Org. Divers. Evol. 3, Electr. Suppl. 14: 1 - 14 (2003)
© Gesellschaft für Biologische Systematik
http://senckenberg.de/odes/03-14.htm
Org. Divers. Evol. 3, Electr. Suppl. 14 (2003)
"Digital inking": How to make perfect line drawings on computers
Charles Oliver Coleman
Museum für Naturkunde, Institut für Systematische Zoologie, Invalidenstraße 43, D-10115 Berlin, Germany
e-mail: oliver.coleman@museum.hu-berlin.de
Abstract
A fast and accurate way for making perfect scientific illustrations is described. A pencil drawing or a photo is scanned. The resulting file is
imported into Adobe Illustrator and the line drawing is made using a WACOM Intuous digitiser board. After the habitus and detailed drawings
have been made, the plates can be arranged using the same software. Lettering and arrows can be placed very quickly on the plates.
The plates can be exported as graphic files for printing or further manipulation.
Keywords: methods, scientific illustrations, digital inking, computer
Introduction
Making line drawings on a computer with a digitiser
board has many advantages, e.g. is possible to draw
perfect lines. Graphics software, such as Adobe
Illustrator has certain settings which generate
smooth lines as if made with a French curve. Thus
shaky lines known from inking on drafting film
become a thing of the past. Another important
advantage is the possibility to correct parts of the
drawing. Trying this on drafting film is very difficult
or impossible. With this excellent possibility of
correction, the drawings on the computer can be
made by technical staff or even inexperienced
volunteers. Afterwards the systematist can easily
correct the parts that are not drawn perfectly. Small
details or confusing areas in the pencil drawing, such
as dense fields of setae, can be enormously (up to
6400%) enlarged on the computer screen, whereas in
the traditional ink drawing magnifying glasses are
needed to be able to draw these details correctly.
After making the detailed drawings these can
quickly be arranged into plates; each detail can be
scaled to the preferred size or rotated. As Adobe
Illustrator drawings are in a vector format, the lines
will not become rough after enlargement of the
drawing, as occurs with bitmap graphics.
Scalebars can be adjusted, lettering and arrows
can be added very quickly. If desired the habitus
drawing can be shaded, after importing the drawing
into Adobe Photoshop. For publication these plates
can be exported to a variety of file formats, burned
on a CD-ROM and sent along with the manuscript to
the editor. There is no danger that valuable
illustrations might get lost in the mail.
This new method is much faster than the
traditional way of making illustrations. However, it
takes some time to learn the software, as this is
packed with options and the few functions needed
for our purpose are sometimes difficult to find
within the complex software. This paper gives step
by step instructions about how to make the final
drawing with a computer.
Material and Methods
A Dell Inspiron 7500 computer was used. Any
notebook or desktop computer with at least a 700
MHz processor and an USB port can be used. A
digitiser board, WACOM Intuous 2 DIN A3
(currently about 900 Euros; smaller boards are
available at a lower price), was connected to the
USB port (Fig. 1). The standard inking pen from
WACOM was used.
The pencil drawings were scanned with a
conventional HP scanner, larger drawings were
scanned by a 3.3 megapixel digital camera (black
and white photo setting).
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Adobe Photoshop 6.0 was used for scanning and
improving the scanned pencil drawings. Habitus
drawings can be shaded with Adobe Photoshop. The
line drawings were made with Adobe Illustrator
10.03. The selection of menu levels is shown in the
following text as hyphened expressions in brackets.
The use of keyboard shortcuts is much faster than
using the mouse and so these shortcuts are given in
brackets.
The procedure introduced here is, of course, also
possible with software other than that from Adobe.
Macromedia Freehand and Corel Paint and Draw
probably possess equivalent functions, though
commands and tool names will be different. The
procedure has been described using Adobe software
because this is what was available. The same applies
to the operating systems MS Windows, Apple Mac
OS, Unix and Linux.
Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator are
registered trade marks of Adobe Systems
Incorporated.
Step by step guide
Preparation
1. Prepare the pencil drawings with the microscope.
If the drawing is larger than DINA4 reduce the
size with a Xerox machine in case you don't have
a large format scanner or digital camera with
high resolution to scan large sized drawings or
(analogue) photos.
2. Scan in the illustrations using Adobe Photoshop:
(File-Import-Scanner) Open the file menu and
import an original (pencil) drawing from a
scanner. If you are using a digital camera, copy
the image file to your hard disk (see camera
manual). TIFF and jpg formats (in highest
quality) are recommended.
