Workshop Notes

I've just finished a combination lock model and put it on the web site using BitPass. You can visit the page here.
The combination lock model is a downloadable project so it needs to be a compact file size.
To this end I've done the illustrations in vector format. This means that instead of using a photograph, a line drawing is used, the resulting files are approx. half the size.

So... starting with a photograph taken on a digital camera...

I import the picture into Illustrator and carefully draw round all the lines. Notice that the shapes are transparent at the moment. It can get a bit confusing with all the lines one on top of another but this way the whole picture remains visible. If I'm doing a particularly complex model I'll create different parts on different layers of the file, this allows me to hide parts that I am not working on.

The number outlines were added using the 'envelope distortion' tool within Illustrator. This lets me stretch and mould the numbers so that they fit into place over the photograph.

Finally, the photograph is deleted and the shapes are filled with colour. The finished result is a compact file and a picture which remains crisp even if you enlarge it!

Click here to download the file and have a go