Inkscape guide for OotS avatars

[Yeril]

@^ You call it the gutter, We call it "Epic uses of the Great Cleave Feat".

Anyway, back on topic yeah, I would like to see transparency and magical effects been shown.

Great tutorial though.

[Shades of Gray]

When I try to drag the head on top of the body it goes see-through. I can see how this would be a cool effect but I prefer my characters opaque How do I change it to look normal when I have 2 objects on top of each other?

[Lyinginbedmon]

When I try to drag the head on top of the body it goes see-through. I can see how this would be a cool effect but I prefer my characters opaque How do I change it to look normal when I have 2 objects on top of each other?

You've probably got at least one of the items set to partial transparency. Go to the Fill and Stroke box and check if the bottom bar is set to 100%. If it is, try checking the bottom bar for the individual fill and stroke sections, which should be at or near 255 for total opaque.

[Shades of Gray]

it says that the fill and stroke of all my objects is full opacity

I fixed it. Now how do I save it as something Photobucket can open? All it says is that I can save it as things like svg, pdf, and stuff. But no JPEG, GIF, or PNG settings.

[Ego Slayer]

You can use File>Export for png. You don't want jpeg because it's a poor file type and doesn't support transparency. The only way you can make it gif is if you import the svg into another gif-capable vector program, or if you import a png into GIMP.

Speaking of GIMP, you might want to add that, Traz, if you know about that part... it does make the quality a little weird, but it was in the first guide, and it is a semi-useful tool for those without other gif-capable programs.

[Shades of Gray]

behold! Avatar!



Wow, I will definitely start using this!

The one thing that didn't work was the thing about sharpening nodes in the female drawing section. That didn't work for me/ wasn't explained enough for me.

[Heroic]

Hi everyone,

I'm a fan of Inkscape, and I'm glad to see so many people using Inkscape here too. Since Inkscape is extemely well suited for making Order of the Stick avatars, I've written up a guide on how I made my current avatar.

Learning Inkscape - An Order of the Stick Avatar Guide

Here's the avatar I step through how to make in the guide:


If there's anything unclear, please post here and I'll try to fix it. I'm also happy to hear suggestions for how to improve the guide - it currently finishes quite abruptly and I'm still thinking of what to add next.

Hope this is useful, and that you have fun with Inkscape!

:Hero 1.0: Wow... this.. is incredibly convenient

[Yareth]

Hi everyone,

I'm a fan of Inkscape, and I'm glad to see so many people using Inkscape here too. Since Inkscape is extemely well suited for making Order of the Stick avatars, I've written up a guide on how I made my current avatar.

Learning Inkscape - An Order of the Stick Avatar Guide

Here's the avatar I step through how to make in the guide:


If there's anything unclear, please post here and I'll try to fix it. I'm also happy to hear suggestions for how to improve the guide - it currently finishes quite abruptly and I'm still thinking of what to add next.

Hope this is useful, and that you have fun with Inkscape!

Great tutorial! After reading it, I realized that there are so many tools in Inkscape that would make my OotS avatar drawings much easier. Thanks to this tutorial, I now know how to use layers, and turn objects into paths (as well as several other helpful tips and tricks). I am going to bookmark your webpage.

[Maulrus]

This tutorial has opened my eyes. Behold, my first creation:



I am going to have a fun night making stuff in Inkscape.

[Trazoi]

@Shadow Addict: It looks pretty good! The image seems a bit squished though; is that just from the export from Inkscape?

I'm now on holiday for a week so I've got some time to spend on hobby stuff. I should be able to spare some time after Christmas to add in another tutorial or two - I'll see what I can get done. I'll check this thread then to see if there's anything in particular people would like to see.

[Maulrus]

Yeah, it went through Photoshop for some reason and got stretched there.

Also, I think a face/head tutorial would be nice. Hair and mouths are kind of hard.

[xwd]

I "followed" this tutorial (I skipped a couple steps) and got this.

That's a rough representation of me. My hair really is that bad. :P I got bored so I gave myself a zip-up hoodie (the hood is obscured by my hair) and pants. I was gonna write something on the hoodie, but it didn't show up so well so I dropped it.
I was planning on adding an assault rifle, but I haven't found the time yet. Kinda tricky to get the shape right. I'm uptight about that 'cause I mod Soldat and that makes me really picky about shapes. But, I took your advice about reference images and it's starting to look good.
For my first thing ever made in Inkscape, I think it's pretty good. It's better than what I could've made in MS Paint, at least. I'm not very good with MS Paint.
It does leave room for expansion. Like, say, curling up in a corner listening to a MP3 player. Or busting some hot licks on a guitar. Or dual-wielding pie slices into my mouth. The possibilities are endless.
In any case, thanks for the great tutorial. I now know how to tweak polygons to my will now.

