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Importing images from wacom tablets so they draw

I apologize if this topic has been already resolved successfully, I just did not come across it. Read a lot of topics on exporting images from Adobe Illustrator vector files, but that does not apply in my situation.

Having difficulty achieving sketch animation using SVG exports from drawings made on a wacom tablet and Adobe Photoshop. I tried exporting from Adobe Photoshop to SVGs and it did not work. I then tried exporting to transparent PNGs and got only minimal sketch animation. What is the secret? Photoshop has a completely different window than Illustrator for SVG.

Perhaps I am going to be forced to draw in Adobe Illustrator, but I've spent many hours already on my project. And I am not comfortable drawing in Illustrator.

Appreciate your time,

It's difficult to guess exactly what you are doing based on your post.

If you use the pen tool to make only stroked and/or filled paths with no gradients or other effects and then save it as an SVG, it might work ok. Anything extra may cause problems because it probably won't be vector.

A png is not a vector file so it won't give the best drawing results.

Photoshop might include extra data in your SVG that will cause problems in videoscribe. you could try opening the SVG in illustrator and resaving it using the save options mentioned in the following thread: Making SVG Images Draw Well (2015 update)

You can attach an SVG if you would like specific feedback.

-Mike (videoscribe user)


VS draws the strokes of an image. Photoshop does not create strokes when you draw/paint with the paint brush, and I couldn't for the life of me get VS to draw the strokes created within Photoshop using Edit -> Stroke for shapes or Right Click -> Stroke Path on a pen line. If you use the Pen/Pencil tool in Illustrator, or add a stroke using the Stroke tool, it will work pretty much every time. I hate to say it but you might just have to do it in Illustrator (which is incredible for creating digital images, I highly recommend getting used to it for drawing - you can always then send the image to Photoshop at the end).

Thank you Mike for your sympathy. I ended up importing the pngs to Illustrator and converting to paths, then exporting to svgs. This was my first time using the wacom. 

Appreciate your time, Deb

I have drawn many images for VideoScribe using a Wacom tablet. You simply cannot use Photoshop (a bitmap editor) for this task. You need to use Illustrator (a vector editor). It works quite well, and as your skills improve, you will be able to have VideoScribe "draw" the variable width paths you can create with a pressure-sensitive or tilt-sensitive tablet. Mike Metcalf gives a great tutorial on making SVG images draw properly here:

Here's a sample drawn on Wacom:


It's tricky, but one you 'get' it, it's so simple. Mike's guide is amazing when paired with time and trial and error.

Mike, you have gone beyond hero responding to my query. Your time is much appreciated!

I finally grasped that Videoscribe needed the Illustrator sketches to be done with borders, not fills, to animate successfully. Talk about needed more coffee. In the future I will be sketching with Illustrator. That would have saved me from this painful exercise in frustration. 

Thank you again for your time, Deb

Great! thank you for posting your results!

and thank you Dave ad Mike, for your video, tips, and kind comments!

-Mike (videoscribe user)


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