2D Archives

Ramblings, Tips and Tricks around 2D drawing apps such as Photoshop, Manga Studio, SketchBook and the likes.

How to insert special characters with the Text Tool in Clip Studio Paint

by

I’ve been having a hard time pasting in special characters from a script in Clip Studio Paint. I mean those that you don’t commonly find on a US keyboard, like German Umlaut characters or French accents. Although the characters arrive where they should via copy/paste from another app, the font does not match. I couldn’t …

Read moreHow to insert special characters with the Text Tool in Clip Studio Paint

How to use Symmetry with the Eraser Tool in Clip Studio Paint

by

To draw with symmetry, we can create a symmetrical ruler and start drawing with any brush we like. When we switch over to the eraser tool however, only one part of our line is erased. In other words, it won’t obey symmetry by default. It’s relatively easy to make that happen, albeit so unintuitive that …

Read moreHow to use Symmetry with the Eraser Tool in Clip Studio Paint

How to create a Clipping Layer in Clip Studio Paint

by

Photoshop has a neat feature that lets us make adjustments only to the layer directly underneath, rather than all layers on the stack. It’s called a Clipping Layer. Clip Studio Paint has the same feature, but it doesn’t work by ALT-clicking in between layers. Instead, right-click on the adjustment layer (left thumbnail, NOT the mask), …

Read moreHow to create a Clipping Layer in Clip Studio Paint

How to mirror an image layer in Clip Studio Paint

by

Image Layers can be rotated, flipped and mirrored in Clip Studio Paint. Choose the Object Selection tool (cube icon), then select the layer and take a look at the Tool Properties. There are two icons with arrows here, one to mirror the layer from left to right, the other to flip it upside down. Hope …

Read moreHow to mirror an image layer in Clip Studio Paint

How to turn Blending Options into independent Layers in Photoshop

by

Sometimes it can be hand to turn anything that’s created via Blending Options into discreet and separate layers. Things like drop shadows, outer glows, pattern overlays, that sort of thing. That way we can process them separately or make adjustments or erase parts of those constructions that we otherwise couldn’t do. I keep forgetting how …

Read moreHow to turn Blending Options into independent Layers in Photoshop

How to pair and use your Clip Studio TABMATE Controller 😍

by

I just got hold of a Clip Studio TABMATE controller. It’s a little Bluetooth gadget you hold in your left hand while you’re drawing on a tablet with the other (or vice versa). I always wanted one of those so I don’t have to stretch my arm to reach a bazillion shortcut keys, and to …

Read moreHow to pair and use your Clip Studio TABMATE Controller 😍

How to draw panels and snap them to the Grid in CLIP Studio Paint

by

The process of drawing panels for your comic might seem a little intimidating when you first try it out in CLIP Studio Paint. We all feel that way. Once you get used to it, you’ll be flying around. Let me show you how it works. You can create panels in two ways: either by using …

Read moreHow to draw panels and snap them to the Grid in CLIP Studio Paint

How to retain a pixelated retro look when scaling images in Photoshop

by

I’ve been making some thumbnails for my Stardew Valley streams on YouTube, using low-res pixel artwork to reference the characters. My thumbnails are much larger than the original artwork, so I had to resize them in Photoshop. However, when I did this, I’ve noticed that Photoshop was trying to “smooth” the pixels as good as …

Read moreHow to retain a pixelated retro look when scaling images in Photoshop

How to edit audio samples on the Premiere Timeline

by

Sometimes one frame is just too large a step when you’re editing audio in Premiere Pro. Thankfully we can infinitely expand the steps in the timeline by showing Audio Time Units. To do that, find the super tiny nondescript hamburger icon in the timeline, just above the timecode display. Click it and choose Show Audio …

Read moreHow to edit audio samples on the Premiere Timeline

How to add a second single-app plan to Adobe Creative Cloud

by

Only days after reverting from my All Apps Creative Cloud subscription to the Photography Plan, I’m already missing Premiere Pro badly. I had hoped to live without it, but I must admit I love it too much 😍 I thought there would be an easy way to add the Premiere Plan to my existing Photography …

Read moreHow to add a second single-app plan to Adobe Creative Cloud

How to switch to the Adobe Photography Plan as a current subscriber of Creative Cloud

by

Last year I’ve signed up for the All Apps Creative Cloud plan, at a reduced rate of $30 a month. I only ever used Photoshop and Premiere and never tried any of the other apps. In two days, Adobe will start charging me $52.99 a month. That’s too much for me right now 😢 I …

Read moreHow to switch to the Adobe Photography Plan as a current subscriber of Creative Cloud

Where does Premiere Pro 2020 store auto save files

by

Ever since the past Premiere Pro update, my computer likes to reset itself randomly, particularly during rendering. I should have never hit that update button. Note to self: NEVER update software (or hardware) when everything is working well in principle – no matter how many nags you get. With that mishap on my hands, I …

Read moreWhere does Premiere Pro 2020 store auto save files

How to bring back Legacy Shapes in Photoshop

by

My friends at Adobe have done it again: remove frequently used features from Photoshop and replace them with stuff nobody has ever asked for. Case in point: the terrible default shapes that we’ve had (and disliked) for the last 30 years. I recently made the mistake of updating Photoshop, with the intention of drawing a …

Read moreHow to bring back Legacy Shapes in Photoshop

How to import WebP images into Photoshop

by

In this episode I’ll show you how to use WebP images in Photoshop. Currently Photoshop (2020) does not have native support for this file format, so we’ll need a plugin made by the developers (Google) to make it happen. It’s aptly titled WebPShop. While the code is open source, it’s not immediately obvious to non-hackers …

