bitmap to outlines for vinyl signs 1

[doskeylemon]

I've got quite intricate line bitmaps (jpgs) I need to convert to vector files (I think they want outlines as pdf or eps) for use in laser-cut vinyl - I hardly use Illustrator - anyone know a quick way to convert without loss of detail? I normally only deal with print output and moving-image so it's a bit of a mystery to me! The people in the shops aren't always that helpful and really don't want to be bothered spending time explaining the software that they probably only feed into the hardware anyway!

 

[jmgalvin]

The basic way to do it is to select things in Photoshop and create paths. Then choose File/Export/Paths to Illustrator - giving you a ".ai" file.

However, if things are complex it can be maddening doing this and then coloring/or creating transparency on the various paths.

As far as I know, vinyl signs are pretty simple - basically cut and stick - so the answer toyou're question about detail is unknown because I don't know what is meant by detail. Vectors give hard edges and cary greeater edge detail than bitmaps and that's why they're preferred by sign makers and, often, t-shirt printers.

Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4

 

[tangerinewoman]

You could also try placing your image in Illustrator, then selecting it and going to object>live trace>tracing options. You can mess around with settings in there, then trace. After that, go to trace>expand and it will convert into paths for you.