Forum Discussion
Photo versus illustrated characters
Hi everyone,
I have a question for everyone about their experience using photo or illustrated characters and graphics. My organization is at a bit of a crossroads right now where we're not sure wh...
Hey Jessica. My vote is for illustrated graphics due to their sheer versatility. Can't tell you how many hours I've spent searching the web for just the right photo...only to come up short because, while the scene looks great, the model is not looking in the right direction or wearing the right type of clothing...or the model looks perfect, but the scene is not quite right. With illustrative graphics, you have complete control over all those nuances (assuming you have access to the vector file and vector editing software).
Case in point: I found an image of a male nurse on my favorite third-party site - freepik.com - in just the right pose, but I don't like that unnaturally orange-y skin color. With a couple of clicks in Illustrator, I can totally transform that graphic to suit my needs:
Thank you so much, Daniel. I have seen Freepik's offerings before and have presented them to the team recently as a great potential source for future graphics. My weak point is that I don't have a lot of experience with Illustrator, even though I do have the program.
I was trying to import character sets into the software earlier (same file type as is in your screenshot) but when I went to export them I found that they were too blurry to use when imported to Storyline. Where and how did you learn how to use Illustrator for this purpose? Would you happen to have a tutorial that you'd recommend to get started? Thanks!
Hmm...may I ask what file type you are choosing when exporting? Now that SL supports SVGs, I would highly recommend exporting content in the SVG file format to avoid blurry graphics (graphics will likely appear blurry when dropped into SL, but it looks a lot better after publishing). As far as Illustrator tutorials go, YouTube channels like Satori Graphics and tutvid have been extremely helpful. For an in-depth look into Illustrator's Recolor Artwork tool, you might try watching this.
Update: Just came across this slightly newer video that walks through the tool at a much nicer pace 🙂
Hi Daniel, I was choosing SVG file. I have done some more tinkering today and think I have found the issue. I have since been able to export higher quality SVG files. I really appreciate your sending those tutorials on, as they were quite helpful. I'm so glad this community exists.
