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Forums - Think Draw Feedback - A New BIG Request

AuthorComment
1. 14 Mar 2009 21:09

anotherronism

I know the themes are established.

And we got Repeat and Save Draft...

But...

My biggest request to date is this:

Would it be possible - and does anyone agree with the idea - of having non-anti-aliased theme elements.

For those non-techies - anti-aliasing is the filling in of half-pixels with an intermediary color on the edge of a graphic tomake it more appealing to the eye.

But this is where the white edging comes from at certain zoom-levels on many of the theme elements.

If ever there was a proper place for non-anti-aliased images it would be TD.

I know retro-fitting the elements would be next toimpossible but the next theme - Puh-lease! No Antialiasing!

2. 14 Mar 2009 21:12

matthew

... I agree 100% with whatever the hell he just said ...

3. 14 Mar 2009 22:00

DMarla

I'd probably agree to it if I knew what you were talking about. I trust you, if it goes to a vote I will vote for it.

4. 15 Mar 2009 05:45

Login

Ron, I'm totally anti-alias the idea ... I havn't a clue what it means.

5. 15 Mar 2009 08:22

Qsilv

Interesting idea... I'm unsure. (Mostly I suspect I lack Ron's screensize/zoomfactor! LOL)

Anti-aliasing is the "softening" of edges of the tiny pixels ("PICture ELements") you see on your computer monitor. It's a visual trick achieved just as Ron said.

Without it, everything looks hard-edged, and any line running on any angle other than exactly up/down or left/right shows a jagged stair-step effect.



6. 15 Mar 2009 08:34

anotherronism

Thanks QSilv... That's exactly right.

But it effects TD specifically and it is inconcsistently applied.

Here's an example.

Got into Animals and start a new drawing. Layer the Dog Nose over itself to the right and down a few times. The nose does not blend perfectly with itself due to the way it is lighted. But it's edge is a solid color.

Now go into Fruit and do the same test with the Black Cherry (I think that's what it is - the top left piece of fruit.)

Notice that this picture does not tile as well because it has a whitish border. That whitish border work very well for a single piece of that fruit against a light background but makes it almost impossible to use the Black Cherry to tile a solid color field.

If you play around in all the Themes with various zooms you'll see the inconsistencies. Some elements tile really well and others do not.

Many times this is due to the actual edge itself (i.e. Cat Ears and Fur) but oft-times it's the false edge put in by a graphics program somewhere.

The upshot is - techincal details aside - without anti-aliasing we would have a much better time of it trying to make SMOOTH layering and more solid colors.

All my best work has been in Animals because there are elements there which blend better than almost all the other Themes.

7. 15 Mar 2009 08:47

Qsilv

mmm... 'k... I see your point. The inconsistency is a bit of an issue, all right. And there are certainly times I've muttered over my inability to find an edge I can seam decently. But it seems to me that it's more of a matter of the original choices made for where the edges fall in the jigsaw cut.

Let me think on this some more. (ie... I need the magic T's-- tea.. toast... time... *twinkly grin)

8. 15 Mar 2009 09:25

five

You can zoom in? Who knew

Lots of folks just put together pieces, dog ears with dog face to make a dog, flower petals with flower petals to make a flower, etc. Without anti-aliasing, would folks who are not trying to make solid backgrounds or fill-ins have more trouble with the way their images look, would images that compile pieces look more stair stepped/pixelated at the edges?

I get the desire to make solid backgrounds or seam pieces ... the question is would most people's work look better or worse without anti-aliasing.

9. 15 Mar 2009 14:54

mostblessedone

I had noticed the white halo around some pieces at times. Didn't know it had a fancy name.

How about this: an anti-aliasing on/off button!

Being a technical ignoramous, I can blythely make such suggestions, for I have no idea of the possibleness of such a thing.

10. 15 Mar 2009 22:18

Qsilv

Interestingly enough, anti-aliasing can be 'turned on' or 'turned off' as a choice of how to handle Fonts in the major graphics programs (even in fairly early ones like PaintShopPro). Might not work in TD tho'.

I'm still not convinced (I'm really fond of softened edges)... but.. it would just be one more specialized palette, after all, like Faces and Gothic, only adding more colors --and blends WITHIN the pieces, right?

It's that wider range of colors that make the Animals palette so useful.


11. 16 Mar 2009 11:29

anotherronism

Folks: I am NOT suggesting a retro-fit to the existing Themes. It was just a suggestion for future Themes (if any).

And Five: I don't do it iften except on my "precision stuff" which I still have a headache from doing ["At the End of Time" was one of these.] I used a utility in Windows called Magnifier which is a tool for the visually impaired [ Start | All Programs | Accessories | Accessibility | Magnifier ]

This utility has actually been more hindrence than aid for any other type of work on TD.

I recently found another Zoom tool in my Graphics adapter utilities which would work better for TD but not every computer would have it.

And for people compiling preset images together (car face, cow face etc...) anti-aliasing would actually hinder their effort as the soft edge would show as a visible seem. I think that's why Animals hardly uses it at all but Candy uses it all over the place.