I’ve been asked on numerous occasions what the best method is for keeping an organized schedule and remaining committed to producing and releasing comics in a timely fashion. You have all heard the common reasons as to why things go off schedule – now its time to understand the method on how to make a successful schedule and how to stick to it.

Before we begin, you will need to take your personal schedule into consideration – if this is NOT your full-time line of work, it will be much easier to manage. But for many of you, this is a starting point or a hobby, and often you will find your ‘free-time’ taken up by things you may consider more important. The key to making this work is to remain focused and committed – if you are finding that you have too many other personal obligations, perhaps the comic book schedule is not right for you.

For those willing to dedicate the time, here are a number of methods that will keep you on track and in a routine of regular updates, with ample time for life and its other time consuming pursuits.

Step 1: Create a Spreadsheet for Tracking Purposes

In order to determine how much time you really put into producing your comics, you will need to make a personal log that tallies the number of hours spent. This tracking summary of your work will show you where your time is spent, and allow you to analyze which parts of the day you are most productive, and how to improve upon the times when you are NOT productive at all.

Take into account the amount of time used doing the following:
Writing (if you also write your comics)
Producing (this includes pencils, inking, coloring, typesetting, etc)
Research (any time spent looking up research material)
Administrative (any work related tasks that do not involve actual production or writing – e-mails/phone calls/meetings)
Down-Time (this includes all interruptions during your dedicated work time)

From this list, you will be able to determine what is taking up your valuable time if you are unable to make deadlines – perhaps you are working too hard on administrative tasks, or are spending too much time goofing off on the internet. By tracking your hours (honestly) you will make better use of your time when the facts and figures are laid out in front of you. Your production depends on it.

Step 2: Create a Monthly Schedule

Once you have created your time-sheet, now you have to decide how you are going to break out your production cycle. Given that the average issue is approximately 20-22 pages in length, and you need time to plan/lay out each page, then pencil/ink/colour/typeset, you will have to organize your time accordingly. You do not want to over-exert yourself and risk burn-out, nor do you want to give yourself TOO MUCH time to procrastinate. Find the optimal working environment, and plan around that. Most artists have a month to crank out an issue – create a schedule that works around your life. Here’s an example schedule using a full month:

Week One
Day 1 – Review Script & Gather Reference
Day 2 – Layout pages 1-5 (thumbnails and rough layouts)
Day 3 – Layout pages 6-10
Day 4 – On Call (use this day if you haven’t completed your work from the previous 3 days, otherwise, it is a day off)
Day 5 -  OFF
Day 6 – Layout pages 11-13, Pencil / Ink pages 1-2
Day 7 – Layout Pages 13-15, Pencil / Ink pages 3-4

Week Two:
Day 8 – Layout Pages 16-18, Pencil / Ink pages 5-6
Day 9 – On Call
Day 10 – OFF
Day 11 – Layout Pages 19-22, Pencil / Ink pages 7-8
Day 12 – Ink Pages 9-10 / Color pages 1-2
Day 13 – Ink Pages 11-12 / Color Pages 3-4
Day 14 – On Call

Week Three:
Day 15 – OFF
Day 16 – Ink Pages 13-14 / Color Pages 5-6
Day 17 – Ink Pages 15-16 / Color Pages 7-8
Day 18 – Ink Pages 17-18 / Color Pages 9-10
Day 19 – On Call
Day 20 – OFF
Day 21 – Ink Pages 19-20 / Color Pages 11-12

Week Four:
Day 22 – Ink Pages 21-22 / Color Pages 13-14
Day 23 – Color Pages 15-19
Day 24 – On Call
Day 25 – OFF
Day 26 – Color Pages 20-22
Day 27 – Review and Refine (last minute edits)
Day 28 – Package Pages

Day 29 – On Call
Day 30 – OFF

Now this works if you’re committed to an issue per month schedule. If you are producing a web-comic or a weekly, this schedule won’t exactly work for you. This is the 30 day cycle you could follow if you had a webcomic you were trying to update weekly.

