##Welcome!
In this tutorial I'm going to guide you through bringing images into Illustrator (from Photoshop or otherwise) and vector-izing them using predominantly Illustrator's ''Image Trace'' tool. At the end, you'll be able to draw something like this in *5 seconds, using only one sketch!*:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/f3/6a/JZA1GjUh_o.png">
You'll need:
* Access to Adobe Illustrator
* a black and white sketch / graphic
* and/or a colour image (it can be interesting to use a photo)
My first impression of Illustrator was that it was used for slick, precise, and fiddly illustration work– I struggled with the pen tool, I didn't understand what pathfinder was at all– I didn't really like it! And then I ended up in a job where I used it every day… but while I worked at learning the program more fully, I also found the work didn't *have* to be slick, flat, minimalist image-making– there's also room for experimentation!
Image Tracing is an easy and *fast* way of jumping into vector work. I'll also share some simple tricks to getting warped and weird effects with your vectorized graphics to *(text-colour:yellow)[spice it up]* a little.
We'll cover briefly:
0. [[What ''raster vs vector'' means->IT1]]
0. [[Image Trace's different options->IT2]]
0. [[Reversing between ''fill and stroke'' values->IT3]]
0. [[Creating and using Illustrator brushes->IT4]]
[[So let's get started!->IT1]]##Raster vs Vector
If you've done any work with computer graphics, you've probably heard of 'raster' images vs 'vectors'. You may already know that:
* ''(text-colour:yellow)[Raster]'' images are made of pixels; you either generate (add) more pixels to enlarge or get rid of pixels to shrink the image
* Raster images are often .JPEG, .GIF, .PNG, and more
* The higher quality a raster image is (ie. how many pixels and colours), the higher the file size is. In general the size is larger than vector.
* ''(text-colour:cyan)[Vector]'' images are *not* made of pixels but rather involve the computer doing (other) math; you can shrink or enlarge them infinitely
* Vector files are commonly .SVG, .EPS, .PDF (although PDFs can have both raster and vector in them!)
* In general, vector files are much smaller sizes than raster, even if the 'dimensions' are much larger than its raster image counterpart's.
Raster images use bitmap, which is "a type of memory organization or image file format used to store digital images." (from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitmap">bitmap wiki article</a>) Here's a great image on the key visual difference, from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics"> Wikipedia article on vectors </a>:
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/VectorBitmapExample.svg/466px-VectorBitmapExample.svg.png"><img src = "https://images2.imgbox.com/76/6d/oIOnEtiS_o.png"></a>
For the purposes of this tutorial that is all you need to know… but there's more to it if you wanna get nerdy with me!
[[Whatever, let's just get to making!->IT2]]
[[Let's get nerdy.->IT1a]]###Vectorizing
…is possibly not a word, but by vectorizing I mean transforming a (text-colour:yellow)[raster] image (pixels) into (text-colour:cyan)[vector]. In Illustrator, whatever you create inside the program will be (text-colour:cyan)[vector] by default. Within an editor (like Illustrator) you can do different things to vector shapes, like transform them through scale, rotation, mirror, etc; as well as more complex transform operations like combine shapes, subtract them from oneanother, or find the intersections and draw only within those. And of course you can add styles, such as strokes, fills, and colours or gradients to those, and much more. But all at its core is the points that the computer is working with.
Go ahead and open up Illustrator, and drop a (text-colour:yellow)[raster] image into your file. (File > Place, or drag and drop).
When you're working in Illustrator, a handy way of seeing behind the fancy styling, is ''Outline Mode''. It's like an xray view of your document. You can toggle this on/off using *Command + Y*, or go to View > Outline Mode. Try this now.
Here's an example of what you may see:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/2c/a2/Li3ylPeN_o.jpg">
On the left is what you see in the regular/preview view, and on the right is in Outline mode view. Top to bottom, theres:
0. Raster image of a sketch
0. Vectorized version of the sketch
0. A brush version of the sketch
When you look at your image in Outline view, you probably only see a rectangle. (If you don't, it's not a rasterized image) We want to turn this rectangle into something that the computer, in Illustrator, sees as paths. So, finally, let's try Image Tracing out!
####Image Trace
If you don't already have the panel open, go to Window > Image Trace. You should see this panel:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/f0/d1/aVxEA7Da_o.png">
You can also jump into this by selecting on your image, and then in the top tool bar clicking "Image Trace".
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/91/ec/IlKh1U2N_o.png">
Or, with your image selected, you can click the "Preview" checkbox on the Image Trace panel's bottom left corner.
