Vector Magic tracing program

vector
software
trace
#1

I’ve done quite a bit of hobby graphic work and thought I’d share one of my favorite little programs called Vector Magic. If you aren’t familiar with working with vectors/graphic programs, it’s a good time to learn before getting your Glowforge! This program is a little gem and maybe someone can find it useful :slight_smile:

Vector Magic is available for online conversion or you can download the program. I use both Corel and Adobe and Vector Magic typically does a better job with tracing and vector conversion than either one of them in my opinion. It has a very basic interface so it’s not too hard to learn. The editing features aren’t advanced and they are a bit cumbersome, but great program nonetheless.

http://vectormagic.com

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#2

Do you mean specifically Illustrator?! I love Illustrators auto trace feature! If this is better, that’s awesome!

#3

Thanks for sharing this–I know people have mentioned it, but I’ve gotten so invested in the magic/morass that is Illustrator that I hadn’t investigated other options for this function, which is pretty essential. I’m looking forward to trying it.

#4

Yes, I meant Illustrator. To be honest, I haven’t used Illustrator in a few years (just happen to prefer Corel) and my version is likely outdated. The trace feature of AI may have improved so you mileage may vary :slight_smile: Download the free trial and let me know what you think of the comparison!

I did find a few comparison pics. One was from VM own site so take that for what it’s worth. The other was from a good comparison test site.

371_newcastle_clean_great_pal_seg_con_bb11_36_morph_b_v_v_v-fp-e3e8d4b8255485ebf8b0923ac4d9a552.png712×241 22.9 KB
VectorComparison-2000xflute-illustrations.png1121×891 314 KB

#5

I will try it, it looks awesome.

Thanks for sharing :grinning:

#6

When you think about it, $7.95 a month isn’t all that bad of a price compared to the $295… you’re paying less if you get under 3 years use from it. It’s one of the few that works well with color bitmaps.

If you have simpler needs, you can give the potrace freeware a try. It’s not quite as user friendly, and doesn’t exactly do colors (but it does know about them and has pre-processing to deal with them)… but it seems to produce some good results if you’re comfortable experimenting with that sort of thing.

edit: You can use a web-based (but settings incomplete) interface to it at http://www.vectorization.org/ or try http://www.autotracer.org/ for color images.

Accessorizing Your Glowforge (Like the Fashion Industry)
Glowforge shipping date, beta releases, and bonus materials
#7

Yeah, if had to pay for VM I would definitely go with the monthly service I think. I got lucky and didn’t pay much for my desktop version. :smiley:

#8

Thats pretty sharp… My Corel X8 does way better than say X5…wonder if vector magic would do any better.

#9

I have X8 and vectormagic doesn’t do simple B&W line art drawings as well as Corel so I didn’t bother trying any other format (like detailed BMPs, etc). Neither did the potrace variants. Might be worth messing around but I lost interest pretty quickly when it failed on simple :slight_smile:

#10

I just got it myself. Great program from what I’ve seen so far - definitely gave me superior results to what I was able to get out of Illustrator (bleh!) or Inkscape.

#11

Thanks @jamesdhatch for checking that out.

#12

Speaking for a small minority, I’m using Affinity Design for Mac. I downloaded a sample SVG and it looks amazing in Affinity. I will be considering VM a bit more, but it’s certainly intriguing.

#13

Holy cow, this is SPECTACULAR! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been so put off by the pixels!

#14

love this program! I use it a lot