Tracing in Xtreme

[earwig]

Sorry to be so dense, but I take these last two responses to mean that I can't have the Vector Magic *vector* image in Xtreme (ANY version). Is that right?

[remi]

Sorry to be so dense, but I take these last two responses to mean that I can't have the Vector Magic *vector* image in Xtreme (ANY version). Is that right?

No, it's not possible to import these EPS or SVG files with the current import filters of Xara Xtreme (any version). See also this and this thread for some workarounds (Inkscape was already mentioned by Steve here).

Remi

[Kurt8]

I'm finding this thread very interesting and the vector magic and conversion to PDF are working well for me, but what exactly are people doing with these traces? Maybe a silly question, but what are the benefits of importing a traced image into Xara and what and what type of output are people usually striving for when doing this sort of thing?

Kurt

[handrawn]

Hi Kurt

for example:

a pencil/pen cartoon drawing scanned in will be bitmap
so cannot use boolean [ctrl1-4] to slice out shapes for color fills.
could hand trace - but that can be tricky to get right with a complicated drawing
usually much quicker to convert to vector and then slice out fill shapes
also - the vector line is then scalable and can be edited like any other shape

[Albacore]

When you are asked by a company to modify a logo or make it larger this small programme will do it for you for you and you only need to spend 10 minutes tidying it up. Although I have not used it this way any one that goes on holiday and brings back a memorable picture and wants to blow it up, to frame it, could easily use this programme and get a good facsimile of their picture without any jaggies.

[ss-kalm]

Maybe a silly question, but what are the benefits of importing a traced image into Xara and what and what type of output are people usually striving for when doing this sort of thing?

Kurt

Another example is the import into Xara 3D6 - you can only import vectors, so if you have a logo that you want to "enhance" it has to be a vector format.

Have a look at some of the complex shapes in this thread (especially the one in post 78 on page 8) http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=23208 tracing them by hand would take forever.

[gwpriester]

Some time back, I hand traced a TIFF image of an elegant script font logotype because my client (who designs wine labels in Napa Valley) needed to have a scalable vector version of the logotype for a new label she was designing. It took me about 3 hours to hand trace it in Xara. The client was happy and I was happy with the result.

I traced the same TIFF file in VectorMagic in 3 minutes and the results were every bit as good.

Now, if I charge $X for a hand trace that takes 3 hours, or charge $X for a trace of equal quality that takes 3 minutes... Let's see. 3 hours? 3 minutes? 3 hours? 3 minutes...?

Gary