with consent of Renaenae I am starting this thread dedicated to adobe illustrator questions. Ill probably be active here the coming few days, and I will also try to answer my own questions when I find get them from another source. It seems that information on illustrator is more scarce then, for example, photoshop, so hence this topic.
I am new to illustrator and am a bit baffled that my PS experience means nothing.
--dont forget to mention your AI version--
argh! There is this thingy I cant figure out. I find it way more difficult to find info online on illustrator compared to PS.
I am using image trace to convert png (and psd) files to vectors. Very simple and effective, but to keep a transparent background I have to select "ignore white". only some of the files I want to convert include white outer linings that I want to keep in the vector. If I select 'ignore white' those lines will be removed, but if I dont select 'ignore white' illustrator will fill the (previously transparent) background with all white.
I tried using invert colors then image trace and invert back, but this isnt applicable when you also have black in it (since it will go white).
Since I have to do this trick a few times, I really wanna know the solution to this. Its sound so obvious, but I cannot find an answer anywhere.
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At 3/19/13 11:23 AM, ReNaeNae wrote:
if I dont select 'ignore white' illustrator will fill the (previously transparent) background with all white.
Look for tutorials on the Shape Builder Tool. That will probably solve all your problems.
If you have any other issues, post them or pm me. I will happily help when I can.
Good luck :)
When I open a png file I am not able to use any tool from the side bar. I cannot for example use paintbrush, it gives this 'denied' sign when hovering over the image. layers are NOT locked. the same goes for shape builder tool
I can manually select a brush (not the same as load brushes) and paint, but shape builder tool is not working.
(CS6)
for example how would one image trace this picture? assuming the blue BG is transparent and without losing the white lines
At 3/19/13 12:23 PM, Tomsan wrote: When I open a png file I am not able to use any tool from the side bar. I cannot for example use paintbrush, it gives this 'denied' sign when hovering over the image. layers are NOT locked. the same goes for shape builder tool
That's because you can't manipulate a placed, rasterized image. Works the same way in Flash. You need to do the Image Trace bit first and convert it to vector lines. THEN you can use the Shape Builder tool to remove the unwanted white stuff you mentioned.
At 3/19/13 12:16 PM, Tomsan wrote: I am using image trace to convert png (and psd) files to vectors. Very simple and effective, but to keep a transparent background I have to select "ignore white". only some of the files I want to convert include white outer linings that I want to keep in the vector. If I select 'ignore white' those lines will be removed, but if I dont select 'ignore white' illustrator will fill the (previously transparent) background with all white.
Okay, so there's probably a more straightforward way of doing this, but what you can do is give your illustration an extra black stroke on the outside before placing it in Illustrator. Once you've placed it, do your live trace, and then expand it. Once it's expanded, you can just select the extra black outline and the white background with your direct selection tool and delete them. The black is basically just acting as a shield to your white outline.
At 3/19/13 12:23 PM, Tomsan wrote: When I open a png file I am not able to use any tool from the side bar. I cannot for example use paintbrush, it gives this 'denied' sign when hovering over the image. layers are NOT locked. the same goes for shape builder tool
Don't open the PNG with Illustrator, open a new Illustrator and place the PNG in your document (file > place).
At 3/19/13 12:54 PM, Spags wrote:
Okay, so there's probably a more straightforward way of doing this, but what you can do is give your illustration an extra black stroke on the outside before placing it in Illustrator. Once you've placed it, do your live trace, and then expand it. Once it's expanded, you can just select the extra black outline and the white background with your direct selection tool and delete them. The black is basically just acting as a shield to your white outline.
WORKED!!!! its not ideal (messes a tiny bit with short corners), so I will be looking into it further, but for now thank you so much.
A quick way you could also do it is to simply trace the picture, leaving the white in, and then click on a white shape and go "select -> same -> fill color". Now you have all the white shapes selected and you can simply deselect the ones you don't want to delete :)
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At 3/19/13 03:24 PM, Tomsan wrote:At 3/19/13 12:54 PM, Spags wrote:
WORKED!!!! its not ideal (messes a tiny bit with short corners), so I will be looking into it further, but for now thank you so much.
Did you not hit expand when i gave you the live trace suggestions yesterday :P And the white space tick enabled means you dont need to clear off the non black it will be gone on expand
When using live trace, and I need to delete certain parts after wards. I like to use the select same color option rather the ignore white option. This is of course after expanding.
