adjustments and edits. If you love to work with iPad as I do, you will probably drown to use Procreate and Affinity designer as in my opinion these are the best app available in the market for digital painting. But everyone has different needs so feel free to explore as there are many free or paid programs out there and sometimes they can just fit you much better.

[pixelzfairy]

Why Leaving Wordpress For Squarespace Was Worth It And What I (Dis)Like About That.

Last few years I was building and canceling web sites. Always got an idea, built nice web and then I was not satisfied anymore, so I built another one and another and….until I realized that creating visual content is one thing what I really like to do. I tried Shopify, Wordpress and now I ended up with Squarespace. With Shopify, I spent like a year, with Wordpress five years and with Squarespace I'm for 3 months. So how can I possibly compare any platform with Squarespace? Well, it took me week or two to do an average web on Wordpress, but only 4 days to do a very nice looking site in Squarespace. I did adjust to it very easily and the drag and drop style is really performing pretty good.

So why did I actually left Wordpress?

To be honest, many reasons behind it but let me say, WordPress is an amazing platform, only it is not for me and maybe somewhere outside are people who have the similar issue and will find Squarespace more fitting their needs. I'm not a coder, I do have some average knowledge because from time to time I needed it in Wordpress otherwise I wouldn’t be satisfied fully with the look or specific function. I particularly also don’t have much interest to learn coding deeper – as I said, I love visual things. Very often I ended up spending too much time on performance, plugins research, etc. instead of creating content. So I left because my love-hate relationship with Wordpress was just too exhausting to me as an artist. I will list you 5 main issues I had with Wordpress and it will maybe save a lot of frustration for you.

Themes

It's awesome that you have so many themes from thousands of companies but it can be very overwhelming and usually when you will download or buy your own theme after you start with editing you will find a lot of things that are not working properly because of their very high lack of support or complexity and not good coding of the template. Some of the themes even ask you to install plugin what is not supported for a year or longer and you end up with a half-done site looking for alternatives. I even tried the Genesis framework for Wordpress there are visually beautiful themes available on the internet, but Genesis requires really a coding knowledge and a lot of time for newbies. In the end, I was happy with combo Astra Theme+ Elementor plugin I could create something nice but still, it kinda looked like not good enough for me and I also needed to invest some time to learn Elementor and every my theme.

At Squarespace, everything works the same way. Some themes have less or more options but once you understand the logic behind the architecture, it is so easy to maintain and change. Of course, there are many downgrades like lack of features and minimum support for 3rd party connection and extensions but here comes the question, do I really need it?

Plugins

Hundreds of plugins. Free, paid, amazing. Well coded, lagged, not-updated, with amazing support there is a lot of choices for everyone. Many people are afterward getting very greedy and just want another plugin, and another one even for things you would never need on your web at all. It's just the set up in our head that we need to have 60 plugins even for a small business website about six pages. Occasionally you might break your site and if you don’t have a good hosting and limited back-ups, then the half day job you have just done is lost. On the other hand, many plugins are very useful and give you something extra what you need for your web. The question is for what money and how good coded the plugins is.

Performance

If we put together our domain, hosting, template, plugins, website builder we come to a question of performance and SEO. If you are a professional in website performance, well Wordpress is a winner over Squarespace for sure. But I was spending a crazy load of time to improve my performance and eventually I got possessed with it. I wanted a very good looking site with over average performance. Spending hours and hours learning and researching, starting with which hosting, which CDN, which plugins to optimize my site. In the end, I had my web broken like 100x and no new content in weeks at my blog. I didn’t want to be a Wordpress specialist I just wanted nice site what is not taking 20 s to load on the computer.

Squarespace is not very bad at performance and SEO but also not the best one for sure. Considering the visual beauty of the themes for me it’s the risk I'm willing to take. My blog is about graphic design, digital art, web design, and photography. I want it to be nice and artistic. If I would like to have a magazine with tons of articles daily or some big e-commerce shop I would reconsider my choice obviously.

Investments

Paying for Squarespace isn’t cheap. Especially the higher editions like business etc., but in my experience Wordpress neither. The most expensive one was for me Shopify. One nice template from their market? €150-200 is a normal price. Plus paying monthly cost, plus some extensions. Well, in the end, I got a very high number to pay monthly. Wordpress was cheaper, of course, the basic is for free. But the nice theme, good website builder, some additional plugins and you will get also something to pay monthly or yearly. Personally, then Squarespace is the winner for me because of its limits. It’s stopping me and my brain to want more. For what I pay I get and there is not so much space for me to invest time and money in tens of plugins. But what is working for me will not work for everyone indeed.

Learning curve and time investment

Learning Wordpress it's easy for the simple web but the other things like builder, plugins, and coding take a lot of time. I was investing too much into my web and there was almost nothing there. What was the sense? I became an average or advanced Wordpress user, that's handy occasionally, but not for my way of working. Luckily there are plenty of tutorials or courses for free, also extended paid ones, so for sure there is no lack of it on the market to get this knowledge. I'm trying to be better in digital art, graphic design, and web design – partially. The things I could solve two ways. Invest a lot of money to a developer and paid him to take care of my web or find something else. I did find Squarespace and for now, I'm very happy that I made this change.

Questions?

