The Origami Forum

Personally, I take photos with a digital camera of each step, then use a program such as Paint Shop Pro to trace over the photos on a vector layer. Once the image is traced, coloured, and the folds have been added, the photo layer can be removed.

To see the results of this method, please look at my website:
http://origami.island-three.net/

Let me know what you think!

Thanks,
moik

Wow- that is a really quick way of diagramming. Good job From now on that's how I will diagram origami. Thanks a bunch for the great techinque.

Sounds really easy. The next time I can get a digital camera into my fingers I will try this method. Thank you for sharing your experiences!

these are really nice diagrams!!
but maybe it's not as easy as it sounds
of course you need a good camera (!) the programs and some practice with the program, don't you?
maybe you can make a step by step instruction about that way to diagram? I am very interested!

good job, thanks for sharing


Christian

Martin, you're a genius! That looks like an easier method of diagramming. I'll try to diagram my sea shell model, and let you know how I get on. It would be great if you could write a short tutorial, I think this diagramming method has a lot of potential

Saj

I'm pleased with how my diagrams have turned out.

At first I started just photgraphing, but I realised that more than that was needed to really convey the folds.
I'm not sure what sort of graphical programs are suitable for my method, but PSP works fine, and I'm sure others that are similar would do the trick.

I think the key is to use the photos just as a guide: I managed to use some really poor out-of-focus shots - taken with my old crappy camera - for some of the models.
The photos are good for getting the proportions/dimensions, but the aim is always to make the diagram as clear and useful as possible, so you have to always be ready to adjust the diagram, even if it means straying from how the photo looks.

Thanks for your interest, and please email me if you have any questions.

M.

One of the keys to this technique is to set up your camera on a tripod, and have a grid under the model. This way, you'll be able to line things up so that the model is in the same place after each shot.

Any graphics program that does vector graphics in layers should be usable with this technique.

I use this for three dimensional steps, but prefer vector graphics for more two-dimensional steps. I can do the latter with considerably greater speed.