Does Affinity Photo V2 offer Image Tracing? (image to vector)

[loukash]

Just now, v_kyr said:

Not sure why I would need nowadays to explicitely vectorize QR code bitmaps, if can instead let them anyway be generate (right out of the box) as vectors?

Just recently I have received a JPEG QR code to include in a layout. I needed it in vector but the client had no clue how to do it, or possibly even what the heck I was talking about. So I had to actually scan it first to get the content as plain text, then paste it into an online QR code generator, download the vector, double-check if the text is still correct, convert to K100, etc.

The Publisher "Text Wrap" workflow would have been way faster. And unlike any of the image tracing tools that I'm aware of, it will trace it precisely.

So to each their own. In that sense, I consider this "happy accident" Publisher tracing tool a kind of "one trick pony". It is severely limited, but in some instances it can be exactly what's needed.

[lacerto]

18 hours ago, v_kyr said:

Not sure why I would need nowadays to explicitely vectorize QR code bitmaps

I agree, especially when having K-only button available in CMYK mode. Rectangle shapes stay non-antialiased on export no matter how resized, and even downsampling issues [or issues related to upscaling of an antialiased rounded shape like one below] can be avoided should it be needed to avoid blurred (antialiased) edges:

monochrome_simulation_v01.afpub

monochrome_simulation_v01.pdf

 

19 hours ago, v_kyr said:

Even a good overall finding

Yes, well done, even if I have not so far myself found much use for the feature, perhaps for some effects:

Finally true vector brushes 😆 This one is pretty high on my long list of convoluted work arounds: Raster based "Vector brushes" accessed via Designer Persona, rasterized and vectorised in Publisher... 

19 hours ago, loukash said:

I consider it the best QR code vectorizer from all that I have used so far

A roundtrip via Photoshop's Create workpath on the Paths panel with customizable Tolerance settings (below 0.5, 2 and 6px) is not bad, either, and would allow some interesting QRCodes:

[Ben2020]

On 12/9/2022 at 8:17 PM, not_like_theketchup said:

I don't presume to know what goes into the development of image tracing as a software feature. But they need to figure it out. It's one of the first questions asked every time a major update comes out. And make no mistake, it is a feature that keeps power users in the industry from choosing their suite over adobe.

I totally agree. I doubt that including this feature is a big effort if a free program like Inkscape has it. I own 1.x and was close to buy 2.x but not offering bitmap tracing and Duo/Monochrome filters prevents me from.

Edited October 2, 2023 by Ben2020
Make something more clear

[v_kyr]

10 hours ago, Ben2020 said:

I doubt that including this feature is a big effort if a free program like Inkscape has it.

It may look like that at first glance, but it isn't, because there are some serious differences here.

1. Inkscape reuses modified versions of Potrace & AutoTrace as it's vectorizing engines. They enhanced both, added color quantisation capabilities for Potrace and are using the AutoTrace center-line tracing capabilities, ... etc.- They can do so, as Inkscape is free open source and no propriatary commercial app at all. Commercial apps like the Affinity ones would need instead a paid commercial license for reusing a Potrace lib here. And AutoTrace is under GPL.
2. Further writing your own good trace/vectorization algorithms from scratch is no easy and trivial task at all, especially when dealing with all possible tracing aspects, like correct color handling and center line-tracing facilities, ... etc.

So it is some effort to do all that in a good working and well behaving manner. But it's of course doable as many other commercial apps with such build-in features already show.