# How can I draw this array thing in Photoshop?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-draw-this-array-thing-in-photoshop/810724>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 17, 2018, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-draw-this-array-thing-in-photoshop/810724 "2018-03-17T10:35:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![JakeRS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ab097/32.png) [@JakeRS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JakeRS)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-draw-this-array-thing-in-photoshop/810724/1 "2018-03-17T10:35:53Z")

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I want to make a diagram where I have 12 planes that arrayed in a perfect distance, or to make a even larger diagram with 100 human silhouettes (for example ,this is how many people died in xyz war and then a 100 human silhouettes).

What’s the easiest way to do this?

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**Author:** ![albino\_manatee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/albino_manatee/32/2_2.png) [@albino\_manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/albino_manatee)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-draw-this-array-thing-in-photoshop/810724/2 "2018-03-17T11:39:38Z")

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illustrator _(mine is cs4)_

create new document … making sure dimension is large enough to retain all 100 increments.

create your single **‘image/plane/silhouette’** … copy/paste where you wish for end image/plane/silhouette to reside … object-blend: config, make, expand … ungroup … down-arrow the layer-palette/release-to-layers … assign 1% less transparency for each. you now have your 100 images/silhouettes with receding lesser transparency.

[ul]  
[li]1%transp \*100incr =100.[/li][li]make certain you thought of everything before performing the ‘blend’.[/li][li]the ‘blend’ contains all increments in an ‘envelope’ … expand releases that one envelope into separate units.[/li][li]probably experiment with single-box/plane first.[/li][/ul]

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**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2018, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-draw-this-array-thing-in-photoshop/810724/3 "2018-03-17T21:50:14Z")

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Yeah, not a Photoshop kind of task. Maybe you could, but Illustrator would be so much easier. If you don’t have Illustrator already, then get Inkscape - it’s free and will do a great job.

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-draw-this-array-thing-in-photoshop/810724/4 "2018-03-18T00:01:35Z")

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> [@DavidwithanR](#):
>
> …Illustrator would be so much easier.

This. I wouldn’t dream of doing this with anything but Illustrator.

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**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-draw-this-array-thing-in-photoshop/810724/5 "2018-03-18T01:21:39Z")

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> [@panache45](#):
>
> This. I wouldn’t dream of doing this with anything but Illustrator.

Inkscape is definitely worthwhile, at the very least because if you don’t already have Illustrator then it would be a prohibitive expense for one project. (Plus Inkscape is good in its own right, and free.)