Professional Photo Sketch

I would like to show at least one more example about how detailed Photo Sketch drawings can be. This tool is capable of generating really well calculated fine strokes.

You can choose among several drawing styles with different detail levels. When using it, if your input photo/image already has very well defined, high contrast regions, turn the "Use smart strokes" option off.

Below I show a photo and a pencil sketch created from it. You can click the images for a full size viewing. More examples can be seen at this Photo Sketch gallery.

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A very efficient color picker

I developed Picture to People with a very powerful log. Analyzing the log I saw that there were many errors configuring the colors when using the effects. I realized that I have really many dummy users that don't understand what a "color in HTML hexadecimal style" is.

I always tried to make P2P absolutely easy (in fact, the easiest ever), but I forgot about the colors setting. My fault. To solve this problem once for all, I developed my own color picker component in javascript.

I projected it very carefully to have all important colors and to be very direct, efficient and user friendly. You always solve a color problem with two clicks: one to call the color picker (clicking the proper icon beside any color item) and one to set the color you want. When you call the component, it appears just close to your mouse and, when you choose a color, it is just written in the related color field. Below I show you how the color picker window looks like.

I coded the picker to mark any color cell (highlighting its borders in red as you see in the image) as the mouse pass over it. It works perfectly in Firefox and Chrome. This feature doesn't work in IE because it lacks some properties as defined by W3C. Anyway, the overall operation works in all three browsers.

I will always work hard to take professional Computer Graphics the easiest way for all.

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New professional effects to make pencil sketches from photos

I have released some days ago a new tool called Photo Sketch. It has state of art, next generation effects to transform even the more detailed photos into very realistic pencil sketches or drawings (like the ones professional artists make by hand).

Below I show you the result of turning a photo into a pencil sketch. This tool has several sketch effect styles to choose from, and each result image is composed by thousands or even millions of carefully chosen strokes. Depending on the style you select, these strokes can be very delicated and detailed.

You can transform your photos into pencil drawings as well. To see many other awesome examples about the power of this new Picture to People feature, have a good look at the Photo Sketch Gallery.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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