Pixellated stroke on paths in Photoshop

[soggymuse]

Thanks for the tips, Meshon. I'll try the shape burst thing and see if makes a difference.

I've asked the requester a couple of times what size he wanted this map to be, but he wasn't very specific so I've upped the size to A4 width (21x21 cm). I've switched to Paint Tool SAI, though (I'm on a short deadline and can't guarantee I'll be able to work over Christmas, so I need to get it finished as fast as possible, and there's no telling how long it will take to fix this Photoshop issue). Unfortunately, 21cm at 300ppi is the largest SAI can handle on my PC so I'll just have to hope it's big enough for purpose... The beauty is that it's vector so it should upsize more easily than Photoshop would.

I still obviously want to fix this issue, so if anyone's got any more advice I'd be very grateful. It's actually going much better in SAI than I thought, though. Someone suggested using vector software earlier and I dismissed it because I only have SAI and it's not the best programme for getting straight lines. However, I've been able to redraw the map in a single morning in SAI that took days in Photoshop, and it's much easier to edit so that off-sets any problems I might have with drawing circles and straight lines in it. (Of course, it helps that I had the original Photoshop version to trace... ¬_¬)

ETA: I've tried the shape burst option Meshon showed me and sadly it's still just as jagged at 100% zoom.

[Larb]

I've had this issue by the way, usually if I'm attempting to stroke something that has been done with a brush. I find that using smart sharpen helps reduct it.

[J.Edward]

soggymuse - remove the stroke from layer properties. If the wall is on its own layer, Ctrl click that layer to select the wall.
make a new layer, use the selection and go to Edit>stroke and try to stroke the selection and see if you get a better line.

[Midgardsormr]

One other question that I think has been answered implicitly, but I want to be absolutely sure: You aren't stroking with the Pencil tool, are you? The Pencil does not apply any anti-aliasing.

[Carnifex]

The image the thumbnail leads to is a screenshot of the map at 100% and it still shows jagged edges. The thumbnail itself looks okay, though. I'm not sure what size I'd need to make the map for it to look good at print size. :/

Something is wrong in your screenshot - I doubt it was taken at 100%. Not only the lines are pixelated - EVERYTHING have the same "pixel size" - the background and shadows also have "too big pixels". When I open the screenshot in Photoshop the real pixels are exactly half the size of the "pixelation".
You say you have made an image with both "jagged" and smooth lines, can you post such an image?

As I see it you may have resized the image by doubling the resolution from 150 to 300 dpi and using the "nearest neighbor". Or you have made a screenshot at exactly 200%. Or the screenshot was increased in size after the screenshot was taken (not likely).

Could you please attach the Photoshop file?

[soggymuse]

@Larb - Smart sharpen does dramatically reduce the jaggedness, thanks! <3 It doesn't quite remove it entirely, but it looks much better.

@J.Edward - I can definitely get much better results from Edit > Stroke, even without the extra selection step. It's unfortunately "permanent" so any edits made to the path needs to be re-stroked. I was hoping to get my layer effects stroke fixed because it's editable where Edit > Stroke isn't.

@Midgardstorm - Understandable! I always use the brush, but I double-checked for you and it's definitely set to "Brush" (simulate pressure unchecked).

@Carniflex - That's weird. I distinctly remember screenshotting that at 100% via CTRL+1 (View > Actual Pixels) but you're right. The image the thumbnail clicks to is at least twice that. I haven't used nearest neighbour to resize, though. I use bicubic, mostly because it's the default and I don't understand that aspect of Photoshop well enough to meddle with the settings. It's more likely I made the screenshot at the wrong zoom level. -headdesk-

Here's one at actual 100% zoom (I double-checked when I saved it). I've also cropped the map itself and saved as .png to show you the actual image rather than a screenshot of it, in case you think that makes a difference. (I can't post the full map or .psd file because I don't have permission from the author to show it. I can ask if you think it'll help.)

jaggedstroke2.png

This should be enough to show you the differences in lines, at least. The jagged edge on the outer wall (with the circle towers) is via the pen tool with Right Click > Stroke Path using a 5px round brush with 100% hardness and adding a 2px black stroke through the Blending Options dialogue. The smooth lines on the inner wall (square towers) and stream is the same thing but added the 2px black stroke through the Edit > Stroke menu.

Larb's advice definitely helps but doesn't quite solve the issue. More confusing is that this never actually used to be an issue. I've had this copy of Photoshop for a couple of years now and done quite a bit of graphic work in it. I don't use paths much but I never had trouble stroking them via layer effects until very recently and I can't understand why. (I even tried stroking a path and adding the layer effect in a 72ppi image to see if that makes a difference since I usually do digital-only work, but it's still jagged there too.)

[Carnifex]

soggymuse!
So only one good solution: Start with an image size of at least 2700x3300 pixels and everything will be fine! The map will look good when printed.

If you really want to work in low resolution you can add a outer glow layer effect (black, multiply 3 pixels) as seen in the second line (layer effect: 2 px stroke/outer stroke) in the attached image.

Hope it helps!


layer_style.png
Stroke number 1: layer effect: Inner stroke
Stroke number 2: layer effect: Outer stroke (with outer glow)
Stroke number 3: layer effect: middle stroke

[soggymuse]

Thanks, Carnifex. I'll try starting with a larger canvas next time.