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Tracing In Ullustrator?
First let me tell you how i currently do things, open the JPEG in photoshop and then i get just the bit i want in solid color, after this i then live trace it and export it as a WMF for vinyl cutting software!
But when I’m doing low res images such as this
when i trace it 9live trace) it turns out crappy like this
Was wondering if there is anyway i can manually trace it?
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7 Replies
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Hello fellow Simon
I never use the live trace option. Some people may find it useful, but I don’t think you’ll ever get the exacting quality you would from tracing it by hand. I know when I use to try and use it, I would end up spending more time trying to fix what the live trace did than if I drew it from scratch. With that being said….
If you’re trying to draw lettering it can be one of the hardest things to trace. The human eye really can pick up on bumps and such in the drawing, especially if the bitmap you’re drawing over isn’t very high resolution. I usually try to get What The Font to match the font for me. http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ If you get a match and have the font, you’re already a few steps ahead of the game. You can usually just set the font on top of the bitmap image you scanned and then adjust the letter height and kerning (letter spacing) to match. You can also sometimes get a font that’s close and modify it, if they’re aren’t any exact matches, or you don’t own the font. You will first need to convert the font to paths after setting the copy.
Use of the pen tool is one of the most important tools in your arsenal when drawing in Vector programs. It’s a little difficult to get use to, but once you practice for a while, it becomes quicker and easier. Here’s a site to get you started with the pen tool. http://school.tatoland.com/illustrator/aipentool.html
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Fiddle with the settings of Livetrace. It will not ever, ever turn out perfect though. You need either the finished logo, or the various tools in illustrator to make the logo. The pen tool (P) is your friend.
Edit: And as far as I know, WMF isn’t suited for vector graphics as it can’t handle bezier curves, or any curve.
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Hello fellow Simon’s.
I have found that you can trace most fonts in Illustrator in about six moves.
I once tried Adobe Streamline. It didnt work for me. -
not being negative but learn how to do that manually it is actually quite a difficult one to do. i have not a clue with illy but with snap to guide lines and drawing boxes, fillet corners, pen tool, it will put you in good stead for the future.
or just buy a car graphics disk from impact.
chris
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If that’s what you’re trying to trace then for sure ‘brands of the world’ will have it on the web for free….
Ian
:lol1:
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quote Ian Muir:If that’s what you’re trying to trace then for sure ‘brands of the world’ will have it on the web for free….
Ian
:lol1:
and learn nothing part of his question was can it be done manually :lol1:
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Disagree Chris…. he has learned that instead of buying a car graphics disc from Impact he has the option of trying Brands of the World…… :lol1:
I did start my previous post with ‘If’ and my post was to augment your previous part of your answer… both you and Simon have already pointed Simon in his original post towards learning drawing skills, I had nothing to add, I don’t use Illustrator… :lol1:
Ian :lol1:
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