Week One:
Day 1 – Review Script, Gather Reference, Layout Page
Day 2 – Ink & Color Page
Day 3 – Review & Refine, Publish Page
Day 4 – On Call
Day 5 – OFF
Day 6 – Review Script, Gather Reference, Layout Page
Day 7 – Ink & Color Page

Week Two:
Day 8 – Review & Refine, Publish Page
Day 9 – On Call
Day 10 – OFF
Day 11 – Review Script, Gather Reference, Layout Page
Day 12 – Ink & Color Page
Day 13 – Review & Refine, Publish Page
Day 14 – On Call

… and you see the pattern emerging. One day to review script, plan and layout, one day to ink and color, and one day to refine, followed by a floating spare day and a full off day. This will earn you one update a week, and in some cases, two. For webcomic artists and daily comic producers, this is a manageable timeline if you’re dedicated to just your comic. You could push for a 4 day cycle which eliminates the ‘on call’ day and pushes you straight into the next update. This only allows you one full day off from production, where the standard cycle allows you 2 – one flexible day and one mandatory day. You will have to find the schedule that is the best for you.

Step 3: Setting Deadlines and Keeping Them

Now that you have established a schedule, and you are tracking your hours, it is time to establish some firm deadlines for ensuring your comics are completed in a timely manner. You have already created a foundation for this through your schedule, but there may be some days where you can not physically produce (due to illness, vacation, unexpected occurrence). Your schedule may be completely useless at this point – unless you set an absolute deadline with a goal attached. Decide on a reasonable deadline date for achieving your goal (30 days is perfect) and aim to surpass or equal the goal every month.

When you have decided on a deadline date, it is time to decide on an attainable goal. For example, if you are a weekly creator who updates on a 5 day cycle – aim for 6 updates in your deadline time. When you attain your goal, count it as a point. Once you’ve accumulated 10 points, you have earned yourself a week’s vacation from your production cycle. This banked time can be used at anytime to ‘buy’ you some extra time in the event that you cannot do any work on your comic. It is similar to receiving vacation at work. These mental goals give you an added incentive to get your work done in a timely manner, and reward you for hard work later on.

If you find that you are not meeting your goals from month to month, lower the standards for the goal until you are producing at a comfortable level. Once you consistently surpass your goals with ease and time to spare,  you can elevate your production and make loftier goals to achieve.

Conclusion:

To recap, in order to get yourself into a ‘work-ready’ mode, you need to be prepared and organized so you will always work at an optimal level. Spending time back-tracking or trying to play ‘catch-up’ will land you in some serious production troubles later on. Iron out your poor work schedules with something more concrete – follow them for an extended period of time until they become habit. Remember the guidelines – take account of your working time, create a schedule dependent on your comic style (monthly issue or weekly page/strip) and set a deadline with some achievable goals.

Following this workflow method will make you extremely productive, and your results plentiful.

In the previous workflow technique, I explained how using keyboard shortcuts would dramatically improve your efficiency and speed while working. This subconscious action is a valuable skill to have when you work in a pressure cooker environment, or for your own personal benefit if you’re looking to get your jobs done faster. In this post, I am going to expand upon the basic shortcut list with a list of more advanced controls that you will find in Illustrator CS4.

(Commands in brackets indicate the shortcuts for Mac)

Selection Tools

Control (Cmd “command”)
This will access your Selection or Direction Selection tool at any time

Ctrl + Alt + Tab (Cmd + Option + Tab)
This switches between Selection and Direct Selection tools

Alt + Mouse click tool (Option-click tool)
This cycles through the tools behind column tool

Alt (Option)
You can make a copy of your item while dragging 

Shift
Adds to your selection

Arrow keys in any direction
Moves your selection

Shift + Arrow key in a direction
Moves your selection 10 pts in the chosen direction

Ctrl + 2 (Cmd + 2)
This locks your selected artwork so you cannot accidentally select and edit it (good for complex layering)

Ctrl + Alt + Shift + 2 (Cmd + Option + Shift + 2)
This locks all your unselected artwork (reverse of prior function)

Ctrl + Alt + 2 (Cmd + Option +2)
This command unlocks all artwork

Ctrl + 3 (Cmd + 3)
This hides your selected artwork

Ctrl + Alt + Shift + 3 (Cmd + Option + Shift + 3)
This hides all your unselected artwork

Ctrl + Alt + 3 (Cmd + Option + 3)
This shows all your hidden artwork

.

