Illustrator Daisy digipic to Vectors

[Raven]

Hi, thought I might post this over here as I used a few different apps...first I started with a digicam photo I took of an African Daisy in my yard, then I worked it over into a vector image and SVG format, finally to post here I used PS and converted the SVG converted to png image to a jpg. I like the scalability of vector images and the look this gave the orignal photo too. A fun experiment! 8D

 

[gare]

I LIKE it!

Verrry nice, Raven! Application convergence, indeed

You used Xara?

My Best,

Gare

 

[Raven]

Thanks Gare! What I was playing with was Sodipodi (a freeware SVG vector app) and I got Gimp also because of needing the most current GTK+ files for Sodipodi which I found in an easy package made for using with Gimp on Gimp's site -- so in a round about way I ended up also getting the freeware Gimp to play with, which is kinda neat too -- and was playing with the photo I took with just a simple Fuji A303 digicam in Vector Eye....which gave me a nice vectorized output to further refine in choices of SVG, ps, and eps formats. Xara could be used with the eps format. But wanting to further play in SVG format for a change, I discovered Sodipodi using this as it's native vector format, and it's freeware 8D , it can also output the vector SVG files into a png format, which I did to make this to post, then into PS CS2 for some more conversion to a jpg small file size to post with.

The Sodipodi version I found worked best was the older .33 version. Finding out about the GTK+ files in a package that installed on its own took some looking around...then I found Gimp used this (I didn't want to have to compile them and build Sodipodi from scratch on my computer, I'm not into programing [confused] )...anyway with these apps a nice vector version of the image I took was done.

I thought the flower image had a "happy" feel. 8D

 

[lasa]

Raven do you mind posting the original photo...I'd like to try and duplicate what you did but in Photoshop...It's a great look and I like to see if I can learn how...
Lasa

 

[Raven]

Thanks for giving this a look Lasa. But my purpose with the photo I took was to convert it to a vector drawing, not a raster version which I could have done. I wanted a vector drawing of the image. But I do not have Illustrator, only Xara X1 for vector work. I had heard there were some other tools out there being used for much quicker vectorization of images...so I had a gander at a few and found Sodipodi and Vector Eye (one a freeware, the other has a free trial for about 20 images worth, and the cost of Vector Eye is quite reasonable as well and well below Xara or the other most commonly known vector apps)... each using the XML SVG vector file format...something that may become more commonly used in time. This was of interest to me as Xara X1 does not currently use SVG format, (nor ps files, it can use eps) ...and I didn't want to pay gobs of $$ for Illustrator that does mainly what Xara does except can use SVG.

My experimenting was to see if a "quick" vector drawing could be accomplished from an image like this photo I took. Yes, it can!

I used PS just to convert the output png format from Sodipodi work in SVG.

All of this converting of the photo into vectorized format for other vector uses took just a few minutes! What a time saver these tools are!!! 8D

You might get somewhat of a similar "look" of the image after some doing in PS ---- but the main point of my post is that this became a vector drawing work, not raster ----- AND in just a few minutes, which others who have used vector apps know isn't gonna happen * in a few minutes* with either Xara or Illustrator in getting an image of this quality no matter what you do in them.

Try out Vector Eye and see what I mean...

 

[lasa]

Sounds good to me.
A long time ago I was testing all the bit maps to vector programs I could get my hands on. The one I bought a thousand years ago and never looked back was Streamline 4 by Adobe. Expensive if I remember right $125.00 (something like that) but...at the time it was the one to have...over the years I've tried many dif. demos but I haven't been convinced to drop Streamline. It seems that Adobe gave up on it since they've never updated it.. Now I understand that Illustrator CS2 has it incorporated which it should have been years ago.

If you get a change give it a try I think you'll be suprised.

I use it to give my hand drawn line drawing a cleaner crisp look. I should probably learn illustrator for what I do, but for some reason it drives me to drink! So I work it in PS...very simple point and fill painting nothing like some of the art you see here.

Lasa

 

[lasa]

Left side is bit map, right side is rasterized adobe streamline vector file,
(Set on ultra detail)

Lasa

 

[Raven]

Hi Lasa -- The Adobe Streamline works pretty well, I'd never run across it, but that's good that they've decided to put it in with Illustrator CS. I still like the results of Vector Eye and Sodipodi better....and you can't beat the price considering Vector Eye right now is around half what Adobe Streamline used to be waaaay back then, and Sodipodi is free.....Illustrator is big $$$ though...

