In illustrator is a fucntion that traces a placed image file. There is quite a lot of functionality to it, but the results can be hit and miss. More often than not, the vector graphics need smoothing out by hand. Look in the help menu within Illustrator to see how to use the tracing function.

Another way of vector tracing is to simply place your image in Illustrator and trace it by hand. using layers for different elements makes it easier to navigate through your paths.

don't be lazy. best results from tracing by hand. use the pen tool over a placed image in illustrator.

I second that j-ray.

I hope this blog will help you.

well pretty much every design I make starts out as a sketch, so I could just go back to the hand-drawing and try that, right?

You can do it in Photoshop. I always do.

but if you already draw something by hand, whats wrong with live tracing it? if you scan at a high enough resolution, turn it into a clean bitmap and then live trace it looks exactly like what you originally hand drew. you already drew it once why draw it all over again?

live trace is cool for hand drawn stuff. For that I like to use flash.
I import the image to the stage, trace bitmap, then export image as an ai. file. I like the way it comes out better then live trace.

Im so confused with this...how do you "Live trace"?

THis illustrator program has the best of me, this is the first time I've used it so i honestly have no idea what im doing.

live trace is a feature in cs2 illustrator

I use flash to do the same thing

you can as do it manually, thats what j-ray was talking about.

i've never had much luck with the flash trace feature, but i dont know that program as well as illustrator

it work good for me.

I came up with it just fucking around with flash.

look up live trace in Illustrator CS2 help. It has it's shortfalls.

personally I pretty much draw everything from scratch in Illustrator, I might trace over drawings/images using the pen/brush tools in Illustrator. I find live trace too messy for my liking, I always feel that the effort to clean it up is more effort than actually drawing it myself to start with.

yeah, i trace over lines with the pen tool, both sides of the lines

i downloaded illustrator one time, but i didn't see anything better than what i could already do in flash, anybody want to tell me what's something illustrator has to offer me...?

the pen is mightier than the trace.

Illustrator is an astonishingly brilliant program. You are literally hampered only by your knowledge and imagination.

i guess my question is, what features are in illustrator that i can't already do in flash?

I don't know flash at all so I really can't answer that. All I know is that you can pretty much do anything you want in Illustrator as long as you know how.

i love flash, great program really gives a person the tools needed to do any type of project

I'll have to look into it. I've always worked in Photoshop and Ilustrator, pretty much since they first came out and I learn something new everyday.

sweet, i work in Flash and Fireworks, but maybe i'm just sheltered because that's all i know...

Probably my situation too. I've actively avoided getting into web design and animation so have probably missed out on a lot. I've a fancy to get into 3d design but never really followed it up.

yah i've wanted to do 3d as well, but haven't yet. i'm not even sure on a good program to do 3d work...?

that's the problem I have, they are not cheap and take a lot to learn, but there is no standout product like say, photoshop or Illustrator.

exactly, and as far as cheap... all of my programs i've downloaded with cracks off the internet. i have the entire macromedia studio for free