How to trace bitmap and export paths as .ai?

**Spinny** · 26 February 2009, 01:18 AM

I'm interested in Xara primarily for one purpose: I need to be able to open a bitmap, auto trace the outlines of the shapes in that bitmap, then export the resulting outlines as paths in the .ai format so I can import them as curves in my 3D modeling software.

Can Xara support this? If so, can someone explain how to accomplish it? I have downloaded the trial version but haven't found what I need in the help file.

Thanks in advance!

**Soquili** · 26 February 2009, 01:27 AM

Hi Spinny,

I don't know of any program that can do what you want without making too many errors in finding the outlines.

Some people say that Vector Magic does a resonably good job. http://vectormagic.com/home

**Spinny** · 26 February 2009, 01:37 AM

Thanks for responding. How about if the image were as simple as the one Wolfgang uploaded in this thread:

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=36513

Does the Xara auto trace feature not create outlines, or am I misunderstanding how it works?

ETA: to amplify, that thread is very interesting because Rhino 3D is exactly the program I want to import the .ai files into. I know it can be done on Adobe Illustrator but Xara is vastly cheaper so I'd prefer to be able to use it, instead.

**Soquili** · 26 February 2009, 01:48 AM

Autotrace attempts to find outlines in a matrix of pixels. It does that by trying to determine where light and dark pixels are located. Because bitmaps (raster) images dither and antialias pixels there is no clear cut line to find so it approximates. Small changes in colour can give a false positive to the routine that finds lines so what someone would think is a large area of a solid colour can be made into many small areas.

Autotrace actually creates filled shapes rather than outlines.

What was done in Wolfgangs thread is people actually drew a line using the tools in Xtreme then exported it as a .ai file.

**Spinny** · 26 February 2009, 02:00 AM

Ah, so. Actually, an approximate outline would be fine for my purposes, and large areas broken into smaller ones wouldn't be a problem, either. The only show-stopper I see is I just need the outline curves, no fill. Oh, well. Thanks again.

**Soquili** · 26 February 2009, 02:17 AM

An example of how the bitmap tracer works in Xtreme.

The apple image is from the clipart included with Xtreme.

The settings in the tracer are arbitrary so a better trace could be achieved with trial and error adjustments.

The first image shows the tracer itself.

The second is the original bitmap from the clipart gallery.

The third is the result of the trace.

The fourth shows the outlines of the shapes created by the tracer.

**Albacore** · 26 February 2009, 10:05 AM

Xara has a good auto trace fuction slightly better than Illustrator but why bother going into two programmes before you use your 3D programme. If I was in your shoes I would just use Illy auto trace function it does the same job and you have better control over the output as you can select parts to trace and do it manually. The actual output of the trace is not quite as good but it is OK and will save you time that is if your using Illy. If you just want an AI type file to import into your 3D programme, which I see that you do after reading again your original question Xara's AI export is quite old so you might have some problems but try it and see.

**Spinny** · 26 February 2009, 10:15 AM

First, thank you so very much for taking the time to deal with my newbie questions. You're saving me untold hours of hunting and pecking to figure out where I want to go with my evil plans.

Originally Posted by Soquili

The fourth shows the outlines of the shapes created by the tracer.

That actually looks very good, if a bit busier than what I'd be doing. How did you extract the outlines from the trace? Can those outlines (and just those outlines) then be exported as paths?

To Albacore: The problem is I no longer have access to a copy of Illustrator. I did this kind of work several years ago and at the time had temporary use of Illustrator 10 to accomplish it. A situation has arisen where I might be called upon to do some similar work soon, and I don't want to spend the several hundred dollars to buy Illustrator unless I'm absolutely forced to. I'm shopping for an alternative, and someone suggested Xara so I came here to see whether it would serve. Thanks!

**handrawn** · 26 February 2009, 10:22 AM

I've tried this, exporting outlines from xtreme to blender using xtreme's .ai export

It did not work that well unfortunately - probably because of the age of xtreme's .ai export filter, as mentioned - the paths came in to blender as curves, but would not extrude [sensibly]

If you post up an example of what you wish to work on, may give us a better idea

**Albacore** · 26 February 2009, 10:53 AM

I could spend along time answering your questions but it will depend on the bitmap which you want to trace. Have look at Paul's tutorial in the Xone and see if this helps. http://www.xaraxone.com/guest/guest62/
The settings you use are critical for your output as the tracing will have either a black or white background which you normally remove after un-grouping the tracing. Then you can select your output that you want. You also can join the shapes by using Ctrl+1 if you have shapes close together and you don't mind not showing any graduations in colour change to simplify your trace the same as using the Pathfinder in Illy.

After having a look at Paul's tutorial and if you have any more problems show your bitmap and we will try and give you some more info. I have used a simple sketch that I did and brought it as a bitmap into Xara, traced it, exported as a AI doc., then brought it into Illy and then save it as a bitmap there. The setting that I used were just the default to show you that the settings are critical as most of the detail was lost. All of the paths are selectable but to export it as you want with just the selectable areas the answer is no you would need to delete the bits that you don't want to save first.