Content for Module 13

Live trace, now called Image Trace

This tool will translate a bitmap-image into vector-based artwork made out of paths.
You can vectorize a drawing you have scanned using the Black&White or Outline mode (if it has detail use 300dpi resolution). You can also stylize a photograph, remembering that vector-art does not use the continuous tone of photography so you will end with a look of flat-area colors (remember the Obama_vote poster?).

Image_trace CCIt is a very interesting tool if you use it with an intelligent/creative perspective: Have a defined goal and meassure your steps. The tool can potentially create gigantic files, with thousands of polygons as a result of one Click, so you should be extremely careful with it.

You will use the Image-trace Panel options to find a pre-set combination that gives you something close to what you want. Save the file promplty (do not leave those complicated calculations stored in RAM by not saving).

It would be best to adjust settings with preview OFF and then watch the result by turning it back ON.

At the very beginning you will have to work by trial and error: I recomment writing down or doing a screen-grab of the settings you are using.

Expand button
To obtain your vector based paths you will have to click on the Expand button. Before you click on expand, you will not be able to affect that trace-image in any way.

In many cases it would be a good idea that you used Object<Path<Simplify after you obtained your path, to try to reduce the amount of polygons without distorting the artwork.

Image_trace GscaleGirl_vector

I obtained that elliptical area of the girl's face by doing a Divide_Pathfinder operation between the paths resulting from the Image-trace and the simple shape, then i deleted the shapes I did not need around the ellipse. Notice how can you keep paths at your choice and interpret a new artwork based on those left shapes.

 

In the CS5 book, Using Live trace is shortly introduced in Chapter "Quick Tour of CS5",(p. 21-22).
Using Live trace to create vectorbased artwork out of a a bitmap image (a Photoshop file, jpeg,png,gif) is covered
At the end of Chapter 3 , (p.116-118).

Video tutorial: Image Trace tool in CS6
Video tutorial:

In the CC book, Image trace is covered on page 112-114, within the little house exercise, to trace the realty logo. Also on page 30-31, where the Place an image in the file and then trace it into vector-based shapes.

Links to Linkedin videos

Tracing full color artwork in Illustrator can produce a very big file-size.

Image trace in Illustrator CC 2017 with Tony Harmer, HERE

From the Adobe certification course, "Using image trace", HERE

Image trace in Adobe Illustrator CC 2019, HERE
Second part of the operation, converting the pixels to paths, and using the EXPAND menu, HERE

Trace image in CC 2020, with Tony Hammer, HERE
Trick in Photoshop to be able to erase the background of the image after the trace (basically to add in Photoshop a background layer of a color that does not exist in the image) HERE

Recolor Artwork (a bit advanced but important if you need to keep a strict color palette), HERE.

Tutorials

Using trace bitmap as a way of creating textures for your Illustrator artwork rdesignonline.com look for part 2 of the tutorial HERE

Youtube tutorial, how to use Image Trace and Recorlor artwork (like the famous Obama poster), HERE

Youtube, How to place and Image trace a bitmap image in Illustrator, HERE

Creating a vintage look with Live-Trace, Layers magazine, HERE

General notes