Image Trace. What do you use it for?

[evtonic3]

What do the people that are requesting this feature, use it for? I've used Image vectorizer from the MAS and it works fine in a pinch to get a quick clipart single color image trace, but seriously what does image trace get you that the tools from Designer can't let you do? 

just wondering

[Wosven]

I've got coworkers working on "legacy" illustration for books for children that need to vectorize old drawings to be able to enlarge and use them (to meet modern printing standards), without redrawing them.

I can use it for some logo not simple enough to be fastly redraw manually, or part of them.

I know some people using it to redraw low resolution logo too, when they don't have the time, patience or skill to do it themselves.

That's some examples, but I'm not asking particulary for this feature since I don't mind using other apps if needed and waiting, just my 2 cents

[Fixx]

I do not usually need autotrace, but last case was:

Take a birch image, run it through autotrace, simplify it to a full, add it to an illustration as several copies. Illustration depicted effect of plants/foliage in dampening noise.

[Endless]

Hi everybody,

I was trying different image vectorizer tools, looking for something usable and budget friendly as Affinity Designer, and here my experience with MAC:

- FREE IMAGE VECTORIZER TOOLS

In my opinion free tools are not very useful. The least indecent I have found are "Image2Vector" and "Vectornator", both available for free on the Appstore.

The first one supposedly offers lot of parameters to control, but it is a matter of luck. Sometimes results are good, sometimes it does not vectorize at all.

The second one claims to be a complete vector graphic app. It is much inferior to Affinity Designer, but it has an image tracer tool that can decently vectorize silhouettes. I say silhouettes because if you try to vectorize something more complex it crashes, and in case it doesn't crash, results are ordinary.

I have not tried Inkscape, as it seems hard to install in a mac.

Conclusion: you can have a good time playing with free vectorizer tools if this is your scope, but they are not useful. Not even for an amateur graphic designer.

- CHEAP IMAGE VECTORIZER TOOL

The only working app I have found for 20 USD is Super Vectorizer 2. The previous version is even cheaper but the new version is much better.

It is of course not in the same league of AI or Corel Draw, but if you need that kind of results, Affinity Designer is not the app for you.

This Super Vectorizer 2 offers very decent results. Here the limitations I have found to give you a better reference:

- you may not choose to eliminate background; 

- you may not choose to eliminate specific colours; you may only set how many colours to include;

- roundness and angles are not very controllable;

- it can take much time to vectorize complex images;

- it consumes energy if left open, so must be shut down after being used.

There are also apps for 300 USD but they cannot be seriously taken into account. With that kind of budget you'd better buy a complete professional app with an outstanding image tracer.

 

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My 2 cents