Courses

Master Class Series

Picta Graphic for MacOS

Course Outline

Ver 3.1

Series Intro

  • Hello, My name is Dave & this is Fuzzee Tutorials

  • Welcome to my Picta Graphic for Mac OS "Master Class" series.

  • This series will divided into several chapters.

  • I will teach you Picta Graphic from start to finish, we will cover all the tools, how to use them, use cases & in the final chapters we will do a couple of real world projects from start to finish.

  • By the time you complete this series you should be an advanced user of this program.

  • The first couple of chapters are free for everyone on my YouTube channel, the rest can be found on Udemy, you will find a link below in the description.

  • Also found in the description is a course outline for the entire series so you know what will be covered in the full "Master Class" series.

  • You can also find many other tutorials for free on my YouTube channel: Fuzzee Tutorials.

Chapter 1)

Graphic Introduction

  • What is Graphic

  • Why use it instead of other options

  • History

    • Autodesk

    • iDraw

    • Who owns & maintains it now

    • Picta

  • Versions Available

    • Mac OS

    • iPad

    • iPhone

  • Where to get it

    • www.graphic.com

  • Price structure for Picta Graphic Software

    • One time purchase - Mac Version $29.99 USD

    • no subscription

    • future updates included - Last version update was 2018

  • This tutorial is for Mac OS, Version 3.1

Interface & Files

  • File operations

    • Create new File

    • New from clipboard

    • New from Selection

    • Open

    • Open Recent

    • Export

    • Export Layers

  • Canvas Via Properties Tool Panel

    • Size

    • Snap

    • Background

  • Change Canvas Size

  • Change Artwork (Object) Size in Percentage

  • Adjust Colours

  • Grid

    • Properties Tool Panel

      • Set Spacing

      • Set Sub divisions

      • Margins

    • Set Show Grid (Toggle)

    • Set Snap to Grid

    • Set Snap to Point

  • Use Geometry Panel

    • Position

    • Size

    • Shear

    • Rotation

  • Change Colour Space

    • RGB

    • CYMK

    • HSB

  • Set Zoom Modes

  • Set Outline mode (Toggle)

  • Show pixels (Toggle) - Lets you see how object appears as a bitmap image

  • Show Rulers (Toggle)

  • Smart Guides (Toggle)

  • Guides (Toggle)

    • Hide Guides

    • Lock Guides

    • Clear Guides (No Toggle)

    • New Guide

  • Enter Full Screen (Toggle)

Chapter 2)

Introduction to Tool Ribbon

  • Move Tool

  • Path Selection Tool

    • Select point and move

    • Select multiple points and move

    • Will discuss using Bezier curves in a later chapter

    • Plugins for paths

      • Add anchor Points

      • Crumple path

  • Convert Anchor Tool - Convert anchor point to bezier curve or remove bezier curve

    • Convert Square to pie shape

  • Pen Tool

  • Brush Tool

  • Pencil Tool

  • Eraser Tool

  • Text Tool

  • Line Tool

    • Measurement Style - Based on canvas unit of measurement

  • Arc Tool

  • Rectangle Tool

    • Constrain

    • Draw from centre out

    • Rotation

    • Constrain rotation to 15° increments

  • Rounded Rectangle Tool

  • Ellipse Tool (

  • Polygon Tool

    • Set number of sides

  • Star Tool

    • Set number of sides

    • Set edge Length

  • Rotate Tool

    • Move rotation anchor point

  • Scale Tool

  • Shear Tool

  • Hand Tool - Move Canvas

  • Zoom Tool

  • Fill / Stroke Colour

Modifying Objects Directly

  • Move

  • Rotate

  • Duplicate

  • Duplicate

  • Copy / Paste

    • Copy as …

      • PNG

      • PDF

      • SVG

      • CSS Properties

      • Core Graphics Code

Chapter 3)