Paths

Ctrl + Alt + Shift + J (Cmd + Option + Shift + J)
This command executes the Join and Average functions at same time (for paths)

Alt (Option)
This converts your Pen Tool to the Anchor Point tool while hovering over anchor points

Alt (Option)
By pressing this key, you will switch between the Add Anchor Point and Delete Anchor Point tools

Alt (Option)
With the Scissors tool, you can access the Add Anchor Point tool

Spacebar
This moves the anchor point while you are drawing with the Pen tool

Hold Alt + Release Mouse (Hold Option + Release Mouse)
This one is a bit trickier, but it will create a closed path when you’re using the Pencil or Paintbrush tool

Ctrl + Drag Mouse (Cmd + Drag Mouse)
This will connect to an open (selected) path with the Pencil Tool

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Paint Tools and Transformations

Alt (Option)
This accesses the Eyedropper tool from Live Paint Bucket tool

Shift
This takes an intermediate sample color from a gradient, picture, etc. with the eyedropper

Alt + Mouse click with Tool (Option + Mouse click with Tool)
This sets a center point and shows dialog

Alt + Drag Mouse (Option + Drag Mouse)
This makes a duplicate and allows you to transform your selection

~ (tilde) + Drag Mouse
This transforms  your pattern without transforming object

Shift + Drag object bounding box
This allows you to proportionally scale your object with the selection tool

Alt + Drag object bounding box (Option + Drag object bounding box)
This allows you to scale your object from the center using the selection tool

Shift + Drag Mouse
This will move a mesh point along path when using the Mesh tool

Shift + Click Mouse Button
This will add a mesh point when using the Mesh tool and does so without changing the color

Alt + Click Mouse Button (Option + Click Mouse Button)
This will remove a mesh point when using the Mesh tool

.

Drawing Shapes

Alt (Option)
This will draw your shape from center

Alt + Click Mouse Button (Option + Click Mouse Button)
This will draw your shape from center with a dialog

Shift + Draw/Drag Mouse
This will constrain (maintain) the proportion of your drawn item

Shift + Draw/Drag Mouse
This will constrain (maintain) the orientation of your polygons, stars, spirals from the shape tool 

Spacebar
Allows you to move your object while drawing

Up/Down Arrow
This will add or subtract the number of sides, points, spiral segments

Ctrl (Cmd)
This will decrease the inner radius of your shapes

~ (tilde) + Drag Mouse
This will create numerous duplicates following your mouse movement

.

Viewing & Guides

Spacebar
This activates the Hand Tool so you can pull and drag yourself around your viewing area. 

To activate the Hand Tool when you are editing type (this one requires timing and practice:
Ctrl + Spacebar, then release Ctrl once the Hand appears and drag your mouse
(Cmd+ Spacebar, then release Cmd once the Hand appears and drag your mouse)

Ctrl + Spacebar (Cmd + Spacebar)
This activates the Zoom In Tool

Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar (Cmd + Option + Spacebar)
This activates the Zoom Out Tool

Ctrl + Spacebar + Drag Mouse (Cmd + Spacebar + Drag Mouse)
This will Zoom In to exact size of your artwork

Tab
This quickly hides or shows all your tools and panels 

Shift + Tab
This quickly hides or shows all your panels except the toolbox

Alt + Drag out New Guide (Option + Drag out New Guide)
This will switch between a horizontal and a vertical guide

Shift + Ctrl + Double-Mouse click (Shift + Cmd + Double-Mouse click)
This will release your guide and turn it into a regular path

.

Type Tool Shortcuts

Ctrl + Shift +< (or > to increase) (Cmd + Shift +< (or > to increase))
This will decrease or increase type size

Alt + Arrow Up (or Down to increase)
(Option + Arrow Up (or Down to increase)) -This will decrease or increase leading

Alt + Arrow Left (or Right to increase) (Option + Arrow Left (or Right to increase))
This will decrease or increase kerning/tracking

Ctrl + Alt + Arrow Left (or Right to increase) (Cmd + Option + Arrow Left (or Right to increase))
This will decrease or increase kerning/tracking by 5

Shift + Alt + Arrow Up (or Down to increase)(Shift + Option + Arrow Up (or Down to increase))
This will decrease or increase your baseline shift

Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Arrow Up (or Down to increase) (Cmd + Shift + Option + Arrow Up (or Down to increase))
This will decrease or increase baseline shift by 5

Ctrl + Shift + (L or R or C or J) (Cmd + Shift + (L or R or C or J))
This aligns your type- L = left, R = right, C = center, J = Justify

Ctrl + Shift + F (Cmd + Shift + F)
This will Justify your last line

Ctrl + Shift + X (Cmd + Shift + X)
This will reset horizontal or vertical scale to 100%

