A simple task that isn't so simple.....help

**logomeister** · 04 February 2007, 05:34 AM

Good day ! All I want to do is impost a very simple -1 color - scan. It is a circle with an X in the middle of it. Without retracing this bitmap, how can I import this into Xara 3D to add texture/color etc. Is this task possible in Xara Xtreem, because I cannot do it in Xara 3D v6.
I know you might be saying this logo is simple to recreate BUT I have others which are complex and would take forever to trace.
Please let m eknow if Xara Extreem Pro will do the trick.

Many Thanks

**simsmj** · 04 February 2007, 10:41 AM

Hello, Logomeister, welcome to the forum. Your request cannot be met in the form in which you state it, as you basically want to import a bitmap, without converting it to a vector, but then you want to add texture/colour to it. Xara3D is a vector based program, and there has to be at least one vector shape present for it to work on. You can then apply bitmaps as a texture to that vector, and can do other things to that vector, but no vector, no image.

At a bare minimum, you could make a rectangular or other vector shape, and apply your other more complex logos to that as a texture, but for the best results the vector shape or shapes should be closely matched for shape to the key elements in the bitmap logo, see the example below. These were traced manually, not with a tracer program, which would result in far too many shapes.

Mike

**Intbel** · 04 February 2007, 11:26 AM

What you might consider doing ...

Use a webding or whatever text to get your circle, then use your circular bitmap as a texture fill.

**logomeister** · 05 February 2007, 04:22 PM

Thanks very much for your feedback.

I found a program called RasterVect. I downloaded the trial and it works beautifully with Xara 3D. Simply browse for a file ( or a scanner ) and import the bitmap. The program converts it to 1 bit, creates the vector file and allows you to save in several vector formats. The .wmf format imports directly into Xara 3D without a hitch ! The beauty is the cost of this product. Only US$ 79. Very reasonable for the time savings.
I think this would be the final missing component to complete the Xara 3D software.

I have been a registered user for about 5 years now and I always had an uphill battle with the vector file creations.

Thanks again for your help and please continue to give me your advice. It is so much appreciated.

**Egg Bramhill** · 06 February 2007, 02:05 AM

Logo,

I've just downloaded the trial version of RasterVect and I have to admit that on 2 colour images it does a better job than Xtremes bitmap tracer, which is better for photographic images.

However the vectors it produces are very blocky being made up of many straight lined objects and this is naturally carried across to Xara3D. I think I'll stick with my tried and trusted method of drawing my vectors by hand.

**logomeister** · 06 February 2007, 05:43 AM

Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill

However the vectors it produces are very blocky being made up of many straight lined objects and this is naturally carried across to Xara3D. I think I'll stick with my tried and trusted method of drawing my vectors by hand.

You know what. I actually agree with you. I had no experience with the Xtreeme Vector tools so I tried other methods. After working with Xtreem however ( for 8 hrs straight ) I think I've got the hang of it. No doubt it is a much cleaner method.

Now if I can only get my last posted question answered.....

it can be found on this thread

Thanks again for your feedback.

**WolfMoonHP** · 09 February 2007, 08:58 PM

Early on, when first learning to use Xtreme and 3-D, I wanted to animate an Egyptian falcon image. My original was not terribly sharp. I used bitmap tracing, then greatly enlarged it, and painstakingly deleted unnecessary nodes, one at a time. It took me almost four hours.

After Egg and others suggested just redrawing, I reproduced the image in a half-hour, better than the traced version...LOL

Oh, well...Once I had it vectorized, it animated beautifully in 3-D.
---
Will

**handrawn** · 10 February 2007, 01:19 PM

I vectorise my line drawings with inkscape - my avatar a case in point - drawn pen and ink scanned as lineart 1 bit and traced with the default settings of inkscape 0.45. This was then saved pdf and imported into xarapro [no more messing with svg/legacy ai8 thank goodness], where it was given gradient coloring.
The inkscape tracer [single scan brightness cutoff mode] gives you lines whole lines and nothing but lines on alpha pure alpha and nothing but alpha background - no messing with unwanted shapes - and inkscape is free.
Saving the pdf import from pro as xar file and importing into xara3D gives you the attached file - hope this helps someone.

Steve