How to Vectorize and Clean Up a Scanned Black and White Hand Drawing in Adobe Illustrator

[@GDHT]

Learn how to ETHICALLY get Adobe CC free (or cheap) here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5OVo5-JaMmGoLM

[@watchthewindblowby]

I do a lot of pencil and pen drawing. This is hands down the best tutorial I've seen for turning real drawings into vector art. Thank you!

[@GDHT]

You're welcome! And thank you so much!!

[@bunnyboo786]

Thank you! This is what I was looking for. I feel like Adobe Illustrator isn't as user friendly when it comes to hand drawn material. Maybe the brush tool will create paths one day... I hope. I've been studying Adobe Illustrator and this is the part that is driving me bonkers.

[@annesmith4470]

THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! That was exactly everything I needed. I've been struggling for weeks on bringing in original artwork. I so appreciating you sharing your knowledge.

[@GDHT]

You're welcome - I'm so glad the video helped you!!

[@Dorkiiexshorty]

Nice tutorial! Thanks for showing all the different ways to clean up the image trace, that was a great addition.

[@GDHT]

You're welcome!! I'm so glad it was helpful!

[@haythamzodi4360]

Babe do u know how much u saved my life rn ??? LOVE THIS VID XXXX

[@GDHT]

I'm so happy to hear that - thank you! 😊

[@1980subrosa]

Consistent quality videos, concise and short! Well done!

[@GDHT]

Thank you so much!!

[@stephaniejimenez7808]

This tutorial is one of the best I've seen. Thank you for your patience and detailed explanation!

[@GDHT]

You’re welcome 😊 I'm so glad it was helpful!

[@eugenevoger]

Wow! Cool! Thanks! As always, you are the best teacher! I would be glad if you do more drawing vector lessons in Illustrator! ❤️❤️❤️

[@GDHT]

Thank you so much!!

[@bunnyboo786]

Do you mean drawing it straight onto the computer or hand drawing it first? I don't know the terminology.

[@ibidesign]

You are a phenomenal instructor, did you already know that? Thanks!

[@GDHT]

Aww thank you so much!!

[@EJ-he5xq]

This was a lifesaver!!!! THANK YOU!

[@GDHT]

You're welcome!!

[@ariansarrafan6665]

you are a legend. incredibly useful. thank you

[@GDHT]

You're welcome! And thank you so much!!

[@henryschattmaier6314]

Thank you, very helpful!

[@GDHT]

You're welcome! And thank you!!

[@johnhawkins5513]

Outstanding assistance. Thank you.

[@GDHT]

You're welcome - I'm so glad it helped!

[@ToscaWhite-iu1nl]

Thank you so much, to the point and detailed

[@GDHT]

Thank you so much - I'm glad it was helpful!

[@watchthewindblowby]

I did comment before on this superior tutorial. Love it! I'm wondering, Is there a way to thicken, or up the line weight of a hand drawn image? Looking forward to checking out your other videos an classes/courses. I also appreciate how you explain what you're doing while adding in the shortcut commands. Thank you!

[@GDHT]

Thank you so much!! To thicken things up, I usually add a thin stroke, then expand it and Pathfinder Unite it. It can be a bit trickier if you want other parts to stay the same size.

[@watchthewindblowby]

@@GDHT I see. I assume you use some type of stylus or pen? I currently only have a regular old mouse. Sorry, to bug you again and for all the questions. I'm super old school when it comes to design but I've decided to dip my toe into the digital side of things. I will browse your other videos, perhaps my question above has already been answered. Thanks again!

[@GDHT]

@@watchthewindblowby I do, but everything I do with it can be done with a mouse. In this tutorial, I’d get the artwork as close as possible to what you want (using Sharpie to manually thicken certain sections) and then scan and digitize.

[@Sherry-lz5is]

thank you for this knowledge. I am still trying to find an answer to my problem tho. as I work on cleaning up my object, I find as I work along all my lines are duplicated. I delete a path and there is the same one under it. I remove these duplicated paths but as I work along they come back. its very frustrating to have to go through it all again and delete these yet again. its taking forever. you showed how to do one little spot but what if the whole thing is duplicated. I am working on a cetlic design with lots of linear aspects

[@GDHT]

Hmmm, this might be helpful: Use your Group Selection tool to click on a color, then do Select > Same Fill color. Then Pathfinder > Unite. Then hide the selection. Do that with all the colors, then use your Group Selection to draw a box around everything left that has no color and delete. Finally, Unhide All.

