Celestine

Haven't posted in a while things came up on my end. I approached a local company and gave them one of the state designs to produce a few shirts so I could wear them around and gauge reaction. I was going to have them put the state map on the front and the community list on the back. I can't believe how they punched up the designs including how they will look on the shirt which uploaded to Photobucket, you can see them here: IdahoT-shirtproof_zps83c38c5c.jpg Photo by Celestine16 | Photobucket

Is it possible to add fonts to Paint.net even if you still have Windows Vista?

I've been told I also can install fonts on Paint.net, is that a similar process?

OK, I just tried to combine the map and community list. My idea was to have the map with the eclipse path in the background as essentially a 'watermark' with the community list typed on top of it. Since I was going to try to make the front of the shirt look like a rock and roll venue I decided to use similar colors for the back that I would use on the front. I used the gradient tool to create the blue effect toward the center and I did a slight Gaussian blur to create the 'watermark' effect for the state. For the text at the top I used a font called Engravers MT and then the Arial Black font for the list. Now that I look at it though I wonder if it's too busy and I wonder if I made the state too big so that you can't see all of it very well thru the background near the edge and also the typing over it. I wonder if I should have tried to make it look more grungy so it would look more like an ad posted on a wall or light pole. I could still download an image of a blank poster on a brick or concrete wall but will probably have to pay for it since I'm not finding anything like that for free. I saved the image and uploaded it to Photobucket so everyone can see it which required 'flattening', that is all layers merged to create the JPEG image then went back to Paint.net and hit undo which separated the layers again so I can keep tweaking everything. I wonder if the color scheme is right or if I should have completely different colors for the back to make it look more grungy. I still don't know how to make the text grungy looking so it doesn't look quite so flat, I tried using the artistic-ink sketch effect but it didn't make it look much different. Anyway, what do we think about it what can I do and use to make it look better?

It's so hard to know what to do since so many ideas occur to me and everyone here and at estetica has good ideas as well. Even though I may be leaning a particular way does not mean at all that my feelings can't change. Possibly I could incorporate something like Yellowman's design for the total eclipse on the front of the shirt in the middle of the eclipse phases the have a graphic like the Hopkinsville one for the state on the back both as you suggested. I'll probably wind up with elements of everyone's ideas for the final design!

This is the way I've been leaning for the last couple of days or so which I just posted over at estetica: This idea occurred to me: For the front have it say as I had suggested 'Total Solar Eclipse' (1st line up at the top) below it 'Monday August 21, 2017' Then a small map of the US with the path superimposed then below that 'The American Tour'. In the middle of the shirt have a gauzy blue background to imitate rock concert lighting with the phases of the eclipse going across from left to right and the actual total eclipse in the center. Below that at the bottom of the shirt have a rock concert crowd silhouette. I found many of those with this search: https://www.google.com/search?q=t-sh...w=1024&bih=645 For the back of the shirt have a dark colored brick or concrete wall as background then have a grunge-looking poster on it with the same 1st and 2nd lines at the top as the front but then have the state map with the path across it and below that 'Oregon Appearances' (or again whichever state) and then below that the community list. Possibly something from this search: https://www.google.com/search?q=t-sh...w=1024&bih=645 But then how would I give the text the same texture as the wall and poster?

Merry Christmas! When I posted the photobucket link over at T-shirtforums.com I received comments such as the designs are way too basic so no one will buy the T-shirts or the eclipse is too far in the future for anyone to be interested now. There were suggestions I try to include a humorous design such as astronomy enthusiasts waiting with telescope or camera in hand to see the eclipse or possibly play up the once in a lifetime angle. They did direct me to the estetica design forum which I did go to and I've been having a fantastic discussion on how to punch up the designs. Here's the thread link: http://www.estetica-design-forum.com/graphic-design-web-design-critique/45666-need-design-critique.html Do anyone see a problem with Paint.net being able to handle any of the ideas that have come out in the estetica thread?

