Turning a rough TIFF into a vector

[jamjam]

Hi all - this is my first post here so hello!

Forgive my ignorance on this subject, but I am very new to illustrator, also this query may not be relevant to this program so......

I am putting together some LP sleeve artwork and need a to turn a somewhat pixelated hand drawn image (tiff file) in to a smooth edged vector image, that will print without a trace of pixelation.

Please any help would be really appreciated.

Cheers :)

[scottie]

Save the original image. If you have PS open the file in PS. Go to filter-blur-gausian blur. move the slider until the jaggies smooth out to your liking. Now, select the white space and choose, select-inverse. select modify-contract, contract 1 or two pixels. select inverse and press delete. Now select your new smoother image. Go to paths and select make working path. Go to file, export to AI.eps. and give the path a name. Open the path .ai file and copy it. open the original tiff in AI. and Past the PS path. Now fill the PS .eps path with a color like Black. Move/adjust any control points as you wish. The other option is to digitize the image using the pen tool in AI. If the tiff image is of any complication the digitize method woud be my choice. Actually the digitize method is always my choice.

[GuyB]

If you have CS2, you could try the Trace tool.

[jamjam]

Yes - it's a pretty complicated image - so digitize would be best - any tips on doing this please?

thanks alot :)

[scottie]

Select your pen tool. Pick stroke no fill, use a color to contrast your image. Now trace around your image. Zoom in or out to your choice. Be as accurate as you need.

[jamjam]

Thanks for the help.

[The Repro Kid]

Yup.

There really is no way of getting around the "roll-up-sleeves" part of this task.

But when it comes down to it, jamjam, the reason you and the rest of us have a job is because computers really can't draw on their own.

If there was a "magic trace button" no one would really need us.

Now, hopefully, tracing that image won't feel so bad.

I can tell you what i do when I trace images though. Scan the image to a huge dpi like 600. That way you can zoom in as much as you like and things won't look pixelated. Put your scan on a separate layer below the layer you are using to trace. Dim the image to 50% in the layers option. lock the layer with the scan. do your tracing on a separate layer above the scan, and set this layer to artwork mode. I've noticed new users tend to shy away from doing work in artwork mode and only work in preview mode. Learning to spend more time in artwork mode will make your life a lot easier in the long run. Tracing a logo is the prefect place to start. Have the scan layer in preview and your trace layer in artwork view. You can do this with the little eyeball icons on the layers palette.

[jamjam]

Thanks The Repro kid,

I have realised that this drawing is far too complicated to trace by hand - it would take several days - it has been drawn as if a wood or lino cut, with hundreds of seperate pieces making up the image :( Maybe it's just best to re-scan the drawing.

However the only reason I havn't done this already is that it may be used on posters or banners for the record label, so will need to reproduce very big.

I have an acquaintance who does graphics for a large advertising company and says there is a program that can automatically read a file and convert it to vector - any ideas.....would mean death to the trained draftsman ;) I better get in touch with her.

cheers

[scottie]

that is the question. As asked of you before, do u have CS2, AI that is? If yes, use it. Read up, in Help, on Autotrace.

[grnofslt]

Actually, isn't it Live Trace that you mean? If you have CS2, by using live trace, one is supposed to be able to turn a raster image, into a vector drawing. Adobe also used to have a stand alone application that was supposed to turn raster images into vector images but that was back in the days of Mac OS 9. I can't remember the name and when I went to Adobe's site to look for it, I couldn't fine it.

Billy Jay

[AdobeAce]

Hi grnofslt,

You must be referring to Streamline. It was a stand-alone forerunner of Live Trace.
Live Trace takes tracing to a whole new level. I seem to remember that "Auto Trace" was an absolutely awful feature in older versions of AI. Everyone tried it once before buying Streamline.

I use Live Trace a lot for two of my clients who are still working on paper. One is an Art Director who draws all of his own cartoons for an ad campaign that he's been working on. The other is an artist who works with sand-blasted glass. The original art is supplied to me on paper. I scan it, Place in AI and use LiveTrace to convert it to vector. I can then easily make corrections in AI. Works great!

Ace

[mops]

Hey guys

Thank god for this thread - i'm just learning ai from scratch and threw myself in the deep end yesterday by doing the tracing thing - thank god i'm doing exactly what repro has said - one question though .......... repro (how you buddy?), i'm working in 'artwork mode' and i can see why it's easier, but i think i'm doing something wrong, when i fill in colour it doesnt show unless i change over to preview mode - any ideas what i'm doing wrong?

[DCurry]

AAdobe also used to have a stand alone application that was supposed to turn raster images into vector images but that was back in the days of Mac OS 9. I can't remember the name and when I went to Adobe's site to look for it, I couldn't fine it.

It was called Streamline, but it has been incorporated into Illustrator's LiveTrace.

[The Repro Kid]

Hey guys

Thank god for this thread - i'm just learning ai from scratch and threw myself in the deep end yesterday by doing the tracing thing - thank god i'm doing exactly what repro has said - one question though .......... repro (how you buddy?), i'm working in 'artwork mode' and i can see why it's easier, but i think i'm doing something wrong, when i fill in colour it doesnt show unless i change over to preview mode - any ideas what i'm doing wrong?

Gulp. Everything I said? Yipe!

Anyway, nothing's wrong. You need to toggle back and forth between artwork and preview mode.

When in preview mode your tracing will obscure the template, making it difficult to trace in some areas. Switching to artwork mode conceals all the fills and stokes and reveals your template, allowing you to more accurately trace your template.

Switch to preview when you need to see how things look, switch to artwork when you need to see what you are tracing.

I think it would be pretty hard to accurately trace something if you could only work in Preview mode. Some people do it but I don't see how.

[mops]

yip - everything you said repro, your brain is amazing - you always point my empty brain in the right direction - ok - i'm very pleased that i'm not doing this preview/artwork thing wrong, i may not understand it, but at least it's not wrong - i'm currently jumping up and down (not too fast i must say, i'm not that fit) beaming with smiles because i've finally grasped the basics of ai - and my cs2 version will also be with me next week so this tracing stuff maybe a bit easier too

ok , mops takes a bow and walks out of the room smiling before she finds out everything she thought she did right is actually really wrong and naff

anyway - once again guys, thanks for your help, mops ;)

ps Jamjam, relax with the brushes and get used to the way they work, if youre quite arty you'll get used to them and it'll work wonders for your images, good luck