I know this thread it's different don't know if this thread had been made. But, I'm really curious what type of tool do you use to make vectors. Cause' I've notice in this site all of your vectors look good. Does it make any difference if you use a mouse lets say ordinary mouse or a graphic palette.

Which one is best?

ordinary mouse or a graphic palette (graphic pen)?

You wouldn't use a tablet to vector, unless you were re-drawing and tracing by hand, but I don't even think that works. XD Just a plain mouse should work.

I use my tablet, but I use my tablet for everything 'artistic'. It's not that it gives any particular advantage (for things like vectors), I just find holding a pen to be far more comfortable than a mouse. Especially when I'm at it for hours on end :).

I only used my mouse so far....re-cg, re draw, vector, everything...only with the mouse :D~! hmz...it's like what you prefer more...a pen or a mouse =/...besides...I don't have enough money (yet) for a tablet XP

I am on the same page as meteorcloud. I can't afford a tablet myself although I think it would be a much easier drawing tool than your regular mouse. Everything I have done so far is mouse. Its funny cuz I find myself in funny akward arm positions sometimes just to get that right brush stroke. I am not an expert vector-er(?!) so it takes me hours on end to vector a simple image.

What programs can be used for vectoring?

Illustration is the best program to make vectors, photoshop makes fake vectors,but you can use it to vector too...it's just fake=/..lol. the other option is use flash...but..it's kinda crappy program n_nV

Can someone explain properly what vectoring is? it seems to me that vectoring includes a lot of different stuff. When do you vector? how do you vector? (i've read the faq already and im still not sure.)

can someone explain properly what vectoring is?

Vectors are another way of doing lines with maths instead of filling pixels in. They involve something called a beziere curve. But that's more complicaed than you really need.

A vector is basically when you have a line that you can move or change or edit all the time. Ie it'd different to the sort of line you would draw in MSPaint.

When do you vector?

All sorts of times. You could do it because the chara is very low quality, or cos a bit of a scan is missing, or you can do it to draw in a background. You can even go completely vector because you like they way they look.

how do you vector?

Generally, most people use illustrator as it's the best, easiest and most widely available program.

However, you can get something that's similar to a vector in photoshop using the pen tool. That's what a lot of people are actually doing when they're "vectoring", but technically it isn't.

You should check out the vector group if you have any further interests - http://groups.animepaper.net/Vectorness/

Illustrator eh? No wonder why my vectors been comming out so crappy o.o. I've been using PS and paint brush tool.

It's cause photoshop makes fake vectors, that's why the lines looks jagged. illustrator and flash are the only real vector programs. you can change the size to whatever you want, after making it in illustrator. if you do that in photoshop, you'll get a bad result, if you enlarge it.

My tools include illustrator, a mouse and mild case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. They tend to work well together. :)

it's cause photoshop makes fake vectors, that's why the lines looks jagged. illustrator and flash are the only real vector programs. you can change the size to whatever you want, after making it in illustrator. if you do that in photoshop, you'll get a bad result, if you enlarge it.

Jagged lines are a result of aliasing effects. They're not really anything to do with ps vectors being fake and I've seen plenty of illustrator vectors with jagged lines.

It happens cos people save the file out at the final resolution, whereas they should really save it as a much larger resolution and shrink it down.

Personally, I tend to prefer the results people get with photoshop (so long as they know what they're dooing), and am not really a big fan of propers vectors as such.

"true" vector programs: Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Flash, MacroMedia Fireworks, Mecromedia Freehand, and good ol Corel Draw... at least those are the main "big name" ones... there are/were a few others but they never gained much market share...

of all those I feel Illustrator is best for just the stright up drawing (maybe b'cuz it's the first vector drawing app I used [version 5] and I got used to it)... I tried Freehand and Corel a while back and found them both akward and the others are more limited in their straight forward drawing abilities...
the others also have extra features and tools to do a whole bunch of "special effects" or in the case of Flash, animation or interactivity... which isn't needed to do what people are doing here on AP...

as a drawing tool specifically to trace scans you don't even really need the lastest and greatest version of Illustrator... you can go back as far as version 5 - the drawing aspects of the application haven't changed over the years/versions... they just keep adding all kinds of fancy filters and special effects which are nice but not really needed...

also regarding drawing with a tablet... I've tried that as well... it really takes a while to get used to it (I never really did) though it does have the advantage of being "pressure sesitive" so in a program like Illustrator you can get a more "hand drawn" look and still have the total scalability (without resolution loss). you can get the varying thicknesses in your lines by drawing with the tablet... but again, it will take some serious time to really get good at controling it.