Generating a vector image from a bitmap

[Hemmers]

Next project...
I'm wanting to make this crest spin.
Obviously there isn't a lovely complex vector in X3D that I can overlay this on as a texture, so I'll have to make it into a vector file myself.
Before I commit loads of time to fiddling with it, is the description in this tutorial pretty much the best way to do it?

Cheers,
Hemmers

[Egg Bramhill]

Firstly Hemmers I going to move this to the Xara3D forum as it's more related to X3D than XXP.

You've got 2 options, depending on the finally quality you require. One is to use a tracing program and the other is to do it as Mike suggests.

The first option, tracing, can be done in XXP using the bitmap trace option or you can use an online BMP2VECTOR app. The best one I've come across is VectorMagic. Unfortunately there software is no longer free to use, in fact it's fairly expensive for what it does (I think this is called SaaS or Software as a Service). But you get 2 free credits when you join up so you can give it a whirl. The image below was made via this method and then importing the vector shape into X3D after some minor cleaning up alterations. Give XXP's bitmap tracer a whirl as well, sometimes the results are adequate.

The second option is to hand trace it as described by Mike. This will give you a far better/cleaner option and will work out cheaper than purchasing traces via VectorMagic and it's surprising how quickly you can get up to speed using this method.

By the way, isn't that the Southampton crest?

[iamtheblues]

Here's a quick and dirty way of doing this.
1. Load image into a bitmap editor like Photoshop. (I used Paintshop Pro).
2. Select the Magic Wand Selection Tool, with a tolerance value of 44.
3. Select the white area on the outside of the crest - you may need to hold
down the Shift key when doing this to increase the area selected. I made 4
selections, one in each corner.
4. Go to Selections menu - Invert Selection.
5. Copy selection and paste as a new image.
6. Save new image as a transparent .gif.
7. Import image into Xara Xtreme or CorelDraw X3
(which has a better bitmap tracer).
8. Select High Quality Image. Select Smoothing and detail at 100.
9. Results should appear within a few seconds.
10. Export image as CMX.
11. In Xara, import the CMX file and select it.
12. Go to Edit/Copy Group.
13. Go to Xara 3D and paste . Don't panic, the image will be just an outline.
14. Go to Texture Options and click on "Load Texture"
15. Navigate your way to the saved transparent .gif (see 6.) and open it.
16. It will be superimposed on the outline (see13.).
17. You may have to adjust the Size slider control for the image to fit.

The whole thing is a lot easier than it looks. Honest!
Saludos,
Bob.

[ss-kalm]

Here's a quick and dirty way of doing this.

By the time you've done all that, you could have hand traced it. I believe that the hand tracing gives a much better finished result.

[iamtheblues]

Hi Keith,
I beg to differ.
Just steps 1 to 6 will accomplish in under 45 seconds
what would take a minimum of 5 probably 10 minutes to hand trace.
Plus it is extremely accurate. (see attached).
It seems like hard work because of the number of steps to
get to the finished article, but the whole thing can be done in
less time than just completing a hand trace.
Saludos,
Bob.

[ss-kalm]

Those images look much better than the 3D you posted. Maybe it's the fact that I never seem to get the settings right on the tracer in Xara (and don't own CorelDraw) that the hand tracing works better for me. I have PSP X, but again never seem to have good results with magic wands. Perhaps more "playing" is in order.

[handrawn]

Bob - given also the alternatives of PS magic eraser and inkscape tracer I would support what you say - and I do it that way frequently

[iamtheblues]

Steve, I'm a big fan of Xara, but it's not always the right tool for the job.
Now if it were a simple crest, I'd have no hesitation in doing the whole thing in Xara Xtreme.
Saludos,
Bob.

[handrawn]

takes me back to when I used to live in Fratton

tracing is well, boring - no that's wrong, is extremely boring - drawing is much more fun

[Egg Bramhill]

Hi. as I said earlier it depends on what you want in the final outcome. So you've 2 roads, hand trace or auto-trace.

I find Steve's auto-traces via Inkscape are excellent as are VectorMagic traces but as I said they're now a SaaS outlet and I wouldn't pay their prices for bitmap tracing.

Keith said that the you could hand trace this image in the time it took to do the alternative. I was interested to see just how long it would take as it's a fairly complex shape. It took me 18 minutes.

But horses for courses, often I need to break a logo up into several separate parts and that's when the hand tracing is the way forward.