The Origami Forum

im thinking about making an e-book and im very slow and bad at inkscape,i was wondering if it would make such a big difference to the book to have photo diagrams or go through the time and effort of using inkscape.

Well, it´s often hard for people to see whats happening in photo diagrams which results in people being pissed. So the time is worth it, use inkskape.

thanks axel, i'll probably get better at inkskape th more i use it anyway

i dont really think it matters if you use photodiagrams or not as long as they are clear

Or use a combination of both. Take photos and add lines, arrows, etc with inkscape.

This way you will avoid the major work of drwaing everything, but your diagrams would still be understandable.

thanks everyone i'll take it all into consideration

Maybe also an option. If you want more sketchy like drawings in stead of photo's with all their color, and you happen to have good pictures, trace them and add arrows etc.

Feels a bit different than what Brimstone is saying, but it also very well could be the same.

depends a bit on what you want to do with you ebook...
if you want to sell it, you will probably have to put a lot more effort into creating it (i.e. drawing diagrams or enhancing the photos).
but even if you are giving it away for free: the easier the instructions are to follow, the more likely people are to fold your models.

i think i'm going to go with inkscape cos my camera's crap and i know nothing about enhancing

loganorigami: You would only be able to enhance to a certain extent, if that. Crappy in, crap out as they say. I had to buy a $ 200.00 microphone to give my recordings decent quality ... before I had used a gooseneck computer mic. I tell ya, the difference in quality is second-to-none.

I think Inkscape is your best bet. If you're artistic, get a cheap tablet that connects to your computer, like a Wacom ... then you can draw on the tablet and everything appears on screen.

Try getting better at Inkscape. It is worth the effort. My diagrams of my Hummingbird in Tanteidan Convention book 17 were made with Inkscape

Draw new line diagram, the photo-diagrams are not clear in general.

Rule of thumb about photodiagramming: don't do it until you have a good camera and know how to use it. It probably takes as much time to learn inkscape as to learn to be a good photographer, so unless you're already interested in photography, I wouldn't bother with it.

I'd also advise against working on an origami book this soon in your career-- it's a really big project, and if your flickr photostream is any indication, you could stand to work on your design & folding skills first. There's no harm in waiting a couple years; if you're really itching to start diagramming, you could send something to a convention book or magazine. But there's not much point in drawing diagrams until you have some models that are worth the effort.