We have archived the "Working with Vector Graphics" chapter from the Flash MX 2004 Bible (Wiley, 2004), which included coverage of FreeHand.
#CONVERT RASTER TO VECTOR ILLUSTRATOR CS2 TRIAL#
The trial version of FreeHand is available from Macromedia's Web site, along with tutorials and documentation. FreeHand does offer some unique tools and options and it's worth a look if you'd like to expand your toolkit. As a result, more people may be more familiar with Fireworks as a vector authoring companion to Flash. However, with an understanding of how Flash interprets imported vector files, you will be able to apply the information in this chapter to optimize your workflow, regardless of what specific programs you choose to work with.įreeHand has not kept pace with the evolution of other Macromedia applications and it is not included as part of the Studio suite. The best effects are often complex, and a detailed description of specific techniques in other programs is beyond the scope of this book. A clean, vectorized, infinitely scaleable piece of line art.Optimizing Vector Graphics for Use in FlashĪdobe Illustrator and Macromedia Fireworks are two of the most commonly used vector programs, and there are many other programs that also offer tools or techniques that can add a special touch to your Flash designs. It's a trade off really - the more accurate the result, the more anchor points on the vector graphic, and the slower the machine creates it - but it still does a better job than Adobe Streamline ever did.Īnd here's the result. The accuracy of the line art depends on the resolution of the original and the settings you selected in the Tracing Options dialogue box. You'll end up with a vectorized line art facsimile of the original. If you'd like to keep the original in the document, duplicate the layer containing the image before making the conversion. This will delete the original image from the layer and replace it with the new vectorized line art illustration. When you're happy with the look of the line art, select Object/Live Trace/Expand. For this image I used the settings as shown below.
With Preview selected, this can be quite a time-consuming process depending on the speed of the computer you're using, but I've found it's the only way to get good results. Adjust the settings until you're happy with the results. Select Black and White under Mode (or Grayscale if you'd like to include anti-aliasing).
This will open the Live Trace dialogue box.Ĭlick the Preview checkbox on the right. Once it's placed, select the image and go to Object/Live Trace/Tracing Options. Place the image to be traced in Illustrator by selecting File/Place. If your image is going to be black and white line art, it's best to make the edges as clearly defined as possible in Photoshop by using the levels tool (and possibly threshold as well). Below is a public domain image which I'll use as an example.
#CONVERT RASTER TO VECTOR ILLUSTRATOR CS2 HOW TO#
Here is how to use it to create accurate, clean line art in Illustrator. Adobe Streamline was a standalone tracing product (to create vector graphic versions of rasterized images) which was improved, integrated into CS2, and renamed Live Trace.
Earlier trace tools weren't worth using if you wanted to create something with any accuracy - but that's all changed. The Live Trace tool which was introduced into Adobe Illustrator CS2 is great for tracing line art, or even photos. Use Live Trace to Create Line Art in Adobe Illustrator
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