Bets way to get crisper small text.

"Rock" wrote in message

Hi,

I have Corel 10 and PS7 and am doing some artwork done for a CD cover.
I have been told that they need the text converted to curves to get a crisper 7pt text.

You definitely need to move to something like Illustrator. PS is the wrong tool.

That said, there are some tiny fonts that are more susceptible to the degradation that PS necessarily imposes on type. Surf for "tiny fonts Photoshop".

In article <44da659c$0$22360$>,
Rock wrote:

I have Corel 10 and PS7 and am doing some artwork done for a CD cover.
I have been told that they need the text converted to curves to get a crisper 7pt text.

Ah, you’re working with an SFUP (Small F*cked Up Printshop), I see. Whoever told you that doesn’t knhow what he’s talking about. In a vector program like Illustrator or Corel, setting type at 7 points and converting it to curves gives identical results when it is output as setting type at 7 points and not converting it to curves. This is not a matter of opinion; it can be proven objectively by doing it both ways and then looking at the film or plate with a magnifier.

Corel 10 wont convert paragraph text to curves so I need to retype it all anyway.

Would it be better to retype in PS7 or in Corel in Artistic text?

If you use Photoshop, your text will come out very poorly. This sort of task should always be done in a vector program like Illustrator or CorelDRAW. Just leave your text as it is and tell the printer to output it as is. As long as they have the same fonts you are using installed, it’ll work fine.

Man, the bullshit that comes out of SFUPs sometimes is enough to make a grown man weep.

—
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tacit wrote:

setting type at 7 points and
converting it to curves

Anyone care to explain to the uninitiated what the concept of "converting type to curves" means? I doubt we’re talking text-on-a-curved-path here, or adding a curves adjustment layer to a type layer. :o)

"Derek Fountain" wrote in message

tacit wrote:

setting type at 7 points and converting it to curves

Anyone care to explain to the uninitiated what the concept of "converting type to curves" means? I doubt we’re talking text-on-a-curved-path here, or adding a curves adjustment layer to a type layer. :o)

I think it means the same as converting the text to lines! I notice with another programme I use, Serif DrawPlus, when converting text to curves, not only does the font become a sort of line drawing, but it becomes a closed line drawing, i.e. each line has an inner and outer edge which can be filled with colour, once converted, it is possible to alter the individual lines of any particular letter by way of nodes (much like the pen tool in Photoshop works)
Difficult to describe actually!!!!

In article <44db1c77$0$17997$>,
Derek Fountain wrote:

Anyone care to explain to the uninitiated what the concept of "converting type to curves" means? I doubt we’re talking text-on-a-curved-path here, or adding a curves adjustment layer to a type layer. :o)

Converting text to curves means taking the letters and changing them into vector shapes, so that they become graphic objects and are no longer text.

This is a one-way trip; once you do this, the text isn’t text any more and can not be edited as text any more. For example, if you type the word "dog," then convert it to curves, you end up with three vector pictures that are the shape of the letter "d", the shape of the letter "o", and the shape of the letter "g"–but to the computer, they are pictures, not text.

—
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"tacit" wrote in message

In article <44db1c77$0$17997$>,
Derek Fountain wrote:

Anyone care to explain to the uninitiated what the concept of "converting type to curves" means? I doubt we’re talking text-on-a-curved-path here, or adding a curves adjustment layer to a type layer. :o)

Converting text to curves means taking the letters and changing them into vector shapes, so that they become graphic objects and are no longer text.

Methinks you mean text must become RASTER objects before applying curves. No?

"John" wrote in message

Methinks you mean text must become RASTER objects before applying curves. No?

No, definitely not!
Text and Text converted to curves are both vector graphics, If you look at the image on the link, it shows the text before and after being converted to curves, once converted you will see that the curves (lines) can be adjusted via their nodes!
I used Serif Draw Plus for this, wonderful piece of software for all sorts of things!!
http://static.flickr.com/69/212770739_6877473896_o.jpg

"Harry Limey" wrote in message

"John" wrote in message

Methinks you mean text must become RASTER objects before applying curves. No?

No, definitely not!

I do appreciate the correction, Harry! I will look into it right away.

(Gosh, it sucks being as stupid as I am.)

Peace,

"j" wrote in message

"Harry Limey" wrote in message

"John" wrote in message

Methinks you mean text must become RASTER objects before applying curves. No?

No, definitely not!

