Table Of ContentEnhancing CAD
Drawings with
Photoshop®
Scott Onstott
SYBEX®
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Enhancing CAD
Drawings with
Photoshop
®
Scott Onstott
San Francisco London
4386FM.fm Page ii Tuesday, November 16, 2004 10:00 PM
Publisher: Dan Brodnitz
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Autodesk VIZ is a 3D solution for modeling, rendering, animating, and creating photorealistic design visualizations. It can be used to
explore design concepts, communicate design intent, and share work with clients, colleagues, and consultants. Straighforward modeling
features and unique interoperability with other Autodesk design applications add flexibility and efficiency to the creation process. It
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To Maximilian and Isabella
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Foreword
Adobe Photoshop has made an enormous impact on the way architects work. We can now experi-
ment with color schemes with a click of the mouse and have complete control over the colors we use.
We can combine computer-generated 3D models with actual site photos to see how a design will look
when it’s in place. When combined with AutoCAD, presentation material can be generated faster and
with greater accuracy. Cut-away views of 3D plans can be rendered and colored in hours instead of
in days.
But Photoshop is a complex program with a lot of depth. Until now, the unique methods that archi-
tects need to employ with Photoshop had to be learned through trial and error, or by gathering
knowledge from disparate sources. Enter Scott Onstott’s Enhancing CAD Drawings with Photoshop.
When I first heard about this project, I was very excited because it’s the book I’ve been wanting in
my own library for some time. And having worked with Scott, I have no worries about the quality and
content; I know how Scott works, and he leaves no stone unturned. His writing is thorough yet easy
to understand. Those qualities combined with his professional experience using Photoshop in an
architectural setting make Enhancing CAD Drawings with Photoshop a killer book. I don’t think anyone
could have found a better combination of knowledge, experience, and writing skill for this project.
He starts out with a chapter for complete beginners, to help you understand how Photoshop
works and how it differs from CAD software. Next, he delves into the all-important topic of color and
all its ramifications. This chapter alone is worth the price of admission as it covers color calibration;
understanding calibration can save your office hundreds of hours in wasted time. Next, Scott shows
you the tools that let you fine-tune color, sharpness, and other effects. Chapter 4 covers one of my
favorite topics, entourage, where you learn how to add life to a computer-generated 3D model. Later
chapters discuss methods for rendering 2D images from CAD plans, such as floor plans and eleva-
tions, and get into the nitty gritty details of combining images from different sources. Scott presents
some great information on alpha channels and layers—key tools when combining 3D and 2D images.
Finally, Chapter 9 covers the all-important methods for getting consistently great hard-copy output.
If you are an architect looking to get the most out of Photoshop, look no further; it’s all here in
Scott’s book. You could probably buy five or six other general Photoshop books and still not find the
gems that are pressed between these pages. Great work, Scott!
Regards,
George Omura
Author, Mastering AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD LT 2005
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Acknowledgments
First I’d like to thank my wife, Jenn, for her loving support and encouragement throughout this project.
I’d like to thank all those at Sybex who worked on this book for their help in publishing this, my
first book as sole author. Although I’ve worked on numerous Sybex books in various supporting
roles, and I self-publish many digital books and video courses, it is quite an honor for me to see this
book in printed form.
Thanks to Willem Knibbe for believing in me and presenting the opportunity to write this book.
Thanks go to Pete Gaughan for his unfailing support and excellent editorial feedback, making this a
much better book. Thanks to Ryan Spruston for being a great technical editor and to Pat Coleman for
very helpful copyediting. Lori Newman also deserves thanks for keeping all those working on this
project on track.
Special thanks to Richard Trueman, Stephane Osmont, Christian Sterner, Chan Lee, Michael Sech-
man, and David Wright, who have all taught me a lot and offered their support over the years.
4386FM.fm Page vii Tuesday, November 16, 2004 10:00 PM
Contents at a Glance
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiii
Chapter 1 • The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 2 • Working with Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Chapter 3 • Digital Darkroom Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Chapter 4 • You and Your Entourage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Chapter 5 • Presenting Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Chapter 6 • Elevating the Elevation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Chapter 7 • Creative Compositing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Chapter 8 • Illustrating Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Chapter 9 • Showing Work to Your Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
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Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Chapter 1 • The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Color vs. Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Anti-aliasing and Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Raster Data Storage and Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Understanding Modes, Bits, and Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Bitmaps and Grayscale Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Color Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Color Bit Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Additive versus Subtractive Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Selecting Pixels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Saving and Loading Selections with Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Using Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Organizing Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Layer Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Layer and Vector Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Clipping Groups and Knockouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Layer Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Painting, Adjusting, and Filtering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Using Brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Making Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Using Adjustment and Fill Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Applying Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Reversing Changes: Undo, Fade, and History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Text, Shapes, and Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Creating and Editing Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Creating and Editing Shapes and Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Sizing and Transforming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Setting Image Size, Resolution, and Document Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Straightening Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Correcting for Two-Point Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Chapter 2 • Working with Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Modes and Gamuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Color Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Calibration and Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Profiling Your Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Disabling a Printer’s Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Consistent Color Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