Finally done with all the state maps and they're all uploaded to Photobucket! I decided to do a map of just southern Illinois and western Kentucky so I could make the path of totality bigger. I decided to put Tennessee and North Carolina the same map so the path would look smoother. Because of the way the path goes over the two states I did a map of central and eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. I also put Georgia and South Carolina on their own map for the same reason although I have all of South Carolina and just eastern Georgia. I updated the community list designs to move those states around. It turns out there is more than 1 Facebook page for the eclipse and I want to post a link to the designs on those. I also want to try crowdsource fundraising to help out with expenses. I wanted to start 1st with kickstarter.com for that although I understand there are other crowdsource fundraising sites. I wanted to ask the question on those sites which type of design do you like best the map or community list? Dumb question: If I post a link to the designs they should just be able to click on it and see the designs they won't have to log in or anything to see them? A couple of other things I've found, here is a logo created for Hopkinsville, Kentucky where the eclipse will last the longest, 2 minutes and 40 seconds: http://surfky.com/index.php/communities/christian/51-top-news-for-all-sites/18794-community-plans-for-2017-total-solar-eclipse Here is a crowdsourcing request to document the eclipse by photo and combining all the photos taken into a movie: http://gizmodo.com/5838177/crowdsourcing-the-solar-eclipse-of-2017

Where did everyone go? I finally got the Illinois-Kentucky map figured out and uploaded to Photobucket. I had to import the outline of Illinois on one layer then create another layer that I could use to actually draw the map of Illinois joined to Kentucky. I had to put the image of Illinois off to one side and try as best I could to draw the map freehand while looking at the outline. Then all I had to do was delete the layer with the imported Illinois outline. It's probably not the most perfect map of Illinois ever but I think it will be OK for this. Because the path is so small through both states I may do a map of just southern Illinois and western Kentucky so the path will be bigger but for now I just wanted to get these two state done so I have only 2 more maps to go Tennessee-Georgia and North/South Carolina.

Maps of Nebraska-Kansas and Missouri are uploaded to Photobucket but I've run into another roadblock. I'm trying to do the map for Illinois and Kentucky and while I was able to import a map of Kentucky and then trace over it (very hard because of its irregular shape) to get it onto the canvas I can't do the same with Illinois. That's because I'm importing another blank white space with the outline of Illinois on it and thus I can't see where to join the two states because of the white space underneath the outline. I've tried tracing over Illinois but then I can't move that. Is there a way to trace over the image of Illinois and be able to move it around so I can place it where it needs to go?

Here's a website where you can get blank outlines of states: http://www.your-vector-maps.com . The blank outlines are free, if you want colored maps or maps with cities or counties or whatever then those you pay for. I don't see a terms of use link which shows up on so many websites. The terms usually specify that you can download the image for your own use but you can't use it to sell anything. The fact there doesn't appear to be a terms of use link makes me think I should be OK to download the image and use it. Maybe I'm wrong does anyone know more about this issue? Does anyone else see anything on that website that might raise a copyright issue?

I created the Idaho and Wyoming maps and uploaded them to Photobucket. I'm spending a lot of time looking for free clipart state images since so many images cost money to download. I've had another person tell me today they like the idea of a map rather than a community list. They even suggested putting the map on the back of the shirt and just a large image of the eclipse maybe something like Yellowman created on the front. I wonder if maybe it might work better if the map is on the front and the large image is on the back, that way people can see what it's all about as you face them.

That's brilliant! How did you do that?

I did fix the Oregon map and uploaded it to Photobucket. I had to use the rectangle tool because I couldn't get the clone stamp tool to work, it wouldn't completely erase the line with the missing apostrophe or else it would copy parts of the text or map on other parts of the canvas and I couldn't remove those perhaps Yellowman can walk us thru how to use it correctly. The next map is Idaho but so far I haven't found a free clipart map of it yet. One other question: If I'm creating the eclipse path with the line/curve tool can I in effect copy the northern edge of the path and paste it where the southern edge should be so they appear even? I had to do the two edges for Oregon separately and while I think it looks OK (maybe someone else might not find it that way, please say so) there wouldn't be an evenness issue if I could just copy and paste it.

I actually did it! I created a shirt design with a map on it the way I want and uploaded it to Photobucket! I actually had seen those other clipart images of Oregon but I figured I probably did need to at least try the suggested procedure just to learn how to do more things. When I did the search a link came up right away and said the images were free which is where I got the 1st image that was filled in blue. Anyway, what I did was download just a black outline of the state of Oregon and went to adjustments and invert colors which I clicked on. That turned the black outline white then I merged it with the background and presto! A white outline against the dark background. The rest was easy although I noticed after uploaded it I had left out the apostrophy in 'Dont Miss It!'. Is there a fast way to fix that so I don't have to re-create the shirt?