Phantasm CS Tutorials: Halftone
This tutorial aims to use vector halftones in various ways to produce a bank note theme.
Along the way, it will be using the Filter and Effect tools present in Phantasm CS range, as well as the and color editing tools. There will be no need to exit Illustrator to perform additional tasks.
It also makes use of the tool introduced in Illustrator CS2 as well as the function which will be used to help generate the background halftone wave effect.
The final image may be previewed below:
Stage 1
The basis of this artwork is a panorama of a beautiful French bridge. The original high-resolution image is reduced in size and presented here:
To download the image (copyright Astute Graphics Limited, 2008), please click here.
Create a new CMYK document, 22.22 x 7.22 inches, and place this image within it, ensuring that it is embedded as opposed to being linked and that it is scaled to fit the page size fully.
Select the image within the Illustrator document and open the window (). The options chosen were based on the "" default, but with set to 32. Select to produce a vector version of the image and expand the trace to ensure that it is purely vector ().
The reason the image is being vector traced is to allow for warping in segments, which will be covered next.
Stage 2
Because we are looking for repeated waves in the halftone effect to better emulate the security design found on many banknotes, we need to split the traced artwork into sections so that each may be warped individually.
Before we proceed to creating the design, we first need to check that an image can be warped and then "unwarped". The reason for taking these steps is that the Haltone tool is able to produce straight "line cut" type results, but not in a wave form. Therefore, by first warping the artwork, applying the Halftone and then "unwarping", the result should be a wavy Halftone.
To demonstrate this, take a look at the following image (zoom to enlarge). You may also download the original Illustrator file by clicking here...
From this test, it is proved that a "" Envelope distort of can be brought back to its original form by re-applying at .
The next step is to divide the traced image into blocks, each to produce one wave cycle. In this example, it was decided to produce 6 waves. To divide this up, a new layer was created and a rectangle was drawn exactly over the traced image (this is easily done if are enabled). The rectangle was then made 1/6th of its width by using Illustrator palette (the aspect ratio "chain" was disabled and "" was typed at the end of the width value and pressed).
The rectangle was then duplicated so that six copies fitted perfectly across the document. (The method chosen and shown above was to create a blend between two such rectangles at each end, with 4 steps specified. But equally, this could have been done manually.)
The rectangles were then ungrouped so that they could be selected individually.
Stage 3
Duplicate the layer containing the traced image (the six rectangles should be in a separate layer) and then copy the left-hand rectangle and place it in exactly the same location in the new duplicate layer.
In this example the duplicate layer was renamed simply to "" as other copies will follow. You may also wish to lock the other layers (the original traced image and the rectangles layer) while performing the following task...
Select the duplicate traced image (which should be a group) and the copy of left-hand rectangle and then click on the palette's button whilst holding down (this automatically expands the pathfinder operation).
This may take a short while to process.
The result should be a segment of the traced image, the size and location of the left-hand rectangle.
Stage 4
With the resultant segment of the traced image selected, open the window (). Opt for , ensure is selected, a bend of and no . this.
The Illustrator file showing the stage may be downloaded by clicking here...
Before continuing, expand this warp () so that it may be re-warped later.
Stage 5
Apply a Halftone live Effect () to the warped artwork as shown below:
The settings for this Halftone may be downloaded by clicking here...
Stage 6
To revert the distorted image, an opposite warp is applied.
With the Halftoned artwork selected, open the window once more (). Opt for , ensure is selected, a bend of and no . this.
The result should be a Halftoned segment of the original artwork, but with a wavy Halftone line effect.
Stage 7
Copy the original left-hand rectangle once more and paste in front () of the Halftoned artwork, in its same layer. Select the Halftoned artwork and the rectangle and apply a clipping mask ( or right/-click for the context-sensitive menu). This ensures that any Halftone effect that spills beyond its designated boundary is not visible.
The Illustrator file showing the stage may be downloaded by clicking here...
Stage 8
Repeat steps 3 to 7 for the five remaining segments.
You may need to nudge each segment up or down a fraction in order to ensure that each halftone wave meets the next one perfectly.
The Illustrator file showing the stage may be downloaded by clicking here...
Stage 9
Delete the layers containing the original vector traced image and the rectangles and combine the six artwork segments into one layer.
Create a new layer underneath, lock the top layer (and its Halftoned artwork) and re-import the original JPEG image (embedded, not linked), scaling to fit the document once more.
With the image selected, open the Phantasm CS live Effect window () and drop the top right curve node down to an value of as shown below:
This should lighten the image considerably and helps define the overall artwork.
Stage 10
Next, we are going to add the figure to the right of the artwork. Lock all existing layers and then create a new layer, set at the top of the layer stack and place this image (embedded, not linked).
Scale approximately as shown below:
Stage 11
With the figure image selected, open the live Effect window () and use the settings shown below. Note that the and values have been fine-tuned so that the centre of the Halftone Radial effect coincides with the mouth. To adjust further, remember that holding down whilst using the up/down buttons jumps the value in increments of 10.
The settings for this Halftone may be downloaded by clicking here...
Stage 12
Copy and paste in front the Halftoned figure and edit the Halftone settings by double-clicking on the entry in the palette.
The settings are very similar, but note that the has been set to top left (small grid icon) and the curve has been further altered.
The settings for this Halftone may be downloaded by clicking here...
Stage 13
To boost the clarity of the Halftoned figure, a diffused semi-transparent white background area will be created.
Select the top Halftoned figure object, copy and paste in front. In the palette, select and delete the entry (this should then display the original figure image).
With the image selected, apply a Gaussian Blur (). Next, apply a Levels color adjustment () as shown below:
The settings for this Levels Effect may be downloaded by clicking here...
Finally for this figure, set the to ( blend mode) and send to the back of the stack, behind both Halftoned figures.
Stage 14
Lock all layers and temporarily hide them. Duplicate the layer containing the faded image (which should be the bottom layer) and move the new layer to the top of the stack, unlock and un-hide.
Select the image and remove the previously applied via the palette. Draw a rectangle over this image, fill with a linear gradient from black to white. Select both the rectangle and the obscured image ( should allow this) and opt for from the palette's pull-down menu.
You may wish to tick in the palette to approximate the image below:
Don't worry if the image doesn't blend out the same. To adjust the black to white gradient which defines the transparency, click on the right-hand thumbnail in the palette, select the graduated rectangle and adjust using the . Try to approximate the image shown above.
Once happy with this, ensure you click on the left-hand thumbnail in the window once more in order to continue editing the artwork as normal.
Stage 15
Un-hide all layers, but keep all others apart from the top one locked.
With the image selected, open the Phantasm CS live Effect window () and drop the top right curve node down to an value of as shown below:
Stage 16
With the color-adjusted image still selected, open the window () and apply the setting as shown below:
The settings for this Duotone may be downloaded by clicking here...
Note that as a process (CMYK) color is specified, Phantasm CS automatically applies the live Effect as a transparency. This helps the image blend into the overall artwork more effectively.
Conclusion
The resultant artwork should resemble that shown below (click to expand):
>A copy of the Illustrator file may be downloaded by clicking here. Note that many of the live Effects remain in-tact.
A PDF copy of the end result may also be downloaded by clicking here. It is possible to turn the sections of the artwork on and off using the PDF layers control.