The Ink Spot

8:17 AM

Because people keep missing Kickstarters, beta tests, and other time-sensitive RPG stuff, I now maintain a Cool Stuff pin for the RPG General Chat. But lately I've been the only one suggesting things to put on it, so it's getting narrowly focused on stuff from my RSS feeds.

Clearly, to solicit a wider range of input, a motivational poster was needed.

marcusdoesstuff

9:26 AM

@Ryan For such a poor question... The answers aren't half bad.

Slightly unrelated... There's surprisingly little written on GD.SE about grids in print.

marcusdoesstuff

9:42 AM

(regular grids and baseline grids)

marcusdoesstuff

10:03 AM

HOLY MACARONI

You can adjust settings in InDes with no docs open and it saves it as the default.

No more 4.233mm gutters for me!

No more 12.7mm margins either.

Auto-hyphenation is the devils work too. That can sod off and all!

Vincent

11:12 AM

@marcusdoesstuff lol, you discover that now? :D Goes for default typeface etc. as well!

marcusdoesstuff

@Vincent Yeah I saw...

It's a bit like when I found out that the space bar quick-swaps to the hand tool.

Vincent

^^ so, much :D

marcusdoesstuff

I don't make that many new documents and they don't often use the same settings... When they do, I tend to make a template or work from another file so it's not that useful...

But getting rid of auto-hyphenation and setting my custom justification values in stone is nice.

(Letter spacing -3, 0, +3... Glyph scaling 97%, 100%, 103%)

(and single line rather than paragraph)

Vincent

enjoy :D

Vincent

11:55 AM

hi @Ryan

Ryan

heya @Vincent

Vincent

how are you doing?

Ryan

Pretty good. This girl I contacted a while back on IG to see if she'd be interested in modeling for me just got back into town. Hoping to have the chance to do something with her since she's leaving again in like two weeks

Gotta see if she's free over the weekend to do a shoot

Vincent

Ah, the one with the car? :)

Ryan

nah, that is a good friend of mine that's always here. This is just some random girl on IG that is trying to get into modeling. When I first contacted her she lived here but then she randomly decided to move to LA to try to make it

Vincent

12:08 PM

oh, is she back in town because she didn't make it because she did?

Ryan

She's back in town for Thanksgiving I believe

I'm really not sure she's got the body to make it as a model. But she's interested in doing a shoot so would be mutually beneficial. And I can do wonders in post production lol

Vincent

12:21 PM

hehe

marcusdoesstuff

12:37 PM

The skill isn't in the photography... It's in the post-production. :P

All my photos look like dogs till I rescue them.

Ryan

1:47 PM

wtf an association we joined that has Affiliate Member Logo Usage Standards only has .png and .jpg versions available for download.

go-meek

1:57 PM

@Ryan yeah... at least they didn't tell you to download the website header logo hehe But yeah, lazy designer or another employee not knowing what's a vector

Ryan

morning go-meek

go-meek

Good morning :) Already at work?

Ryan

yup

go-meek

I see why your boss must like you, already ranting about png and jpg ;P

Wasn't really a rant but anyway

Ryan

well we open at 8:30am, its now 9:00am

and at the moment I'm pretty busy with stuff. The association we joined has two shows in the Spring. One was already sold out but we got into the second one. Also got into their publication to promote ourselves before the event but again last minute.

I need to get the affiliate member logo to include in the ad which is due tomorrow

Then next week is American thanksgiving so we're only open Monday and Tuesday. Then the week after that I go to NY for a meeting and to get more footage of our product

Anyways, I talk too much about myself I think

What are you working on Go-meek?

go-meek

2:21 PM

@Ryan I see! Yeah time goes so fast just before the holidays... clients all want the stuff done for january. I'm working on 2 books and 2 manuals, and ton of other projects that I'm waiting feedback for, meh. As you see I'm not an early bird, just working on the australian timezone again heehee

Ryan

books? that's kind of cool. Like actual fiction books that you're doing the layout and cover of or what?

go-meek

And I have that Illustrator's book I'm publishing too... she's young, I signed a good contract with her but she really mademe waste my summer waiting for illustrations and I'll miss the holidays sales for sure

More like business books, and the illustration one is more like a cartoon heroin

Yeah fun to work with authors, we're expanding to be publishers ourselves actually

Ryan

heroin huh. that's an interesting and deadly cartoon haha

what a difference a modest 'e' can make

go-meek

haha I hope I used the right word

Ryan

heroine = female hero. heroin = drugs

go-meek

2:26 PM

a little superhero with a nice sense of humour!

oh lol thanks

Yeah actually I'm doing crackhead cartoon

Ryan

morning @JohnB how are you?