[Heroic]

wow! I finally learned hoo make OotS Avatars! Proof in my avatar

[Emperor Ing]

I just got a question.
I DL'd inkscape not too long ago, read the guide, and making great progress in learning it
But I need to know how to fit the size of the whole image into the size I want. Any help?

[Heroic]

wow! I finally learned how to make OotS Avatars! Proof in my avatar

[Ichneumon]

This guide is awesome.

[Adghar]

I am an Adobe Illustrator user and/or/but I heartily endorse the use of this product and/or service.

Also, instead of layers, I personally prefer AI's move forward/backward and move to front/back keyboard shortcuts, ctrl+[ and ctrl+] and shift+ctrl+[ and so on, but that
-may be a personal choice
-may not be available for inkscape users.

Will investigate possibility two now. Expect an edit within four moments.

---

Ye gods, it's even easier in inkscape. One can simply use pgup, pgdn, home, and end. However I see the merit in layers if you are using references, as the references may accidentally be edited if you simply use raise/lower. Also you might have mentioned this already and I didn't notice it, because I was skimming the guide. However, if you have not mentioned it, it would be worth a mention the uses of pgup, pgdn, home, and end.

[Heroic]

Thank you Trazoi, this guide has taught me how to create OotS Images. Thanks to you, I will finally create my webcomic.

Coming February 2008!
DUN, DUN, DUUUNNN!

[Lyinginbedmon]

I just got a question.
I DL'd inkscape not too long ago, read the guide, and making great progress in learning it
But I need to know how to fit the size of the whole image into the size I want. Any help?

You can select everything, click the lock symbol inbetween the sizes in the top, and then change the sizes until they hit your maximum dimension, or you can do the same last step using the Export box. The latter method is easier because you only have to click Cntrl+E and start messing with the numbers (Which stay relative to each other)

[Rayzin]

Can you turn it into a GIF or any other usable form like JPEG?

[Heroic]

I don't know if its possible, but I nominate this thread for stickiness!

[Rayzin]

That sucks... I made a avatar but i cant upload it onto image shack or anything

[Omicroncubed]

You need to export it as a bitmap through CTRL+SHIFT+E before uploading

[Ava]

I think this is a really good guide to help someone (who may or may not have any artistic skills) use Inkscape to make a good-looking OOTS character. I may try it myself and see if it's faster than using MS Paint. So far I've only used Inkscape for adding magical/translucent effects.

I have one problem with the guide though... if you follow these instructions, you're virtually tracing another artist's work and changing the clothes and hair to make your own character. Mimicking someone's style is complimentary, but tracing and calling it your own w/ out permission of the original artist is a grey area. Just be careful and make sure that you make your avatar your own art.

[Trazoi]

I have one problem with the guide though... if you follow these instructions, you're virtually tracing another artist's work and changing the clothes and hair to make your own character. Mimicking someone's style is complimentary, but tracing and calling it your own w/ out permission of the original artist is a grey area. Just be careful and make sure that you make your avatar your own art.

I was a bit concerned about that when I made the tutorial, but the problem with OotS avatars is that getting the proportions right is a crucial part of making it look OotS. Getting the basic body shape correct is important, and in Inkscape there isn't any reason not to draw on top of your reference material rather than draw just next to it.

I also wrote the tutorial that way because it's very close to what I do with original art. I always start by making a rough draft first, either by scanning in a pencil drawing or by scribbling down some guides with the calligraphy tool within Inkscape itself. Then I make a new layer and make the shapes right on top of my scribbled draft drawing.

I don't think it's too much of a problem as long as everyone realises that

• you're making Order of the Stick avatars; the style comes from the hard work of Rich Burlew
• use this guide as a springboard for your own unique art

[Lyinginbedmon]

My artwork evolved in a distinct path:

1. Direct, copy-paste, using MSPaint
2. Removal of all OotS pixels, replaced with personal MSPaint pixels, producing something of a distinct lower quality
3. InkScape duplication of previes MSPaint artwork
4. Constant, constant, constant minor alterations

So my style started off as a copy of another (The Great Rich Burlew) and then into a copy of my own copy. I could say "copy of a copy is less quality", as any fan of Stargate SG-1 will tell you, or I could call it Post-Mimetic Evolution.

Yeah, that's not a deliberate defense of copyright violation, I stopped after a very short period, but it is an example of mimicry becoming a new art style.

[Uncle Festy]

This is really cool, I'm working on my first avatar.
One thing to note: There are different body sizes. For instance, Elan's body is tall and thin, whereas Roy's is shorter and wider.

[Jimblee]

Awesome tutorial! Heres my first avatar:



And a few hours later, my second:




I have no artistic skills whatsoever, so this really helped

[Uncle Festy]

This guide is made of pure win. The Guide is Dead! Long Live The Guide!


-Uncle Out

[Bayar]

This guide is made of pure win. The Guide is Dead! Long Live The Guide!

No it's not, Trazoi said he/she will make some more...for advanced stuff, like spellcasting and stuff...