Looking to design a Virklon sleeved aero race suit. I would need help with the vector aspect of it as I have no idea what that is or how to do it.
BUMP
Anyone care to help?
I’ll be interested to see how this is too. I had a custom one made from Epix and they wanted the pictures/logos in “Vector format”…which I had, and still have, no clue what that it is. Nor could anyone really tell me.
Most places, no clue about where you are getting yours, can take your Vector images and they’ll take your ideas and make one up and let you see a few proofs for you to decide on/make recommendations.
My custom designed gear should be showing up this morning. I went through champion systems.
Vector formatting, or vector graphics, are a design method that has infinite resolution. My understanding is that when you ‘draw’ something with vector graphics you’re really creating an equation that represents the image you see, this way no matter how much you blow it up there will never be errant pixels. It’s really important to do logos and whatnot in vector formats (.ai, .eps) so that when the item is blown up to actual size there is no pixelation. CorelDraw is a a solid vector graphics program that you can use for free for one month.
Bingo. Think of physics vectors. Magnitude and direction.
Everything is essential a reference so you can scale to your hearts content. If you used a certain resolution, the images would appear grainy and unprofessional.
Is there a way to downlaod graphics to Vector, or must a person recreate any design in that format?
Vector files are essentially lines instead of pixels. So you can’t really convert a raster (regular) image to vector aside from tracing in a design program.
Vector files are essentially lines instead of pixels. So you can’t really convert a raster (regular) image to vector aside from tracing in a design program.
A (nontrivial) way to do it would be to take a raster image at the highest available resolution and contrast, highpass filter to identify the lines in the design, then use a Bezier spline curve fitter to parametrize each line with a minimum-error constraint. That could all be automated, but for a one-off design it would be faster to just trace out the lines in Illustrator.
Depends on what you want done but I can help. I just got done doing my own designs for a custom kit that I am having done out of China.
Depends on what you want done but I can help. I just got done doing my own designs for a custom kit that I am having done out of China.
Thanks, I’ll shoot you a PM
I opened this expecting a reference to this thread. It is for a tattoo, but the same creative minds could surely come up with something great for race kit too.
The standard for vector graphics is Adobe Illustrator, which is what most professionals use but it may seem pricey.
Inkscape is an open source program which isn’t too bad and it’s also free, available for windows, linux, and likely for OS X.
Drawing with Bezier curves takes some practice, but it’s not too bad. Spot colors, bleeds, screens,tight registration, anything “pre-press” are things you may or may not have to concern yourself with, depending on how nice your supplier is.
See if you can find a local graphic designer in the tri community as they’ll have a better idea of how a tri-suit should look in terms of logo placement and how things will actually look when worn. Vector graphics basically allow the designer, the printing company and ultimately the printing machines themselves to be able to edit, alter and work on your art files easily and without damaging anything when they do. Software like Adobe Illustrator (gold standard), Corel Draw (easier to learn) and some open source software all output vector graphics. You can actually use powerpoint or similar software to output vector graphics but it’s going to be confusing and tough to do.
Vector files can be a bit confusing trying to explain them but they are in many ways the original copy of the art. They can be resized, pulled apart, recolored, layered on other pieces etc. What you usually see online, stuff like .jpg files, .gif files etc come from someone saving a vector file and stripping out all the info that allows it to be modified. Sure, you can go in and maybe change the overall color in a .jpg file but you’re more or less limited in what changes you can make. If your bike was a vector file, taking a picture of it and printing it out on paper would be the .jpg file (we also call these raster files). Yes, from a distance it will look just like your bike and it’s a lot more convenient to shlep around but good luck riding it or trying adjust the seat height on it. The .jpg is just to look at and that’s it where the vector contains all the nuts and bolts and is the real thing.
Again, search around in your local tri or cycling community and you’ll find a designer in there somewhere. I used to do a lot of design work for tri and cycling kits but had to stop due to other work commitments.
Good luck on the search! And good luck on understanding my post as re-reading it I’m already confused.
I think all we need is to have someone convert this into a vector format, and the OP should be ready for race season.
Non-vector graphics can be used if they are high enough resolution (I’d say 72pix/in min to avoid visible pixellation; 100 would be better). This may be fine for some sponsor logos, especially if they have a png/jpg file that is 1000+ pixels wide/tall. Fonts are also typically fully scalable, so you can use a huge font size and it won’t look pixellated.
I’ve done tri gear, bike jerseys, and 8’ tall banners in non-vector format.
In a past life, I worked several years in graphic design & pre-press and I would sometimes (very often actually) replace or doctor people’s low resolution images with high resolution equivalents because it was sometimes faster than making a request for them to change it themselves. Generally a raster image should be twice the line screen at the intended size for the intended output, which tends to set a requirement of about 300 dpi for normal things, maybe 600dpi for things with thin lines. Fonts are easily scaled because they’re designed as vector graphics and basically packaged with a wrapper of some font standard - BUT, typed fonts embedded in an image will not scale properly.
Anything can be printed, it’s just what level of quality you’re willing to accept, and it’s probably the printer that gets the blame for ugly output so they tend to make the call. Best thing to do is ask for some hard requirements or deliverable file requirements from the press where you’ll have the stuff made, that way there’s less surprises and or disappointments. Generally, you can’t go wrong with a press-ready PDF-X document, and maybe a carefully made *.eps file as second favorite, hard copy printed for reference, colors called out by Pantone swatches if you’re even considering complaining about hue differences… really depends on how loose you are with what you’re willing to accept, and maybe how much money you’re looking to spend.
Agree with you on 300dpi for print media. I’ve found 100dpi is fine for clothing since it is not viewed as up-close as marketing collateral is, and typically relies on line art vs. photographic images.
IME many companies doing sublimation printing ask for an eps file so they don’t print a low-res image that ends up looking pixellated and crappy. I’m sure they get a 300x100 jpg logo to print 12" wide across the chest of a jersey and then have the customer wonder why it looks so bad. Here’s a print example from an ad in LAVA. The font at the top is scalable and looks fine, while the logos below were from a low-res file and look pixellated.
I pulled this together using the Virklon template and Inkscape, which is free Vector graphics software. Never used Vector graphics before, but it didn’t take me too long to sort this. Only tricky bit I remember was that for the text I downloaded a special font which didn’t come out properly in their rendering. Their software treated it as a text element I think and basically picked the closest match, but it wasn’t the same. So I converted the text in my file into Vector objects… couldn’t tell you how today, just read about it and there was a tool in Inkscape to do that. The “Yorkshire Rose” on the back is a raster (ie pixel based) image that I just downloaded in decent res. Came out great.
