creating smooth dark image from med resolution pastel jpg

[extradifficult]

Working in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop:

I frequently have to recreate logos (which should have been vector to begin with). Sometimes I get an image that does not have great resolution and is made up of pastel colors. With a good dark image, recreating a vector or a satisfactory high resolution image is easy but trying to improve a very light image is difficult. I create art for making films where vector or very high resolution is needed with the elements of the design being 100% black. A light low resolution image gets very jagged or severely distorted results. Is there a way to get high resolution results with a low resolution image?

 

[spamjim]

I'm not following the problem well but you can use curves (CTRL/CMD-M) or levels (CTRL/CMD-L) to darken a copy of lighter images. After you create vectors, you can re-color with the original lighter colors.

 

[mscallisto]

I agree with spamjim and would start with the Curves.

I'm guessing you may already know how to use Photoshop's most powerful command (IMHO), the curves, but if not here is a tutorial:

http://on.aol.com/video/how-to-use-curves-in-photoshop-87913244

Good luck

Sam