Re: X3 Trace Feature
Trace in X3 is a big improvement but the better the bitmap image is, the better trace results you will get.
You can download a copy from Corel.com and testdrive it for a month and see if you get the hang up of it.
There are presets which are handy, and sliders that make is seem straight forward, but you have to be watchful on merging colors as these shapes will be then filled with the same color but may not truly be merged as you might need for some processes.
Once you get done with the trace, I recommend to look at wireframe view to see how well the trace went.
No matter what process you use to trace, nothing can be as expert as the technical illustrators doing the trace by hand.
This trace lets you specify which palette you are working with and what you will let you assign any color to specific areas of the trace. You can drop out the background color, only one color, however and also delete the original from which you traced.
But if you know how to edit your trace results, it is a much better trace function than what came with previous versions of CorelDRAW.
I suggest before tracing anything by a trace function, that you improve your bitmap as much as possible so that your edges are as good as can be achieved that way.
Customers who furnish nothing but a .jpeg from their website are not going to be furnishing you anything but a headache no matter how you look at it.
Getting the best from the new X3 PowerTrace also depends on how much time you can devote to learning how to use it.
I get a lot of supposed color separations that were either sent to us in Word or Publisher and cannot be separated for spot color the way they arrive.
Getting into a customer's layout because they didn't use a professional program and they didn't know what they were doing is alwasy risky as even if you have them proof it, they will find an error once done and what the firm to redo at no charge.
Of course, you are always working under pressure and that can compound the problems.
Every day's a new day, "draw" on what you've learned.
Sally M. Bode
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