Adobe Illustrator: Gradient Mesh
I recently finished a PlanetES wallpaper in which
I seriously experimented with Illustrator's Gradient Mesh tool for the first
time. The mesh tool is very powerful - I have seen some vectors that look like
photographs, all due to mesh. However, it is also rather clunky and difficult to
control compared to most of Illustrator's other tool (the exception being that
silly symbol spray, whose purpose I have yet to determine.)
I decided to write this article to discuss my venture into mesh. It's not as
scary as it seems at first, but I found a lot of things that didn't work which I
intially thought would have. I also found some rather unexpected methods did
work much better. Mesh is awesome, and if you really want to be proficient in
Illustrator I would highly encourage you to try it out. Using Mesh in an anime vector trace Preparing
I would definately suggest trying out a basic mesh tutorial before diving into
doing a full-on trace. Just getting a little familiarity in what the tool looks
like and figuring out what happens when you click somewhere will really get you
started, and keep the tool from springing unexpected behaviors on you. The one I
used was the Red Pepper Mesh Tutorial from lifeinvector, which takes a simple
picture of a red pepper and shows how to use the mesh to add the highlights and
shadows to make it look photorealistic.
Find a good image, something that will motivate you to finish. For me, I really
was intrigued by the concept of a reflection wall in the PlanetES scan I chose.
(I think my dad's obsession with photographing window reflections is rubbing off
on me.)
Also, make sure there are lots of gradients in your image. The more there are,
the more places you have to practice, according to that old adage, 'try try
again.' Tracing
Trace your outlines first, put them on an upper layer, and lock them. They'll
help you remember the boundaries of each color.
Also, trace any solid areas of highlight and shadow, put them on an upper layer
(below the outlines) and lock them.
I'm emphasizing the locking part because the last thing you want is to
accidentally create a mesh in an outline or solid shadow. And it'll keep you
from grabbing the wrong part of the image when you're editing the mesh.
Trace the shape of the area you're going to mesh. Lock it, and hide it. You can
use this to mask the mesh later.
Create a duplicate layer of your original scan, and use a simple mask (a
rectangle or whatever) to crop it to just the area you're going to be copying,
and place this on an upper layer, shifted to the side so that you can see it. Mesh me
Draw a VERY simple shape that encompasses the area you're going to mesh. This is
either a a)circle/oval b)rectangle or c)triangle. The simpler the shape, the
easier it will be to control the mesh. I found this out the hard way. Don't try
meshing a shape that exactly matches the area. The mesh tool will only create a
bizarre barbed wire mess of things, and it'll be really hard to get the
gradients to blend well. Simple shapes are much easier because the mesh is easy
to predict and you can manipulate points without a hitch.
Depending on how you feel like meshing, this shape can be either the base color
or the highlight/shadow color. I found that making it the base color and adding
meshpoints in shadow/highlight colors to be a good order of events.
Start adding in meshpoints in the areas where the color changes. Add all the
points you think you'll be using first. Then, using the individual select arrow
(white/hollow arrow) click on points and change their colors (you can eyedropper
that duplicated scan layer. That's what it's there for.)
Like regular points, meshpoints have handles you can manipulate. These are what
you should edit in order to get gradients that curve or to increase/decrease the
area in which a gradient occurs. Be careful that the handles don't stretch past
another meshpoint's handle - that's what leads to gradients with sharp edges -
gradients which really don't look like gradients anymore. I learned that the
hard way too. It helps to zoom in to grab meshpoint handles because depending on
how dense your mesh is, the handles are really small. Move the points around as
necessary to create the gradients in the shape you need.
When adding points, keep in mind that for each section of gradient you'll really
want 2 points - one for the shadow/highlight color, and another of the base
color to create the boundary. Otherwise the gradient will stretch across the
entire shape - which means you can't get very complex with a gradient and you
might as well be using a linear/radial gradient.
When you're done meshing, unlock and unhide the shape that exactly matches the
picture, and use that to mask your mesh.
Continue on with the next area to be shaded.
If this sounds confusing, well, the tool IS confusing. The best way to figure
this out is to experiment.
Happy meshing!
Why is that no one told me this thread existed and was neglected? O_O
I'm so going to be trying this out later. I could never figure out any tools on
Illustrator because I'm so lazy. I should go and try some new stuff as well.
thanks for this really interesting insight into the world of the mesh tool. I
haven't used this tool so far and it sounds really confusing but worth to spend
some time with. I think I want to give it a try as soon as I'll have an image
with more gradients...
I love to use Illustrator but I don't know so much about it. And instead of
using the same techniques all the time, I would really like to improve by doing
new things. When I make vectors I am always a bit frustrated with the hard
shades... so the mesh tool seems to be one way to make it look more realistic...
Oh well thanks again!
By the way, Life in Vector's pepper mesh
tutorial (in the downloads section) is what I used to get started. It's a step
by step tutorial, which my explanation is not, so it's a good plaee to look to
get used to what the tools actually look like and do before you start going
crazy with experimenting.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, yeah the mesh tool is great for creating
complex gradients but its a little time consuming and confusing at first but
your tips should help start it of in the right direction and thanks again.
