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toryanse
Known Participant
May 27, 2009
Question

Stipple gradients

  • May 27, 2009
  • 6 replies
  • 42742 views

  How can I make a stipple gradient in Illustrator CS4?

  In drawings for design patents, the US Patent office requires, where shading is needed for clarity, stippled gradients.  (Note: line gradients can be used unless the design incorporates lines that would be obscured/confused by the use of line gradients.) Generally, the lighting is assumed to be from the top left and the shading is implemented accordingly.   Other gradient effects are forbidden.

  Illustrator (version 8 -- yes, I've used it swimmingly for 10 years and only recently upgraded to CS4) has provided for stipple gradients.  That is, you could make a 20% to 120% stipple for example.  Now, with CS4, I can't see how to create a stippled gradient.

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      6 replies

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      tobiwon
      Participating Frequently
      October 17, 2013

      I use the very excellent Vectoraster from www.lostminds.com. This wonderful program coverts raster to vector in a very controllable and wide-ranging number of styles. I cannot tell you how many times I have used this program for everything from patent drawing hatching, to abstract art for advertising campaigns, to creating 3D arrays of holes for perforating chair seats, and many many more. Definitly check it out!

      My workflow for patent drawings is as follows: 1. Create line art in Illustrator, 2.Create all gradient shading on another layer, 3. Export the layer with all the shading as raster file (.jpg .png or .tif is fine), 4. Import the raster image into Vectoraster, 5. Adjust the screens to be to your liking, 6. Export as a pdf, 7. Import pdf back into Illustrator and place in a layer below your line art, replacing the gradients you created in step 2.  There you have it, a completely vectorized, shaded piece.

      You can simplify the hatching vectors using Object -> Path -> Simplify. You can also unite the line art with the shading using Pathfinder -> Unite. Warning though, line art hatching adds a lot of points to your Illustrator file, so they can get pretty large; so take it easy on the scale and density of your hatching if file size is an issue.

      I sure wish Vectoraster were a plugin for Illustrator, but it all works well anyway.

        OldBob1957
        OldBob1957
        Inspiring
        September 16, 2013

        This isn't great. But it might help get you part of the way there. Especially if you play with the settings at various stages along the way.

        --OB

        T
        Tho N.D. Tran
        Participating Frequently
        September 17, 2013

        That's a cool technique. Thanks!

        _scott__
        _scott__
        Legend
        September 18, 2013

        Phantasm's Halftone effect from www.astutegraphics.com

        T
        Tho N.D. Tran
        Participating Frequently
        September 10, 2013

        Hey Toryanse,

        I'm looking for the same thing. A vector-based stipple type plugin or function for Illustrator. I'm now using CS6 but I seem to remember a stipple effect from Illustrator 8 or so.

        Did you have any luck with this? Any answers?

        Thanks

        T
        toryanseAuthor
        Known Participant
        September 14, 2013

        Nope, no luck and no answers. Yes, I had used an earlier version of

        Illustrator that allowed stipple gradients. But, alas, that functionality

        appears to be gone.

        If you find it, let me know. I don't need it at the moment, but it

        would be nice to have sometime.

        In a message dated 9/10/2013 12:23:57 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

        forums_noreply@adobe.com writes:

        Re: Stipple gradients

        created by TMG Consulting (http://forums.adobe.com/people/TMG+Consulting)

        in Illustrator - View the full discussion

        (http://forums.adobe.com/message/5669278#5669278)

        T
        Tho N.D. Tran
        Participating Frequently
        September 16, 2013

        Thanks.

        Do you by any chance know of any plugins that create cross hatching vectors in Illustrator?

        Z
        Zhou_Haixin
        Participant
        July 17, 2011

        http://www.pixeology.com/ArtisticHalftone/

        JETalmage
        JETalmage
        Inspiring
        July 17, 2011

        Those are Photoshop (i.e.; raster) plug-ins.

        JET

        S
        SciDot_ai
        Participant
        June 3, 2009

        Stipple gradients are so cool in certain projects. I actually have a client who prefers real 'dot patterns' on parts of some drawings, but uses gray shading on others -- and no shadings on some. I have learned so much from him. I took a little time and came up with an 'odd' work-around in Illustrator CS4.

          T
          toryanseAuthor
          Known Participant
          June 4, 2009

          Hi,

            Thanks for the tip.  I'll give it a shot.  The nice part about this trick is that it works even cases where this is no completed object to fill.  That is, pretty often I have a drawing that looks like, say, a thermos bottle, that is composed solely of strokes.  Since there are no ellipses or polygons, there is nothing to fill.  It should be easier to use your novel brush tool instead of spending the time to join a bunch of anchors to create objects that can be filled.

          W
          Wade_Zimmerman1
          Inspiring
          May 27, 2009

          You can try it this way

          Fill object (s) with a gradient then while the object is still selected choose Effects>Artistic>Film Grain
          you might have to apply the fill to a smaller object and then turn on scale strokes and effects in the  preferences and the scale it back up to the actual size to increase the size of the stipple look or there might be another filter type effect that would suit you better.

          Picture 1.png

          T
          toryanseAuthor
          Known Participant
          May 29, 2009

          Hi Wade,

            Thanks for the suggestion.  When I try this approach I get a 3 step gradient; light stipple, medium stipple and black.  The stipple appearance is more like a film grain (for either the text>grain>stipple or the artistic>filmgrain tools) than a stipple.  That is, by stipple, I expect a randomish pattern of irregularly roundish but identifiable spots where all the spots are the same color.

            I recognize my target is pretty subjective.  I guess I thought there would be folks out there that still like stipples for doing impressionistic type paintings at the very least.   If you hear of any 3rd party stipple plugins that allow for stipple gradients, please let me know.  Thanks again.

          W
          Wade_Zimmerman1
          Inspiring
          May 30, 2009

          The screengrab shows a black and white teardrop shape, with copies

          scaled and rotated, plus 4 examples of the end results. If it's not

          'slung off a paintbrush' enough, try a different shape—a round blob

          with a rough edge, for example.

          Go to the Edit dialogue box and create a new Hatch.

          Go to the Effects dialogue box, select the new hatch and change the

          settings (Density, Dispersion, etc) until the desired effect is

          achieved. Illustrator moves the different elements in the pattern

          around. There must be thousands of possible combinations.

          This was done with an old version, but the latest versions of AI

          should be able to do this.

          It should be possible to create a similar effect with a pattern.

          


          http://www.andromeda.com/main/screengall_stipple.php

          Is this what you mean by stipple?

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