Hi @JohnB

hey folks

hello

Hi! We're surrounded by Johns woohoo

I almost tagged you by accident earlier JohnP, I see it wouldn't have been a big deal now that you're here anyway!

johnp

2:34 PM

hehe first the ink spot zen ze verld!

how are you doin, internet is crazy today...the dog had a panic attack before thunder arrived

signal*

Ryan

Anyone ever used Screenflow before?

go-meek

I'm fine,how are you @johnp?

@Ryan Sorry, never used it or heard feedback about it

johnp

good :) just been brushing up on my drawing skills for a charity booklet thing for college. It's hard to find any good resource on expressive facial anatomy

go-meek

@Ryan Looks cool. Are you using it or in search of reviews before buying it?

@johnp yeah not easy! I guess you need to rely on real pictures and do your best

Ryan

wondering if my cruddy laptop can handle it before I start making purchases. Now that I know my finances a bit for the next year I really want to get cranking on personal site / freelance stuff

johnp

2:39 PM

you're probably right! i don't like having to see my reflection but i guess it's how animators sometimes work on it!

better get the mirror out

go-meek

@Ryan Only thing I can tell you about my experience with cute video editing software is to try them at "full intensity" if you can. My issue was often how they're not optimized and big montages can be a pain and crash. But I'm not an expert, so I guess I can't blame the software all the time

Ryan

@johnp pinterest.com/andrewsilke/facial-shapes-and-expressions

www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs294-7/sp04/sp_04_presentations/…

go-meek

@johnp That's actually a good trick! I'm sure it's faster than searching google and even finding a precise word for each expression

Ryan

amazon.com/The-Illusion-Life-Disney-Animation/dp/…

johnp

oh deadly! @ryan

Ryan

2:42 PM

@go-meek ya at work I've tried using some cruddy free one. Eventually I'll probably have to get the boss to buy one. But I want to start making some tutorials and such on the side

johnp

thank you! the board looks good too. I'm trying to create something between sadness and fright...gunna just keep sketching

go-meek

@Ryan Great idea! Unfortunately I can't suggest anything, even the small paid software I tried were eventually annoying to use for what I liked to do. I don't know what's supposed to be the top video software anymore. Do you know?

Ryan

@johnp sure thing. Mind you I don't own that book but its on my to buy list. TOC says it does have a section on expressions though

go-meek

I mean, suppose price isn't an issue

lol clever answer graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/63380/…

Ryan

I think Camtasia Studio is top of the line but not sure. It might just be top in name because its been around so long

go-meek

2:48 PM

Thanks

Ryan

Icecream, Camtasia and Screen Reflow all look good

I've got some real terrible app called Screen Recorder by Sketchman Studio at work

go-meek

hey prices are good

Ryan

It might not actually be terrible... might be video card though. I don't have a way to know. But the quality is bad from something

go-meek

haha

you'll need to beg your boss for a nice Mac Pro with full ram (--drools--)

Ryan

speed isn't the issue just doesn't have a graphics card

go-meek

2:53 PM

yeah it sucks when you need to do something and hardware is what stops you or slows you down

Ryan

I've got 16gb ram on an intel i7 with a 250gb HD and additional 1tb SSD

go-meek

the imac 5k have nice graphic cards, price isn't crazy

I see! Not trying to convert your to mac

--- kisses her mac----

Ryan

ive been considering going that route since I could use monitor and computer. Ill figure something out. Find out what if anything I get as holiday pay next week. Then... shopping :))

(or not, you know, depending on what if anything I get)

go-meek

:D:D Well the new imac 5k looks good. I know you might not buy used but if you do, don't buy the series from like 2013... can't even add more ram yourself

well if you do plan on doing freelance stuff more, it's (usually) actually good to have hardware expenses for taxes. At least here

you basically give your money in taxes or have a nicer computer

Ryan

yeah its similar here thats why my boss doesn't mind buying capital goods like the Wacom Tablet or a Camera. He just uses it to balance the books

go-meek

2:58 PM

yeah, maybe he'll need to balance it by the end of the year if you're lucky;)

Ryan

I dont know I'm so torn on what to invest in first. I know I need to get some small light reflectors and maybe a filter or two for photos so buying those today. That tends to be how I work... but only when absolutely necessary

im a terrible consumer. great at saving though :\

go-meek

Would be hard for me to gve you any advice, I don't do photo. But if your computer is alright for now... I guess you can invest on the other material

haha nah it's smart to weigth the pros and cons and take your time

Ryan

oh no my computer is garbage. it was given to me for free but its only a 13" i5 with 4gb ram