3. In order to increase the contrast use (ImageAdjust-Autocontrast)
(Fig. 2). Save the file and
quit Adobe Photoshop.
4. Open Adobe Illustrator and attach the WACOM
board to the computer (depending on the
operating system and the connection between the
digitizer board and the computer, you might need
to connect the board before booting).
Open a new document (Ctrl N or File-NewEnter);
name it now or later when you save your
drawing for the first time.
5. The following windows of Illustrator are needed:
Tools (Windows-Tools) (Fig. 3a), Layers (F7 or
Windows-Layers) (Fig. 3b), Attributes and
Strokes (F10 or F11 or Windows-Attributes)
(Fig. 3c) and the Navigator window (Shift-F6)
(Fig. 3d).
It is better to arrange these windows on the right
of the screen as the left side of the screen is
needed for drawing.
6. Follow the next steps to define the following
recommended line types or load the predefined
lines makro (see below):
Outline
a) open Actions in the Level menu window (Fig.
3: arrow); click on the folder icon in the action
window (Create New Set) to create a new set;
name it "drawing" (Fig. 4a).
b) (Create New Action) (Fig. 5), name it
"outline" (Fig. 5a); assign to function key ("F2",
select "Shift" and "Control") (Fig. 5c); press
"Record" (Fig. 5d).
c) fill in "Stroke" (in F10 window); weight "1
pt" (Fig. 4c); select "Cap" "round" (Fig. 4d);
"Join" "Round Join" (Fig. 4f).
d) Stop recording the line definition by pressing
the black square (Fig. 4f).
Outline dashed
a) (Create New Action), name it "outline
dashed"; assign to function key ("F3", selecct
"Shift" and "Control"); press "Record".
b) fill in "Stroke" (in F10 window); weight "1
pt"; select "Cap" "round"; "Join" "Round Join".
c) select "Dashed line" insert "3 pt" in "dash"
and "2 pt" in "gap".
Fig. 1: Setup of digital drawing equipment. On the left a notebook
computer, on the right a WACOM digitiser board with two
different pens.
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d) Stop recording the dashed line definition by
pressing the black square.
Seta
a) (Create New Action), name it "seta"; assign to
function key ("F5", select "Shift" and "Control");
press "Record" (Fig. 4).
b) fill in "Stroke" (in F10 window); weight
"0.5 pt"; select "Cap" "round"; "Join" "Round
Join".
c) Stop recording the seta definition by pressing
the black square.
Seta dashed
a) (Create New Action), name it "seta dashed";
assign to function key ("F7", select "Shift" and
"Control"); press "Record".
b) fill in "Stroke" (in F10 window); weight "0.5
pt"; select "Cap" "round"; "Join" "Round Join".
c) select "Dashed line" insert "2 pt" in "dash"
and "1 pt" in "gap".
d) Stop recording the seta dashed definition by
pressing the black square.
Seta dotted
a) (Create New Action), name it "seta dotted";
assign to function key ("F10", mark "Shift" and
"Control"); press "Record".
b) fill in "Stroke" (in attributes and stroke
window, F10); weight "0.5 pt"; select "Cap"
"round"; "Join" "Round Join".
c) select "Dashed line" insert "0.5 pt" in "dash"
and "1 pt" in "gap".
d) Stop recording the seta dotted definition by
pressing the black square.
By using the function keys, the line types can be
changed very efficiently.
7. Save all line definitions by selecting the folder
icon "drawing" in "Actions", click then on the
small arrowhead just below the closing-x (Fig.
3e), then (Save Actions) (only in Illustrator 10).
This is a precaution just in case your settings for
Adobe Illustrator will lose the line definitions,
which occurs from time to time in the original,
unpatched version of Illustrator 10. This bug is
corrected in version 10.03.
You can also load a set of my predefined lines:
first download lines.aia (from
www.senckenberg.de/odes/03-14.htm) and save
the file into the illustrator directory; then load the
file in the menu that opens after clicking on the
small arrowhead (see above). Only when a
document is opened you can switch the weight
and style of the lines by using the functions keys
Shift-Control-F2 and -F3 for the outline types
and Shift-Control-F5, -F7 and -F10 for the
different seta line definitions.
8. Insert the scanned pencil drawing file into the
Adobe Illustrator document: (File-Place), then
select the file name of the illustration you would
like to ink from its directory. Use the white
arrow, the "Direct Selection Tool" (A), to move
the illustration within the art board (page frame).
Right-click on illustration in order to transform
it: i.e. scale or rotate.
