Vectorize pdf12/26/2023 The grayscale (luminance) levels run from 1 (anything not completely black) to 255 (pure white). The “Threshold” slider works the same way that the Threshold adjustment works in Photoshop. Every piece of art is different, and while the built-in presets may get you most of the way there, most of the time you’ll want to fine tune the results. The Advanced settings are the key to getting the result you want from Image Trace. It will make the background transparent rather than opaque white in the vector result.) (Note that the “Advanced” settings are toggled open and “Ignore White” is checked. Here, though, it did too thorough a job of simplifying and smoothing the outlines, which would destroy the organic character of the logo when it’s displayed at larger sizes. The “Sketched Art” preset in Image Trace looked like a good starting point. In this case, the speed penalty is minimal. The problem with doing that is you run the risk of individual pixels being outlined as visible blocks, destroying the organic look of the original, but unless you’re running Illustrator on a very out-of-date or low-powered system (and why would you do that?), the trade-off is seldom worthwhile. When you run Image Trace on something this size, Illustrator will complain that it is rather large, and suggest that you reduce the size to help things run faster. The result is an embedded raster image at the full resolution of roughly 4600 pixels square, which Image Trace will turn into vector art. I imported the PSD directly into Illustrator, choosing to flatten the PSD into a single image because the layers aren’t needed. It’s still looking rough, but that’s okay it’s nothing that Illustrator can’t handle. Illustrator and Image Trace to the rescue The highlight slider is your friend any time you have to get rid of any light grays that shouldn’t be in the final image. The middle (gamma) slider alters the mid-tones: move it to the left and they lighten up to the right and they darken. Bringing the left (blacks) slider toward the middle ensures that any pixels to its left turn completely black. Note where the sliders ended up in the histogram. Next was a Levels adjustment layer, to make the darks black, the mid-tones dark, and any leftover light smudges invisible. The first step in Photoshop was to clean up extraneous marks, smudges, and visible cut edges of tracing paper-easy enough using the Spot Healing brush and the venerable “Dust and Scratches” noise reduction filter. There wasn’t time, so Adobe Illustrator would have to do the heavy lifting with Image Trace. Tracing with the Pen or Pencil tools was out of the question. Because the finished product needed to retain a slightly rough-hewn look, I need to clean things up without making the final vector version look too polished. But it wouldn’t be a major problem for Photoshop and Illustrator in combination. Here’s what one part of it looked like at 100% in the original grayscale image: Mike sent me a 600 ppi scan of an outline version. Meticulous inking wasn’t an option, given the time constraints, so the digital tools at my disposal were going to substitute for a tech pen, stat camera, and time. My work started with the first “serious” sketch. The first rough wasn’t for vector conversion, but was enough to get all concerned excited about the idea: the Vitruvian man in the negative space within a collage of living things. Could I turn whatever he came up with into a multi-purpose vector file really, really fast? Of course I could. We make a good team.Ī little while back, Mike got a call from the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization-a non-profit founded by the late Lawrence Anthony, the famous “ Elephant Whisperer.” They needed a logo for a new ecology-centered education program that was already on the launch pad. Despite our similar tastes and sensibilities, we live in separate design worlds: I’m the computer-savvy Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator ninja in his world, “cut and paste” involves an X-Acto knife and rubber cement, and his MacBook is strictly for email. Every so often, we get to collaborate on a book cover or an identity program, and have way too much fun. I have a close friend, Mike Manoogian, who is a brilliant lettering and logo design artist.
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