Vectorize Photo's

[skener 11]

Hi i was wondering how and if it is possible to vectorize a photo of a pet or person, i have tried with corel draw but the result was not good to say the least. Is there a better program to use or maybe i'm doing something wrong or missing a step out? The image would be to use on a cutter with vinyl

[slice&dice 2,451]

I have had some success with the SignBlazerElements feature called "ImageCut" which converts photos into stripes for cutting.

[JessXEmoji 46]

I've used inkscape and illustrator. I've found neither will give you a great vector image.  you'll have sections missing and the nodes need a lot of clean up cause they get crossed up and twisted.  With work and skill you can add missing sections and clean it up for the cutter. but I haven't found a fast quality way to vector people and pets.

[kal259 18]

Try converting the photo to black and white and then play with the threshold, hue,etc..., until it looks like something that will vectorize use Photoshop, Gimp would also work.

[skarekrow 1,842]

"With work and skill you can add missing sections and clean it up for the cutter. but I haven't found a fast quality way to vector people and pets."

 

There are few shortcuts to the process apart from knowing your software well. Proper prep work of the raster image before vectoring is essential to a good looking final image. Know that some images lend themselves to the process better than others as well as how many layers the final image will be rendered in will definately play a part in a realistic and accurate representation.

[skarekrow 1,842]

Work with image adjustments and filters.

 

Effects like used in the following videos;

 

The above are just a few of the many tweaks (using Photoshop) that may be neccessary in order to prepare an image for vectoring.

 

Here's a six color rendition I did from a color photo of my Brother-In-Law.

I cut stencils and then airbrushed them on canvas...

 

[skener 11]

Thanks for the reply's , i will give it a try, of some of the above steps. Going to start with a black and white photo of something simple and work through that. Thank's again, John.

[skarekrow 1,842]

That's it, Skener... start small.

The same principals apply to a larger undertaking.

Get the fundamentals down and go from there.

[JessXEmoji 46]

Skarecrow what does the outline of that photo look like?

[skarekrow 1,842]

.

[skarekrow 1,842]

Here it is as more of a line drawing;