I stumbled across a way to clean up bad clip art today! we've all had to deal with clip art that used hundreds of nodes to make a simple straight line. here's a simple way to get rid of those extra nodes (keep in mind that i'm using a mac and on a pc it will be different, but the same idea should work for any platform).
1. export/convert the vector clip art into a bitmap. on a mac, using illustrator, i convert to a pict file, which is the quickest way to convert to bitmap. 2. open the converted bitmap into streamline ( or any vector conversion program) 3. i set the threshold in streamline to 50 and then convert the art to vectors.
it's that simple, this can reduce the node count by 1/4 or less!
hope this helps somebody
------------------ Don Coplen aka GatorMac Coplen Designs St.Petersburg, FL dcoplen@mindspring.com
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
don ..iuse streamline all the time had version 3 now got 4..and i just scan it and convert....or ill scan it, save as a gif reprint from corel in a larger size then scan that one and convert...luv streamline...iam on a PC....and its the scan module for SIGN WIZARD..... old paint joe
------------------ joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 6050 mobile hwy pensacola, fl 32526 850-944-5060
[This message has been edited by old paint (edited February 12, 2000).]
Posted by Stephen Deveau (Member # 1305) on :
Were does one get a copy of streamline is it a shareware program or for sale???
------------------ Raven/2000 Airbrushed by Raven Lower sackville N.S. deveausdiscovery@sprint.ca
Posted by JC Engraving and Signs (Member # 180) on :
Hi There's also a program called freehand that has a built in node reducer that is great, takes your .AI files (can't remember the rest of files it uses at this minute)straight in and all you do is choose the tool node reducer and it lets you reduce as many as you want. Real easy, fast clean up. It's a good program with many extras that are fast and easy to use. This isn't a plug for freehand just happen to like it's extra tools.
JC
------------------ JC Judy Congrove JC Engraving and Signs Ontario, OR
engrave@cmc.net
Posted by Tim Whitcher (Member # 685) on :
In Casmate Inspire, you scan the image, click, and the image is automaticly vectorized using the minimum number of points necessary per line (and you can also select all corners to be squared, if you're dealing with a geometrical image). It's that easy. You can even vectorize by color, if your image is composed of various spot colors (although the results depend on the quality of the original art).
------------------ Tim Whitcher Quality Signs & Design 107 E Adrian St Blissfield, MI 49228 qualitysigns@hotmail.com
Posted by Bill Modzel (Member # 22) on :
It seems that your doing a bit of backstepping here. Vector to bitmap and back to vector? I have been using Streamline since 1990 and although its a great program, there is still a fair amount of editing you have to do to get a perfect image. There is a new tool in the Illustrator 8 package that is THE tool for eliminating nodes. It is bundled with the pencil tool and looks like a pencil with barber pole stripes. Just stroke it over the segment you want to simplify and their gone. I use it exclusively to clean up images AFTER they've been Streamlined. Give it a try.
------------------ Bill Modzel Mod-Zel screen Printing Traverse city, MI modz@traverse.com
Posted by Dave Sherby (Member # 698) on :
There is also an Adobe Illustrator filter called Smart Remove Points that takes out most extra points with the click of the mouse. I tried to call the company but it looks like they are out of business. I believe I got it as freeware or a free bundle anyway so I could send it to anyone interested. Its for the Mac version of Illustrator.
------------------ Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 ICQ: 21604027 sherwood@up.net
Posted by Andy (Member # 663) on :
For signlab users its even easier
Under node edit hold Ctrl key down & select a node (selects all nodes) Shift U (deselects every second node) then delete (instantly you have only half the nodes & you can do it as many times as you like)*Shift select to keep important nodes you dont want to lose
Andy from Oz
------------------
Posted by Bob Darnell (Member # 27) on :
I've used this technique for quite a while now, and it really comes in handy. Yes, it's going from vector to bitmap and back to vector again, but there is a purpose.
A lot of clip-art out there is full colour and was created with-out regard for cutable shapes. A lot of overlapping weird shapes underneath to fill in sections with coulour and so forth. I select all the colours and blends and turn the graphic into a black and white vector graphic. If you go into wireframe, you'll see tons of lines everywhere that you don't want and can be a real pain to eliminate. When you export it to a bitmap with a high resolution, Streamline does a fantasic job of tracing it. Unlike scanning a piece of clipart, there is no "noise" created from the scanner determining what is black and what is white. This makes it very clean when you trace it.
I've also used this technique on occasion when welding a ton of complicated shapes and the software doesn't like how many nodes are in the shape. Inner shapes drop out and disappear, or you get a message saying there are too many nodes in the shape. You undo, make sure the shapes are black and white just like how you want to see them when you cut, convert to high-res bitmap, trace and re-import. Viola.
I believe I learned of this techinique right here on this website from a post by Mike Jackson... I think.
Ill second the post on Freehand. It has as good a trace as Streamline and you can reduce nodes any amount you want. Course it would be cheaper to buy Steamline than Freehand8. You might find Freehand 7 for very reasonable tho. You can also cut directly from Freehand.
Good one. I used to print the clipart and re-scan.vectorise. Signlab users can do it all within Signlab by importing clipart, converting to .bmp import back and vectorise.
------------------ Gray Hodge camriver@southcom.com.au Cam River Signs Somerset, Tasmania, Down Under
Posted by MKinIN (Member # 279) on :
Stephen,
Adobe Streamline Ver.4.0 $124.95. Publishing Perfection 1-800-827-7621. You might beable to get it cheaper someplace else. This is just where I got it.
For really messy complex images (a lot of the WMF variety) the vector-bitmap-vector route is the way to go. Don' forget to delete the used bitmaps as they tend to chew up a lot of disk space. I use Corel V7 trace and Draw and one very usefull tool that I use a lot where there is a lot of unnecessary nodes is in Draw under the node edit tool. Open out the menu and there is what they call "Auto reduce curve". Just select all the nodes that look too dense and click this tool. You can do it multiple time and watch the node count reducing on the status line. You will eventually reach a limit where it will not reduce any more. Keep an eye on the curve whilst doin this so that it does not do anything too radical.
------------------ Badges2 is Bob Wright from Bundy Badges Screenprinting & Dad to Katie (Kookaburra) located in Bundaberg Queensland Australia (The land of OZ)