Ctrl + Alt + Q (Cmd + Shift + Q)
This will reset your kerning or tracking to zero (0)

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Palettes and Function Keys

F5
Shows or hides your Brushes Palette

F6
Shows or hides your Color Palette

F7
Shows or hides your Layers Palette

Ctrl + F8 (Cmd + F8)
Shows or hides your Info Palette

Ctrl + F9 (Cmd + F9)
Shows or hides your Gradient Palette

Ctrl + F10 (Cmd + F10)
Shows or hides your Stroke Palette

Ctrl + F11 (Cmd + F11)
Shows or hides your Attributes Palette

F12
This will Revert the file to your last saved state 

Shift + F5
Shows or hides your Graphic Styles Palette

Shift + F6
Shows or hides your Appearance Palette

Shift + F7
Shows or hides your Align Palette

Shift + F8
Shows or hides your Transform Palette

Shift + Ctrl + F9 (Shift + Cmd + F9)
Shows or hides your Pathfinder Palette

Shift + Ctrl + F10 (Shift + Cmd + F10)
Shows or hides your Transparency Palette

Shift + Ctrl + F11 (Shift + Cmd + F11)
Shows or hides your Symbols Palette

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Layers Palette Shortcuts

Ctrl + Mouse click on Eye (Cmd + Mouse click on Eye)
This will toggle your layer between Preview & Outline mode (filled in eye/ outlined eye)

Alt + Mouse click on Eye (Option + Mouse click on Eye)
This will show current layer while turning off all others

Alt + Mouse click on Layer Name
(Option + Mouse click on Layer Name)
This will select all the items on your layer

Alt + Mouse Drag selection square in Layers panel
(Option + Mouse Drag selection square in Layers panel)
This will copy your selected item to a different layer

Ctrl + Mouse click (Cmd + Mouse click)
This creates a new layer at the top of list

Ctrl + Alt + Mouse click (Cmd + Option + Mouse click)
This create a new layer below the selected layer

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Color Palette Shortcuts

Shift + Drag color slider left or right
This will saturate or desaturate the current color 

Shift + Mouse click color bar
This will change your color mode 

Ctrl + Mouse click color bar (Cmd + Mouse click color bar)
This will select the complimentary of your current color

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Swatches Palette Shortcuts

Ctrl + Shift while creating new color
(Cmd + Shift while creating new color)
This will create a your new swatch as a global color

Alt + Mouse drag new swatch over old
(Option + Mouse drag new swatch over old)
This will replace a swatch with another

———-

Now most of these shortcuts can be altered in your options to whatever you prefer. If you have graduated from these advanced ones or just want to set up your working area with custom keyboard shortcuts, you can easily modify them in your preferences/options to suit your particular needs. they can be saved as separate profiles as well.

I don’t even use all of these commands as some of them do not benefit me and the work I do, but there are several here which are absolutely necessary in order to complement the basic shortcuts and make me more efficient during my illustration work. If you need a refresher on the basic commands, check out this blog post and familiarize yourself with them. Or just check it out if you’re new and looking to speed up your working time and turn yourself into a power-user.

With this series on workflow techniques, you’ll be well on your way to efficiently completing tasks and projects in almost half the time. Practice and use each function repeatedly until you commit it to memory – its the best way to learn!

The only way to truly get better at drawing and illustration is by physically picking up a pencil, pen or stylus and just getting to work. Much like any other activity, practice is a key element in getting better at a particular skill. Drawing is no exception. One of the most common ways of keeping sharp and active is through quick daily sketch sessions. They don’t have to be long and drawn out – just take 5 and draw something that comes to mind – and if nothing comes to mind, draw what you see in front of you.

It isn’t the subject that is important – its the development of skill. When I have a hard time thinking of things to draw, I’ll grab 4-5 random items that are within my grasp, plop them down on the surface in front of me and take 5 and sketch. These 5 minute sketches become my starting point for the day, and usually they end up on any piece of paper floating around my desk, so I just collect them like clippings and save them in a sketchbook for later use (like now!). The odd time, one of those random sketches will turn into a solid idea for something bigger later on.

I know some of you are thinking – “I don’t have time to sit and sketch…” – this is a lie. You do. You just don’t know it yet. The best time to do these off-the-cuff sketches occurs when you are just sitting idle waiting for something to happen.

