# Calligraphy photoshop



## kilroy214 (Oct 11, 2015)

I wrote out parts of some of my favorite poems in calligraphy, took pictures and tinkered around on the editor. I think they turned out pretty neat, and appropriate as we near Halloween.


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## Cran (Oct 12, 2015)

It's an interesting idea, as you say, topical, and if I understand your post, these are first attempts - so, well done. 

Of the three, the first (top) is the best of them - good overall balance, color blending, contrast and readability of the text (although the citation is a bit small at screen size), and the finishing touches (bleed and weathering at the edges) make it stand out. So, my recommendation, for what it's worth, is please do more like the first one.


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## salexzee (Oct 12, 2015)

Cran said:


> Of the three, the first (top) is the best of them - good overall balance, color blending, contrast and readability of the text (although the citation is a bit small at screen size), and the finishing touches (bleed and weathering at the edges) make it stand out.



I agree with Cran that the first one is the best. The darker writing on the light background makes it seem more crisp and makes it easier for me to read. Overall, I like all three of these and I'd love to see more from you.


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## kilroy214 (Oct 12, 2015)

Thank you guys. I have to say they looked better (and easier to read) in a large size like they were on my computer before I loaded them. I'm sure I missed something to have them load up in a smaller resolution. I think maybe winding back on the filter strengths and saturations on the editor will help make them easier to read.


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## popsprocket (Oct 12, 2015)

These look pretty good for being photo manipulations.

Do you have Illustrator? I ask because this sort of thing is a task that Illustrator excels at. You can take a photo of handwriting/drawing/pretty much anything (although if it's in black and white it's much easier) and then use a built-in tool to turn the text into a super-clear vector that is much more suitable for this kind of job. As far as the Adobe tools go, vectorising a raster image is one of the most powerful, especially if you want to digitise handwriting.


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## Cran (Oct 12, 2015)

kilroy214 said:


> Thank you guys. I have to say they looked better (and easier to read) in a large size like they were on my computer before I loaded them. I'm sure I missed something to have them load up in a smaller resolution. I think maybe winding back on the filter strengths and saturations on the editor will help make them easier to read.


There are all sorts of things that affect images, and some are outside of your control. Posting images here, for instance, is limited by the system's file filters, and no matter what resolution the original image might be, what others see when they open/download the page is modified by their screen resolutions and image settings (color temp and saturation, contrast, etc).

Don't let those things stop you. Do what works for you.


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## kilroy214 (Oct 12, 2015)

popsprocket said:


> These look pretty good for being photo manipulations.
> 
> Do you have Illustrator? I ask because this sort of thing is a task that Illustrator excels at. You can take a photo of handwriting/drawing/pretty much anything (although if it's in black and white it's much easier) and then use a built-in tool to turn the text into a super-clear vector that is much more suitable for this kind of job. As far as the Adobe tools go, vectorising a raster image is one of the most powerful, especially if you want to digitise handwriting.



I do have a photo editor on my home computer, though it's fairly ancient by electronics standards.
No, these were just edited using the editor on my LG cellphone. 


Cran said:


> There are all sorts of things that affect images, and some are outside of your control. Posting images here, for instance, is limited by the system's file filters, and no matter what resolution the original image might be, what others see when they open/download the page is modified by their screen resolutions and image settings (color temp and saturation, contrast, etc).
> 
> Don't let those things stop you. Do what works for you.



Gotcha, Cran. Onwards and upwards as they say.


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## kilroy214 (Oct 12, 2015)

Tried some more.



Dialed back the filter strength on this one



Then had some fun on the paper placemat at an Italian restaurant


That's Emily Brontë for anyone who cares.


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## kilroy214 (Oct 14, 2015)

Tinkered a bit more today. I need to work on getting my lettering to follow a straight line. They have a tendency to pull up as they end.

Revelation 6:8


Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas


Her strong enchantments failing by AE Housman





ETA: oh snap, I think that's a spelling error on the Dylan Thomas. Craps.


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