I have no monitor or mouse either

I'm just that bad at being a consumer

go-meek

haha well, maybe you could spoil yourself with a new one since it's useful for so many things

if you weren't doing video, I'd suggest you the mac mini even if it looks like crap

it's still surprisingly good for graphic design

Ryan

no joke there's a Mac Mini sitting in a box next to me. Been here since I started. At one point my boss said I could have it if I want

go-meek

3:02 PM

for the price, it's a good "temporary" computer

Ryan

I don't even know what specs or how old it is

go-meek

hey you should try it! I still have one from like 2011 and the graphic card is still kind of better in someaspects than the new ones

Ryan

Let's see i5, 4gb ram, 500gb hd, Intel HD Graphics 4000 with HDMI, Thunderbolt, and HDMI to DVI adapter

2012

go-meek

you can add up 2x 4gb... from ebay!

Ryan

maybe. Really not a bad idea and would definitely help push me towards buying a UHD 4k monitor

would still need to buy a Mouse and Keyboard

go-meek

3:05 PM

yeah plus it can be useful anyway to have 2 computers. I know you have one display but anyway

Ryan

I haven't owned a Mouse since 2004 haha

I have one display? Huh?

go-meek

heehee well I thought you did

1 screen?

monitor?

Ryan

at work I've got 2 monitors. at home I don't have any

go-meek

your good if you do everything with a tablet!

man you need a monitor ffs. Or beg for a nice laptop from work

anyway laptop displayare crap. Forget whatI just said

Ryan

I've been "shopping" monitors for like 4 months now. I wanted to get one in July... now its November

When I say I'm a terrible consumer, I mean like psychologically impaired at it

go-meek

3:07 PM

just buy a demo or some used one, and spend more later. Your cheap monitor will help you earn money to get what you really want!

That is, if you want to work at home.

Ryan

that's the thing. I'm not poor. Since I'm awful at spending I've got plenty saved I could drop to invest in myself. I just don't haha

I lack the confidence and care-free attitude to say "screw it" and buy myself something

go-meek

yeah stop being cheap! You'll have so much fun when you have your stuff at home, think about it!

Ryan

clothing, electronics, everything. When I moved it took me 7 months before I even bought a couch

go-meek

give me your money I'll buy you a money with a screw it attitude lol

hey it's alright I understand, I'm super slow too and don't like changing my stuff either

I just don't care

Ryan

would be easier if things would work exactly like I want. Then I'd have no trouble spending

go-meek

3:11 PM

But that's why I'm telling you to just GO, waiting even if it's comfortable, is a waste of time and maybe potential to have fun creating ;)

May I ask what do you want then or is it too personal?

Ryan

as far as computer?

go-meek

yeah or mindset or whatever

stop shopping for PC, go on apple.com you'll have like 5 choices. Not too hard to choose lol

Ryan

I prefer the file management of Windows but some applications I like are Mac only (irony considering it always used to be the reverse). I don't want a touch screen at all. I want 4k and a really big monitor like a 32" or even 40"

I'd prefer SSD or something else that's very fast and reliable

Graphics Card doesn't need to be gaming quality but something that handle After Effects and the improvements Adobe made to Illustrator and InDesign and such

and I'd really prefer if this was all not integrated so I could upgrade without having to start from scratch

Let's see... then I'm pretty good on software but would like a new camera for myself since I currently use my work camera for personal stuff. A few lenses, reflectors, filters, and lights.

Software wise if I had the opportunity to and could afford it I'd consider learning Cinema4D at least a little but would probably be counter productive

go-meek

@Ryan I'm not a fanboi for any platform, I have my preference but a computer is just a tool! How you use it is what makes the difference

Ryan

3:33 PM

oh. whatever, you two are adults and can handle it in chat on your own.

otherwise Ill just ping @Vincent and blame him lol

go-meek

Looks so dumb for a beginner to see their question leads to a dumb catfight in an endless chat

@Ryan gonna delete all this

thanks, I was looking how to do it, if you're the one cleaning this

Ryan

Consider this is a public chat next time please. If you want to discuss anything with mods in private we can setup private rooms for it.

go-meek

Thanks, no problem

Ryan

And realize anyone that's a room owner which includes Zach, Scott, Yisela, Joojaa and the mods can still read those if they really want to

go-meek

It's fine, I'm aware any user online could and yes possibly the owners too. I have no problem with this

It's alright! Well, to get back on computer stuff, I guess you'll need a clone if you want a PC without the "integrated" graphic card... unless this changed in the last years :/

You don't make it easy on yourself haha Even more parts and stuff to choose from!

