Expert: Amy - 3/31/2005

Question
My printer asked that I convert a file I did in Photoshop to a vector file.  I was going to do that in Illustrator.  How do I do that?

I have version 10 of Illustrator

Answer
Hello,

Although your printer told you to "convert" the graphic, there really is no way to instantly convert a raster image to a vector image... you typically have to re-create the artwork in Illustrator in order to get good results. Basically, you'll be tracing the raster image.

Since the tracing tool in Illustrator lacks control-ability, I usually save the raster image as a JPEG, place it into Illustrator, Lock it into position, then use the pencil tool in Illustrator to create a vector image on top of it. If there are any fonts in the image, I try to pick real fonts that look similar instead of tracing them.

Yes. It is time-consuming.

There are also a number of products that claim to be able to do what you need. Some are shareware, some are not.
Look here:
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/bitmaptovector/

and maybe you can find a free product that can help you.  They say that Flash can do a pretty good job converting bitmaps to vector graphics. Lots of people own that.

Perhaps the most well-known but most costly product is Adobe Streamline, which can trace vector images
"automatically." Although I don't personally own a copy, I have used it in the past. The results are not great IMO but I have heard it is still the best at raster-vector conversions.
http://www.adobe.com/products/streamline/main.html

I hope something here points you in the right direction!
Amy