Here’s an example:
When I get into work, I have a similar routine. I’m the first one in so I disarm the alarm, bring in the newspaper, hang up my jacket and start up my computer and coffee brewer. This brief moment while I’m waiting for my machines to start up and do their thing is the moment I take to do the Take-5. Other artists like Jason Barton of Almost Sketches call this the ‘boot sketch’, the sketch drawn while waiting for the computer to fire up. You don’t necessarily have to do this while you’re waiting for the computer – other people do their sketch-a-day work during their lunch breaks (here’s a great example – a lunch bag a day for his kids!) or before bed, or any time you have 5 minutes of idle time (I’m sure there’s someone out there who doodles while hanging out in the bathroom!).

These quick sketches and scribbles, doodles and drawings should be kept as clippings in a folder for later reference. Eventually you’ll amass a library of hidden gems you can reuse later. You may say that scribbles and sketches don’t seem like much, but they’re a creative outlet and a means of inspiration for bigger things.

Here are some great sketch-a-day sites you should check out!
Dude a Day - atomictoy’s blog about drawing a dude every single day, running from Halloween ’08 to ’09
Almost Sketches – this isn’t exactly a sketch every day, but its close, and the same concept as mentioned above
The Daily Figure – this blog is run by Kyle T. Webster, and he does a gestural drawing and figure studies every day
Chris Houghton’s Dailies – this blog captures Chris Houghton’s daily work, which often gets rendered fully
The Daily Monster – this blog is run by 344 and there’s a new monster every day
Alter Eebo – This blog contains abstract sketches done by artist Alter Eebo

Check out the Sketch a Day blogs and try it for yourself. Its a lot easier than you think!

In order to increase your efficiency and productivity, I’m going to go over a few methods most artists use to speed up their processes and optimize their workflow. The most common forms of this workflow improvement are through the use of keyboard shortcuts and program actions. For this tutorial, I am going to use Photoshop CS3 as the basis. Most digital artists use this program for a wide variety of things, and in many instances the key commands are the same throughout the suite of products, and even other types of similar software.

Let’s begin with shortcuts.

When you start up PhotoShop, there should be an option under the Edit menu called Keyboard Shortcuts. Select it and you should receive a dialog box similar to the one above. Feel free to poke around through the options to see what sort of shortcuts are available – you will note that almost everything has a keyboard shortcut attached to it in some form. This was done for a reason – to improve workflow efficiency! Your time is valuable, and anything you can do to minimize wasted time, the better it will be for you in the long run. At first, you’ll save seconds here and there – but once you become completely comfortable with a set of common keyboard shortcuts you use on a frequent basis, those seconds turn into minutes, and if you couple those extra minutes with the time saved using actions, your time spent doing menial and repetitive tasks can be replaced with free time, or more productive time.

Here’s a list of some of the most common keyboard shortcuts you should know.

CTRL + Z = Undo
This key command can be your saviour when you least expect it. A filter or an effect gone bad can almost always be fixed to its previous state with these two keys. (You’ve probably seen this command before in other programs – its such a necessary tool in the digital age) The ‘Undo’ command basically gives you the chance at a do-over if you make a mistake, without the need for messy correction fluid. Let me tell you, if there was an Undo feature for certain parts of my life, I would have been hammering those keys pretty fast!

CTRL + Shift + Z = Undo again
Some of the Adobe programs have the ability to do multiple levels of the Undo command (up to 100) – so if you do a bunch of things and dont like the desired effect, you can keep stepping backwards until you reach a state where you’re comfortable to start again.

CTRL + A = Select All
This command says it all – need to quickly select everything on your working area, hit this. Another universal command that is featured on all sorts of software.

CTRL + X = Cut Seection
CTRL + C = Copy Selection
CTRL + V = Paste Selection
Another set of universal commands found in software – from Adobe Photoshop to Microsoft Word. One cuts out the selection and adds it to a virtual clipboard, and leaves a hole behind. The next one simply makes a duplicate copy and adds it to the clipboard, and the last one pastes the item placed on the clipboard. Pretty simple concept – you’ve all heard it before (COPY-PASTE!).

CTRL + + (Plus sign) = Zoom In
CTRL + – (Minus Sign) = Zoom Out
CTRL + 0 (zero) = Fit to Screen
These three commands are used for controlling the size of your viewing area. If you need to quickly zoom in or zoom out, tapping these keys a few times saves you a lot of time. If you need to look at your entire work overall, the fit-to-screen option can do that easily.