 

[sPECtre]

with all the nifty apps posted in here, Gary, don't you think that it would be nice to have a sticky post, or a linked page listing all the different apps that we talk about in this section of the forum, organized by their specificities (raster apps, vector, 3d, filters, browsers, font editors, ... their freeware or shareware status, etc.)

 

[Welles]

I think it would be interesting to take a single image and try a number of different vectorization processes of bitmap images. Flash has a good one. The new Illustrator's Live Trace is a significant enhancement over Streamline, it seems to me, having used Streamline on occasion over the last eight years or so. Raven's technique looks excellent.

Here's an Adobe stock photo vectorized with Illustrator CS2's Live Trace using one of the presets, 'Photo High Fidelity', which specifies a maximum of 64 colors among other settings.

 

[lasa]

So that's with the new Ill CS2 live trace.... Nice...It's about time it was added to ILL!...It reminds me of how long it took for PS to get text on a path! Cool.

A common picture done with the different softwares would be interesting.

Lasa

 

[Raven]

Yeah, Welles, in Ill CS2 it looks like the new vectorizer feature works very nicely. All these various apps have differing ways and choices of what they pick out in colors/shapes and vectorize. Vector Eye tries for a simplified way and excludes some details in favor of varying looks. I would expect Ill CS2, etc. to be able to do more detailed vectorization for the cost.

Here's something you can test Ill CS2 or other vector apps on if you want. This is a vector drawing I did in XaraX (no tracer app of any type used, just drawn out in Xara's vector app "by hand" if you will)...so this pic is very line intensive. How well can the vectorizer in Ill CS2, or Adobe Streamline, etc. do in copying it????????

 

[gare]

Streamline, si!

I'll have to download a demo of your vector tracer, Raven! Nice renders

While we're on it, I use Streamline 3 for cartooning (SL 4 is a tad too feature-rich for what I need). I do a pen and ink, scan it, clear off the pencil using PS, then Streamline the scan. From there, I'll use colored shapes for fills in Xara. I don't think Xara or CorelDraw's bitmap tracers compare to Streamline.

BTW, Streamline was originally engineered by Andromeda Software, who don't always have hits like Alien Skin does, but they make a nifty 3D plug-in for Photoshop. It's large on HD, and not really cheap, but here are some results.

My Best,

Gare

 

[lasa]

Raven, I used Streamline 4 on "ultra detail". Considering that the Wolf file was at least 2rd or 3rd generation jpg prior to being vectorized I think it did ok.

SL4 made a 8349 paths!
Left original / right vectorized from bit map.

Lasa

 

[Welles]

Here's the Illustrator CS2 Live Trace version...

 

[Raven]

:} :} Wow Gare, Lasa and Welles! Those are great! And depending on what sort of look one needs or prefers for the output I'd have to say also that Ill CS2's detail accuracy is just amazing, truly there have been some real improvements!!! Wish it didn't cost nearly $500 :\ ...but looking at that amount of usefulness in the new CS2 version it looks really worth the cost for extreme detail work vectorization. Very exciting results!!! 8D

I'm most impressed! :} :} Now I guess I'll have to start saving up for a version of Illustrator! :\

I looked at Gare's wonderful ones also done with Streamline but I see it isn't for Win XP...so that's something I have to pass by.

Great comparisons and variety of vectorized appearances guys!

 

[lasa]

Welles that's unbelievable I would not have expected that big a diff.!
Don't make me get IllCS2!...I'm hearing voices again... they make me do things..."Buy IllCS twoooooooo...."

Lasa

 

[Raven]

Lasa I'm in the same boat! Yep, I think that new Live Trace feature alone could be worth the cost....after looking around I find there's other apps that claim to be able to do such detail...but they are even MORE expensive. So, I think I'll put Ill CS2 on my wish list and save up for it. I think I could get used to it's other methods gradually and features too after using Xara, at least I have some notion of using vectors to start with. And if I find, like you, that Ill. just gives me headaches for other purposes, I can still use Sodipodi and Xara for whatever else to fill in with.

I'm just amazed at the new Live Trace ability -- how cool!!! 8D