Clara,

In my experience it is better to have fewer points which also lends
itself to smoother curves. While not so much a problem with today's
cheaper ram and faster computers, it used to be quite a problem for
processing in the early days of digital pre-press. I've choked a few
processors with my early attempts at digital illustration. Each point
requires a calculation.

Most of the time when you see an illustration like that it has been
converted from another program. Programs can't make the same
determination as to the best use of points on a curve as a human.

--
Michael Shannon



On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 12:18 PM, Clara Richardson
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi all-
> I just took delivery of a lovely commercial layered Illustrator map. It is
> well organized and easy to work with. But it leads me to one question--
> Is it cheaper in any RAM sense to have 50 trillion corner points instead of
> a few nice smooth curved ones? I always make my own curves with as few
> anchor points as possible...
> thanks,
> -Clara
>
> --
> Clara Richardson
> Scientific Illustrator
> Department of Zoology
> The Field Museum
> Chicago, IL  60605
>
> ________________________________________________
>
> Need to leave or subscribe to the Sciart-L listserv? Follow the instructions
> at
> http://niobrara.unl.edu/users/lana/gnsi/listserv/
>

Need to leave or subscribe to the Sciart-L listserv? Follow the instructions at
http://niobrara.unl.edu/users/lana/gnsi/listserv/