Help with sprites

[JoeFirebrand]

Hi, I tried to make sprites with photoshop and Corel Draw but they are so damned jagged! Does anyone know how can I make them smoother?

[Darth Mandarb]

There is a secret option in Photoshop ...

You have to hit CTRL-T then hit 7 2 3 0 0 1 1 and then CTRL-SHFT-F9

This will add a new secret menu option in the File menu up top called "Special Sprite Creation" and in there you'll see an option for "Practice, practice, practice"

Works for me everytime.

Seriously ... you need to provide more information.  What you should probably do is post it in the Critics Lounge so people can actually see (and then maybe understand what you mean).

This thread certainly doesn't belong in here ...

[m0ds]

I left it here in case someone could offer any advice on the fly, which you did. And like you say, too little information to warrant moving it into Critics Lounge really. So, Joe, if you're able to post some screenshots, we can move it and you'll probably get a bigger response

[Ashen]

Sorry, I moved this from BTQ - where it REALLY didn't belong - but couldn't think of a more appropriate place for it. (Other than just deleting it.)

[Esseb]

While I appreciate snarky comments about practice as much as anyone else, it might perhaps be more helpful to point out to JoeFirebrand that his problem is most likely caused by him using the Brush instead of the Pencil to draw (Photoshop). In the tool bar press and hold the Brush option, which will let you switch to the Pencil.

Photoshop isn't very suitable for sprites in general though, and a specialised program such as Pro Motion or Graphics Gale might be better to use.

[Ali]

I'm not sure what you're asking exactly. If it a question of aesthetics, Darth's advice is the best to follow. Or post your efforts in the Critics Lounge for analysis.

On the other hand. You might be looking for anti-aliasing. Anti-aliasing gets rid of the stair-stap 'jaggies' you get around lines on a computer monitor.

In Corel Draw, if you select View>Enhanced, your work will display with anti-aliased edges. If you follow the link in my signature, you'll see characters drawn in Corel Draw.

If you'll play the game you'll see that anti-aliasing can also be tricky when it comes to transparency. Unless the game is 32bit you can't have smooth edges on your sprite and, like my game, the edges will by jagged.

[Darth Mandarb]

it might perhaps be more helpful to point out to JoeFirebrand that his problem is most likely caused by him using the Brush instead of the Pencil to draw (Photoshop).

Agreed.  However, what he posted was FAR too vague to start offering up advice.  I mean ... jagged?  If you're drawing with the pencil tool what do you think would happen?  Did he resize (shrink or grow?) the image after drawing it?  What tool(s) was he using?  What color depth?  Which program did what? (since he mentioned Photoshop AND Corel - two totally different proggies).  Are we supposed to just use our imaginations to visualize the results?

I'm all about helping a brotha out ... but come on.  It was a silly post without anything NEAR enough information.

Photoshop isn't very suitable for sprites in general though

In that regard I'd have to completely disagree.  I would agree that photoshop might have a steep learning curve, but I refuse to believe there's ANYthing I couldn't do in Photoshop that those other proggies you mentioned can do.  Granted, I haven't used them, so I could be wrong.  But I doubt it.

[zabnat]

But the right answer to original smoothing question would have been ofcourse "Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur -> radius 10 pixels, and there you have very smooth sprites "

Photoshop isn't very suitable for sprites in general though

In that regard I'd have to completely disagree.  I would agree that photoshop might have a steep learning curve, but I refuse to believe there's ANYthing I couldn't do in Photoshop that those other proggies you mentioned can do.  Granted, I haven't used them, so I could be wrong.  But I doubt it.

I agree with Darth Mandarb with this. I have successfully used Photoshop for making sprites and even animating them, granted that some things can be easier using some other programs...

[MrColossal]

Photoshop is extremely suitable for sprites.

However a sprite is a broad term. Every one of my games [after alien test game] was made exclusively in photoshop and imageready and it's all I needed. Now, do I want a sprite with a specific colour palette and still have options like darken, lighten, all that stuff? You don't want to use photoshop. Palette manipulation is downright impossible in photoshop. I tried so hard to come up with a workflow to manipulate palettes easily in PS and I wasted a weekend. I had ghormak write a program for me in AGS so I could edit palettes when all I really needed to do was use a program ment for that sort of thing [promotion being my favorite now].

[Esseb]

Substitute "very suitable" with "intended for". Happy now?