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/d7/cc/dSkcujfV_o.png">
(text-colour:yellow)[*Note: The higher resolution (larger) image you're asking Illustrator to trace, the longer it will likely take. You may get a dialogue box asking if you want to reduce the image size– but it's up to you!*]
Either way, you should notice your image immediately changes based on the setting Preset: `[Default]`. You're viewing the preview of how the computer will translate the image into vector; you haven't actually created the vectors yet. You can try out different presets– they're pretty self-explanatory. If you zoom in, you'll be able to see the difference already:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/69/62/9FSalHMw_o.png">
####Image Trace Panel Options
=|=
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/b3/e9/fJS0IBi7_o.png">
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* *Mode:* determines if the result is in colour or only tones
* *Palette*: (if Colour is selected) How many colours are Illustrator uses to paint the image. If this is selected, then you'll see a slider that allows you to select how many
* *Threshold*: (if Black and White is selected) how much black vs white Illustrator paints the image with
In Advanced settings
* *Paths, Corners, Noise*: try toggling these up and down to see the difference in results. I find they influence how smooth the paths are, but sometimes at the cost of detail. You can find <a href="https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/image-trace.html">more information about these here</a>, if you want specifics.
* *Ignore White*: Is useful if you want to create linework only.
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Whenever you're happy with your result, select your image and hit ''Expand'' in the top tool bar.
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/08/8f/eMCvCCPX_o.png">
And there you have it! When you switch to outline mode now, you should see the paths that Illustrator converted the image into, instead of just a box.
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/86/fe/X65i8Utj_o.jpg">
Preview view on the left, Outline view on the right. Top row is the raster image, bottom row is image traced image.
Try it out with different settings, on different kinds of images! Images with organic forms vs geometric forms, black and white sketches vs full-colour photographs. I find *limiting the colour palette* as well as changing the *threshold value on Black and White mode* can be good for simplifying the shapes in an image. And the results can get a need poster-like effect.
[[Okay, let's get to messing with it!->IT3]]###Abstracting your Baby Vector Further
Now that you have the power of Image Trace, you might start looking for something else to do with your vectors. There are a couple simple things that can transform the way you look at the shapes you've made.
####Reversing Fill/Stroke
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<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/58/56/Lz4Gu0Dt_o.png">
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With your shapes selected, try clicking the little arrow in the top right of your Fill and Stroke palette to reverse them.
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If you created strokes with Image Trace, try reversing the stroke into fills– this usually highlights the negative spaces in shapes in interesting ways.
You can also choose the gradient fill for extra interesting semi-dimensional results!
Here's an example sketch (that had transparent areas) that I tried this on:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/b7/aa/HsLi2IhV_o.png">
####Stroke Only
As I hinted before, I like the way Image Trace can simplify shapes in interesting ways. In this example, I took a blown-up image of pixels, then lowered the number of colours. Illustrator combined pixels that were chromatically and geographically nearby oneanother. When you look at the paths then, you can see the grid structure of the pixels, but with some interesting irregularities caused by this process.
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/a1/e0/rdo1U9Cf_o.png">
I took a chunk of this and turned the fills into strokes, then brought it back into Photoshop. There, I added a bevel effect and turned it into something reminiscent of hieroglyphs or circuitry.
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/65/50/lpzDWc4D_o.png">
####Other ways to mess around
To summarize, this is what we've done:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/d2/aa/BAULGN2b_o.png">
But there's lots of things you can do with these paths now! Try:
* Using Pathfinder operations (Add, Subtract, Intersect) to further change the shapes
* Select choice shapes and use those only
* Play around with the shapes using Mesh Warps
* Use *Recolor Artwork* to see what a different palette would look like
For the next part of this tutorial, you're going to need a shape without a box around it– this can be multiple paths, perhaps traced from your black and white sketch, or a single shape as well.
[[Next up, let's make it into a brush!->IT4]]###Creating Brushes with your new vectors
Alright, here's where I get really excited about the uses of vectors! Making brushes. You'll remember this image that you saw a while back:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/d0/12/DBFDNKzZ_o.jpg">
On the bottom row is a path with a brush stroke applied to it. This was made using the ''Brush Tool''– not the pen or pencil tool. You can see that it looks like a single path in Outline view, but in preview it's much more complex. Illustrator takes the information in the brush and applies it to the stroke. Depending on the type of brush, it applies it in different ways. Here's <a href="https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/brushes.html">how Adobe describes each type</a>:
* //Calligraphic brushes// - Create strokes that resemble those drawn with the angled point of a calligraphic pen and are drawn along the center of the path.
