Some Digital Art Tips

1. Save frequently. Really. I mean it.

2. Save in multiple versions as you go along, if it's a big important picture. Don't worry about using up harddrive space. You can weed out some version-files after it's done to clear it up again.

3. Don't get filenames mixed up, lest you overwrite something you needed.

4. Keep your projects in lots of different folders. This lets the folders load up faster, keeps things tidier and easier to find what you're looking for, and will lower the possibility of overwriting something important with a foolishly-chosen filename.

5. Keep all your multiple versions of a file for a long time afterwards, if it's a commission or other big important picture.

6. The "undo" and "redo" buttons are your friends.

7. The "revert to last save" button is NOT your friend. Many almost-finished images have fallen prey to this monster.

8. GIF file format is for pixel art, line art, and images using fairly little variety of color. Lowest resolution GIF files will be discolored and grainy, especially on places with broad, soft gradiations of color. You need to know when to use certain kinds of image file formats. There's currently some controversy about this file format.

9. JPG files are for extremely colorful images and photographs. Lowest resolution JPG files will have a wobbly, runny, pebbly texture to them, especially around lines and sharp edges.

10. The main large, lossless, cross-platform, high-resolution file formats are BMP, PNG, and TIFF. BMP is widely recognized, but not acceptable on the web. PNG is acceptable on the web, but it's not widely recognized enough. TIFF is widely recognized, unnacceptable on the web, and has a smaller filesize than the other formats. Of all these, TIFF is best for saving high-rez originals on your computer or to your commissioner, and PNG is best for putting a high-detail image on a website.

11. DO keep a high-res version of every image, and not just the low-res version for uploading to the Internet. You WILL want the high-res versions later on, and will kick yourself if you deleted them.

12. If you have a pen tablet, make sure your houseguests never use it as a coaster, and that your cat doesn't bat the pen-tool around on the floor. This will, however, happen. Life.

13. Making jokes about how pen-tablet mice have no balls is acceptable.

14. Sometimes when an art program is frozen and you can't save, only close out of it: you can hit the 'screenshot' button to capture the image and paste it down later. I've managed to salvage an image this way in about three different instances, so it's valid.

15. Oekaki is a fantastic and free art program. Unfortunately for us English speakers, it's in Japanese language only.

16. OpenCanvas is also a fantastic and free art program. It's in a dialect of Engrish, which is better for us than Japanese language, but just confusing enough that you'll be left agonizing about what the buttons /really/ do.

17. The Gimp is a fantastic and free art program, and it IS in flawless English, but it's only awkwardly compatible with Windows, and not compatible in the least with pen-tablets.

18. Microsoft Paint is a free art program in flawless English, but it is by no means fantastic.

19. There are lots of art programs which are really truly fantastic and in flawless English, but unfortunately they're ludicrously expensive and innaffordable. Many people steal them instead. I do not advise this, because jail time sucks. However, you can get these programs for a lesser price in Limited versions such as are sold with art hardware, or in school versions.

20. Layers are your friends. Learn to use them. Be free with them. Love them.

21. Filters are only your friends if you can use them in such a way that you don't look like a moron with a fancy paintcan.

22. Fancy paintbrushes are your friends.

23. The Help folder claims to be your friend, but it doesn't take long for it to prove to be just as clueless as you are. In that case, seek a community of real live interactive people.

24. Make sure you wipe off your screen frequently. Dust and smudges will make a lot of difference that you might not be conciously noticing.

25. When considering the composition of an image, adding the final touches, nitpicking it, or trying to progress beyond a block, try this: flip it horizontally and/or vertically, and see what that does for it. You might see it in a different light, spot things about it that you hadn't seen the other way, and maybe even like it better and leave it facing that direction.

26. Try turning out the lights in the room. This will eliminate glare on the screen, and make the image appear to be even brighter and clearer.

27. Especially important with dark images and/or photo manipulations: temporarily turn up your monitor brightness really, really high, and see if there are some subtleties in the shadows that you'd otherwise have missed and need to fix.

28. With the Internet at your fingertips already, you can find reference pictures of nearly anything, anytime. Exploit that gift.

29. Some art programs really hate being interrupted by things like screensavers, popup windows, and new windows from instant messengers. You might like to turn those off while you're using that art program to prevent any chance of crashing.

30. When testing an image composition, zoom out from it far enough that it's the size that thumbnail previews in online galleries are, and see if it still stands out as clearly. (The modern version of "stand back a few feet and squint at it.")

31. You'll want to have more than one art program, and move between them freely, using them for different purposes in each image. Painter Classic has the most realistic brushes, but Photoshop LE saves better JPG files, and this other program comes with some textures you'd like to use- that sort of thing. The programs have different strengths.

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