I’m using the Outline option for the Vectorizer’s Main Technique parameter ( as shown in the 2nd gallery image above). The Outline Main Technique is typically used to generate overlay effects. By experimenting with the other Outline parameters (like the Outline Type or Outline Option and any additional parameters associated with the specific Outline Type chosen, you can generate a wide variety of different outline styles.
The 3rd gallery image above shows the Drawing control panel for the last Vectorizer action step. Note that I have set the Background Fill parameter to be None. This is the key to generating a vectorized outline overlay effect on top of the existing canvas.
I set the Outline Color Option to Black, since I wanted a black outline overlay. Using color for the Outline overlays can also be effective, but it gives a different mood to the resulting overlay. I’m also using a subtle Region Effect setting called Straight Subtle, that gives the vectorized outline a more hand drawn look.
You may recall from yesterday’s post that we needed to use a Pixel Raster Fill for the Canvas Render option parameter, since we needed hard edged vectorizer regions to place in the selection buffer to define the irregular photo mosaic regions to be filled with the paint synthesizer movie brush. But for the black outline overlay it makes more sense to use the Vector Antialias option since we would like our black feature overlay to have smooth edges.
The last gallery image above shows the Composite control panel for the last Vectorizer overlay action step. Note that i’m using normal Replace Compositing. But since the Outline Main Technique generates a vectorized outline effect, and i’m not filling in the Background with any solid color, the resulting Replace effect ends up being an overlay as opposed to replacing the entire canvas.
For some images, using a Mix setting of less than 100% can be more artistically effective for you vector overlay. Sometimes a 100% Mix is too strong of an effect. Reducing the Mix setting can make the overlay effect more subtle.
Today’s post is a fairly simple addition to yesterday’s extremely abstract effect. but it’s a great technique to use to make abstract images (like our irregular photo mosaic effect) more representational. Sometimes I use 2 or more different kinds of vectorizer outline overlays with different parameter settings to generate a more refined final image.
1 Comment