* //Scatter brushes// - Disperse copies of an object (such as a ladybug or a leaf) along the path.
* //Art brushes// - Stretch a brush shape (such as Rough Charcoal) or object shape evenly along the length of the path.
* //Bristle brush// - Create brush strokes with the appearance of a natural brush with bristles.
* //Pattern brushes// - Paint a pattern—made of individual tiles—that repeats along the path. Pattern brushes can include up to five tiles, for the sides, inner corner, outer corner, beginning, and end of the pattern.
#### So, let's make a brush!
(text-colour:yellow)[*Note: Brushes cannot contain gradients, mesh objects, bitmap images, graphs, placed files, or masks. For Art and Pattern brushes specifically, the artwork also cannot contain editable type objects. If you want to include these kinds of objects, you either need to expand them or convert them to outlines first. (from <a href="https://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1317223&seqNum=3">this great article</a>)*]
1. Select your artwork.
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2. Go to the Brushes panel and click the drop down menu on the top right
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/b0/a3/UYpc9PLI_o.png">
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3. Select "New Brush…"
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/df/d6/mv3M31QF_o.png">
|==|
You'll get these options:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/a0/ff/wPW5X9P4_o.png">
I recommend trying out the Pattern Brush, Scatter Brush, and Art Brush. Here's what the brush from before looks like in each, applied to the same square path (in red):
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/fe/0f/p1bJib66_o.png">
We'll choose ''Art Brush'' for now. You'll see this dialogue box:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/2d/5a/qWzQgegJ_o.png">
If your vector shape has an obvious direction to it, or a sense of movement, I'd recommend setting the direction to match it. I find later when you 'paint' with it, it makes it a bit more intuitive.
Hit 'OK' and you're good to go! Now you can stretch the vector you made along the path you draw. Try it out!
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/46/0f/GdUBrZOC_o.png">
Be aware that Illustrator just sees these shapes as a single path. If you ever want to edit a stroke directly, in a single instance, you can change it back into it's full vector form by going to ''Object > Expand Appearance''.
####Here's what we did:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/db/c2/igMd6tg7_o.png">
[[Let's wrap up!->End]]
###Seeing like a Computer
…Still here? Awesome.
If you're working with images on the computer, I think it's really cool to actually get to know more about how a computer 'sees' images. Which– it doesn't really! It processes images as *values* (mostly), ie. a list of values (numbers). In most images this refers to what colour each pixel is, in Red, Green, and Blue. (And sometimes Alpha, which refers to its opacity/transparency). Here's an illustration:
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Rgb-raster-image.svg/368px-Rgb-raster-image.svg.png"><img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/a3/0d/fSZvmc3E_o.png"></a>
The computer doesn't necessarily recognize (without more complex programming) that this is a smiley face– rather it's just a bunch of squares of colour. To really drive the point home, let's look at what a super, super simple computer might see:
0. leaf
0. leaf
0. leaf
0. leaf
0. bug
0. bark
0. leaf
0. leaf
0. bark
0. bark
But it wouldn't necessarily be able to *understand* that it's 'seeing' a tree.
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")
[` /\
/\*\
/\O\*\
/*/\/\/\
/\O\/\*\/\
/\*\/\*\/\/\
/\O\/\/*/\/O/\
||
||
|| `]
Computers have come a really long way in the past century, and gotten a lot better about handling and understanding images. Developers have written programs for the computer to interpret those values as a whole, and then do different things to it. There's a whole branch of research and science about making computers work like our human perception does, called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_vision">Computer Vision</a>. This work is why cameras know when we're taking a photo of a human face, as well as how the puppy filter you use in real-time tracks that face, and is also involved in much of Photoshop's wizardry.
But for now, let's stick to how 'stupid' computers (and I say this most lovingly) see an image. We can actually take a look through our computers point of view quite easily! (I first did this in <a href="https://sfpc.io/recreatingthepast-spring2020/">Zack Lieberman's class at SFPC</a> and it blew my mind.)
1. ''Open'' a simple (text-colour:yellow)[raster image] file (jpeg/png/non-animated gif) in your computer's ''basic text editing program.'' On Macs this is Text Edit or Notepad on Windows. Most likely, you'll see something like this:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/1c/49/A76LcWYt_o.png">
A bunch of gibberish! If you have a text editor used for programming like <a href="https://www.sublimetext.com/">Sublime Text</a>, you can try opening the image in it. You might see something a bit more legible, like this:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/7f/5c/RoQylXgN_o.png">
You can see how this is the same data, just being 'read' in a different way. In this case, this series of values probably tells the computer how many pixels there are in width and height, the colour and alpha value of each pixel, and perhaps metadata like when the file was created, etc.