Read moreHow to import WebP images into Photoshop

How to create a sequence with a custom aspect ratio in Premiere Pro

by

The other day I was stumped with what felt like an easy task: create a non-standard video in Premiere Pro, whose final output was supposed to be 1920×120. As wide as 1080p, but only a small strip in height. That should be simple, right? Well technically it is, but as it often happens, the official …

Read moreHow to create a sequence with a custom aspect ratio in Premiere Pro

How to delete multiple projects in iMovie

by

I edit most of my bike videos in iMovie on macOS. It’s quick and easy for what I need to do, and although it’s not a professional editing package, it’s very good for quick tasks. And it’s free if you own a Mac (or at least it once came free with it).

Over time I’ve amassed a huge library of videos that are still part of my library, and there comes a time at which even the biggest hard disk runs out of space. I already knew that I could delete a single project by selecting the project from the home page, then using the little disclosure menu on the bottom right and select Delete Project.

Read moreHow to delete multiple projects in iMovie

How to switch Photoshop from Timecode to Frames

by

The Photoshop Timeline is a mysterious tool. You can open it from Window – Timeline, or you can open an image sequence/video clip and it’ll dock itself at the bottom of the viewport. By default it displays a sequence in a timecode of sorts, but it’s not the SMPTE or EBU timecode we’ve come to know and love. Instead, it’s something along the lines of seconds and frames, in a format like 02:02f or in other words, something NOBODY in the world would ever use.

But hey, they’re Adobe, and by default they can do anything they want (while extorting money from casual users). I don’t use Photoshop for physical film or video editing, but it’s a nice tool to have when converting rendered image sequences into video clips. I’ve described how to do this here.

When I work this way, I’m more interested in the frame count rather than some made up timecode-thing. I’ve found out how to change this in Photoshop CC, and thought I’d share it with you.

Read moreHow to switch Photoshop from Timecode to Frames

FIXED: Creative Cloud reports “out of space” although there is enough

by

I’ve recently migrated my cloud files over to Adobe’s Creative Cloud. I’m currently getting 20GB of space without device limitations. I made the move because Dropbox recently introduced a limitation of the amount of “new devices” that can be linked with a free account, which meant I couldn’t link my new Z600 and Z800 workstations on my render farm.

All of a sudden I see this notice that some files could not be synced anymore, telling me I’d have to clear up some space in Creative Cloud. No problem I thought, several image sequences had been converted into videos so I deleted them. My Finder window reported a correct 9GB of used space, but the Creative Cloud app still reported in excess of 20GB. What was going on?

Turns out when you delete files from Creative Cloud, they go into an invisible Trash – not on your local computer, but – you’ve guessed it – “in the cloud”. That space counts towards your quota, and unless this is deleted, new files won’t sync across your devices.

That’s different from Dropbox, where deleted files could be accessed outside the storage quota for 30 days, before being deleted permanently. With Creative Cloud, we’ll have to do this manually (but of course, nobody tells you this)… now that I’ve found how how to do it, let me show you how.

Read moreFIXED: Creative Cloud reports “out of space” although there is enough

Creating a round cutout mask for OBS Studio

by

I like the way my PlayStation 4 adds a soft round cutout mask to the PlayStation Camera Feed when streaming gameplay. I wondered how I could best recreate this effect in OBS Studio for a consistent experience, no matter which device I decide to stream from.

Here’s how I did it, with a little help from Photoshop – feel free to use the resulting asset without any need for further fiddling.

You can download the mask further down (anchor link).

Read moreCreating a round cutout mask for OBS Studio

Creating a Zoom Blur Effect in Photshop

by

In this episode I’ll show you how to create a moving Zoom Effect in Photoshop, using the Radial Blur Filter. I’ll also explain the use of Smart Objects and how to blend the original image with the blurred version using a Layer Mask. I’ve used this effect to create the thumbnail for my Vertigo Shot …

Read moreCreating a Zoom Blur Effect in Photshop

Multi Camera Editing in Premiere Pro CS 5.5

by

Even my ageing version of Premiere Pro CS 5.5 has multi-camera editing capabilities built in. And even my ageing Mac Mini from 2012 can cope with full HD clips during those edits.

It’s a slightly mysterious process, and until very recently I didn’t quite know how to do it, but with my desire to do multi-camera interviews with inspirational people, it’s something wanted to research. This workflow is also helpful if you have a single camera feed and want to switch live (vision mixer style) to zoomed-in versions of the same.

Now I know how to do it (works fine in present versions of Premiere Pro too). Before I forget this concept again, I thought I’d better write it down and share it with you (and my future me).

In short, we need to

  • drag all camera clips into a timeline (all on top of each other)
  • sync all clips in this timeline (then select them all, right-click and choose “synchronise”)
  • create a new sequence from that sequence
  • enable multi camera on that clip
  • open the multi camera monitor, press play and switch live between cameras, creating edits on the fly

Jonathan Lang explains it here:

Read moreMulti Camera Editing in Premiere Pro CS 5.5

Creating a Logo from a Raster PNG in Blender

by

In this episode I’ll show you how to use the SVG file with curve information and turn it into an extruded logo using Blender. I’ll setup the scene and ground plane, get the camera ready and turn the default light into a strong side light. This will serve as a starting point to creating our …

Read moreCreating a Logo from a Raster PNG in Blender