# creating a logo from a pencil drawing-help!



## Lizzyborden (Sep 7, 2012)

I've created a logo for our Halloween display that's also going to do double-duty as the logo for our soon-to-open etsy shop. How do you go from a crudely sketched pencil drawing to a graphic logo without spending a fortune on software?

I currently have Microsoft Word and Publisher and have published employee and organizational newsletters using both. Also used the latter to redesign and print menus for a restaurant where I worked as a bookkeeper. Problem is that was over 10 years ago and I'm a little rusty. Would love to get Photoshop but can't justify the expense at this time. Is there a free or low-cost program that would do the job?


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

There are some free programs out there, but to be honest, you pretty much get what you paid for them. They are very limited in what they can (and were meant) to do.
You can look at Gimp, it's free, there are some other programs out there but they too are very limited.
Consider how and where the logo would get used (in print, screen-printed, Facebook banner, etc.) and make sure that what you create can actually get used for your intended purposes, and that the program(s) you use can produce the type and quality work you need to have to do your work.
More often than not, it's often cheaper in the long run to have it done by a pro who uses the right software. The trick to save you time and money is to have all your homework done ahead of time (Needed sizes, resolution, file types, color spaces/modes, etc.) and to have your design as close to done as you can. For those of us who draw for a living, the killer for most customers is wasted time on doing homework and making design decisions while we are in the process of drawing your stuff. You end up paying for my hours, whether they are spent with me twiddling my thumbs waiting for you to make decisions or me doing the actual drawing.
Word is fine for word processing, but it's not really designed for doing illustration.
Drop me a PM if I can be of assistance.


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## azscoob (Oct 6, 2010)

I draw all my own logos and artwork for my brewpub that will be opening soon, for years I've been drawing in pencil until I get the appearance I want, then ink it in like an old school cartoonist, I then scan it into the computer and start coloring it in. The look is different than what you see out there anymore, but it's well received by friends and family, even a panel we assembled for tasting and sampling our food and beer. They were asked about the artwork and if it would draw them in as a customer and would they buy swag with the logo/artwork on it.


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

Guess I am a bit partial to PaintShop. "Back in the day" (mid/late 90's) it seemed like PaintShop could do about 97% of what Adobe Photoshop could do, at about 25% the cost - so I've stuck with it ever since. I'm sure it's not what the "pro's" use, but for the run of the mill stuff I do, it is more than adequate.

A current prowl of Amazon shows some older versions (like X5 which is still very capable if you don't need 'bleeding edge' features) running around $20. Even the newer X8 is around $45.

The other side of the coin will be how rusty you are. Often, I find the software is not the limiting factor, so much as my brain and the ability to comprehend it! YMMV!


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## Lizzyborden (Sep 7, 2012)

Thanks! In the past when I needed custom graphics I did as azscoob and just scanned it in. Will check out some of the programs too. Back in the day I was self-taught by trial and error. With youtube and internet sources I'm sure I could find some quick tutorials out there to familiarize myself with these programs.

corey872 did you create your banner using PaintShop? I don't really need bleeding edge features just yet so I may give it a shot.


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## ryschwith (Oct 27, 2014)

Inkscape is free and open-source, and is vector-based (which is desirable for logo design because you can easily scale it down to letterheads or up to t-shirts without losing quality). You can scan in your drawing, open it in Inkscape, and then "redraw" it on a new layer using the scan as a guide. There's a learning curve to the tools, though, and it'll take some practice. But that would be my recommendation.


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

Lizzyborden said:


> ...
> corey872 did you create your banner using PaintShop? I don't really need bleeding edge features just yet so I may give it a shot.


Matter of fact, yes I did. That was basically just a bunch of separate photos from around the haunt. I had a photo with a pile of fallen leaves for a background, then just cut, extracted, and pasted the various images into layers with a little rotation and re-sizing to make it look like 'something'.


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## Lizzyborden (Sep 7, 2012)

ryschwith said:


> Inkscape is free and open-source, and is vector-based (which is desirable for logo design because you can easily scale it down to letterheads or up to t-shirts without losing quality). You can scan in your drawing, open it in Inkscape, and then "redraw" it on a new layer using the scan as a guide. There's a learning curve to the tools, though, and it'll take some practice. But that would be my recommendation.


Thanks, I'll look into this too! 

corey872, I really like what you did with the banner. It looks awesome!


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## DarkLore (Jan 25, 2009)

As ryschwith stated...Inkscape is a free vector drawing program. Similar to Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw....it is very usable. The drawings in the top sticky on Techical Terror were done by hand with this type of program. For logos...thats the type of drawing tool.

For bitmaps and photo editing...theres Photopshop and nothing else. Forgot paint whatever...those tools suck wind.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

The learning curve, and the time it takes to learn are often very prohibitive to the vast majority of people. You need to weigh out what your time and frustration are worth, and weigh that against the time and monetary cost needed for the program(s).


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## Ravenseye (Jul 11, 2007)

The learning curve for any software is steep if you do not know a bezier from a bitmap. But, with the resources available these days (youtube, forums like this one, etc) You can become serviceable in a lot of disciplines with a reasonable investment of time.

For doing Vector Format stuff Inkscape is AWESOME!! It does nearly everything you'd want to make signs, scalable graphics, logos, web graphics, headers for forums...the list goes on and on! (And FREE and open source too!) Youtube it and you can get a decent result within an evening for a small time outfit. Of course, if you're doing work that you're being paid for, you can justify having Adobe/Corel/whateverpaidsoftware you want. But for a hobby/small scale operation, Inkscape ROCKS!

Http://www.inkscape.org

For bitmap editing (read: editing photos, slightly fancier graphic treatments, etc) the gimp is equally awesome!! (And FREE and open source too!)

http://www.gimp.org

Krita 3.0 was just released yesterday, and it is the open source equivelant of Corel's Painter program and/or using photoshop for that as well. IT IS ALSO FREE and very competitive (nearly better than) those two for it's intended task, digital painting. With the most recent edition, they have added frame by frame animation and several new tools for making fantastic art!!

https://krita.org/

If you want to make a newsletter, or some other form of publication for your haunt, Scribus is the open source complement of Microsoft Publisher/QuarkXpress/InDesign for page layout tasks.

https://www.scribus.net/

All of these software packages are complicated and tangled beasts that hide tools all over the place. All of them have a steep learning curve and it takes time to become proficient in any of them. But again, with resources like youtube, If you want to see how to make a logo in inkscape, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=logo+in+inkscape Painting characters in Krita? Here, check these out, https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=character+design+in+krita

So yes, you _could_ plunk down a few grand for software that are "industry standard" and still have to spend hours learning how to use them. OR, you can download these free tools, grab a beer/tea/coffee and watch some youtube videos for the FREE tools and get something done.


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## victorian-witch (Aug 19, 2011)

I'm working on putting together a GIMP tutorial that may help some! I'll let you know as soon as it's posted.


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## victorian-witch (Aug 19, 2011)

victorian-witch said:


> I'm working on putting together a GIMP tutorial that may help some! I'll let you know as soon as it's posted.


It's up now, in this Graphic Design forum.


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