(text-colour:yellow)[*Warning: This can corrupt files, so make sure the file you're using is a 'throwaway' or duplicate!*]
2. Now, scroll down a little ways and then try ''selecting and deleting'' (gasp!) a few 'paragraphs' of the data.
3. ''Save it'', then look to see what's changed.
Here's the image I took and glitched:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/0f/7b/EPuRF7W9_o.jpg">
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/63/d2/u2jgpf4X_o.gif">
And the result:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/e4/21/gXkIDa3i_o.jpg">
Pretty cool, right?
The reason I brought this up, was to demonstrate what a computer reads and sees in a raster image file. Basically, pixels! But in vector files, they see something else.
###Drawing in Points and Lines
A (text-colour:cyan)[vector file] contains information about ''points''. Also, if that point is connected to any other points, and whether that connection is a line or curve. These points create polygons and other shapes. (It gets more complicated in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics">Wikipedia article</a>, but go on and read if you're curious!) It's like a connect-the-dots puzzle!
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Connect_the_dots_puzzle_%28partially_solved%29.png/800px-Connect_the_dots_puzzle_%28partially_solved%29.png"><img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/a7/fa/U6RuhIkv_o.png"></a>
This means that instead of dealing with all the information for *every* pixel in an image, the computer just needs to focus on where the dots are within the rectangle of the image, and connect them.
We can do the same thing we did previously, with a (text-colour:cyan)[vector] image.
Here's a vector image of a map of Colombia:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/bb/c4/MvNIfBt3_o.png">
And here's what it looks like in Sublime Text:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/59/89/8fiFlW2T_o.png">
You can see the word 'path' and then lists of numbers. You can try doing the same thing– here I've deleted information about different points within different paths, and this is the result:
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/1d/fb/RvjhxjcH_o.png">
It's been glitched, but differently from the raster image.
To illustrate the benefits of this, let's go back to the tree example. So if the computer were to look at a vector image of a tree, they may see something like:
0. Trunk: (bottom left, top left, top right, bottom right)
0. Bottom branches: (/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)
0. Middle branches: (/\/\/\/\/\/\/\)
0. Top branches: (\/\/\/)
0. Tip: (top)
The computer may map out the trunk's four corners and connect them, then distribute the bottom-middle-top branches along the vertical space until the Tip of the tree. (It's a metaphor, okay)
In this way, if we tell the computer "okay, now the tip is *twice* as tall, but the branches are still distributed between the trunk and the tip" the computer could place the points and connect them, drawing a doubly-tall tree.
If we were to ask the computer to do this with the raster 'image' of the tree, the computer would ask, "but what about all the pixels in the middle?" and then we'd need to get into Photoshop and other pixel-manipulation magic.
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/02/b9/YhqmfIR9_o.gif">
*Anyways*, there's more to it but for now our experiments and tree examples hopefully provide a bit more clarification between the fundamental difference between (text-colour:yellow)[raster] and (text-colour:cyan)[vector] images.
Let's get into transforming raster images into vector ones, and vice-versa!
[[On with the show->IT2]]#Wrap Up
Alright! So, here's what we covered:
0. [[What ''raster vs vector'' means->IT1]] - Raster deals with pixels, Vectors deal with points and paths
0. [[Using Image Trace to transform raster images into vectors->IT2]] - select image, click Image Trace in top tool bar *or* check Preview in Image Trace panel, click Expand when you're ready to commit
0. [[Some simple ways of manipulating your new vector shapes->IT3]] - try reversing stroke/fill, recolouring artwork, selecting and extracting specific paths in the artwork
0. [[Creating and using Illustrator brushes->IT4]] - select vector shape, go to drop-down menu in Brushes panel > New Brush… > make selections and hit 'OK'
While I didn't touch on it, if you want to start editing your vector shapes in a more hands-on way, you'll probably be using Illustrator's ''pen tool'' and pathfinder operations. Here's <a href="youtube.com/watch?v=h7Yiy7sYHsY">a quick tutorial to get you started with the pen tool</a> next, as well as <a href="https://bezier.method.ac/">a fun online game </a>to test your skills afterwards.
But I hope this tutorial helped you to jump into the world vectors that are weird and interesting!
Happy making~
<3 <a href="https://kdrae.com/">Katherine</a>
<img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/e8/5b/MmY9usG1_o.gif">
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