Appearance Effects

  • Object settings

    • Blend Type

    • Opacity

  • Fill settings

    • Gradient

      • Linear

      • Radial

      • Angle

    • Pattern

      • Selecting

      • Creating a Basic pattern

      • Creating a seamless pattern from photo

    • Image

    • Blend Modes

  • Stroke Settings

    • Width / Weight

    • Line ends

    • Line Type

    • Position

    • Blend

    • Set outline stroke - Purpose

      • Modify menu -Outline Stroke or

      • Properties tool panel

        • Path tools

        • Modify paths

        • Icon 4

Chapter 3 - Continued

  • Outer Shadow

    • Blend Mode

    • Distance

      • X

      • Y

    • Size

  • Inner Shadow

    • Blend Mode

    • Distance

      • X

      • Y

    • Size

  • Outer Glow

    • Blend Mode

    • Size

  • Inner Glow

    • Blend Mode

    • Size

  • Blur

    • Radius

  • Settings - Additional options

    • Add setting

    • Understand Order they are applied

    • Removing a setting

    • Duplicate setting

    • Copy setting

    • Paste setting

  • Use case examples

    • Realistic sphere with 2nd light source

    • Multiple strokes

    • 3D effect using multiple inner shadows

Layers

  • Visibility

  • Locking

  • Blending

  • Opacity

  • Adding

  • Deleting

  • Duplicate

  • Copy

  • Paste

  • Directly access objects

    • within groups

    • Change order

      • preferred over using Arrange menu

    • Move to another layer

  • Use cases

    • Grouping

    • Controlling Z Order

    • Useful for different versions

    • Front and back of documents - Bus Cards, Flyers, etc

    • Exporting Layers as individual documents

Chapter 4)

Scaling & Scale Tool

  • Issues with scaling stroke

    • Use size tool to scale stroke

  • Setting sizing anchor point

Rotation & Rotation Tool

  • Set rotation point

Smart Duplicate

  • How it works

    • Duplicate object

    • move & rotate

    • Duplicate the duplicate

      • The duplication memory of the steps is tied to the duplicate of an object, if you select the original object and duplicate it again, the previous actions performed on the duplicate of the original object will be lost. Here is an example (Skinny rectangle example)

Properties panel

  • Geometry

  • Alignment + Distribution (Use multiple rectangles to demo align & distribute)

    • Horizontal mirror

    • Vertical mirror

  • Path Tools

  • Grid + Guidelines

  • Canvas

Distribute Objects

Patterns

  • Making a basic pattern

  • Make any graphic into seamless pattern

Shapes Library

  • Using shapes

  • Add your graphics to “My Shapes”

    • Select shape

    • click + or right click

    • What happens when you add graphics with multiple shapes

      • Ungrouped VS Grouped

  • Removing a shape - Right click

Styles Library

  • Using Styles

    • Select object

    • Click style

  • Adding Styles

    • Select object

    • click + or right click

  • Removing Styles

    • right click

Chapter 5

Final prerequisite skills for sample projects

  • Convert Text to Outlines

  • Dragging images into Graphic

    • Adjust Colour with Plugin (Colour controls)

    • Apply effects with Plugin (Photo Effects)

    • Apply Unsharp mask

    • Crop photo

  • Understand Paste Inside VS Fill with Image VS Path Tool Intersect

  • Text to Path

  • Using the Brush Tool

  • How to make a 4 corner gradient

  • Print Ready Considerations

Sample Project for advanced Concepts

Develop Logo & Identity Design

  • Night Rider Computer Services - Logo

    • Trace Profile Picture using path tools for main image

    • Add Text

    • Choose Font

    • Create Graphic elements

    • Create path for text

    • Fit text to path

  • Alternative forms & Colours

    • Create different versions of logo

      • Black on white

      • white on black

      • choose logo colours

  • Establish Brand Pattern for use in backgrounds, etc

  • Fonts

    • Discussion of appropriate fonts

    • Sizing & contrast considerations

    • Converting text to outlines

    • Customizing the text

  • Colour Palette

    • Discussion of colour science

  • Business Card

    • Design considerations

    • Laying out the card

      • Size

      • Margins

      • Bleed

      • Using negative space

  • Social Media

    • Creating social media samples

  • Website Buttons

    • Testing logo designs for button styles

  • Creating Identity design Document

    • Purpose of document

    • What should be included & Why

    • Typical layout

Final Student project is to follow steps of Sample project to develop their own Logo & Identity design.

  • Final grade divided into 3 parts;

  • Initial Submission: 50%

    • Inclusion of all steps

    • Proper layout

    • Successful use of tools

  • Redesign based on critique: 25%

    • Proper use of tools to implement design changes

    • How well did they understand change requests

  • Final design after 2nd critique: 25%

    • Proper use of tools to implement design changes

    • How well did they understand change requests

Chapter 1 of 5