What is Picture to People ?

"Picture to People" (P2P) is a huge Computer Graphics project. It was started to create new softwares able to make 2D drawing, 3D rendering, vexel drawing, text effects, photo effects, image filtering and other complex Computer Graphics operations. It has been made from scratch, including its low level Computer Graphics libraries like Maccala. Nowadays, most final features produced for this project are released as free online tools available from its official website. This blog talks about Computer Graphics, mainly concerning Picture to People development.

"Only who makes has true knowledge. Knowledge is control. True power depends on total control. Only who makes from scratch has the real power."

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Smoke text example 2

Yet another example to show you how this new Picture to People renderer can create very different smoke styles.

Some of my beta testers said when they saw this kind of smoke: "Hey, I can use it to make clouds!". Don't worry about it. I intend to make a new renderer focused on drawing clouds in future. Anyway, while it's not ready, if you think like that too ... it's up to you. You can use it anyhow you want.

Another good thing about this smoke effect in particular is that it destroys the font face very little when compared to some other smoke styles. Click the image for full-size viewing. Create your own image by using this smoke text generator.

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Sunday, November 7, 2010

Smoke text example

Now Picture to People has a feature with several smoke styles, so I will show you another example about what you can get using the Smoke Text tool.

It's impossible to draw a realistic smoke without mixing it with the environment. When you go to use these effects, keep in mind that the background color you select takes a big influence over the final result. Of course, the font you choose makes a big difference too.

This smoke you see below is more like the kind that fade up from cigarettes than the other I have shown before. In nature, the looking of a smoke depends on the burning material, the amount of firing stuff, the heat level, etc. Click the image to enlarge.

I'm always working hard to develop new, innovative, professional graphic tools for you, everything free and very easy to use. Wait for more surprises in some weeks.

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Saturday, October 30, 2010

Professional smoke text effects

I'm proud to announce that I have just released a new advanced tool totally dedicated to smoke text rendering.

I discovered some time ago that text made of smoke is one of the more desired text effects by designers and graphic users, so I put a very big effort on this development. It was really hard to make, but it's finally ready to use.

This new feature has several different smoke generators, so you can generate most smoke styles you see in nature. You can even choose the background color of your image (it is a hard thing to make when dealing with this kind of procedural algorithm).

This tool has more than 100 font faces to choose from and the selected font make an important role in the final result. For sure there are a lot of possibilities to be explored!

Below I show you an example of one of the smoke styles that can be made using this new software (click to enlarge).

Get your own effect by using this new, professional smoke text generator.

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Friday, October 22, 2010

What is going on with Picture to People?

This blog is not over. I have been posting very few currently, but for a very good reason. I'm spending all my spare time developing new tools to Picture to People project.

I'm working very hard to create new amazing text effects. I'm doing my best to make them so advanced as I would like. I want to create effects that you couldn't get easily, even using the most expensive desktop graphic software.

Wait for some surprises in next weeks.

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Typography books

Very often people send me emails asking about fonts and typography. Many times they have simple questions more related to font styles and usages, but I don't have time to answer everybody.

So I decided to give here a more general tip: I will suggest the best introductory books about typography I have read so far. Usually they focus on a design point of view.

Here is the book list in random order:

* The Complete Manual of Typography - James Felici;
* The Elements of Typographic Style - Robert Bringhurst;
* Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students (Design Briefs) - Ellen Lupton;
* Designing with Type: The Essential Guide to Typography - James Craig, William Bevington, Irene Korol Scala;

Hope you enjoy.

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Monday, September 6, 2010

3D text effects

Now Picture to People has a tool to draw "true" 3D texts. The effects you get using this renderer are really created using three-dimensional modeling and rendering algorithms and not 2D tricks.

This new feature has some rendering styles and several 3D models to choose from. It is really easy to use and prevents you from dealing with angles, axis, coordinates and other Math concepts you don't want to care about.

Below I show you two examples about what you can get there:

Get your own 3D texts using this 3D text effects tool.

I have been developing complex Computer Graphics tools for a long time. I'm really very exhausted. I need some time to rest.


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Friday, August 20, 2010

New text effects

I have just released 12 new text effects in Picture to People project.

There are new features for:
- metallic text effects;
- silver text effects;
- wood text effects.

The new Picture to People text renderer already has more than 150 easy to use, professional text effects. You can use all of them starting from this text generator catalog.

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Friday, July 30, 2010

Turning photos into text

The new Picture to People tool doesn't work only for simple images. You can even draw your favorite photos with text.

Usually it's a good idea use high contrast pictures. If you need, pre-process your photos before applying the effect. The pre-processing can be made using the Picture to People image editor.

Below I show an example about what the Typographic Photo effect can make.

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Friday, July 23, 2010

Drawing images using text

Since I started releasing Picture to People tools online, people have been asking for a tool to draw pictures with text.

I have finally created this renderer and it's already online. It tries to keep the original image information as much as possible, and there is a configuration parameter to inform if you want prioritize the input image contours or the font rendering.

There are many font faces to choose from and you can draw even complex photos. It's a good idea to use good contrast input images.

Below I show an example of an input image and its drawing made of text.

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Tuesday, July 6, 2010

A tool to mix photos and typography

I stopped developing my light library for a while.

I have seen some artworks a couple days ago that inspired me to create a new cool effect. This new one involves photos and typography too.

I'm developing it nowadays and I'm really excited about that. I'm sure this new Picture to People tool will be useful for a lot of people in many situations.

As the programming evolves, I will show here some results and examples.

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