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Starkey · December 6th, 2007

Hey there,
I'm new to the world of creating vectors - I'm using Illustrator CS2.
I've had most of my rastor & vector images accepted by Spreadshirt but sometimes i'm getting a reject. I understand the size rejections but when I'm having trouble when an image gets rejected because it's not completeley vectorized - this doesn't occur when I'm creating a vector from scratch but it's happening when I turn some of my photos into vectors using Live Trace.
Spreadshirt suggest this
The first step is to delete all pixel (bitmap) information. Do this by selecting the pixel information and pressing the delete button on your keyboard. After the pixel information has been deleted, you will need to select all of the design elements (Ctrl A.) Then in the top menu bar, go to Object/Flatten Transparency. On the settings, slide the bar to 100% vector, and check the Convert all Text to Outlines and also check the Convert all Strokes to Outlines . Next, go to the Pathfinder and click on the Merge option.

I don't seem to have any problems with the flattening & merging but it's the first step that's got me bamboozled. The selecting & deleting pixel information bit. I've searched the net & Illustrator help but can't seem to find an answer.
It reads like it's a very simple step. Can someone please help me out. Can I do this after I've expanded the image in Live Trace or does it have to happen before this???
Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Ashley

Rodney · December 10th, 2007

I'm not an illustrator expert, but is there a setting in LiveTrace that allows you to delete the original bitmap after the trace is done?

There's a setting for this in CorelDraw, so I assume there's something similar in Illustrator.

romeogogo · December 10th, 2007

obviously they're saying that you still have rasterized images, and i know you get that part.

this is the only 2 things i can think of that you can do:

1- after you've 'livetraced' are you 'expanding' your 'livetraced' artwork?

2- maybe select all your individual rasterized pieces and put them on a new layer. lock this new layer. then do a 'select all' and delete whatever may possibly be left or even unseen.

hope this helps.

Starkey · December 10th, 2007

Thanks for the tips. I think I must be missing hitting Expand....sometimes.
I've been through the whole process numerous times. Sent 3 new images through yesterday, got two accepted and one sent back as still having pixel info. I know it's something simple....perhaps there's sometimes an element that i didn't expand. I shall try again.
Cheers

Temple · December 11th, 2007

Hello,

In Illustrator after you Live Trace the image, then try using the Direct Select tool. Click on the individual elements to see which ones are the digital element in the design, then just click to delete that item. Sometimes the original digital image is still in the resulted traced document, so if you click on the individual items, then you can generally see which ones are the digital images. You can also send your file to [email address]

and ask them what part is still a digital and they will be able to give you specifics on that file which can help you determine for that design and other designs which elements are the digitals.

Thanks,
Temple

Starkey · December 11th, 2007

Thanks Temple - that's the clearest & most detailed explanation I've had.
Pretty sure the problem was that some of the individual items were slipping digital elements.
Cheers,
Ashley

Temple · December 12th, 2007

Hi Starkey,

Great...hope it helps. It does sound like some elements were left from the LiveTrace, so deleting those should be good. You can always email our design team though to get specific help for your design!
Have a good day,
Temple