I Need help ? Raster logo to Vector logo.

[Umadante]

I want to complete a logo drawn by hand in Xara extreme but if I scan it in I get a picture file instead of the symbol only. What am I doing wrong.....help!
I am just a beginner.

[Soquili]

Welcome to Talkgraphics.

You aren't doing anything wrong. Scanners create bitmapped files (.tif, .jpg, etc.) Most scanners have OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software so they can do some scan to document work. If you are wanting to scan a logo and have a vector object to work with, I don't know of any combination of scanner and software that can do that.

[Intbel]

Sure if you post the scanned image someone will be delighted to give you some hints on how to proceed further.

[Big Frank]

Check out this thread:

http://www.talkgraphics.com/showpost...6&postcount=12

[Christine Farrelly]

If the logo was drawn in Xara Xtreme - do you not have the XAR file to work with?

Christine

[Tallis]

Haven;t tried this...

http://www.mr-soft.net/en/r2v.html


??

Better/Worse than the bitmap tracer in xara?

[Umadante]

Welcome to Talkgraphics.

You aren't doing anything wrong. Scanners create bitmapped files (.tif, .jpg, etc.) Most scanners have OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software so they can do some scan to document work. If you are wanting to scan a logo and have a vector object to work with, I don't know of any combination of scanner and software that can do that.

As a newbie I don't know the difference between Raster & Vector. I enjoy Xara because it is easy to work with....but I have to get into the lingo..

Thx

[Soquili]

Egg Bramhill has an excellent demo showing the differences between raster (bitmapped graphics) and vector graphics. I wish I had bookmarked it. Perhaps he will post a link to it for you.

Until then, a brief explanation:
Raster graphics (bitmapped) consist of picture elements (pixels). Once a pixel is given a colour it stays where it is assigned within the memory for the display. To change the pixel you would need to assign a new colour to it. When you draw using a raster editor (Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Photo-Paint, etc) you assign colours to pixels in video memory. The tools in such a program work by changing or removing the colour to those memory locations.

Vector graphics consist of objects that are dynamic in memory. They can be individually selected and edited. Their size and colour can be changed as well as their location on screen and in relation to other objects. Instead of being pixels they are mathematical formulas. Of course to be displayed the video pixels are updated, but they are more fluid and dynamic than in a rastor editor.

Another post asked for an eraser tool. In a raster program that can be useful, but in a vector program that line of thinking isn't applicable. Simply select the object and edit it's shape, size, or colour. Or simply delete it.

Vector programs are more for creating drawings and illustrations rather than editing existing bitmapped images.

Photographic images on a computer are also bitmap files. Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, and Photo-Paint are designed for editing those type of files.

[-=Drifter=-]

Bill, thank you for that most educational explanation!

[Soquili]

Bob, I hope it made some sense. Sometime things don't always end up on the page the way I think them