I do appreciate the correction, Harry! I will look into it right away.
(Gosh, it sucks being as stupid as I am.)

Peace,

Nah, j
not knowing something perhaps makes you ignorant or unaware, uneducated but not stupid.
If you are open to learning new things you are not stupid, that is a sign of intelligence.
Stupid is when many knowageable users here give advice and then the OP comes back and tells us we are wrong, it won’t work, etc.
To see an illustrated definition of stupid :check out any link from perkoff the troll

"KatWoman" wrote in message

Nah, j
not knowing something perhaps makes you ignorant or unaware, uneducated but
not stupid.
If you are open to learning new things you are not stupid, that is a sign of intelligence.

I would only go so far as to say "unaware" myself, there are so many things to learn!

"A man’s errors are his portals of discovery." James Joyce

"Harry Limey" wrote

I would only go so far as to say "unaware" myself, there are so many things to learn!

Could you point me to the help about Curves and Text? I see Warp and transform, but no curves option.

Thanks very much!
j

"j" wrote in message

"Harry Limey" wrote

I would only go so far as to say "unaware" myself, there are so many things to learn!

Could you point me to the help about Curves and Text? I see Warp and transform, but no curves option.

Thanks very much!
j

There is no actual create Curves command – however if you create some text and then go to the layer menu > Type > Create work path (or convert to shape which seems to have the same effect) > and use the pen tool , add anchor point or convert point tool, you will have the text converted to curves! (never used this myself – I would use a vector programme for such work! Photoshop is essentially a tool for raster images!)

"Harry Limey" wrote:

There is no actual create Curves command – however if you create some text and then go to the layer menu > Type > Create work path (or convert to shape which seems to have the same effect) > and use the pen tool , add anchor point or convert point tool, you will have the text converted to curves! (never used this myself – I would use a vector programme for such work! Photoshop is essentially a tool for raster images!)

Ah, I see. No surprise there, but the information is very helpful, Sir. Thanks for that.

In article ,
"John" wrote:

Converting text to curves means taking the letters and changing them into vector shapes, so that they become graphic objects and are no longer text.

Methinks you mean text must become RASTER objects before applying curves. No?

No. They are vector shapes.

Think about opening Illustrator or CorelDRAW and drawing a shape with the Pen tool in the form of a square. Makes sense, right? The square is a vector, not raster, object; it’s a shape made from vector paths.

Now think about drawing a shape with the Pen tool in the form of, say, the letter "r". It is a vector shape; it is not text; you can not edit it with the Text tool. That is what converting text to curves does–it makes each letter into a vector object.

—
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tacit wrote:

Converting text to curves means taking the letters and changing them into vector shapes, so that they become graphic objects and are no longer text.

This is a one-way trip; once you do this, the text isn’t text any more and can not be edited as text any more.

Correct! So this should be done while you keep an editable copy.

Another disadvantage that: converting ANY text into vectors will result in little bit thicker characters in the final print. This will be pretty observable in small text, even if the outlines have no color and that the only ink used is the filling one. I don’t really know why, but this happens. This is a documented disadvantage.

For the OP, Some advises for small text:

1- Provide the service bureau with the document’s fonts. 2- For small BLACK text, it should be "overprinted". 3- If the small text (7 points or less) is not a part of a paragraph, use capital letters only.
3- Final golden advice for small text, use sans serif families, i.e. fonts without much decoration (such as Arial) to avoid edges fading (sometimes the hairy edges even disappear if the RIP line frequency is less than 133 LPI) in final print.

Mohamed Al-Dabbagh
Senior Graphic Designer

In article ,
"Mohamed Al-Dabbagh" wrote:

Another disadvantage that: converting ANY text into vectors will result in little bit thicker characters in the final print. This will be pretty observable in small text, even if the outlines have no color and that the only ink used is the filling one. I don’t really know why, but this happens. This is a documented disadvantage.

That depends on what resolution the final output is.

For on-screen text and text on most consumer-grade printers, this is true. The reason is that fonts contain "hinting"–special instructions describing the overall shape of the letters, for use on low-res devices. Hinting significantly improves the appearance of text on such devices, especially at small sizes.

On an imagesetter or other professional high-resolution output device, it doesn’t make any difference; the text prints the same either way. (I know; I’ve looked at type printed both ways on a 3600 dpi Agfa Avantra imagesetter, just to be sure.)

—
Art, photography, shareware, polyamory, literature, kink: all at http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
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