Missing AutoTrace? I use Serif DrawPlus X6

[UweJelting]

Hi Folks,

I'm owner of the older Serif DrawPlus X6 programm. It works fine on Windows 10 and the vectorization tool it contains is perfectly adequate for my purposes. 😉 😊 DrawPlus X8 also have it.

[Distill7]

Wow, I have that software too, I'm gonna check it out.

[Distill7]

It also has a blend tool, a 3D tool, and a shape builder.

[visualrevolt]

I still use this software as well . What is very interesting, you can trace photo in Draw Plus X8- copy(ctrl c) and then paste(ctrl p) in Affinity Designer 1/2. Copied picture is in vector format so its easy to do some small adjustments, extra nodes removal etc.

[ATP]

Hopefully we'll get one implemented in Affinity then, that looks quite high in quality.

[spidermurph]

I use DrawPlus X8 for the many features that have not yet made it to Affinity.

[Designer1234]

And probably won't be implemented, since they haven't been added for eight long years. Perhaps Serif should focus on one tool - AP - and make it really great (it is really great even now)?

[Frozen Death Knight]

8 minutes ago, Designer1234 said:

And probably won't be implemented, since they haven't been added for eight long years. Perhaps Serif should focus on one tool - AP - and make it really great (it is really great even now)?

Didn't DrawPlus exist for decades though? Affinity practically reset decades of work in favour of a new code base at the expense of features (you can't simply copy+paste features from one program to the next). With the addition of the Shape Builder Tool and Mesh Warp I think it is a matter of time that Affinity will get a blend tool and image trace feature as well, among other things.

[NotMyFault]

There are numerous alternative tracing apps on the market, which work perfectly and allow to export svg format for input in Photo or Designer. I just bought one on iPad (or Mac) for 7 Euro and it’s great.

In contrast to some overly complex functions in Affinity, it just works. Never crashes, no drawing artifacts, no no complex menu, just a one trick pony. 

 

[Frozen Death Knight]

Just now, NotMyFault said:

just bought one for 7 Euro and it’s great.

Name?

[NotMyFault]

You have a message. 

[nucleardirk]

Please let me know as well

[postmadesign]

31 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

You have a message. 

I would love to know. I have tried various options, but not many were any good at all.

[myclay]

I too would like to know the name of this 7€ program and can offer comparisons with Vectormagic if wanted.

[NotMyFault]

Its Vector Q, available for iPhone, iPad, Mac only.

Seems to use some Apple library, the results look very similar to an iMovie filter effect.

Works for images and videos.

[myclay]

Thank you very much
sadly I don´t have a mac, but being able to also vectorize videos sounds amazing.

[NotMyFault]

9 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

Its Vector Q, available for iPhone, iPad, Mac only.

Seems to use some Apple library, the results look very similar to an iMovie filter effect.

Works for images and videos.

Below some results 

Trace 3.svg Trace 1.svg Trace 2.svg

[kirk23]

Inskscape  has it. An open source soft.   Does it  approximately same as this vectorQ just not so quick.  

www.graphicpowers.com  this one Is the best I tried  .$120 a year. I just don't need it very often so I   made my sub lapse

[GeGr]

Vector Q in macOS (and IOS) is really, really good for AutoTrace!!

It´s very recommendable.

*

... but on the other hand sad, that AutoTrace still is not included in the Affinity Apps ...
&
would be really nice to know, whether this feature is something the Affinity Team is working on!

...

 

[nucleardirk]

On 11/16/2022 at 8:33 AM, GeGr said:

Vector Q in macOS (and IOS) is really, really good for AutoTrace!!

It´s very recommendable.

*

 

 

Thanks, tested on the iphone, pretty good results! And worth the 6,99€!

 

[mrqasq]

I’ve bought it as well 

[kirk23]

I tested that vectorQ on iphone.  Haven't noticed anything special.  Perfectly same as inkscape.    Can't recognize fonts or just simple shapes  like rectangle or oval . Lots of redundant path nodes , no optimization.    Is it better on real thing like mac?

ps. would love a kind of AI  vectorizer  , a smart one,  but doubt we would see  it any time soon.

[NotMyFault]

It is not optimised to create editable files using as few as possible basic vector shapes.

But it is extremely fast (instant, sub-second results in any case I tried), produces very usable colors, and has some (adjustable) presets for different use cases e.g. like cutting machines, comic style, sketches etc. More a creative tool than an "hard core professional" tool. Still good enough for my creative intensions.

The results look very similar to what e.g. Apple iMovie uses as presets. The app is probably only an UI wrapper to the underlying Apple API.

And this might be the reason that Affinity does not integrate the same function (free on Apple) into Affinity Apps: the API is Apple specific, not portable / available on Windows.

[VinylDinosaur]

I find Adobe Capture does some kind of auto-trace, but I’m not sure if it’s good for everyone’s uses. Vectornator also has this function. It would be much more handy to have it inside Affinity directly.

[nucleardirk]

But Vectornators function looks for my purposes noch as good as the Vector Q app results. But for sure, thats depending on the grafics. 
Adobe Express has a (free) online tool as well which has good results most times. 
 

https://www.adobe.com/de/express/feature/image/convert/jpg-to-svg