9. Select "Layers" and add a new layer (Create New
Layer). Block the layer with the pencil drawing
(Layer 1) by clicking into the open square right
of the eye symbol. A padlock should appear
within the square. Double click on "Layer 1" and
check the "Dim Images" selection, in order to
show your lines on "Layer 2", your drawing
layer, in better contrast.
10.Click on the white square with the red transverse
line (None) to block the "Fill" mode. This ends
the preparation and drawing can now begin.
Drawing
11.Select the Pencil tool (N). This is the main tool
for making curved lines. If you double click on
the Pencil in the "Tools" palette, the "Pencil Tool
Preferences" dialog will pop up (Fig. 6), uncheck
the "Keep selected" and "Edit selected paths"
options. In the upper area you will find two slide
bars. With the "Fidelity" setting you can
influence the smoothness of curves by changing
the tolerance of the drawing tablet data. With the
low setting more anchor points (see below) will
be set. With a higher setting you can draw with a
shaky hand, but it makes fine structured, e.g.
serrated lines, impossible. The smoothness slider
controls the amount of smoothing. With a lower
value the path appears coarser.
12.What is a path? A path is sequence of straight
and curved segments of a line separated by
anchor points. When you start drawing a line
with your digitiser board, you will see a fine line
and a series of dots that is replaced by a black
line after lifting the pen. In order to make the
path visible again, use the "Direct-Selection" tool
(A) and click on the black line. Within the black
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line the path and anchor points become visible
and can be manipulated.
You can move the anchor points with the mouse
or the digitiser pen, add or erase anchor points if
needed (press the Pen icon longer, then select the
Pen+
or Penicon
to add or delete anchor points
and click on the anchor point). Curved elements
can be transformed by pulling on the pair of
direction lines attached to the anchor point
(Fig. 7).
If you want to mark several lines you can
encircle them with the lasso tool (Q), then you
can, for example, erase these paths, group, move
(A) or rotate (R) them.
Sometimes it is best to draw only short segments
of long lines and join them later: encircle the
ends of two lines with the lasso tool (Q) after
highlighting the path, then join them (Ctrl-J)
(Fig. 8). If the line is uneven use the smooth tool
(press longer with the mouse on the pencil tool
icon, then select the second tool, move it over the
uneven part of the line). In order to draw long
continuous lines it is also possible to check the
two option boxes "Keep selected" and "Edit
selected paths" in the pencil preferences dialog
(double click the pencil icon) (Fig. 6). Then the
highlighted path will be connected automatically
with the newly drawn stroke. With these settings
parts of a path can be corrected by simply
redrawing with the pen over the segment that
needs to be changed. However, this procedure
does not work when drawing setae or other
objects where lines are close to each other,
because then this function will erase the
previously drawn stroke.
13.Some more important tools: if you want to move
entire objects use the black arrow (V) after
making the path visible with the Direct-selection
tool (A); if you prefer to erase only a part of a
path, click on the Scissors icon (C) and mark two
anchor points. The highlighted path segment
between these anchor points can be erased by
pressing the "Erase" button of your keyboard.
Using Ctrl 1 the whole drawing can be shown on
screen. With the Navigator (Shift-F6) the size of
the section of the drawing can be changed easily.
14.Scalebars: use the Pen function (P) and click on
both ends of the scale bar. A straight line will be
drawn. In order to adjust this line horizontally or
vertically, make the pencil drawing invisible by
clicking on the eye symbol of level 1, then press
Ctrl and period (.), a grid will appear; then use
the Direct-selection tool (A), click on the line so
that the path is highlighted, right click and select
"grouping", press the Rotate icon (R) and adjust
the line at the grid (Fig. 9).
15.Long setae are rather difficult to draw freehand
directly. It is helpful to move both sliders of the
Pencil (N) options (you get there by double
clicking on the Pencil icon) (Fig. 4) more to the
right to make smooth curves. It is important to
uncheck the two option boxes "Keep selected"
and "Edit selected paths", otherwise the first line
of the seta will be erased after drawing the
second.
Long setae are easily drawn in the following
way: draw one side of the seta, highlight the path
(with the Direct-selection tool), right click, select
"grouping", then hit Ctrl C (Windows keyboard
shortcut for copy), then Ctrl V (Windows
shortcut for pasting), a copy of the seta line will
show up. With the Direct-selection tool (A) move
the line parallel to the first seta line, the distance
should equal the basal thickness of the seta. Click
on the Rotate icon (R), click on the basal end of
the second line and push the distal end towards
the first line to make the tip of the seta.
