Bitmap tracing question

[awalt1250]

When tracing a line drawing that has been converted to a bitmap, how do you keep from ending up with vectors that wrap around the line? All I want is a single vector on top of the line that has been drawn. The program is treatihg the bitmap lines like a shape.

[adrianm]

That's the way it works. The trace function is primarily designed to produce vectors for VCarving in which case you need the vectors like that.

If you want to create profile cuts on a single vector you either need to go into node editing and change the vectors to what you want or use a program that sorts centreline tracing.

I used to use Elgorithms Magic Tracer for the odd occasion I needed a centreline trace but there are several others around including free ones.

These days I trace by hand most of the time. Once you've got used to the tools it's amazing how quickly you can manually trace most bitmaps. There are some excellent tutorials on the Vectric support site that cover it.

[dana_swift]

You might try tracing the lines in Inkscape (free). It has line tracing as one of its functions. The user interface for Inkscape is really strange tho, and editing the vectors is not a simple task. But it does a decent job once you get the hang of it.

Export the vectors as pdf, that seems to be the best way to move them to a vectric product. Eliminate duplicates, join the ends where needed, etc.

Hope that helps-

D