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Thursday, January 28, 2010

Catalogue No. 9: Free Vintage Graphics

I have a very old rubber stamp catalog with the most delicious vintage graphics to share with you.Time to start honing your design skills! I design primarily with vector graphics in Adobe Illustrator CS3. What’s vector? Here is a good source for understanding the difference between vector and rastor graphics, which many of you use in Photoshop.In order to make vector graphics from images I find in such books, I scan as JPG files and place the image into an Adobe Illustrator CS3 file, where I can do a live trace function. Once traced, I can manipulate the artwork for most graphic design projects, especially for printing.

I am including the graphics with their original typography for inspiration and extra files modified and left blank for easy use. By clicking the graphics below, you will be directed to my Scribd page for downloading the PDF files. Enjoy the freebies, let me know what you make!

40 comments:

Heidi said...

That last set would make a lovely embroidery project :)

Christie Cottage said...

These are cool!
Not sure what I would do with them, but saving them for a future project.
You're the best!

Tiedupmemories said...

Love those birds! Thank you!

Kathryn said...

These are fantastic. I want to go to Rochester to buy some Artists Supplies form J.C. Barnard! Thanks for sharing, you are so generous.

Cris said...

Wow, I had no idea. Thanks for adding the links explaining how you do this. I'm totally fascinated now in your process!

jdavissquared said...

oh, these are fantastic! love 'em. thanks!

Amy @ Living Locurto said...

Thanks! I like when you do the work for me:-)

Amy @ Living Locurto said...

HOLY COW! I just watched that video and had NO idea about the live trace function. LOL! I have been drawing over my scanned illustrations the old fashion way with the pen tool. Oh my goodness! You just saved me a TON of time. I think I need to go over all the new features of my programs. I just never take the time to do that. MANY THANKS!

Mary said...

Thanks for the inspiration. I just ordered Illustrator because of your blog! I have been wanting to get a vector graphic program to use with my embroidery software. Hopefully I'll be able to learn how to use it. I love all of your graphics.

Anonymous said...

Golly I love you!!

Mindy said...

You make it look SO easy! I don't understand most of your abilities :) but I am always impressed with what you do. The freebies are so thoughtful of you. It is really a blessing that you are multiplying your talent by investing in others, not burying it. Thank you so much!

belle007 said...

Thanks very much. I'd love to see what Kemp's Drug and Book Store looked like!

Rebekah said...

oohh.. just love these images... was shown your blog by a friend and i have to say i just love love love it..
thanks for so many shared images! ill have to post a link to my creation once im done..

Stephanie said...

Your talent and generosity never cease to blow me away! Thanks, from a local fan, for another great post!

christa Baca said...

Fabulous and lovely. You should check out vectormagic.com if you haven't already. It turns graphics into vectors and no need to trace.

Michelle said...

Thanks so much! Absolutely love this.

Rachel Ann said...

Thanks for sharing! I am trying to think of a use for that cool Victorian boot... I needed to know about vector graphics too - I really appreciate the link!

Michelle Frae Cummings said...

thanks! I love stuff like this!

A Refocused Life said...

I'm always amazed at your ideas...and your willingness to share all your secrets.

Lauri said...

thank you so much for sharing these! And I was thinking the exact same thing as Heidi up there...those birds would make beautiful embroideries!

Lisa said...

Ooooooh, thank you SO much for those beautiful frames.
I can't say I understand the technical stuff - I'm going to print the frames and cut them out with good old fashioned scissors and glue them onto my scrap/journal pages.
For a scrapbooker in France whose stash (and Cricut) are still in England awaiting removal, you are nothing short of a miracle!!
BIG smiley face from France!

Anonymous said...

I love those birds.
I bought old stock of rubons ages ago by K and co and they had that very bird design in the pack. The one on the bottom of the bird sheet.

Thank you so much for posting these up as I really wanted more.... they are not made any more....finally I have them permanently i can keep re using as I want.

thank you thank you

kristiannep said...

Thank you so much for sharing!Have a blessed weekend:)Kristianne25

Mitzi Curi said...

Cathe, I love your freebie designs, they are so "in" right now. Everyone seems to have discovered the wonderful flourishes and fancy signatures. Thanks once again for inspiration and great free graphics!

Ashley & Greg said...

thanks SO MUCH for all of the freebies and awesome projects! i love you blog and read it all of the time! I am using these labels to put on the receipt organizer that you posted a little while ago- i am loving it! thanks! :)

Artsnark said...

always so gorgeous & generous! Many thanks

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for sharing this!

Mel said...

What a great book! You have the best stuff! Thanks for sharing!!

People Who Know Me Would Say: said...

Very cool stuff...which, once again, is why you are a Rock Star!

Christie Cottage said...

You have a blog award waitning for you on my blog :-)

http://christiecottage.blogspot.com

Anji Johnston said...

Love all of these graphics - thank you SO much!

1CardCreator said...

You have a very interesting blog with so many talents to share. Thank you for the free images, and all of the inspiration you provide. I 'm a follower for sure! Take care, ~Diane

Garland said...

these are great! thanks for sharing, check out the twitter background i did with one of the birds...

http://twitter.com/avantgarland

will credit you!

Debra said...

I've already got ideas rolling around in my head.

Thank you

Whatever Dee-Dee wants said...

How does one get their hands on a catalog like that?

Kim said...

I love them - thank you!

Kristen H said...

I just want to say thank you for your wonderful blog. I love decorating my home with primitive collections. And antiques are some of my favorites. Your blog is inspiring... and I just can't wait to play with some of your offerings. I am grateful that you are so kind to share.

My husband was born in 1943 and his mother saved every birthday, valentine, Christmas card that he received until he was 5. The graphics are so wonderful. She unfortunately GLUED them into the scrapbook though. I am still trying to figure out how to play with them without ruining the originals.

I also have some of my grandpa's calling cards that he received from friends. He was born in the late 1800s so, these cards are real old.

I collect spools, I love them and think of stories of the women who may have had them in their sewing boxes at one time.

If you would be interested in the calling cards and some other things, I am going to share them on my blog later, so pop on over...

Thanks again. I will definitely be coming around again. I saved you as a favorite.

Judy said...

I just downloaded the second page (the blank vintage frames). These will work great as journaling boxes in my scrapbook. Thank you for the freebie. I love your blog. I've listed it as a favorite blog on the sidebar of my own. :-)

Valerianas Studio said...

Wow Cathe, that is really great, thank you very much for your generosity!

Anonymous said...

I didn't realize these might be actual stamps of real people and places until I saw G. Gruppe. I'm going to look around to see if he's who I think he is--the father of Emile Gruppe, one of my favorite oil painting authors. The location is right, time frame about right. How fun...thanks!
Susan