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Posted on 23/03/10 04:11:27 AM |
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Acsalter
* Posts: 6 Reply |
Step and Repeat Rotation
Okay, I was working through the book and everything was going fine until I hit Step and repeat rotation (the clock, pp. 42-43). I can get the hour hands, but I absolutely cannot get the thing to produce minute hands. I use the eliptical selection and cut off half of the hour hands - no problem. But when I try to reproduce the minute hands, the selection box rotates but the hands stay in the same place more or less. Actually, they start moving very slightly so they get out of sync with the hour hands but the point is there is only one set of marks. They don't duplicate. I've tried everything I can think of. What gives? |
Posted on 23/03/10 5:12:52 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7072 Reply  |
Re: Step and Repeat Rotation
What gives, indeed. Are you sure you have the right layer selected? And are you typing a figure in the box, or rotating by eye? And have you dragged the centre-point marker to the right place? I assume that by "hands", you actually mean the tick marks. Is this right? If you can post a screen shot showing your image so far, and showing the layers panel, we might be able to help more. Steve |
Posted on 23/03/10 6:09:33 PM |
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Acsalter
* Posts: 6 Reply |
Re: Step and Repeat Rotation
OK, first thing, it's an excellent book -- the best I have found on Photoshop -- and I hope I don't sound like I'm critical of your instructions, because they have worked for everything else. Second, I've checked to make sure I am working on the right layer. I'm typing a figure in the box, not trying to do it by hand. I dragged the center point marker to the center of the intersection of the ruler guides. The instructions worked for me with the hour markers but not the tick marks. Yes, I should have said tick marks, not hands, i.e., the minute markers. I don't know how to send a screen shot. I have Photoshop set up on 2 monitors and I definitely don't know how to send a screen shot on two monitors. However, I will try to figure it out. I will work on this tonight and if I can figure out how to do a screen shot after I've run through the instructions I will send what I end up with Thank you for your reply. Anna Salter |
Posted on 23/03/10 7:21:27 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7072 Reply |
Re: Step and Repeat Rotation
Anna, I'm sure we can help you out with this. After all, if the hour ticks worked then there's no reason the minutes shouldn't as well. It sounds to me as if you don't have the selection made correctly, or the center marker could be wrong. When you drag the Free Transform box manually, does it rotate correctly then? Glad you're enjoying the book! And do continue to make full use of this Forum - it's here for precisely this reason. |
Posted on 23/03/10 7:37:25 PM |
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Acsalter
* Posts: 6 Reply |
Re: Step and Repeat Rotation
Maybe I'm doing something wrong with the selection process. The hour hands work so I won't comment on that. After that, I make an elliptical selection. That works. Then I hit delete and it shortens the hour hands on that layer. I know because I have hidden the layers below to check. Then, do I keep the elliptical selection? Do I deselect it an make a new selection? If I do, do I use a square selection and select all the tick marks at once or do I select them individually using color range or something like that, without selecting any of the background? I've tried different things but all that seems to happen when I go into transform mode is that I see a square with handles. When I type in the 6 degrees it jumps, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left. Then whether I undo and then go into ctrl shift alt T or don't undo and go directly into ctrl shift alt T I don't see additional ticks, I just see the same ticks moving. Sometimes the square moves and the ticks don't. Either way the ticks look more ragged. Believe me, I am thoroughly confused by this. i don't even seem to get the same results each time I try the same thing. |
Posted on 24/03/10 08:30:01 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7072 Reply |
Re: Step and Repeat Rotation
Aha! Got it. If you keep the elliptical selection, then you're trying to rotate the area you've deleted - and that's why you don't see anything. You could make a new selection, but it isn't necessary. Assuming the new ticks are on their own layer, all you need to do is select the ticks. Two ways of doing this: Select All, in which case you'll need to move the midpoint marker after entering Free Transform; or ctrl-click on the layer's thumbnail in the Layers Panel, which will load it up as a selection for you. As for the key shortcut thing, it works like this: Ctrl-T simply enters Free Transform. Ctrl-shift-T repeats the previous transformation. Ctrl-shift-alt-T repeats the previous transformation on a copy. So although I specify to undo the first step, you can get away without doing this - just press Ctrl-shift-alt-T one extra time. Hope this helps. |
Posted on 24/03/10 3:28:29 PM |
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Acsalter
* Posts: 6 Reply |
Re: Step and Repeat Rotation
It worked! Thank you for your help. I think my problem was I was not doing Select All. I had tried it after deselecting the eliptical selection but I had not selected all. I don't want to push my luck but I have been trying to figure out how to draw a pen path for the dog's lease in the Image Warp in Combination. I don't want you to do any extra work, but you don't happen to have something showing how you did that, do you? If not, do you have any recommendations for where someone can learn more about pen drawing? I am finding it devilishly difficult to do some things. Thank you again. Few authors are as gracious. |
Posted on 24/03/10 7:22:14 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7072 Reply |
Re: Step and Repeat Rotation
The Pen tool is certainly a tricky beast to master. Have you tried the tutorial on the tool earlier in the book? Really, the only way to master this tool is practice. The dog leash is a simple path - so that's probably a good one to start with. Everyone feels this way about the Pen tool. You're not alone! And really, I'm glad to be able to help. |