Photoshop Tutorial: Create a life-size cut-out on removable vinyl (Part 2)

In this tutorial I use Photoshop to turn a photo of a hockey player into a 60-inch wall mural -- cut to the shape of the player. At FotoStick.com we do this process for you at no additional charge with photos that you upload.

First I isolate the hockey player from the background. I've tried many quick tricks and software to isolate objects, but each has its flaws and end of taking longer. My average is about a half-hour to make a path around the object with the paint brush, while using a transparent mask.

Next I show you how to figure the percentage to enlarge to a specific size. Large format prints are usually lower resolution than graphic designers are used to. Printing resolution for a magazine is usually around 300 dpi. But when you try 300 dpi on a 84x52 inch graphic you're in for a painful experience. 90-100 dpi is the target resolution for most large format printing.

Many people don't know that a 10 Megapixel camera is set to take 5 Megapixel images. This saves the photo in a lower quality format in order to fit more images on your camera card. This often causes jpeg artifacts or digital grain. I use the Reduce Noise filter to minimize this effect.nlarge.

After you have your object isolated from the background its easy to create a vector path for a plotter to cut out of removable vinyl.

Photoshop shortcuts: The x key toggles foreground/background swatches and help when working with masks to quickly add and remove. The bracket keys [ ] make your brush size larger or smaller.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Image
• cut
• out
• and
• bubble

[jmcdougall74]

@infamousdx resize your file to the final size in photoshop before exporting path to illustrator. When you open in AI you will notice that the path has no fill or outline color and there should be registration/crop marks. I sent the finished files to a printer in NY called Graphitek and I'm not sure if anything else was done before printing and cutting.

[jmcdougall74]

I create the cut path in photoshop using the original size of the photo, because this is the best resolution available. When I'm done I enlarge the art to the final print size and then create the path. Then the art and path are at actual print size. You shouldn't have to change the size of the path in Illustrator.

[Zac6646]

is there a part 3? cuz i need to no how to print it out

[infamousdx]

First of all, great tutorial! I followed along very easily and it all makes sense.

I have a related question. Does the size matter when working with a vinyl cutter? My thoughts are as follows:

Follow your tutorial to isolate the image and then trace a path around it.

Export the path to Illustrator.

Tweak the size of path in Illustrator and save as necessary.

Open .ai file in my cutting software (Flexisign) and send to cutter.

All that matters with cutters is path, correct? Thanks!