Adobe Streamline...... Is there a similiar software?

[nutmeg]

Does anyone know if there is a software similiar to Adobe streamline? for tracing flattened images to outline which can be re-worked on illustrator.
Thanks!

[jamesmc]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'flattened'. Xara Xtreme has a powerful bitmap tracing program. (converts bitmaps to editable shapes so Xara Vectors can work on it.) In addition it has Special Effects with things like, isolate points, edge detection (horizontal and vertical), 45 degree to -45 degree detection, Laplacian, Dialation, Roberts Cross. The tracer itself has smoothing, remove noise, color tolerance finder, accuracy and etc.


The newer Adobe Illustrator packages come with Live Trace or something like that.

Corel Draw has some sort of tracing program, always had I think. At least it did way back in version 4. Wasn't very good back then though.

[remi]

If you're interested to learn some details about the Bitmap tracer of Xara Xtreme, please look at the Tutorial called Xara Bitmap Tracer vs Adobe Live Trace.

Xara Xtreme is a powerful Vector graphics editor and supports PDF and Adobe Illustrator Export.

Regards,
Remi

[nutmeg]

Hi! thanks for the reply.

Sorry for not explaining properly. I mean something that would trace the outline of an jpeg clipart into a vector graphic, so that it can be re-worked/ edited on illustrator.

Xara xtreme seems like the software I'm looking for. Is it good and quite easy to use?

I have used the adobe ilustrator live trace but didn't give an precise outline of the shape.

[jamesmc]

Well, let's just say there are a lot of Adobe Illustrator converts. People keep their AI, but it so much easier work flow to do it in Xara.

The bitmap tracer will do what you ask, go ahead and download a trial copy at xara.com. Watch the movies and if you need further assistance with Xtreme, talkgraphics is the place to be

[RedWombat]

Corel purchased KPT awhile back. The KPT Knock Out product is still available.

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satelli...=1047022702205

[sallybode]

Back to topic, there are also other tracing software: Inkscape (last time I checked it was shareware but did a lot of crashing when I tried it), Vector Eye (this one is really good and worth checking out). I have a friend that swears by it. And then CorelDRAW X3 has a new trace engine that does more than most tracing software as it lets you convert to the colors you want to use in the interface. You also have a lot of control over the number of nodes, which adds a lot of file size in vector tracing. You can merge colors as well so you end up with the number of colors you are looking for. And you can switch from one kind of trace to another without restarting. It does have a learning curve as you might expect.

As with any tracing software, there are things you may need to correct. Type is always best set as type unless you can't find the font. For logo recreation, the tracing feature in DRAW is worth the upgrade or if you have someone in your family who is a student, the student edition software is just about $20.00 more than buying the vectorization software by itself.

The best traces come from the best bitmap artwork, sharpening, increasing contrast and tracing scans of at least 150 and greater dpi help with vector traces.

In addition, HP used to make scanners that scan black and white scalable (.wmf). So if you have a lot of business cards to scan, it gives you text the quality of near typesetting so long as you are working with images that don't do badly with all black and white. If you are working with a booklet that has a lot of business card ads, it really cleans up your work, about the only thing you need to do is to remove the outline, and a few errand nodes. Great for redoing NCR forms, quicker and more accurate than OCR, it is a real shame that HP let this feature drop. However, you can still find new scanners which have this technology from EBay. If you are lucky, one can be had for about $100.00 and brand new so you have a warranty to boot. Of course more are used so the condition cannot be vouched for. The software package that comes with the HP scanners that can do .wmf is HP Precision Pro. If you have a good scanner and only need to add the abilty to scan as vector in black and white, some of the used scanners that do this under $50.00 is a real bargain.

Of course, no matter what it is, you may recolor it, it is still a good method of starting to recreate a logo. It can be a real timesave.

Still one method isn't good for every vectorization you need.

Xara's tracing can bring near photographic effects to artwork, and compares better than CorelDRAW's older CorelTRACE in terms of ease of use and in accuracy.

DRAW's older trace, CorelTRACE is still useful if you need to trace by centerline. And I have used the crosshatching before to good effect. Neither one of these features are used in X3's PowerTRACE.

Inkscape is worth trying, free download, Vector Eye has a free trial and so does CorelDRAW so you can evaluate them for yourself.

[remi]

Inkscape (last time I checked it was shareware but did a lot of crashing when I tried it)

Inkscape is an open source project and the program is freeware. The interface of Inkscape was influenced by Xara X (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xara_Xtreme).

In the first press release about the new Open Source Version of Xara Xtreme (Xara Xtreme LX), Charles Moir, CEO of Xara Ltd. had said: "Of course we are aware of Inkscape, an existing Open Source vector graphics program that has an active developer community, but is far from complete. We've been in discussion with Inkscape people, who have enthusiastically welcomed us. Our short term goal is to create a fully working Xara Xtreme as it exists now. After that we've agreed to work with Inkscape to determine how best to create a 'best of both world's' product." (source: http://www.xaraxtreme.org/news/11-10-05.html)

Regards,
Remi

[nutmeg]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I shall give that a go if it's free. Where can I download Inkscape? is it available for the mac?

Might even get Xara as it seems more for accuracy.

I'm not sure about anything to do with Corel. Have used Coreldraw and didn't like it at all. So I put coreltrace off the list.

[remi]

Where can I download Inkscape? is it available for the mac?

Google is your friend, search for "Inkscape". Mac OS X is supported.