Feel free to ask anything about this topic, if I know I will help, but be aware, in the end it is always your decision to make :)

[pixelzfairy]

Vector vs Raster - What Is The Basic Difference and Which One Choose for Your Artwork

If you are a photographer or designer, you probably know what you are dealing with. For the others who are just starting, it can be a little bit overwhelming – raster, vector, bitmap, pixel. I’m expecting that everybody knows .jpeg, .jpg, but what about .svg? What is the difference between .png and .jpeg? Well, if don’t know about .jpeg, probably you have never downloaded a wallpaper then but do not worry, everyone has to start somewhere, someday!

What is actually the difference between vector and raster?

Which formats are used for each of them?

For which projects I should use vector or raster?

For a digital artist, it is very important to understand the difference between vector and pixel art. Each of them has special software and needs, each of them is used for different purpose. Also, every single file format is giving you different options. Today we will look at the basics of these to get a better understanding.

Raster (bitmap, pixel)

Raster images are often called bitmaps. They consist of millions of tiny little squares which we call pixels. Pixel stands for “picture element”. It’s the smallest physical element of a digital display device. It’s pretty easy to recognize it by yourself. Try to open any photo you have and zoom in. Closer you look, more blurry the image becomes and in the end you will be able to see the little pixels. Bitmaps are created with pixel-based programs, captured with a camera or scanner. Usually, almost every drawing/painting app is raster oriented. Creating such artwork is pretty similar to traditional painting or drawing. You have many brushes to choose from, you can blend colors easily to soften the transition, you can apply many filters, gradients, undefined lines and shapes, and complex composition.

Raster format is resolution specific – that means that the photo you just took is displayed in one specific resolution. If you will try to resize the picture, bigger without changing the number of pixels, it will get blurry and not nice to look at anymore. Scaling down its not such a big problem, but the smaller version could be less crisp or softer than the original. There is a possibility to change the number of pixels but the pixels will be added randomly, rarely producing a good outcome.

We have two main names using raster images. PPI and DPI. They are both describing the resolution or clarity of an image, but they are not the same thing.

PPI (pixel per inch) means how many pixels will fit into one inch. A 72 PPI image will have 72 pixels per inch. PPI describes the number of pixels for the digital screen. PPI can be modified with photo/painting editing software.

DPI (dots per inch) means how many dots per inch my printer will print on the paper. Printers are not printing little squares. So how do they do it with raster images? They reproduce the image by spitting out tiny dots consisting of a mix of colors – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black) per the pixel of your image. DPI is set by the printer itself and cannot be manipulated.

That’s why we as digital artists can work with two different color schemes CMYK and RGB. Today we are not going so deep into this, so just put it simply – CMYK is for printing method, RGB is for electronic displays – monitors, phones, tablets etc.

Almost all the pictures you will find on the websites are raster images (even though they could be vector images before). Photographs and pictures in books or magazines are usually also pixel images, but these images are saved with very high resolution what is making them very big files in the end.

Formats of raster images

.jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .png, .tiff or .tif, .psd (Photoshop)

Popular programs used with raster images

Adobe Photoshop, Procreate, Affinity Designer (pixel persona), AutoDesk, Corel and many others

In which hobbies or jobs I can use pixel graphic

Photography, digital painting

Vector

Total opposite from pixel images, vector images are created with a mathematical formula that’s defining lines, curves and primitive shapes like polygons, circles, and rectangles known as paths. Vector graphics have to be created in software that is designed to create lines includes node position, locations, lengths, and curves. Because vector graphics are composed of geometrical primitives, it is very best to use it for more structured images like logos, line art, illustrations with flat, uniform colors, letterheads, and fonts.

Vector images are more flexible and versatile. You can scale them down, up easily and perfectly. They have also no resolution restriction and therefore they are not depended on the output device. And because vector images don’t have to handle millions of tiny pixels, these files are usually smaller than their raster sibling. You can easily recognize vector by looking at the edges, doesn’t matter how much you scale, they will always stay crystal clear and smooth.

One of the biggest disadvantages is the compatibility. They are often saved as native files from the programs they have been created in. Like Adobe Illustrator and their native .ai file. If I will use Affinity Designer to open .ai file, good, I will succeed. But if I will save a file with Affinity, I will not be able to open it with Illustrator. Another disadvantage is the limitation of effects. Vector will be never as a natural painting. It is just not possible. The best to print vector is PDF or EPS, which are producing the sharpest result.

THEREFORE MANY ARTISTS ARE COMBINING THESE TWO TOGETHER AS WELL.

Formats of vector images

.ai, .ait, .art, .svg, .pdf, .eps and many more

Popular programs used with vector vector graphics

Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer, Corel Draw, Sketch, Inkscape etc.,

In which hobbies or jobs I can use pixel graphic

Graphic designer, illustrator, printing publications design and others

Conclusion vector vs raster

It all depends on your project. Vectors are best for logos and illustrations. Raster images are classic for digital photography and are very often used for all graphic once they have been published digitally. If you want to repaint Mona Lisa on your iPad, you will not use vector unless you would like to look it as Picasso style Mona Lisa.

Raster images should be used if you require high lever detail (photos) and you don’t care much about by enlarging the image by a great amount. On the other hand vector you will use on images what requires tiny details and might be resized in the future.