Broken Record Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Over the past couple of years, it seems that I often have had a need to have a vector image of something that I only have in jpg.Since I don't own Illustrator or any high end package, I always end up either begging someone else to help me or just doing without. I don't really understand the benefits of vector (other than knowing you can blow them up to huge sizes without losing resolution), but I do know that almost every time I get into a design project that one is requested.Anyway, my question is, what is involved in the conversion process? Can you take a jpg image and "import" it into Illustrator and save it or do you have to recreate the image?Is there an easy way to do it? Is it a big deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eriqjaffe Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Illustrator can auto-trace an image, although the results are never perfect. I assume most other vector packages have the same functionality... they all will probably require some manual work - sometimes it's just easier to manually trace the image yourself.Ultimately, the bigger and cleaner your source JPG or GIF is, the easier it'll be to convert to a vector file.You might want to check out a program called Inkscape, which is a 100% free vector drawing program...not sure about it's auto-tracing functionality, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollux Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 It really depends on a a couple of things, but most importantly which illustrator version you have. CS2 now offers the LiveTrace function, which allows a user to simply cut and paste the image and the function will give a resulting vector path. Although this function isn't perfect, it is usually a great starting point when you have a gif or jpeg. After that, itis simply a work of patience to trace and adjust the rest.In other versions, unfortunately, I have no knowledge of such a function. Therefore, the user vectorizing the image will do so manually, tracing every line and then adjusting everything.Fine tuning is often the most time consuming work to do during a conversion.And if the image had been done in Photoshop previously, I think you can export the image as vector paths and then use them in Illustrator. But I'm not really sure, I don't use Photoshop that much.So it might be a big deal, depending on the user... Hope this helps! Four times IHL Nielson Cup Champions - Montréal Shamrocks (2008-2009 // 2009-2010 // 2012-2013 // 2014-2015) Five times TNFF Confederation Cup Champions - Yellowknife Eagles (2009 CC VI // 2010 CC VII // 2015 CC XII // 2017 CC XIV // 2018 CC XV) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broken Record Posted October 7, 2005 Author Share Posted October 7, 2005 Thanks very much for the replies. I'll download Inkscape today and see what I can do with it.I was just totally in the dark regarding vectors. What you guys are telling me make sense, about skill level and software, because sometimes it seems like I would ask for one and get a "sure, no problem" response and have it back in an hour and then other times it was like I was asking for the world.I personally don't mind spending the time to do them myself, I just don't have the tools. Maybe Inkscape will help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewharrington Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 If you can't see the benefits of vectors now, you certainly will once you gain a footing with a vector drawing program like Inkscape or Illustrator. It's an unbelievable advantage. There's a good reason all the pros use vector drawing applications. It's really the standard for any type of professional quality graphic work. I still don't have a website, but I have a dribbble now! http://dribbble.com/andyharry [The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent the position, strategy or opinions of adidas and/or its brands.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 Adobe Streamline 4 (its development is totally halted now) was the forerunner to LiveTrace (and what we had to use before Illustrator CS2 brought that feature in) is a fantastic program which I can't hype enough.And, since it's specialised in its purpose (it won't edit the paths it creates), it's significantly cheaper than an all-in-one package such as Illustrator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltravisjr Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 The Corel suite also has auto tracing features, both as a simple command in the Draw program and as seperate fuller featured application. The results are never exactly perfect, though, and I prefer to just trace the imported image manually. Vector is the way to go. It is resolution independent, and much easier to edit.LT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordie_delini Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 I've done a lot of jpeg/gif vecorization by hand - it's not hard, as long as you can find the largest raster image you can find. it gets tricky when you have a 100x100 pixel image to work with. but i've done it, like i said. it just takes patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eriqjaffe Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 I've used a program called Silhouette (it's available as a cross-platform Illustrator Plug-In and a Mac-only Stand-Alone) with very good results - minimal tweaking. Here's an example using a GIF from the MotherSite:That is as it traced, without any manual editing at all.It's not super cheap, but the demo is free!edit: Oh, yeah, a link!http://www.silhouetteonline.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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