Now we’ll get into a few more PhotoShop specific shortcuts. All of these shortcuts refer to tools, and will defnintely save you time once you remember which key is assigned to its particular tool. Note that the dual/multiple items per command show tools that have sub-menus with additional tool options. Here we go:

A = Path / Direct Selection Tool
This activates the selection tool for Paths (black arrow) or the direct selection tool for anchor points, handles and line segments (see Pen Tool tutorial to understand what these 3 things mean)

B = Brush/Pencil/Color Replacement Tool
This activates our brush or pencil tool. It also brings up the option for painting using color replacement.

C = Crop Tool
Activates the Cropping function.

D = Default Colors
Switches the foreground and background colours to the software default (Black Foreground, White Background)

E = Eraser Tool
This activates your eraser

F = Cycle Screen Mode
This option is good if you want your workspace to take up the focus of your working area. Sometimes it is difficult to manoeuvre when there are a bunch of other documents open, or you’re working on the edges of a large document where the scroll bars interfere.

G = Gradient / Paint Bucket Tool
This activates your Gradient options and Paint Bucket Tool.

H = Hand Tool
This tool allows you to grab on to the screen and pull yourself around. Used in conjunction with a zoomed in view, you can pull your way towards different parts of the screen quickly. (A variation of this is to hold down the space bar – the tool will also appear as long as you hold the space bar down)

I = Eyedropper / Sampler / Measure Tool
This command activates your eyedropper, which allows you to take a point sample of color at that specific area. The Sampler is more precise, setting up a direct sample and displaying the values of that color in the info palette. The Measure Tool is basically a ruler, judging measurement and angle from two points.

J = Spot / Healing Brush / Patch / Red Eye Tool
This command activates your “fix-it” tools for getting rid of blemishes and imperfections using spot, healing and patches. You can also reduce red-eye in photo with that particular function of the tool.

K = Slice Tool
This command activates the slices option for creating separate slice sections of an image to be modified and saved as separate files to be reassembled and arranged as you’ve specified.

L = Lasso Tool
This command activates the Lasso tool which is used to select portions of your artwork by manually creating a selection area.

M = Marquee Tool
This activates the marquee tool – for different types of selections (rectangular, elliptical, row or column)

N = Notes / Audio Annotation Tool
This command activates the sticky notes option or audio comment option.

O = Dodge / Burn / Sponge Tool
This command activates your dodge and burn tools for adding and subtracting light/shadow, and the sponge tool for saturation/desaturation of colour.

P = Pen Tool / Freeform Pen
This command enables you to use the pen tool with traditional point and click style, or the freeform option which is cursor tracking based.

Q = Masking Mode
This command toggles the quick-mask function on or off

R = Blur / Sharpen / Smudge tool
This command activates the blur, sharpen and smudging functions.

S = Clone / Pattern Stamp Tool
This command activates your clone stamp option or a pattern stamp from your pattern options.

T = Type Tool
This command activates your text tool and options.

U = Shape Tool
This command activates the Shape Tool for creating path based shapes.

V = Move Tool
This command activates the Move tool, which allows you to move items on your selected layers.

W = Magic Wand Tool
This command activates your Magic Wand tool which will create selections based on color depth depending on the area you click on.

X = Switch Colors
This command switches your Foreground Color to your Background color and vice-versa.

Y = History Brush / Art History Brush Tool
This command activates the History Brush tool, which allows you to restore portions of the artwork from a previous state (depending on what part of the history you are referencing) and the Art History Brush Tool allows you create painterly effects over photographic images.

Z = Zoom Tool
This activates the magnifying glass or Zoom Tool to zoom into your work depending on the selection you make (one click to incrementally zoom, click and drag to make a selection which will zoom and fill the screen with.

[ (square bracket left) = Decrease Size
This decreases the size of the tool in use.

] (square bracket right) = Increase size
This increases the size of the tool in use.

Arrow Keys = Move in direction 1 px.
These keys will move your selection 1 pixel in the direction of the selected keystroke.

Space Bar = Grab Tool
Holding down this key will activate the hand tool, and allow you to grab anywhere on the screen and pull yourself around as long as the Space Bar is pressed.

Tab = Hide / Show Tools & Palettes
Pressing this key will hide or show all of your tools and palettes.

Backspace = Clear Selection
This command deletes anything within the selection.

Shift + Backspace = Quick Fill
This command allows you to fill your selection from options in the Fill dialog box.

