Pen Exercise and Converting Bitmaps (RGB) to Vectors

Pen Exercise and converting bitmaps (RGB) to vectors

Converting a bitmap to a Vector: Method # 1: Live Trace

: Trace an RGB using the Pen tool

· File>Open /banana.ai)

· Find banana.ai (Why not place?)

We will add a blank layer on top, and trace to convert it to a vector (.ai) format

· Look at the Layers panel

o Double-click and rename the layer Banana:

· We will use the pen tool and trace the banana to convert the bitmap to vector, which we do now

· We’re going to put a blank layer over top of the banana and use it to trace the banana.

· Add a new Layer and hide Banana:

o I named mine Draw on Me

We will lock the original layer and draw on the new one..

o Lock the Banana layer and select the Draw on Me layer

· Zoom in to about 200%

· Select the Pen tool

· Click at various locations along the Draw on Me layer

· The more times you click, the better will be the final resolution

· A Problem is that the object will start to fill in (what color?? Why?) and we lose the inner line, so set the fill to none.

Here is my almost final tracing of the main banana:

o Click the Pen tool again or else it will continue to draw lines

o Use the Pen tool and trace the small square and the line in the middle:

Result is three shapes:

The three objects are stacked: (Open the Layers panel down arrow…called sub layers )

· The square, the inner line and the banana

o I renamed the objects:

· One way to smooth the banana, use the smooth tool and trace over the object (line, for example):

Use the Smooth Tool

· Behind the Pencil tool:

Select the shape maybe the line, and then just drag the tool over the outline; you don’t have to be precise.

It may help if you hide the original banana so you see only your tracing. To do so, use the Layers panel and click the visibility box. Here is mine:

Looks like I could use more smoothing: Go ahead and smooth yours

· Another way: Add Anchor Point tool: (Under pen tool)

Select the banana (Black Arrow) and drag or …shift-click to select additional parts (the line and square)

o Go ahead and add some

o Now, use Direct Selection tool (White Arrow) to move around some of anchor points

Now, let’s do some coloring. Recall the notion of a stacking order. Select the Draw on Me layer :

· I had to turn off “Hide Edges”

…to stop the anchor points from showing when I selected the banana:

Swatches Panel

· Use Selection (black) arrow and select the shape (Drag over the complete banana)

· Find and Open the Swatches panel:

Window>Swatches

…or open it from the panels on the right:

· Make sure the Fill tool is selected, and choose a yellow fill color.

Side Note: You might want to hide the Bounding Box, which surrounds the banana.

The Stroke

Strokes are along the edge of an object. We can assign a color and resize them.

Use the black arrow and select the stroke of the outside of banana and observe the control panel at the top .

Or, choose Window>Stroke

Now, enlarge the stroke size of the banana to 2 points:

Grouping and resizing

Select everything, and then group them (Object> Group).

o Be sure the Bounding Box is visible.

o Grab a corner of the bounding box and enlarge/shrink the group or use Scale tool or Transform.

I made mine smaller:

Now, use artboard tool to crop for Web (banana is really 8.5 x 11”) , which creates a new artboard

Look for crop marks ( I had to ctrl- to find the new artboard)

There is a panel for artboards: (Window>Artboards):

· Save for Web, name it BananaWeb.gif

o Ctrl Z

Get back to original (escape takes you out of artboard editing mode)

Shrink so would fit on a business card ( Maybe 1.5 inch wide)…use Transform panel

Save as BananaForB-Card.gif

Do scaling in Illustrator

o So, one size for a brochure, another for a Web site, yet another resizing for a business card.

o So, save inside InClass>Illustrator as Large.gif

o Scale or use Transform or Bounding Box to about 50% and Save as BananaWeb.gif

Questions?

RGB to VectorPage 1