[@jayc6159]

🤔 I didn’t know the space bar preview trick 👏 awesome

[@GDHT]

That one is SO useful! I remember when I found out about it - I was pretty pumped!!

[@gman561]

Thank you beautiful ur videos are so helpful with my daily work 😍😘😘

[@GDHT]

You're welcome!! 😊 It's great to hear that!

[@chiribimchiribim]

Hi, thanks for this great video! You mention a course at the beginning that teaches you how to transform a hand drawing image into a pattern (including coloring) but I cannot find the right link. Could you please share it with me? Thanks

[@GDHT]

Oh sorry about that! You can sign up for my course (this is on Skillshare), and get 1 month free with this link: skl.sh/3qVHs7Q

[@illilillilliii]

Thanks for the great video!

[@GDHT]

You're welcome!! And thank you!

[@mrunknowne0970]

Like comment before watching Thanks for the great informations

[@GDHT]

Thank you so much, your comment made me so happy!!

[@explosivejohnny]

Hey there! Thank you for the great instruction. I really appreciate your approach but I'm having a problem. I'm working on a PC and for some reason it won't let me make a selection after tracing. The lasso and group select tool won't work.... I can't use my eraser either. Any idea what the problem might be? I must be missing something. VERY frustrating. Thanks in advance.

[@explosivejohnny]

nevermind.... i somehow missed you saying hit "expand". thanks so much for the great lesson!

[@GDHT]

I'm glad you got it figured out!!

[@vin7499]

Thank you ☺️😃

[@GDHT]

You're welcome 😊

[@ricardoredway]

THANK YOU

[@GDHT]

You're welcome!

[@totallypreposterous]

Cmd-Place/Image Trace/Image Trace Panel/Threshold/Advanced/Ignore White/Expand/Select-Group-Hide Objects/and so on. That is how an instruction video should be. Straight to the point. Anything else said is a waste of time.

[@GDHT]

Sorry - yes it's a bit wordy!! It's because it's an excerpt from a Skillshare class and they like a certain format over there. On my regular channel videos, I do try to get to the point much quicker!

[@Melissalizzah]

HI, I have a very detailed hand drawn drawing and I can't get it to vectorize and keep all my line art detail that I did by hand. I an new to AI

[@GDHT]

If your art has a ton of detail and shades, Image Trace doesn't work well. Your best bet is to use the Pen tool to trace it, which is fairly time consuming and there's a bit of a learning curve. What is your end goal (how do you want to use the image)?

[@jayc6159]

Is there anyway to keep illustrator from making those weird points during trace?

[@GDHT]

Not really, but I've had better results with super-high res scans.

[@ReelSpider]

I would like to point out that there is a reason that schools use out of date software to teach. It isn't budgets, it's compatibility. We need tutorials on cs5 and cs6, because they are extremely common now, and 95% of what you learn on cs5 is exactly the same as creative cloud. A person trained in cs5 can move to creative cloud with no problem, but learning creative cloud does almost nothing for people on cs5/6.

[@GDHT]

I respectfully disagree that CS5 and 6 are common in the industry. CC came out in 2013, and I've had 5 different graphic design jobs between then and now. Every single company used CC and expected me to know how to use it well - I would have been behind if I'd only used CS5 or CS6 up to that point - there are so many features available now that simply aren't available in the older versions (although, as you mentioned, it's easy to pick them up if you have CS5 or 6 knowledge). I get that paying monthly isn't feasible in some cases, but if schools are teaching these out of date versions, they aren't preparing students for what the industry is currently using. CC has also sped up my workflow SO much compared to the older versions, so that's another thing to consider.

[@sachinrokhade5260]

mem sorry but be please to put interface in back of illustrator straight concretrating distracts .......... thank u mem urs video are always best

[@GDHT]

Do you mean the dark interface? Sorry but that one is distracting for me! :D

[@sachinrokhade5260]

@@GDHT no problem mem .... thank u

[@GDHT]

:)

[@workershero]

the light mode💀

[@GDHT]

...is the best mode! :D

[@workershero]

@@GDHT keep saying that and u won't be sleep in peace tonight

[@GDHT]

@@workershero haha!

[@workershero]

@@GDHT this is serious switch to dark mode now

[@GDHT]

@@workershero how about a compromise- I’ll use it in Photoshop! 😎

[@RLDNTBea]

thank you so much you helped me for my advanced graphic techniques 🫰🏼

[@GDHT]

You're welcome! I'm so glad to hear that!

[@jessicalister]

Thank you so much for your tutorial!

[@GDHT]

You're welcome!