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General Category => Pattern Requests. => Topic started by: IBMer on March 31, 2013, 11:36:07 am
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It's the anniversary of my Cousin Brian's death. He was accidentally shot and killed by his best friend. Brian was in the front seat of a van, his friend was in the back seat. The friend was removing his gun to store it before entering a restaurant when it discharged. The bullet passed through the seat back and severed Brian's Aorta. Brian's pregnant wife was driving the van, so he never met his new baby.
I'd like to cut a portrait, but have never done one. I have some portrait blades to try out, but need a pattern. If it's not too much trouble, could someone please help me convert this picture to a portrait pattern?
Sincerely,
John
(http://s1.directupload.net/images/130331/x69jjex5.jpg) (http://www.directupload.net)
(http://s14.directupload.net/images/130331/dvyqadgy.jpg) (http://www.directupload.net)
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try this...
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John, Here is my take on him. Sorry I couldn't find more detail.
Don R
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These are REALLY NICE. Thank you so much for your help. Like I was saying, I've never done a portrait. Do you cut them from Baltic Birch, then put dark fabric behind?
Again, thank you for your help! The folks on this Forum are Great!
John
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Most people use 1/8" or 1/4" Baltic Birch for portraits. Regular cheap 1/4" ply is no good - it has voids in it that will break out if you cut too fine a line. I've done some portraits in 1/4" Red Oak and they came out really nice. Lowe's has 1/4" x 5.25" x 24" red oak boards for about $4. I've cut mine to fit a standard 5x7 frame.
The backing can be stained or painted plywood, but I prefer to use black card stock glued to the back of the cutting (OfficeMax sells 8.5x11 black cardstock). It is very black with no shine so it makes a good backing for the portrait.
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I use 1/8 inch Baltic Birch and a 2 or 3 mm foam sheet as a backer.
Don R
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Hey John, if using 1/8", its best to stack two or more layers together for better control and stability. I never cut any thinner than 1/4". I typically stack four layers of 1/8". Along with better control of the piece, you get mutiple copies of your portrait!
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My first project on my new saw DW788, first attempt at using a spiral blade, and first portrait ever. I'm very happy with the results.
(http://s14.directupload.net/images/130331/dzp33xby.jpg) (http://www.directupload.net)
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Excellent work, I couldn't have done it using spirals, I still haven't mastered them.
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Well John, that is some excellent work! You should be proud!
How do like your new saw?
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Nice work, John. Thanks for sharing.
Don R
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Old Crow, How did you make this pattern? I'd be very interested in learning how. I did a few searches and saw Coyote software, and also the use of things like Corel PaintShop.
May I ask how you made this pattern? I sent you an email as well.
John
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Don nice pattern :)
John, looks very ,very nice :)
Thank you for sharing
Mahendra
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Very nice pattern and cuttings guys.
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Yes, I'm infinitely thankful to the folks that sent in patterns. I want to learn how to do this.. Can anyone point me to the correct software and or good tutorials?
John
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great patterns, very nice job on both of them!
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Yes, I'm infinitely thankful to the folks that sent in patterns. I want to learn how to do this.. Can anyone point me to the correct software and or good tutorials?
John
John, Download both inkscape and gimp (both are free) then follow this tutorial step by step. http://www.scrollsawer.com/forum/scroll-saw-design-tutorials/17249.htm This will get you going.
If you have questions about the process, just ask. someone will respond
Good luck
Don R
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John - I use Gimp and Inkscape to make a pattern from a photo. Steve Good has a video on some of the process, but basically:
- Open photo in Gimp
- Crop it to the interesting parts; move parts around to make a better layout.
- It usually helps to erase all the background around a subject so the subject controls the rest of the process rather than some background noise.
- Use Filters-Artistic-Photocopy to get a low contrast B/W version.
- I sometimes add Filters-Artistic-Cartoon (before or after Photocopy) to help highlight some of the lines in the photo.
- Save the photocopy from Gimp to disk.
- Open the photocopy in Inkscape.
- In Inkscape, click on the open image so it is surrounded by arrows.
- Use Path-Trace Bitmap to make a Vector Graphic (SVG) from the photocopy.
- Click once on the image, then click and drag to move the SVG out of the center box.
- If it is too light, click back on the photocopy then adjust the Bightness Cutoff - Threshold. Try .5, .6, .7, .8, .9 to see which gives the best SVG.
- Use Path-Simplify to see if the image gets cleaner, then Cntrl-Z if you don't like it.
- Move the original photocopy out of the center box and drag the best SVG into the center box.
- Save the SVG to disk as a .svg file.
- Open the .SVG in Gimp. Use the erase and draw tools to clean up and to add white bridges to connect islands.
- Set foreground color to black then do a fill with black to see if you missed any islands (they will stand out in white). Cntrl-Z to undo the fill, then fix the islands.
- Option - Set the Image-Mode to Indexed, then click on Black and White.
- You can save to disk (option - as a B/W GIF) and go back to Inkscape for another SVG conversion to smooth out your Gimp changes if you need to.
That's the general process. You can get artistic if the important lines (dimples, wrinkles, ears) did not survive the process. Hair may take some work to get right. You can also use Gimp to set the size of the canvass (remember to hit the Center button), or to Scale Image (make it bigger or smaller).
It's quicker than it sounds once you've done it once or twice.
If the photo was of a person looking to the right or left, I like to try to blacken the field in that direction to better highlight the face (see Steve Good's Einstein for a good example of that).