TIEBIAOJI SketchUp Tutorials

Importing and editing strokes drawn on paper

• What is Meridian Tapping and How Can It Help

Here are the steps for importing and editing the strokes drawn on a piece of paper. You need a graphics editing program to handle these chores that lets you organize your work in separate layers. The steps below explain by using Photoshop as an example, but you could use Adobe Fireworks, Corel Paint Shop Pro, or a free program like the GIMP (www.gimp.org) or Paint.NET (http://paint.net/).

If you used a graphics tablet to draw strokes, you need to do only the editing part of these steps:

1. Scan the page with the hand-drawn strokes into your computer, and then open the document in Photoshop.

This step varies according to your scanner. If you're using Photoshop, you can scan a document directly into the program by using File ^ Import. Then choose your scanner from the list of devices. If you scan directly into Photoshop, the scanned file opens in a Photoshop window; otherwise you need to locate and open it.

2. Choose File ^ Open, and open the strokes template file stroke_template.png.

At this point you have two files open in separate windows: stroke_template.png and the scanned file with your hand-drawn strokes.

3. Make the window with the hand-drawn strokes active, and then choose the Rectangular Marquee (M) tool.

Your cursor changes to a cross.

4. Use your mouse scroll wheel or the Zoom (Z) tool to zoom in on one of the strokes.

You need to edit your strokes one a time, and it's best to zoom in so you have a clear view of the stroke you're working on.

5. Drag to place a rectangle around a stroke.

Make the marquee so that it just touches the stroke on both ends.

The stroke is copied to the Clipboard.

7. Switch to the template document, and then press Ctrl+V (C-V on a Mac).

You've pasted the stroke into the template document. Photoshop automatically creates a new layer for the stroke.

8. Drag a marquee around the stroke a second time.

You need to select the stroke again before you can move and edit it.

9. Move the cursor over the selected stroke, and then drag it into position over the proper box on the template.

The cursor changes to an arrow when it's over the selected stroke.

Handles appear around the stroke showing that it's in free transform mode, as shown in Figure 15-5. You can drag the handles to stretch and shrink the stroke. If you hold the cursor over one of the corner handles, the cursor changes to a curved arrow, and you can rotate the selected stroke.

11. Resize and rotate the stroke so it fits snugly in the template box.

The ends of the stroke should touch the ends of the box in the template. The ends should also center on the marks on the sides of the box. Make sure the background is white, not gray or speckled. Sometimes scanned images need to be cleaned up a little.

Tip: Change your Photoshop preferences to display pixels. (In Windows, go to Edit ^ Preferences ^ Units & Rulers. On a Mac, go to Photoshop ^ Preferences ^ Units & Rulers.) Then open the Info window (Window ^ Info). The "W" value in the Info window shows you the width of the selection in pixels. This width should be the same as the width for the stroke. For example, the W value should be 64 when you've selected a stroke that's 64 pixels long. If it isn't, adjust the length when you're in Free Transform mode.

Free Transform handle

End marks

Free Transform handle

End marks

Figure 15-5:

Using Photoshop, you edit strokes to make sure they're the right length and that the ends center on the marks at the sides of the boxes. The Edit ^ Free Transform command gives you the controls to make both types of edits.

Figure 15-5:

Using Photoshop, you edit strokes to make sure they're the right length and that the ends center on the marks at the sides of the boxes. The Edit ^ Free Transform command gives you the controls to make both types of edits.

12. Repeat these steps for each of the strokes.

It's a little tedious tweaking all the strokes so that they match up with the template, but the payoff is worth it. If you want, after you've pasted in all the strokes, you can select the layers in the Layers window and merge them into one layer by right-clicking the selected layers and choosing Merge from the shortcut menu.

After you finish copying, pasting, and editing, save your strokes template in its .png file. In the next steps, you load this file and all your new strokes into the Style Builder program.

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