This Idea worked for JennifersHope's Homework

[65rosessamurai]

This idea came to mind, after searching for the answer with little time, and litte luck.
Recalling how JennifersHope had gotten stuck on an assigment, and everyone's feedback was so helpful, I thought I'd take a gander.
As an assignment at work, I'm supposed to take a black and white photo, and turn it into a 'sketched' photo. I tried using the 'auto trace' function, but it wasn't so "automatic" after all. I'm to use all resources available, but apparently asking co-workers is not part of the deal. I asked my wife, who's got Illustrator 8, but she said she'd have to try herself to see how it would be done.
The software is in Japanese, which is an additional handicap. My 4 years in using Illustrator never required the task of turning a photo into a "Picasso", so I'm stuck!
As I search the internet for answers, I hope there's someone on here who is just as helpful.
Oh, the assigment is due Friday, but that means, I have to have help by Thursday Night, your time at the latest! (It's already Wednesday Morning, here!!)
Yoroshiku Onegai Itashimasu (Your help is greatly appreciated - humble phrase)

Now, back to work for me....

 

[anonymous]

Hi Fred,

What kind of sketch are you suppose to create? If you want to do the auto trace feature you need to have CS2. The earlier versions don't give you that option.

For auto trace, open or place a tif or jpg grayscale image, select the image and hit the last bubble looking button at the top that says live trace. It'll turn the image into a vector file. You can adjust the sketchyness of that with the threshhold numbers at the top. For a sketchy effect like a charcaol drawing, just place an EPS (has to be an eps) grayscale image, select it and go under effects in the menu bar. There you have the choice of a million different drawing effects. Hope that helps.

 

[65rosessamurai]

Thanks, Anony.
It helps a little. I don't have CS2, unfortunately. But the guy next to me has CS, and the boss who gave us the assignment has CS2!!
I guess this means I have to do things the hard way (story of my life!), and give them low quality results because they ask me to perform a task with inadequate tools, but not because they don't have the right tools, but they didn't supply ME with the right tools.
BTW, are you a CS2 user? I'm contemplating on purchasing CS2 for home use, but cannot currently justify spending nearly $800 on the software if I don't put at least 70% use to it. My computer can more than adequately handle the software, though! The computer OS is a Japanese Version, along with the keyboard, etc., but I put English based software from Adobe (Photoshop and Premiere Elements) in it, and it basically works (Some parts that are for U.S. only don't work).

 

[anonymous]

That's too bad that your boss asked you to do something in a program that you don't even have.

You can use Illust. 10 (or later) to turn an eps image into a charcaol drawing, watercolor, or any of those effects listed in the effects menu. The image just has to be an eps. Tell him version 10 doesn't have the live trace feature, only CS2. Yes I use CS2 and it's great. Just depends on how often you'll use it since it is so expensive. If you're a student or a teacher you can buy it for 1/2 off with the education version. I can't imagine making that switch from English programs to Japanese. Of course the keyboard would be different too. Wow. Good luck.

 

[65rosessamurai]

It's also too bad I just realized it's Thursday!! I've had such a bad week, it felt almost like the same day all week! (So I only have about a day to get something accomplished!)
As for making charcoal, or watercolor, the Illustrator can do it, but after selecting the photo, the function does not highlight, and I can't do it. I'm guessing the photo is not eps, even though the file was saved as eps.
Unfortunately, because I'm not either a student, nor teacher, I don't get half-price.
As for switching from English to Japanese, it's the opposite for me, because I started out with Japanese, and only recently had started seeing software in English! Even now, the Illustrator I'm using is in Japanese. But, the FrameMaker they installed is in English, so I could navigate a little better. I also have InDesign, but that is in Japanese! If it weren't for my background in Illustrator, I'd be lost in InDesign.
BTW, would you mind leaving your name, so I have an idea who's helping me, here?

 

[teknogeek1300]

Did he give you a specific black and white image, or do you have to start from scratch? You can get CS2 Trial, 30 day. If he gave you a specific image, upload it and post a link. That will help.

 

[anonymous]

Hi Fred, it's me, Kelly (mynewfy). I saw that you got fired today. I'm so sorry to hear!!! That's aweful. Good luck on the new job hunt! Hopefully you'll find a new job where your boss sets you up for success. Good luck.