Photoshop knife designing

heyy all

i found these online thought i'd share, these are not neccessarily so different, just more is always better

i start of course with Mike Carter's which is already posted here and is the one i learned from

http://www.cartercrafts.com/photoshopknife.htm

http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/drawing/create-a-knife-in-photoshop/

http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/drawing/create-a-knife-in-photoshop-screencast/ same as above but video

http://adobeperson.com/photoshop-ba...p-design-butcher-knife-logo-icon-in-photoshop

http://www.flash-game-design.com/tutorials/drawknife-photoshop-tutorial.html

http://tutorial-zee.com/photoshop-tutorials/photoshop-design-knife-logo-in-photoshop

http://tutorialagent.com/best-photoshop-tutorials/photoshop-design-fish-knife-logo-icon-in-photoshop

http://tutorial-zee.com/photoshop-tutorials/photoshop-website-template-stock-photo-sharp-knife

http://www.knivesby.com/phill.html


enjoy

Trying my hand at this in gimp, I must say I rather like paper compared to dealing with computers.

for me hand is better also, for now, but for guys wanting accuracy, flexibility, and water jet or laser cut pc design would be a must

I use photoshop and illustrator along with a wacom tablet. I draw my knives in pencil, them trace them on a light board with a graphic pen. Then send them to photoshop (CS3) to size them up after scanning. Its important to make your level adjustments to the point where the black is truly black. Then is save it as a PSD. I then send it to illustrator (CS3) and do a live trace. I had to adjust the tracing presets in tracing options to obtain accurate curves and circles. After a live trace you must use the make and expand command in the object column. Save as an AI file and export as a DXF file. You might have to export differently to accommodate for different CAD software configurations. I didn't read the above tutorials but this is the way I'm comfortable with because you can make small adjustments during any point of this process to further customize your blade. I've been using this process only for my most complicated knives just because I love grinding. I hope this is a good addition to the thread, any questions just ask.

^ Oh yeah? That's it, huh?

I draw mine on the metal in sharpie, then cut it out with a cut off wheel, then grind on a rough bench grinder to get close to shape...

Yeah my first blades were done that way, but I learned graphic design before I learned knife making, either way keep cutting metal!!!!

Here's an example of a folder I'm making. Hand drawn, scanned and sized in photoshop.

Compared to drawing a knife by hand, it takes a lot more time to do it with a computer graphics program.

The main advantage with a graphics program is being able to edit your design later on. If someone wants a knife with a 1/2" longer blade, you can do that with CAD in no time.

Also, as you add more and more drawings, you'll find that you're actually creating a library of design elements that can be accessed rapidly. Different features like thumb studs, screws, hole patterns, pocket clips, etc. don't need to be drawn from the ground up every time if you have them already established in a CAD file. You can just take the elements from an existing drawing to put into a new design.

I figured I'd better post an example to better illustrate my point. (Pardon the pun.)

Here I have a folder design that incorporated several elements from existing designs along with the new geometry:



Of course, there are other things to consider - like finishes. Here, I've taken the basic image of the open knife from the CAD file, imported it into PhotoShop, duplicated it 6 times, and added various fill patterns I developed to simulate different materials and finishes:



It's a lot faster than photocopying the drawing and getting out my box of crayons.

I think it looks a bit cleaner, too. :3:

Here's an enlargement of the bottom, right image to give you a better idea of the detail.

I see every advantage of doing it on the computer, I even have all the software and tools. I just like hand drawing it while i'm on the couch half watching a show. I really need to get better with my CAD software though..

^ I sorta agree with Boss on this... I like drawing it by hand since I'm not reproducing the same knife over and over. Plus, the last thing I have time for right now is learning a new computer program... I do that at work everyday...

I of the biggest advantages of doing my designs in Photoshop is the uses of layers. Each element can be drawn on it's own layer and then turned on or off, resized, rotated or otherwise manipulated individually. I can draw several guards and easily turn themm on or off to compared how they work with a knife design. I do a lot of "what-if" comparisons this way. It also helps tremedously when working on a new design for a customer and I can easily create several variations and email them to the customer before I ever cut any steel.

A good example of this process is on my website from when I was designing my orignal "Grizz" Bowie as a custom order. See http://www.cartercrafts.com/grizz.htm. You can see how the design evolved and changed from where we started to where we finished.

Tom Anderson said:

Compared to drawing a knife by hand, it takes a lot more time to do it with a computer graphics program.

The main advantage with a graphics program is being able to edit your design later on. If someone wants a knife with a 1/2" longer blade, you can do that with CAD in no time.

Also, as you add more and more drawings, you'll find that you're actually creating a library of design elements that can be accessed rapidly. Different features like thumb studs, screws, hole patterns, pocket clips, etc. don't need to be drawn from the ground up every time if you have them already established in a CAD file. You can just take the elements from an existing drawing to put into a new design.

Click to expand...

very true! i recently started learning autocad, at first it was hard, but after a while it got easier, i still have LONG way to go, but in mere seconds i can change size of blade, add drill holes, duplicate and edit... its amazing!

love your work Tom btw

Thank you!

You can use Autocad to make a scale drawing from a picture if you know what the overall length of that specific knife is. What I like about aotocad is that you can change the shape of the knife with out redrawing it and with folders you can rotate the blade in the drawing to see if everything is going to work out as it should. For me it is an essential design tool. Made a complete set of drawings when I build my grinder, most drawings on the web is in inches so I draw them in inches and then just scale the whole lot to get the dimensions in millimeters.

I didnt get AutoCAD, but I DID use CadStd Lite to make this, and then put it into MSPaint for the colors/fill... What do you think? I'm pretty pumped about getting this done!

This was actually at the request of what will be my very first paying customer... I told him I may not be ready to make THIS one yet, but we'll see...


Ok, I redid this in Sketchup and got this...