And there you have it – the entire alphabet and some additional shortcuts that are the basic way of accessing tools. Try out a few of them while you’re working until you get the hang of them without referencing the list, and eventually with enough practice you wont even have to look and you’ll do it instinctively. We will try some advanced keyboard commands in the next part of the series.

Until then, practice with a few shortcuts in your toolset until you’re comfortable and expand until you reach a point where the frequently used commands are all committed to memory.

Part Two: Organizing Your Other Desktop

In the first part of this series - Drawing Workplace Basics Part One: Cleaning Your Workspace, I explained how an organized physical workspace will do wonders for your productivity and efficiency if you make the commitment to maintaining it. In this episode, we are now going to get into the habit of doing the same thing on your computer.

Many artists who use the computer as their primary means of production often keep their files organized in the same manner as their desks – their stuff is everywhere. Proofs, samples, test files, source files and resources, finished products you name it, you’ve got it, and chances are its probably not where it should be. So I’m going to show you a few tricks on how to organize it so its easy to find months down the road when a client wants to recycle some of the old concepts you created for something new, or requires a reprint of a job.

Does this look familiar? Don’t you wish there was a better way of keeping things together? There is, and it surprisingly doesn’t take very long to do once you get used to the format. You don’t have to micromanage and be extremely anal-retentive in setting up your files – you just have to get used to placing things where they should be.

Here’s the easiest way of remembering the structure:

1. You have a client who needs something done
2. You need to do some research in order to create an initial concept
3. You need to send them a proof and possibly revisions
4. You need to create a final file – press/screen ready

Thats the basic gist of the in/out job process. So why not set your folder structure to follow this format? Follow these steps.

1. Create a base work folder (or call it WIP- Work in progress or Client Work, etc) – this way, you can separate your personal files from your client/work files.
2. Make subfolders listed by client name or client number or both (e.g.  133 – idrawdigital.com) – by labelling the folders in this fashion, you will have an easier time accessing them by simply reordering the folder list through Windows or OS X.
3. Make subfolders within the client folder with the job title (e.g under the 133 – idrawdigital.com folder you could have subfolders for posters, web animation, illustration, etc etc)
4. Inside the specific job folders, create three more folders titled – Working Files, Proofs, and Final
5. The Working files will contain all of your resource material, your drafts and versions of your working files and any client source material. You can go even further and make folders within your Working files folder to separate these items. But for now, anything that isn’t a client proof or the final working file goes in here.
6. The Proofs file is only for this – Proofs that go to the client in every revision stage end up in this folder. Remember to keep every single proof you create no matter how minute the change was. This way, if a client wants to revert back to a previous item from a past proof, you have it documented for reference (or in extreme cases where the client doesn’t think you did something and you did, you have proof – it happens…)
7. The Final file contains the final signed off files from the client, your final prepped file for production purposes and all the related source files needed to send out for production where applicable. You can expand on this further by creating folders titled Production and Client Signoff etc.

Your file hierarchy should look something like this:

WIP Folder
— 001 CLIENT NAME
———– Job Name
—————-Working Files
—————- Proofs
—————- Final Files
———————- Production Files
———————- Final Signoff/Working
———– Job Name
—————-Working Files
—————- Proofs
—————- Final Files
———————- Production Files
———————- Final Signoff/Working
———– Job Name
—————-Working Files
—————- Proofs
—————- Final Files
———————- Production Files
———————- Final Signoff/Working
— 002 CLIENT NAME
———– Job Name

and so on, and so forth. Do this for all your clients and it will be easier to categorize and catalog at a glance. Having dedicated folders for all your work is a sure-fire way of improving your efficiency now to create more time for yourself later. The easiest way to do this is to create a dummy folder with all of these subfolders already set up. The only thing you would have to do is change the job title and the client name. Copy the folder over to your WIP or Client work folder and paste it in and start organizing your files. It’s that simple!

Here’s what it looks like in action:

This is just a basic organizational structure. You can modify this in any way you feel will make you more organized and efficient. I hope this helps to increase your efficiency and maximize your time drawing, rather than searching. In my next article, we will move on to program specific routines that will assist in speeding up some of the menial tasks you face when working on your projects. Stay tuned for Part Three in the series!

Part One – Clean up your workspace. Seriously.