Ryan

3:45 PM

But I can get the exact parts I want. I'm a perfectionist. I hate buying something knowing itll be obsolete in no time

Like buy a monitor even a cheap one until I can afford the one I want? What? That's crazy talk to me

go-meek

yeah perfect option for this, that's for sure. And lol at monitor

Vincent

@Ryan You can blame me anyway. What did I do this time?

go-meek

I discovered sometimes it's not such a big deal to just go for it. Like the reason I had a mac mini is because my mac pro just stopped working and I needed a computer the same day... and that's all they had! But it wasn't that bad after all

@Vincent He blames you for his perfectionism about his perfect computer room with perfect giant monitors and perfect neon PC and etc.

Vincent

Oh, yeah, that's my fault.

totes.

go-meek

Because of you he got high expectation now and finds no joy with the ordinary

Ryan

3:51 PM

exactly!

go-meek

He's gonna get a PC with a neon light that with mess up his screen calibration heehee

but i's going to look cool at night though!

<---- just envious

JohnB

we're gathering the equipment needed to make our own hang tags instead of outsourcing them, I get to learn the wonders of using a paper drill

marcusdoesstuff

0

Q: Layout attached to a master page but with a different swatch for every page/document

If I need to make more than a hundred documents, with the same layout but different content, it seems to make sense for me to use a master page and do them in the same InDesign file (exporting them to individual pdf pages at the end) so I can tweak the layout later. If every document needs to ha...

does this make any sense?

Vincent

@JohnB can't see the paper for the holes? :P

JohnB

4:07 PM

after the thousands of hang tags I'll be making tomorrow, I'll probably have less appreciation for that joke :)

here's hoping I only screw up a few hundred

Ryan

hi @DA. and @marcusdoesstuff

DA.

hello

Ryan

how have you been?

Vincent

@JohnB in Dutch we have the expression 'Er geen gat meer in zien', which means 'To have given up hope on something', but translates literally to 'not seeing a hole in something anymore'

so that's the first thing I thought of :P

DA.

Oh, fine. How have you been?

Ryan

4:11 PM

Overly busy these days

marcusdoesstuff

@ryan heya :)

DA.

yea, busy here too.

hitting that mid-life...being busy sucks...stage.

Gearing up for a career change at somepoint I think.

Ryan

what do you want to do? I recommend opening a taco stand on a beach somewhere

marcusdoesstuff

4:25 PM

:D

DA.

Not a huge beach fan. :)

I'd love to build houses.

or landscaping. Not much money in landscaping though. Plus, knees.

Ryan

there's a ton of money in landscaping!

johnp

did a disappearing act earlier, sorry. Thanks @ryan !

Ryan

uh... yeah... you're welcome?

johnp

haha for that link about the expressions

Ryan

4:34 PM

oh way earlier. I cant think that far back

Ryan

6:07 PM

@go-meek see like this, this look amazing to buy: youtube.com/watch?v=man-tiHnICQ but then its not IPS so I'm again torn.

go-meek

@Ryan Yeah that's very high class! I see why you want to wait

Ryan

amazon.com/Philips-Computer-Monitor-3840x2160-Truevision/dp/…

its already out. Thinking I might buy that one. Need to take some measurements to make sure itll fit on my desk cause its bigger than my TV

oh then there's also this -- errors when using it with a Macbook: discussions.apple.com/thread/7032989?start=0&tstart=0

Perfectionist Dilemma

go-meek

6:24 PM

yeah if you keep going you'll need a budget for a new desk too and possibly sunglasses

Ryan

but its beautiful lol

go-meek

it is!

Ryan

wish I knew how big of a difference the IPS really makes. Maybe its worthy of a question, in fact I think I'll give it a shot see if it gets any love

go-meek

@Ryan Maybe Joojaa could help on this but yeah it's worth investigating, still $700

Ryan

you saying that's a lot or cheap?

go-meek

6:31 PM

Not that bad though for the quality! Very good deal

Well it's still money but a good deal imo

Ryan

I thought it was affordable but then I haven't bought a monitor in a very long time

go-meek

Me neither but I remember the 30" where more in the thousand

Ryan

40" 4k seems like a lot of monitor for that amount when I see 28" and 32" costing even more

yeah exactly. I think UHD and IPS is the reason

go-meek

yeah maybe too much for your needs

I,d expect a monitor of 4k to at least do something like cooking or taking the dog outside

:P

way too much for my needs that's for sure

Ryan

the size you mean or what is too much?

go-meek

6:36 PM

$4k you said, the price?