Use a combination of the eye dropper tool and the select same color to get options beyond just white.
just my two and a half cents...
At 3/19/13 03:51 PM, Lucky wrote:At 3/19/13 03:24 PM, Tomsan wrote:At 3/19/13 12:54 PM, Spags wrote:WORKED!!!! its not ideal (messes a tiny bit with short corners), so I will be looking into it further, but for now thank you so much.Did you not hit expand when i gave you the live trace suggestions yesterday :P And the white space tick enabled means you dont need to clear off the non black it will be gone on expand
I did play around with expand, but yesterday it didnt account to much. I will not however ignore your advice. I now 'know' what expands does and will try to use it. The method that worked is still a bit messy anddevious. I will post an answer once I know what I am doing. I just didnt immediatly understand excactly what you were saying, and was a bit reticent in admitting so.
At 3/19/13 06:07 PM, Kinsei01 wrote: When using live trace, and I need to delete certain parts after wards. I like to use the select same color option rather the ignore white option. This is of course after expanding.
Use a combination of the eye dropper tool and the select same color to get options beyond just white.
just my two and a half cents...
but if I understand this correctly that will not work when some of the outer linings of the original picture are white. the BG will turn white and AI wont discriminate between the white lines and the BG anymore.. correct?
At 3/19/13 06:25 PM, Tomsan wrote:At 3/19/13 06:07 PM, Kinsei01 wrote: When using live trace, and I need to delete certain parts after wards. I like to use the select same color option rather the ignore white option. This is of course after expanding.but if I understand this correctly that will not work when some of the outer linings of the original picture are white. the BG will turn white and AI wont discriminate between the white lines and the BG anymore.. correct?
Use a combination of the eye dropper tool and the select same color to get options beyond just white.
just my two and a half cents...
no no, it works. you just have to kind of take an extra step. I know that seems like a hassle, but when you don't want to lose all the white it comes in handy. I'd do some screen shots to demonstrate, but I don't have Illustrator installed on my new computer yet.
At 3/19/13 06:25 PM, Tomsan wrote: I did play around with expand, but yesterday it didnt account to much. I will not however ignore your advice. I now 'know' what expands does and will try to use it. I just didnt immediatly understand excactly what you were saying
Mess around with the settings, that's what I was saying
Hi, Im an artist who has used many digital programs with relative ease for basic stuff. But im having a problem with illustrator , I cant seem to get logic and common sense to work with it, its like everything that should work in any practical program is balls backwards in this one.
My question is do I throw my comp out the window in frustration, or shoot my self in the head first.
Sorry I had to, please continue with the thread as originally intended, im actually happy to see this thread.
At 3/19/13 03:51 PM, Lucky wrote:
Did you not hit expand when i gave you the live trace suggestions yesterday :P And the white space tick enabled means you dont need to clear off the non black it will be gone on expand
Ah you meant expand the advanced menu. Yes I did this and tried to fondle with it a bit but this didnt account to much.
At 3/19/13 06:37 PM, Kinsei01 wrote:
no no, it works. you just have to kind of take an extra step. I know that seems like a hassle, but when you don't want to lose all the white it comes in handy. I'd do some screen shots to demonstrate, but I don't have Illustrator installed on my new computer yet.
I tried to figure out what it is exactly what you were explaining. I mean I am now able to use all the functions in AI, but I have no clue what you mean.
Could be a version issue as well, since I see a lot of people complaining and praising the new image trace function. i DONT have live trace, its gone.
btw coming back on the previously names method using the shape builder tool, I guess I now get what the idea is, but its not possible. Since I have to use image trace BEFORE I can manipulate the picture at all (that includes expanding) I lose my white outer lines. Its simple as that, either I ignore white and lose my lines, or I do not ignore white and lose my lines to the white background. I can expand and use all tools I want, but the file lost the information of the white lines....
And on a side note; when I use image trace, it somehow seems like the picture stays in a sort of preview mode (which as far as I know isnt). for example; I image trace the picture and then move it a bit on my clipboard. AI will then render the picture again. If I try to adjust the color balance (with preview on) I immediately see the change, but the picture will then again render like it does when I first image traced it. The graphics wont change, but it keep rendering for every small thing I do, seems weird.
At 3/19/13 08:14 PM, ornery wrote:
My question is do I throw my comp out the window in frustration, or shoot my self in the head first.
Its true though, I have no clue what I am doing. I'm currently trying to erase a small corner of an image and I just cant do it... its driving me fkkn nuts
