Vectorising a Logo

[benzy]

Hi,

I'm fairly new to illustrator.

What im trying to do is to vectorise this logo so that it doesnt pixelate when i change the size.

I have tried the live trace option but it doesnt give me the same quality logo as before.

Can anyone suggest a way in which I can vectorise the image while keeping its appearence the same?

It has to go on a flash website so can i convert the vector image to swf? If i do will it retail its quality when resized?

I dont really kno if this is possible as all the vector coversion tutorials ive seen are mainly text with little image.

Any help appreciated :D

Thanks

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/4148/eliteflashwebdesignsaz3.th.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=eliteflashwebdesignsaz3.png)

PS. While your'e at it, tell me what you think of the logo!! :rolleyes::D

[TORCH511]

I'm fairly new to illustrator.

Obviously

Can anyone suggest a way in which I can vectorise the image while keeping its appearence the same?

Yes, learn Illustrator (or vector image creation/editing in general)

It has to go on a flash website so can i convert the vector image to swf? If i do will it retail its quality when resized?

While Flash animation handles both raster and vetor objects quite well, it is mainly built around vectors, so yes it will resize flawlessly in Flash.

I dont really kno if this is possible as all the vector coversion tutorials ive seen are mainly text with little image.

That is the problem these days, everyone wants a tutorial to show them exactly what they want to do, rather than trying to understand the concepts.

Any help appreciated :D

You know the old saying... Be careful what you ask for -


The logo is fairly straight forward, you could trace the logo fairly easily. The colored semicircles in the middle have a kind of 3D effect which could be made with a blend and then imported so that it would look good in Flash. The drop shadow I would make in flash instead of illustrator. Bring in the "Text" and the symbol into Flash seperatly and apply a drop shadow then. and put the two together as a new symbol.

[McJohn]

Always analyze, how the logo has been build, then figure out which tool is the best option to vectorize the logo. Knowning wich font is used can save you lot of work from the start. I "dislike" the "trace" function Illustrator offers. Allthough in some cases it is much easier, but the result is rarely perfect and as an Illustrator-user it is a very cheap way to create vectors. To me it does nog give any fullfillment.

Off course,..for an Illustrator newbie,..it is a god's gift! ;)

[charlieb]

Im pretty new to illustrator, but I would think that if you learn to use the pen tool, shape tool, and gradients, it seems fairly simple.

[charlieb]

I'll do it for $50...lol

[Pete4Shapes]

It wouldn't be hard to recreate that logo and as you'd create it using vectors rather than pixels you'd have a much better quality logo at your disposal for various mediums. However as a beginner I think you'll find it quite a long task so perhaps the offer above is worth considering.
My personal feelings on the logo are its too complicated and not very well designed. There seems no apparent reason for the circle and the vertical gap in the middle is far too thin in relation to other elements of the logo. The outline stroke of the text disappears at points, the text is in a variety of sizes and the strapline (Flash Web Designs) doesn't fit well with the rest of the logo. In your example the black disappears on the black background. Also the drop shadow is far too heavy. There are so many colours in this logo its difficult to see it working on anything other than white. Personally I'd look at simplifying the logo, choosing a better font, creating a fwd icon and changing your strapline. Also the vertical grads might better suggest forward motion as horizon grads.
However, that's merely my opinions and doesn't help you to recreate it, so...

Text: I don't recognise this font but Quorum might help as a starting point from which to edit. Outline the text and use your path and selection tools to emulate the existing text. Assign the yellow stroke and gradient fill. As the shadow goes over the circle I think its best this is part of the illustrator logo rather than attributed via Flash. Assign the drop shadow via the Filters menu and edit your document raster effects under the Effects menu (300dpi white bgrnd for print, 72dpi transparent bgrnd for web). Finally type your Strapline and .com (move this away from your edited text a little as its almost clashing).

Circle: Start with a new layer below the text layer, lock and hide the text layer to help selections. Create the outer circle via the shape tool and assign your gradient. Copy the circle and paste in front, fill with Green. Draw a vertical line or shape to overlap your circles and make sure they are all aligned to centre (Align palette). Select your first circle and lock in position. Select your smaller circle and the vertical rule/shape, click Divide in the Pathfinder palette which turns your circle into various shapes, delete all but the two semi-circles. Recolour to blue and green. You may find subtle gradients work better than flat colours but you'll also need to add the white highlights. These can be created using white to bgrnd colour radial grads or gradient mesh.

Unlock and view all elements, save as .ai file as your master and save a copy as an .eps with all unused options removed to reduce file size (cols, styles, patterns, swatches and grads).