Plates
16.In the opening dialog select portrait and DIN A3
as size. Open the first drawing (File-Open), mark
the whole drawing by using Ctrl A (Windows
shortcut for marking the whole file contents),
then right click and select "grouping", then copy
the marked drawing, click on the newly created
document and paste. You can move the drawing
with the Direct-selection tool (A), rotate it (R) or
if required change the size (right click, select
"transform" and "scaling"). In Adobe Illustrator
the line weights remain unchanged after scaling
the drawing.
17.When all plates are arranged, lettering for each
detailed drawing can be inserted. Select a font
type and font size first. A good size for DIN A3
lettering is 36 pt (or for DIN A4: 18 pt), "Arial"
is a clear font type, but check also the author’s
instructions of the journal where you want to
publish your drawings. Click first on the Type
icon (T) and then on the place where the letter
shall appear, type the letter; repeat the whole
procedure for the next letters.
18.Arrows: draw a line, then select from the "Effect"
menu "Stylise-Arrowhead", mark the path with
the Direct-select tool (A) select a shape of the
arrowhead, its size (e.g. 150%) and on which end
of the line the arrowhead should appear (Fig. 10).
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19.In order to export the plates, open the file then
select File-Export, create a new file name in the
dialogue, then select the appropriate file format.
At this stage ‘TIFF’ with the lossless LZW
compression is recommended (format in the
extension selection below the file name).
20.To print the plate, load the file into Adobe
Photoshop, call up “Print Options” (Ctrl-Alt-P)
in the File menu: select "Scale to Fit Media" in
order to scale down the DIN A3 size to DIN A4.
Then File-Print.
Shading
1. Load a TIFF file into Adobe Photoshop for
applying shading.
2. Create a new layer you want to work on (ShiftCtrl-N).
Block the original layer by marking the
second check box.
3. Mark one of the segments with the "Magnetic
lasso" tool (click on the lasso icon for some
seconds, select the third lasso option. The
magnetic lasso will stick to lines. When a
segment or article of the animal is surrounded by
the lasso line, hit "Enter". Now you can shade
this part of the animal without the shading being
sprayed over the line.
4. Select the Airbrush (J). Select a sufficiently large
brush (50-100), Mode: dissolve; Pressure: 1-3%.
Set the "Foreground colour" to black.
5. Slowly move over the marked area of your
drawing area and press the mouse or digitiser
pen. A cloud of small dots will appear on the
area.
6. If the area is too dark, change the "Foreground
colour" to white and apply the shading again. An
example of this shading method is given in
Fig. 12.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Dr. Fabian Haas (Staatliches
Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart) for his valuable
comments on the first draft of the manuscript and to
Dr. Jason Dunlop (Humboldt-University of Berlin)
for improving the language.
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Fig. 2: The pencil drawing is scanned in using Adobe Photoshop 6.0 and the contrast is improved using the “Auto Contrast” function.
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Fig. 3: Windows in Adobe Illustrator recommended for the preparation of line drawings. a: general tool bar. b: layers menu, arrow (e) indicates
location of Actions menu. c: attributes and strokes window, which is important for the setup of lines. d: navigator window allows changes
in the section of an enlarged drawing, moving the slider changes enlargement.
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Fig. 4: Definition of new actions. Icon “a” is used for the definition of a new set of actions. Pressing icon “b” calls up the dialog “New Action”,
where line types and a keyboard shortcut are defined. Weight “c” is the width of the line; Cap “d” creates a rounded end, Join “e” a rounded
angle.
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Fig. 5: Insert name of action in “a”. Allocate a new action to actionset in “b”. Define function key with “c” and record the line definition with
“d”.
Fig. 6: The most important tool for drawing is the Pencil function of the software. In the Pencil Tool Preferences tolerance levels of the
pencil movement can be preset. Checking both boxes in Options allows the continuation of lines after the path is highlighted.
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Fig. 7: The course of a line can be modified by moving anchor points (small squares) within the path or by pulling on the black round end of
the direction line with the mouse. When the mouse is released the course of the line is being changed.
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Fig. 8: In order to join two segments of a line, encircle the ends with the lasso tool after highlighting both paths. Ctrl-J will fuse the ends.
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Fig. 9: Scalebars are drawn with the Pencil tool. Both ends of the scalebar are marked. After a rightclick with the mouse, select grouping
and “R” for Rotate, then align the scalebar using the mouse.
Fig. 10: Arrowhead dialog. The beginning or end of a line can be provided with an arrowhead. The shape and size (Scale) can be selected.
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Fig. 11: Example of a figure plate and lettering.
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Fig. 12: Example of shading done using Adobe Photoshop.