Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Trace Function


Recommended Posts

Is there some kind of trace feature in AD, whereby I can import a jpg for example, and then inside AD, convert it into a vector?

Thank you all in advance.

High-End Photographic Prints

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

We don't have an auto trace tool in the iPad or Desktop version yet.  It's one of the most requested feature and something the Dev team would like to add at some point in the future.

There are 3rd party options but i don't like recommending software i haven't used, so i'll leave that to some of the forum regulars who have experience with them to comment :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Inkscape.org 

I almost use it just for that when the rare situations where I need it . Weird as it sounds, it did cut me time when doing low relief and embossing for game dices... (to be exported to blender and extruded/intruded/booleans there, to export the 3D mesh and send to factory).  Also saved the day one gig I had to make in minutes, just vectorizing silhouettes for an event (friend event, open source thing) , with had like zero time for me to do that by hand. Inky saved the day..... Also as Inkscape has an amazing ink brush (very good control settings and response), and well, a lot of formats for import/export. You're never short of converters, you know, specially in the vectors world..... Still, for a ton of reasons related to how good AD is, and that there are some big limitations in the other one, AD is my main thing for vectors work since a while. But is really helpful to have that other free thing installed. I've done that with every major 2D/3D package I've got, at jobs or at home.

What happens is that it has the great Potrace embedded. You need to tweak the settings quite, I even do so depending on the type of tracing I want (ie, not the same when u need a silhouette, than when is about making a pop art-like several colors poster). But as I say, auto-tracing is sth that only makes sense for my work like twice a year or so.... Still, as I tweaked stuff a lot, I get almost a clean result in a first go. Fast tips : reducing color detection to 2 - 8 colors, often 2 -3. And playing quite with the smoothing settings to get a good balance of accuracy/ fewer number of nodes. You want it clean and easily editable at the max, so that u have less work on a final cleaning.

Like in most cross platform free open source software, be very sure to pay attention to updates. They improve a lot with every version but often don't have in place a system to warn you about updates, but in some cases you can subscribe to a mailing list. Inkscape is particularly slow in updates, but it has at least a few per year. Gimp is going faster, and Blender is super active. If you need auto trace, just get this thing, IMO. It's super fast and easy just exporting that in whatever the vector format you prefer, and import it into AD and then start working over it.

Top menu ---> PATH ---> Vectorize bitmap. If I remember right.

Trust me, it works. You only need to fiddle (no auto tracer does a perfect job out of the box. Or what I consider perfect, that is )

 

 

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.