


It's Hip to Write Script

It's Hip to Write Script


It's Hip to Write Script

Posted by: Lizzie Healy

Tuesday, Jan 24th, 2017

There are countless design programs available for designers (and non-designers) to learn, each with unique tricks and tips. In my early stages of learning Adobe Photoshop, I spent roughly five hours watching and attempting to create coffee beans. I then Googled "PNG Coffee Beans" and clicked copy and paste. It got the job done.

Creatives express their design chops in many ways, and while they may excel at drawing or calligraphy, they may struggle with adapting to the scores of options available with design programs. You could take the time to watch one of the many video tutorials online walking you through each step, or you could learn a few easy hacks to get you through those beginning stages. Because sometimes you just need to put pen to paper, we're walking you through how to convert your hand drawn sketches, letters, and images into an SVG.

What the heck is an SVG you ask? An SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics. Gibberish, I know. Google provides equally gibberish answers. In my own plain language definition, it is an image that does not have a background, enabling you to place it as a layer on top of other images without the lovely white square background. This is helpful for things like logos and icons because they can be placed on a lot of different images without interrupting the design.

So here it is:

Step 1: Sketch It

Draw your design by hand, with pen and paper. It helps to use fat markers like Sharpies to create a starker contrast. Try to use white paper and a black pen because converting an image that uses black vs. white will be much more successful. It also helps to tend towards thicker lines instead of thinner, as the converter will pick these up more easily.

Step 2: Snap It

Take a picture of your sketched image. Avoid shadows on the paper, again think CONTRAST.

Step 3: Upload It

Upload the image to an SVG converter. There are a lot of sites that do this, but we used http://image.online-convert.com/convert-to-svg (because it came up first when we Googled it).

Step 4: Convert It

If you are using a converter that gives you the option to choose color, select grey or monochrome. Click "Convert File".

Step 5: Open It

Save the file and open it in a design program like Adobe Photoshop. It's actually that simple.

Lizzie Healy

Meet The Author

Lizzie Healy / Marketing

Lizzie is from a little place called Arlington, Virginia. She is now living in New York City on the hunt for the perfect everything bagel, and burning off said bagels with large quantities of hot yoga, long runs along the east river, and aggressively scrolling through her Instagram feed. She was a marketing major at the University of Scranton, where her obsession with colorful Excel Spreadsheets really flourished. She can typically be found at any place with live music or a rooftop, or preferably both.