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marcbjango
marcbjango
Known Participant
March 31, 2011
Under Review

P: Add options for softer anti-aliasing for Vector Masks/Shape Layers

  • March 31, 2011
  • 49 replies
  • 2063 views

*** If this is important to you, please comment below. ***

Vector Masks in Photoshop have sharper anti-aliasing than shapes created other ways. Quite often, I find that the results are too sharp. This is especially true for very small shapes, making it an issue for icon creation.

It’s interesting to note that vector Smart Objects that have been pasted from Illustrator have vastly different anti-aliasing to Shape Layers that have been pasted from Illustrator. The Smart Objects are far heavier and the anti-aliasing seems posterized.

I don’t really have a solution for this, except a suggestion that the Shape Layer/Vector Mask rendering is very close to ideal for me, but I’d prefer slightly softer anti-aliasing. I don’t know how this could be implemented while keeping legacy support. I guess there’s three ways it could be done: A global change or preference, where all documents get the new rendering (breaking legacy rendering), a per document setting or a per object/layer setting. The first breaks compatibility, the second and third add UI and file bloat.

Steps to Reproduce — Create a circular marquee selection at a smallish size, say 9x9 pixels and fill it with white. Create a pixel snapped vector circle that’s the exact same size (you may have to use the rounded rectangle tool with a large radius and Snap To Pixel turned on). Compare the results—the marquee selection bitmap layer is smoother.

Workaround — None. Only really crazy, silly stuff that I’m not usually willing to do because it removes editability.


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If you'd like to see the original files, grab them here: antialiastest-597642.zip

View an animated comparison between the various methods.

*** If this is important to you, please comment below. ***

    49 replies

    Show previous replies
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMember
    Inspiring
    April 2, 2011
    This would be a great addition. However, rather than 'modes' for vectors, which are kind of vague, i'd like to see a slider to control the anti-aliasing, perhaps in the layer style dialog.
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMember
    Inspiring
    April 1, 2011
    Thanks for, again, bringing this issue to light, millions(?) of designers around the world would thank for such improvements. As mentioned, 50% of the web/UI work these days is for mobile, as these displays resolution increases exponentially, new versions of PS should account for this anti-aliasing issues.

    Designers need object level anti-aliasing control! Tired of tweaks, zooming, nudging and other tweaks for better anti-aliasing...
    marcbjango
    marcbjangoAuthor
    Known Participant
    April 1, 2011
    "particularly when I have been authoring buttons and small image resources for web sites and mobile devices"

    I agree. It's definitely all about smaller shapes and icons. Larger shapes don't seem to need the softer anti-aliasing.

    I think there's a very strong parallel to type rendering, where complex shapes are rendered at tiny sizes, but need every pixel to be carefully considered or they lose their legibility and meaning. There's a huge diversity of type rendering methods for this very reason (and quite a few within Photoshop itself).

    And with that thought in mind, there probably isn't a right or wrong answer. Photoshop's text rendering, Cleartype on Windows and Mac OS X's type rendering all have scenarios where they're preferable. This is a fairly specialised UI/web/screen design request, but a very important one as there's no workarounds. If we don't like the shape rendering, there isn't really any way to tune to our liking.
    marcbjango
    marcbjangoAuthor
    Known Participant
    April 1, 2011
    "particularly when I have been authoring buttons and small image resources for web sites and mobile devices"

    I agree. It's definitely all about smaller shapes and icons. Larger shapes don't seem to need the softer anti-aliasing.

    I think there's a very strong parallel to type rendering, where complex shapes are rendered at tiny sizes, but need every pixel to be carefully considered or they lose their legibility and meaning. There's a huge diversity of type rendering methods for this very reason (and quite a few within Photoshop itself).

    And with that thought in mind, there probably isn't a right or wrong answer. Photoshop's text rendering, Cleartype on Windows and Mac OS X's type rendering all have scenarios where they're preferable. This is a fairly specialised UI/web/screen design request, but a very important one as there's no workarounds. If we don't like the shape rendering, there isn't really any way to tune it, so we're stuck with the results.
    Foster Brereton
    Adobe Employee
    Foster Brereton
    Adobe Employee
    April 1, 2011
    This is a super example, with a clear-cut definition of the improvements needed. I wish all requests were more like this one.
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMember
    Inspiring
    April 1, 2011
    This issue has been a major source of frustration for me, particularly when I have been authoring buttons and small image resources for web sites and mobile devices. The problem is more apparent for mobile devices because the user typically holds the screen closer to their face, so sub-pixel details are more noticeable.

    I am a fan of Homer's suggestion of having object-level control over the heaviness of anti-aliasing. Hopefully this gets the attention from Adobe that it deserves.
    N
    nsky777
    Participant
    March 31, 2011
    Exactly as text objects. We definitely will want to change this setting in different cases. For example, for now, marquee's soft edge is irreplaceable on small objects, while "sharp-edged" smart shapes look better on retina screens. So my vote for "local" settings instead of global trigger.
    marcbjango
    marcbjangoAuthor
    Known Participant
    March 31, 2011
    Similar to text objects? That would be great. Definitely one way it could be implemented while keeping legacy support.
    N
    nsky777
    Participant
    March 31, 2011
    It would be very helpful to have an "object-related" antialiasing modes for both marquee tools and vector tools.
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