And yeah size is a bit intimidating but I'd get used to it I guess heehee

Would be high class

Ryan

no no no. 4k monitor

resolution

its $700.00 USD

go-meek

phew, ok I see

$700 is a good price

Very good

Ryan

not much video yet in 4K realm but its going that direction in terms of video cameras

go-meek

lol I wonder if the question will get voted to be close and migrated to superuser xD

<--- not trying to jinx you

johnp

6:58 PM

1

Q: If I can prove that my drawing/illustration was constructed from various image references, can't I be prosecuted?

Background: For my design work, I sometimes create portraits to illustrate campaigns and other media. In an effort to avoid mis-appropriating someone's likeness, I tend to draw from a collection of unrelated found portraits and previous life-drawings to construct a "unique" portrait. I've always...

copyright data-ownership

that has to be the most paranoid thing I've ever written...

any thoughts on it? Something relatable would be that game The Last of Us having a character with a likeness of Ellen Page.. don't think she sued though

go-meek

@johnp Great question! I'll follow that!

johnp

it'd be nice to put my silly anxiety to rest! :v If my sources are correct, then street photography is technically illegal here... Kinda silly how someone can claim a right to privacy on a public street, for eg... Never liked copyright!

go-meek

7:14 PM

Yeah makes things a bit complicated! I'm sure you won,t have issues with the montage... at some point people have "face patterns"! We all know some people that look alike

Well at least we'll know a bit more about this!

johnp

exactly! it's kind of hilarious in a way...was it here someone posted about a toy that looked like a news reporter

bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34133723

go-meek

Maybe we should start looking for toys looking like us and make some money :D I mean, maybe you could try your luck with Ken from Mattel or something

lol @hamster toy

johnp

ha, it's ironic as so many people get surgery to look like dolls these days.

go-meek

hehe hey that hamster had the same name? They pushed their luck a bit too much, hilarious

johnp

hehe copying her name was a bad idea... but everyone looks like something. I used to be told I have a face like a cat

go-meek

7:19 PM

Yeah it's funny to associate "totem animal" to people, you could indeed make a convincing cat:P

Could be worse, that's for sure!

johnp

Haha I must test my cat-like sensibilities on my next night out!

go-meek

just be careful before "rubbing" yourself on strangers if you don't want to be disappointed at having 1-life and not 9! I guess it could make some big gorillas upset!

I don't know any gorilla people but they certainly exist!

Hey that law stack is going to be very cool to "abuse"! A bit stressful to ask questions but we kind of know the drill

I'm actually more interested in reading their advice on legal stuff than what other designers might say. Even though I need to read a few times to get it :>

Ryan

:( Scott is interested in answers but not enough to upvote. So cruel.

go-meek

yeah that's the big irony of people answering

oh you mean he didn't post an official answer

Some nerds will post. I find Yorik's answer interesting

Can't upvote comments for 4hr, oh well

johnp

8:56 PM

yock, I entered the Law chatroom by accident...It was like Shelbyville, it's called The Sidebar instead of the Ink Spot and it's all weird...

AndrewH

9:39 PM

Hey all, I wasn't sure how to ask this question but is there anyway to manually tile images across various size artboard other than doing it in Illustrator?

Example: I need my left panel to sit 7" higher than the right panel. I usually do this in InDesign and then do the tiling in a rip program but I am not sure how else to tile various size graphics than doing it in Illustrator.

joojaa

10:00 PM

Am i crazy when i answer a question and then close it?

0

Q: Illustrator script: select objects based on their stroke-color and change their fill-color

I'm trying to create a script for Adobe Illustrator that does the following thing (steps 1, 2, 3 and 4, 5, 6 are very very similar) : 1) select everything that has RGB stroke color 50,50,50 2) set their fill-color to a CMYK 150,150,150,150 3) set their stroke-color to 5 points, color CMYK 0,0,0,...

illustrator-scripting

JohnB

@AndrewH slices within Photoshop maybe?

AndrewH

@JohnB My problem is mostly because my computer slows down from linking huge files.

Photoshop could work but I don't see the benefit from using Photoshop over Illustrator.

I wish I could do this in InDesign

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