I have a psd that I need to have vectorized. Am I able to turn each layer into a vector as is or do I need to merge them into a jpeg or other. I would like to be able to have the whole psd a vector if possible. I need to know how in P-S Cs2.
On a side note I was told before that with illustrator you can resize an image without loss of quality. Confirmation and other details of this would be appreciated.
Okay here’s what I do to vectorize layers in Photoshop. I’m assuming your layers are intact.
Shapes that you’ve drawn, circles, ovals, etc. are already in vector format.
Text however is not. Do make text vector go to
Layer > Type > Convert To Shape.
It does what it says. You wont be able to edit the text however.
And that’s pretty much it. Your situation may be abit more complicated.
Skinny
You can’t really go from a Raster graphic to a Vector graphic. Illustrator and Flash both have a built in tracing feature, and depending on how complicated your PSD it can usually serve its purpose.
Vector graphics are just points with mathematical formulas that draw the lines and colors. So they will size to any size because the measurement isn’t done by the pixel. Usually if I need something vector from a PSD I just open it in Illustrator and trace it.
When you mention trace it could you explain what you mean and how this is done. I would guess this should be done after turning the psd into a jpeg?
Well it depends on what the PSD is. Generally if I want to vectorize something its generally not that complicated so I just open it in Illustrator, make a new layer and just use the pen tool to trace over it in the new layer.
If the design was created within Illustrator (or any other vector based design software), it can be scaled up and down without any quality loss. This is because the elements aren’t pixel-based like regular images are. Rather they are based on mathematical equations and formulas, so a straight line joining point A to point B will always be perfectly straight, no matter how close or far you view it from.
Raster based images (photos, etc…) won’t have this advantage even if you import them into Illustrator. They’ll have to be recreated as mentioned above.
Hmm I understand what your saying U/B. However I still do not understand what it means to “trace”. It is a terminology I am not familiar with yet. Some detailed explanation of which tool to use and how it is used is needed in order for me to comprehend.
Well it means exactly that, “trace” :). You open a new canvas in Illustrator, or load the image, put a new layer on top, and then using the Pen tool, you click around the edges of your design (assuming its simple shapes and stuff).
Likewise, you can use the autotrace tool if you have the CS version.
Ah yes as you would when you slice an image in CS. I do not know about the auto trace feature. If you would care to expound on that it would be really kind of you.
Oh I don’t know much about it either lol, Illustrator10 lacks that feature. Heard it was extremely easy to use though.