Import psd to Moho Debut 12.5

[Mattyj]

Just got Adobe Fresco and am playing with the Vector brushes. It has limited export options but I can export as a .psd. However I don't seem to have the option to import it into Moho Debut?

Any ideas as to what could be going on?

[Greenlaw]

I haven't used Fresco much yet but will check out the export in a bit.

In general, if you're exporting vectors for Moho, you should use SVG format. The usual import limitations apply. I don't know if this is available with Fresco but will check it this afternoon. A specific version of the AI format also works but I believe SVG is preferable by most Moho users.

IMO, it's best to use Moho's internal vector tools for any shapes you want to deform using bones, and to a lesser extent with meshes. This is because getting really nice deformations with bones depends on having the optimal number of points and placement in your shapes.

But if the vector art is meant for backgrounds or props, the point number and placement really doesn't matter. This is useful when you need to zoom in or out of the image and you wish to preserve resolution independence, but in some situations, you may consider baking the images to a bitmap to keep Moho speedy or when you need to deform the images with a mesh. (Hayasidist has an excellent Bake To PNG script for this.)

For mesh deformations, point count and placement does matter but it's not as critical as when using bones for deformation.

Hope this helps.

Extra info:

When importing the PSD format, Moho will only include the RGB(A) bitmap data, and in Debut you can only import a merged layer (you need Pro to import separated layers.) Personally, I prefer to use PNG exported with a third party script called Photoshop-Export-Layers-to-Files-Fast so I can avoid some of the issues that come with PSD interchange, but I don't know if this script works with Fresco. (If you use Krita, this program has something similar built in. It's not nearly as robust as the PS script but it does the job.)

[chucky]

Exporting vectors will just import as vectors, no Fresco vector brushes will display in Moho.

[Greenlaw]

Yes, what Chucky says is accurate. If you want to preserve the brushes, you'll need to save the image in bitmap format. In which case, PSD or PNG works great. (I prefer PNG myself.)

SVG offers a way to create the vector art for Moho in another program, and you should get reasonably accurate basic color fills and strokes, but that's about it. (I haven't tried this with Fresco myself, so not sure if there are any unexpected issues.) The advantage is that the art will be fully scalable and editable in Moho, but not necessarily optimal for bones deformations as described earlier.

[Greenlaw]

I finally took a look at how Fresco handles vector export. Apparently, it doesn't, well not directly anyway; you need to send the file to Illustrator (using the Send to Illustrator command,) or you need to export it as a PDF and then convert that in a program that will allows is. As mentioned earlier, the usual vector export limitations apply.

TBH, I don't think Fresco is really meant for creating vectors for other programs, it seems to be designed mainly for PSD exports. IMO, if you need vector art for Moho, you're probably better off creating it in a dedicated vector art program like Illustrator or drawing it directly inside Moho.

[Greenlaw]

Quick follow up: I ran a couple of simple tests this morning.

First, I launched Moho as Debut to see what the limitations are.

From Fresco, I saved a PSD, a PNG and sent the file to AI so I could save an SVG.

In Debut, you're right, the program could not see the Fresco exported PSD. I'll have to ask the devs about this. AFAIK, Debut should be able to import a PSD as a single merged layer, just not as individual layers like Pro can.

What was surprising to me was that I couldn't open the PNG in Moho either, but when I tried to open the Fresco PNG in XnView (an image browser) XnView didn't know what this was either. This makes me think this broken PNG is a Fresco error. Will have to experiment with this as I have time. TBD.

Finally, I tried the vector art converted from Fresco to Illustrator and saved as SVG. In AI, it looks like AI preserved the vectors. When I tried to import the SVG to Debut, however I got nothing but a broken image layer. This makes me think Debut does not support SVG but I'll have to check on that. Just to be sure, next I tried importing the SVG to Moho Pro, and I got a vector layer but it looked like a mess. This is probably an export settings issue, and will have to check later.

I don't have time to test this further right now, but will try to take another look tonight.

IMO, I would avoid Fresco for now unless you're willing to continue experimenting with export options. Be sure to test with other programs besides Moho so you know if this is a Fresco or Moho problem. Also, be aware that Debut has import limitations compared to Pro. I'll ask the devs about the PSD problem...I'm almost certain Debut is supposed to support basic PSD import.

[Greenlaw]

What was surprising to me was that I couldn't open the PNG in Moho either, but when I tried to open the Fresco PNG in XnView (an image browser) XnView didn't know what this was either. This makes me think this broken PNG is a Fresco error. Will have to experiment with this as I have time. TBD.

To be clear, Debut normally has no trouble importing PNG files, this was only with the Fresco PNG I tried to import this morning. I also tried importing the same Fresco PNG to Pro, and got the same error so the Fresco PNG file is definitely bugged.

Will test this again tonight to be sure this wasn't a random anomaly with the Fresco exporter.

[Greenlaw]

Oh, shoot...it just occurred to me that I was testing with Moho Debut 13.5, and not Debut 12.5 like you requested. Let me check this properly tonight and get back to you.

If anything, this exercise might have revealed some issues with Debut 13.5 that should be reported.