Using Auto Trace

Using Auto Trace

Using Auto Trace

The Auto Trace command can create vector objects from an image. Especially, it will work with a high-contrast image such as silhouette in black and white or posterized image of several colors.

Auto-tracing is much faster than manually tracing an image with the drawing tools like the Polygon or Bezier Curve tool.

Auto Trace works with large high-resolution images better than small low-resolution images. It may require some vector editing to tweak vector paths because of produced jagged paths.

 

Sample of high-contrast silhouette image

Sample of high-contrast silhouette image

Sample of the objects after vector editing

 

To Create Vector Object from an Image

  1. Select an image.

  2. Select the Image contextual tab of the Ribbon.

  3. Click Auto Trace from the Trace panel.

  4. Set the options in the Auto Trace dialog box.

  5. Do one of the following:

  • Click Apply to check the result. The dialog box remains open.

  • Click OK to execute the operation and close the dialog box.

  • Click Cancel to void the operation and close the dialog box.

You can show both input and out, input only, or output only in the Page Layout area from the drop-down list that is located at the lower left corner in the Auto Trace dialog box.

Auto Trace Options


Input Options

The Input options are for the image being traced.

Options

Description

Channels

Depending on the image type, you can select All Channels or a specific color Channel from the menu. If the image contains only one color channel, like grayscale or black & white, the Channel option and menu is disabled.

Blur

Use the slider to apply a blur radius to the input image. Blurring removes noise.

Threshold

This slider is only enabled when the input image is grayscale or color and the output result is black & white. The threshold, in this case, modifies the intermediate black & white image used to create the vector (traced) objects.

Resolution

This slider adjusts the resolution of the input image. The input image can be traced at its original resolution or at an adjusted one.

The Intermediate Preview indicates the image used for tracing after applying the blur or threshold changes, if applicable.

 

Output Options

Output options are for the vector objects being created.

Options

Description

Mode

Select either Black & White, Grayscale, or Color for the output tracing.

Trace

Select either Fill, Stroke, or Fill+Stroke. The Fill option creates filled outlines. The Stroke option is only available when the mode is set to Black & White. Stroke means that centerlines with an approximate width are created rather than outlines. With the Fill+Stroke option, a mixture of filled vector objects and strokes is made. Strokes are created depending on the values for Max Stroke Width and Min Stroke Length.

Ignore area less than

This option works as a despeckle filter. If isolated pixels or groups of pixels exist in the input image, they will be ignored, instead of creating vector objects from them.

Gray Levels

This slider is only enabled when the output is gray or color. When the output is gray, the level value defines the number of gray levels in the intermediate preview and in resulting vector object. When the output is color, the slider controls how well the details in the image are distinguished. A high value provides better distinction.

Optimize curves

This option reduces the number of points in the curve, without drastically affecting the shape. Optimize is disabled if Make polygons is enabled.

Make polygons

Select this option to create polygons rather than Bézier curves.

The Output preview displays a portion of the resulting vector objects.

 

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