It may sound kind of silly, but you really have to get yourself organized prior to putting your thoughts into tangible forms. Nine times out of ten, artists have the messiest, most disorganized areas as their base of operations. If you’re laid back like I am, you may say to yourself, “Its not that big of a deal!” – But let’s say you’re doing a paid commission or client work and your place is a disaster and the deadlines are approaching fast and you cant find that mockup you did or that 7th revision of the sketch that the client finally decided he/she wanted to revert back to and AAAARRRGH!

If you take 10 minutes to an hour on some down time to create an efficient workspace, you won’t be cursing yourself later. Trust me – I’m extremely scatterbrained – in fact, my desk is cluttered right now because I’ve let it go for too long. But I have a plan that I implemented a long time ago that allows me to get back to an optimal workflow zone in less than 10 minutes. This post is the first in a series of improving your own workflow techniques that will definitely make you more efficient and productive in the long run. If you’re a meticulous clean and neat freak, or already cleaned your desk, or had your mom/significant other/maid do it for you, skip over to Part 2 – Organizing Your Other Desktop

Here’s what you’ll need in order to start part one:

• larger boxes (for larger items – books, papers, etc)
• shoebox sized boxes (for loose items)
• small boxes (for loose items)
• trash can and garbage bags
• recycling bins – one for paper/cardboard, the other for glass/plastics

The first thing you’ll want to do is determine what items are garbage. Now by garbage, I mean stuff that you are not going to keep around for whatever “mixed-media” project or science experiment in the near future. But before you pitch it out, take note of what you have in hand. If its a box or wrapping made from cardboard/paper, break it down until its flat and throw it in your recycling bin. Same goes for glass and plastic stuff. If its something that cant be recycled and is rotting or gross looking, into the garbage bag it goes. Continue combing through the rubble on your desk until you’ve taken out all the useless items.

Now we move on to organizing the items that are important. Starting from the left side of your working area, take all items that are large sized, and put them in the large boxes, medium sized in medium boxes and small sized in small boxes. Get everything off the furniture as best as possible and into the boxes. Once everything is off the furniture, you can remove your dust and grime or stains and whatever. There’s no sense putting your neatly reorganized stuff back on your desk when your it has splatters, stains and three inches of dust and dirt on it.

Once your junk has been placed into boxes by size, now its time to get more in-depth and detailed. Go through your boxes by size and organize all your items into piles of “keep” and “pitch”. The pitch piles mean just that – pitch that stuff out. Remember, recycle what you can.

Now its time to assess where each item in each keep pile goes. This part I’ll leave up to you, but try to keep items of relevance together, even though their sizes may not be the same, you can keep your books in one section, drawing implements and supplies in one section, notes, proofs and important documents in another section, etc. Keep doing this until you have subdivided everything into proper piles. You can get even more detailed with the organizing by subdividing the subdivided piles (ie – creating a section for client dockets and paperwork, separate from your proofs, separate from your billing/invoices. etc). The sky is the limit.

Tear it down
to build it back up.

You’ve taken the junk off the desk, pitched out the garbage, recycled the reusable material, divided, subdivided and maybe even catalogued all the items that took up valuable real-estate on your workspace. Now its time to put it all back – but first you need a plan of attack. Determine the best areas to place your newly segregated and organized piles that will be the most efficient for you – don’t tuck away stuff that you know you will need in a short time from now, or use more often than another item which could probably move to a lesser accessible area.

Put your important stuff into the areas that you feel are the most easily accessible. Keep in mind you’ll need areas for books and resource material, client materials, supplies, and your odds and ends. Keep as much of these items away from the desk top. If you can manage this large portion of desk real-estate to stay in this same condition every day after you’ve logged your hours, you make yourself that much more efficient the next day since you dont have to take time out to clean up before you get started. Always remember to keep your desk top clean at the end of the day – it will help tremendously.

Also, get into the habit of putting things back after you’re done using them (just like when your mom would scold you for not putting your toys away when you’re done – I’m doing the same.) You may need it the following day, but if its on the desk top when your shift is over, take 5 and put it back. Its not that much more effort to pull it back down the following day.

Remember folks, keep it clean and organized and you’ll be able to find things faster, get back to work quicker and spend no time wondering and worrying where things went and why they’re not where they should be. This organizational tactic can be applied once a month to avoid clutter, and if you apply it with more frequency it will take less time to return to a state of organized bliss. You’ll be surprised how being organized will affect your work habits, and how much more efficient you’ll be. A simple workflow improvement technique, simply coming from picking up after yourself!

In my next article – Organizing Your Other Desktop, we’ll tackle the same technique, but on your computer.