Creating a cut line on this

[Jules]

Another method…you could try taking a copy of the file into Photoshop and painting white where the the interior lines but up against the cut lines to create a clear gap (it’s just easier with a brush tool for most people) then take that one into Illustrator for a Centerline Trace on the paths that you want to actually cut. Will make it easier to select those, copy them to a new file, and overlay the original bitmap for the engrave.

How to get a Centerline Trace in Illustrator

A Centerline Trace is important if you want to take an image that consists of unfilled lines, like a coloring book page, and place just one path for cutting or scoring down the center of the lines that you see on the page. The default Live Trace option in Illustrator doesn’t create that kind of result without special modifications being made to the Live Trace settings used. The normal default will result in a filled compound shape, with vector paths placed into the interface wherever there is …