This one is going out specifically for you digital artists who like to use copy paste.  Firstly let me say that I am a copy paster. It is a wonderful tool that can help you experiment and save time.  Trouble is I see a lot of artists (even experienced ones) using it wrong.  

Here’s what I mean by wrong. If your audience can spot the copied assets in the final work, then you have used it wrong. I’m going to go into why this is generally a bad idea and how to use the feature without making your audience disconnect.

The reason using copied assets is bad is because, when the audience notices a copied aspect (and knows it was done by machine) they get a bit huffy having wasted their time looking at it. I know that sounds odd, but really, how do you feel when you notice copied assets in a single image? You don’t want this to happen to your work because it will throw off whatever impact you were going for. All the will see is the copied bit.

This is a tempting trap. I think we have all struggled with “the other eye” and being able to snap your fingers and create a perfect one is a serious frustration saver.  However this carries with it all the previously stated problems of disconnecting with your audience if they notice. So… what do you do?

Simply put… do it early.  Copy paste what needs copy pasting before you add details like eye lashes or shading or features that make it identifiable. It may also be a good idea to alter the copied image just slightly to make it look unique.  

Whenever we look for signs of copying, our fist clue is the general shape. That isn’t enough though and we immediately start looking for minute similarities. It’s perfectly fine if a character has the same sort of eye on both sides, but if the lashes are identical then somethings up.  

Lighting also plays a huge role in placing a feature into a specific spot. If one eye has light coming from the part far from the nose, then the other will take light from the nearside. Do shading after the copy, and it will look as if you simply made good eyes. This as well applies to the details of the iris or the fine details of anything you are about to copy. Even star-fields need a bit of alteration between copies.

Check the face below and see if you can spot what elements were copied. The answer is everything but the shading. It was all just tweaked to avoid making that stark dulness that comes with perfectly symmetrical images.  

That’s about it. The reason I am posting this is because I have been noticing a great deal of digital artists taking shortcuts that hurt their final design. Copy paste is great. But losing your audience isn’t.