Does anyone (anyone?...anyone?) understand how to scan graphic info into Flexi8.6 and get a "clean" vector result? I seem to get some default setting with rough steps and ragged edges and curves. I wind up re-digitizing it all over again. Can't we get the machine to do some of the work?
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Ger, send me the file
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
Gerald, I'm not familiar with Flexi, but having used CorelDraw's "Trace" feature for 25-30 years, I have very seldom achieved an acceptable, useable result from converting a raster scan to a vector image.
I almost always ended up using the scan as a "template" to hand draw the graphic in vector format.
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
most stuff i scan.......is done in a couple steps. 1. take object print to a letter size if possible. or just print it as big as you can. 2. take that and lay over it a sheet of tracing paper. tape the 2 together so neither moves. 3. with a #2 pencil draw on the tracing paper what you want of the printed object. 4. now try a scan of the TRACED laid over a sheet of white paper. 5. if its not good, then take the drawing you made with the #2 pencil and get a NEW black sharpie.......CAREFULLY redraw over it to make solid black lines. 6.this should scan to be traced easily. 7. you still will have clean up........but not as bad. 8. not sure if it will work on windowes after 7 but STREAMLINE 4.0 was a great trace program. best feature was it lets you clean up BEFORE you try to trace......ITS FREE HERE: https://archive.org/details/ADBESTRMLINEv4
[ June 02, 2017, 02:17 PM: Message edited by: old paint ]
Posted by Dave Sherby (Member # 698) on :
Or for $15 you can have these guys do it. I've used them and the vectors were perfect. https://www.ignitiondrawing.com/Home Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
That sounds like a pretty good service Dave.
I always enjoyed digitizing scans by hand. It was one of the more interesting aspects of the work for me.
Posted by Gerald Barlow (Member # 3477) on :
Well, I hate to say it, but Joe's drawing answer is the most help. (I've done that for years, Joe.) I was hoping for some suggestions on the software settings on the scanner or/and the trace function. I guess GIGO is more of a barrier than a difficulty. Too obscure? You can't overcome bad art with technology. I guess.
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
gerald, i to have tried(changing settings in scan programs)umpteen thousand times!!!! NO HELP. REALLY d/l STREAMLINE 4.0 it s free, and i still use it when corel wont get it...... STREAMLINE WILL RUN ON UP TO WIN 7. being able to clean up BEFORE SCAN i think is why it works so well. get most of the garbage gone befor you scan make it work better.
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
Gee, isn't it the customer's responsibility to bring vectorized artwork? Ha Ha!!!!
Posted by Dave Sherby (Member # 698) on :
Joe's method never worked for me. Scans of a Sharpie always had too many anchor points and too many little zigs and zags. I always had better luck just drawing the the vectors over the top of the image. With the new tools in Illustrator since 8 years ago, the Sharpie method would be much easier. But still, for $15? You cannot redraw, do a digital trace, then clean up the trace in 15 minutes. And that's at the old $60 an hour rate of several years ago. Unless you can't wait one day for the art, I'll stick with someone else doing the job faster and cheaper than I can.
Posted by J & N Signs (Member # 901) on :
David Sherby. I have just used Ignition drawing for the first time, twice in a week. Excellent work. It's not worth the effort to waste time on vectorizing when you can have it done for $15.00 and the work performed within 24 hours. These were fairly complex drawings.
Posted by Charles Borges de Oliveir (Member # 3770) on :
I too have used them. Amazing clean artwork for cheaper than I could have produced.
Posted by Bob Ficucell (Member # 1460) on :
Ditto for Ignition very fast great work!
Posted by DianeBalch (Member # 1301) on :
What is their contact info?
Diane
Posted by J & N Signs (Member # 901) on :
Look up Dave Sherby put the link in his post.
Posted by Dave Sherby (Member # 698) on :
I agree. I bought Imagro Z years ago. They had a version that would identify a font from the scan and replace the letters with the actual font. Their digitizing engine was the best I'd seen and I used it quite a bit but I bought the cheaper version that only replaced fonts with the ones you had installed on your system. Even with the best tools for tracing, Ignition was so cheap I quit using Imagro Z. I had forgotten about them when I got an e mail from the new owners of the company. Apparently they got in trouble with font people. Even though the fonts in their software were not available to use on your system, they still had the fonts in the software to compare and replace. Now they are working under a different name and have gone yearly subscription so it's still a no brainer to just use Ignition for vectorizing.
Posted by J & N Signs (Member # 901) on :
I've had them in my bookmarks for years but never used them. I was always afraid of the pricing. Go figure. In my case and shop rate I'd have to complete the vectorizing in 15 minutes to match their price and we probably all know the possibilities of that.
