Tried this for the first time and … WOW!
What a great way to get templates from any surfboard picture.
L
There IS a better way. Get some 1/8 inch tempered masonite, a tape measure, a saw, sand paper, sanding block, and a hand plane, and create your own design. Rely on your own eye, and skill, not a computer.
Computer is just a different sort of pencil - simply a writing utensil. Plus, you still need to use all the stuff you mention AFTER you do your drawing, regardless how you draw it… right?
By the way, Bill, your stuff is super nice. Got a buddy with one of your boards…
“sick”, as they say 'round here…
Not really, technically you are copying someone elses curves, as opposed to making your own points and CREATING your own curves.
Photoshop & Illustrator are tools not unlike a cedar baton & pencil which may be used to create a template. What you decide to do with your tools is your call. Copying someone else’s curves is just that, whether you break out some butcher’s paper and outline or place a scan in a program a trace. I see little reason to copy others’ curves when using Photshop/Illustrator since the programs allow you to create a surfboard outline easily without copying a picture of someone else’s board.
I guess it becomes a moral question. Yes, I agree they are tools. But where I beg to differ is the actual copying. What if I digitally scanned one of your boards and copied one of your designs and put my label on it? In my eyes it’s the virtually the same. Creating your own designs is original, if you are copying it’s just that a copy.
If you are talking about creating a curve with a program it’s not really an original. If shaper A desides to create all the same dimensions with all the same points as shaper B’s the board outline will be exactly like shaper A’s. Yes you punched in the points but the computer CREATED the curves. NOt very original in my eyes. If you did this by using your own self created templates there would be subtle differences if done by eye and hand between shaper A and B. Even if the points are exactly the same.
some good points there in all previous threads. ive seen so many pro surfers collect very high profile shapers boards all around the world on tour and bring them home to thier gold coast shapers to copy. that tight knitted bunch on top of the wct surfers paid labels are incestuos in the mix and matching of designs. i stopped making boards for paid guys as i found my boards heading in to those big names shaping/computer bays to cross reference too! was i right? but my memory speaks…i had to learn from somewhere too… i am not innocent in the adaption and admiration of oher shapers boards…but it begs the question… at what level is copying too much? looking at someones shapes in a shop, getting the ruler out, eyeing a assortment out in the pro surfers garage, making bottom curve templates, using someone elses profiles or photographing them and cutting them out? maybe we should rely on our own level if personal integrity… whichever way our concience guides us and our ever changing views!
Computers, Photoshop, Illustrator, tape measures, saws, sand paper, sanding blocks, and hand planes are all just different tools. Use them at your own discretion, whatever works best for you is the best tool for the job. The shaper makes the board, not the tool. As for copying other peoples work, it’s just that- copying. It’s up to you to make the decision whether you want to be a copier or an original. -Carl
Make your own curves, too!
Make a grid of 1" squares in Illustrator on one layer - lock it. Make a new layer and make a small circle at all the board measurement points (length, width, nose, tail and so on) - lock that layer. Make a new layer and make your outline curve touching each of the measurement circles that you laid out. Then print it out full size and use your own curves…why not?