Adobe Illustrator: Gradient Mesh
I recently finished a PlanetES wallpaper in which I seriously experimented with Illustrator's Gradient Mesh tool for the first time. The mesh tool is very powerful - I have seen some vectors that look like photographs, all due to mesh. However, it is also rather clunky and difficult to control compared to most of Illustrator's other tool (the exception being that silly symbol spray, whose purpose I have yet to determine.)
I decided to write this article to discuss my venture into mesh. It's not as scary as it seems at first, but I found a lot of things that didn't work which I intially thought would have. I also found some rather unexpected methods did work much better. Mesh is awesome, and if you really want to be proficient in Illustrator I would highly encourage you to try it out.
Using Mesh in an anime vector trace
Preparing
I would definately suggest trying out a basic mesh tutorial before diving into doing a full-on trace. Just getting a little familiarity in what the tool looks like and figuring out what happens when you click somewhere will really get you started, and keep the tool from springing unexpected behaviors on you. The one I used was the Red Pepper Mesh Tutorial from lifeinvector, which takes a simple picture of a red pepper and shows how to use the mesh to add the highlights and shadows to make it look photorealistic.
Find a good image, something that will motivate you to finish. For me, I really was intrigued by the concept of a reflection wall in the PlanetES scan I chose. (I think my dad's obsession with photographing window reflections is rubbing off on me.)
Also, make sure there are lots of gradients in your image. The more there are, the more places you have to practice, according to that old adage, 'try try again.'
Tracing
Trace your outlines first, put them on an upper layer, and lock them. They'll help you remember the boundaries of each color.
Also, trace any solid areas of highlight and shadow, put them on an upper layer (below the outlines) and lock them.
I'm emphasizing the locking part because the last thing you want is to accidentally create a mesh in an outline or solid shadow. And it'll keep you from grabbing the wrong part of the image when you're editing the mesh.
Trace the shape of the area you're going to mesh. Lock it, and hide it. You can use this to mask the mesh later.
Create a duplicate layer of your original scan, and use a simple mask (a rectangle or whatever) to crop it to just the area you're going to be copying, and place this on an upper layer, shifted to the side so that you can see it.
Mesh me
Draw a VERY simple shape that encompasses the area you're going to mesh. This is either a a)circle/oval b)rectangle or c)triangle. The simpler the shape, the easier it will be to control the mesh. I found this out the hard way. Don't try meshing a shape that exactly matches the area. The mesh tool will only create a bizarre barbed wire mess of things, and it'll be really hard to get the gradients to blend well. Simple shapes are much easier because the mesh is easy to predict and you can manipulate points without a hitch.
Depending on how you feel like meshing, this shape can be either the base color or the highlight/shadow color. I found that making it the base color and adding meshpoints in shadow/highlight colors to be a good order of events.
Start adding in meshpoints in the areas where the color changes. Add all the points you think you'll be using first. Then, using the individual select arrow (white/hollow arrow) click on points and change their colors (you can eyedropper that duplicated scan layer. That's what it's there for.)
Like regular points, meshpoints have handles you can manipulate. These are what you should edit in order to get gradients that curve or to increase/decrease the area in which a gradient occurs. Be careful that the handles don't stretch past another meshpoint's handle - that's what leads to gradients with sharp edges - gradients which really don't look like gradients anymore. I learned that the hard way too. It helps to zoom in to grab meshpoint handles because depending on how dense your mesh is, the handles are really small. Move the points around as necessary to create the gradients in the shape you need.
When adding points, keep in mind that for each section of gradient you'll really want 2 points - one for the shadow/highlight color, and another of the base color to create the boundary. Otherwise the gradient will stretch across the entire shape - which means you can't get very complex with a gradient and you might as well be using a linear/radial gradient.
When you're done meshing, unlock and unhide the shape that exactly matches the picture, and use that to mask your mesh.
Continue on with the next area to be shaded.
If this sounds confusing, well, the tool IS confusing. The best way to figure this out is to experiment.
Happy meshing!
Wow...thanks for taking the time to write about your experience tama!
*shoots off giant smiley face fireworks*
You're so great
...now to find the time to experiment more in illustrator (when I should be doing actual work...hehe)...
Why is that no one told me this thread existed and was neglected? O_O
I'm so going to be trying this out later. I could never figure out any tools on Illustrator because I'm so lazy. I should go and try some new stuff as well.
Thanks tama!
Hello Tama-Neko,
thanks for this really interesting insight into the world of the mesh tool. I haven't used this tool so far and it sounds really confusing but worth to spend some time with. I think I want to give it a try as soon as I'll have an image with more gradients...
I love to use Illustrator but I don't know so much about it. And instead of using the same techniques all the time, I would really like to improve by doing new things. When I make vectors I am always a bit frustrated with the hard shades... so the mesh tool seems to be one way to make it look more realistic...
Oh well thanks again!
By the way, Life in Vector's pepper mesh tutorial (in the downloads section) is what I used to get started. It's a step by step tutorial, which my explanation is not, so it's a good plaee to look to get used to what the tools actually look like and do before you start going crazy with experimenting.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, yeah the mesh tool is great for creating complex gradients but its a little time consuming and confusing at first but your tips should help start it of in the right direction and thanks again.