[maXmood]

i've searched the forum for the best way, but can't find anything that will do this in a simple way other than having to trace it with the pen tool in illustrator, and live trace won't produce something close, specially on dark cars/images..


any ideas??

 

[bornover]

Pen tool is it. No quick and easy way other than paying someone else to do it.

 

[BroJames]

It depends on resolution and size of the artwork. If the artwork is the tee itself then it may take a little longer.

I would scan the image at 600-1000dpi, trace it (I prefer inkscape, a freeware, to AI's trace), then edit the vectors. One way or the other, you will need to edit the vectors like trapping. However, you may need more than simple edits to get the proper shading like the ones through the car's windshield.

 

[maXmood]

thanks for the input...

i've downloaded inkscape to try it out (even tho i got illustrator and PS)..

i guess those are hard to try, but they're worth it if you get a fine result.

 

[BroJames]

thanks for the input...

i've downloaded inkscape to try it out (even tho i got illustrator and PS)..

i guess those are hard to try, but they're worth it if you get a fine result.

Do let me know how it does. It wont work miracles but I've tried AI and corel's trace and think that inkscape does a better job. Corners and angles are usually the more problematic part due to the smoothing.

 

[maXmood]

i tried it for the last hour, and it seems like AI trace is better.. still tho, i can't really judge on it for an hours' attempts.

i'll keep on trying till i get the hang of it, then try to compare the two products.

 

[BroJames]

i tried it for the last hour, and it seems like AI trace is better.. still tho, i can't really judge on it for an hours' attempts.

i'll keep on trying till i get the hang of it, then try to compare the two products.

Do update me and also your settings. Maybe I have not used the correct AI settings.

I use corel but a friend to whom I recommended it to uses AI. The last time we talked, he is using it for all his tracing.

 

[MX1CAN]

I really and absolutely detest working from printed shirts. It's so hard to get clean looking art from them because of problems the printer may have had when printing them show up in much more detail when you scan them in.

Anyway as others have said this is best suited for hand tracing with the pen tool in Illustrator or the bezier tool in Draw. Alternatively you can send it off to get it traced by a company such as ArtWorkSource.Com, Inc | Home and they can do it for you. Definitely do not auto trace it since the results would be horrible.

 

[maXmood]

the source is not the t-shirt, it's just the theme/style i'm trying to achieve.

take this for example, and see how can u produce the same effect as the one on the shirt.

 

[bornover]

My self, I would be using the pen tool in Illustrator. I would be changing line weights and brush types to get thick and thin lines with different type ending strokes.

 

[jsf]

Mark is right at first, don't make much of your time wasted redoing your own art to perfection. Have it sourced out to pros.

 

[maXmood]

i think the best bet is to start practicing using the pen tool..

 

[whimsywhit]

The best way to start would be pulling the photograph into PS. Cut out your background, make the photo duotone or black and white, adjust your contrast so that you basically have two or three shades. Don't go so far that you lose details. Use your own judgment as far as what you think would be easiest for you to work with. The save as an eps or jpg and pull into what ever vector program you use (I find Freehand MX easiest for drawing with the pen tool. MUCH easier to manipulate). Perhaps the auto trace would work better and that would be my next step. See what happens once you get the background out and have pretty much black and white. I for the most part I select custom, black and white, no blur, and put the corner option on 0. Very rarely do I mess with the other two options.

If the auto trace doesn't work, the pen tool would be the best option. Or pay someone to do it. You have so much more control when you use the pen tool. It really will become your best friend.

 

[Fidel]

I do similar stuff myself.
Search google for "vector car tutorial" or go to pixel2life.com and search there. The above is very simple vectoring, you can do amazing detail also, search deviantart.com for "dangeruss".
It really isn't hard with the pen tool, just have to be patient. I think the car in the pic would take me about an hour to do. It also helps to learn or write down the keyboard shortcuts for the few tools in AI, really speeds things up.

 

[BroJames]

the source is not the t-shirt, it's just the theme/style i'm trying to achieve.

take this for example, and see how can u produce the same effect as the one on the shirt.

. . .

In that case, you should be prepared for lots of editing. This image with a contrasting background is relative easy to trace and edit. Sometimes, using color range in photoshop to "extract" a color or layer, then vectorizing each layer helps.

You can also try "sketching" the image in photoshop first.

Here is a simple and rough sketch of the image. You may need to try different settings and may need to do more than 1 sketch and combine them to get the details you want. After tracing them, you may need to edit the vectors to remove the noise and smoothen the curves. Most likely, you also need create new outlines to get better details and to define or contain the colors you want. A pro should be able to do that in less than a day as the image is not really complex.

But if you do not have the time, patience or skill, and if your printing volume justifies it, better just outsource the job.

 

[bornover]

But if you do not have the time, patience or skill, and if your printing volume justifies it, better just outsource the job.

Actually, one of the smartest and best pieces of advice all of us should not forget. Especially the "if you do not have the time" part.

 

[BroJames]

That . . . and a pro can often breathe more life into an image.

 

[maXmood]

I do similar stuff myself.
Search google for "vector car tutorial" or go to pixel2life.com and search there. The above is very simple vectoring, you can do amazing detail also, search deviantart.com for "dangeruss".
It really isn't hard with the pen tool, just have to be patient. I think the car in the pic would take me about an hour to do. It also helps to learn or write down the keyboard shortcuts for the few tools in AI, really speeds things up.

thanks.. i'll do my search on those.

 

[maXmood]

In that case, you should be prepared for lots of editing. This image with a contrasting background is relative easy to trace and edit. Sometimes, using color range in photoshop to "extract" a color or layer, then vectorizing each layer helps.

You can also try "sketching" the image in photoshop first.

Here is a simple and rough sketch of the image. You may need to try different settings and may need to do more than 1 sketch and combine them to get the details you want. After tracing them, you may need to edit the vectors to remove the noise and smoothen the curves. Most likely, you also need create new outlines to get better details and to define or contain the colors you want. A pro should be able to do that in less than a day as the image is not really complex.

But if you do not have the time, patience or skill, and if your printing volume justifies it, better just outsource the job.

i could start with this!!

i couldn't come up with the same sketching effect on PS.

care to share the steps you took to get that effect?

thanks!

 

[BroJames]

I will zoom the image to print size first and at a resolution of 300dpi up. Then crop out the background and other unwanted areas until you have the image of the car. Use magnetic lasso or other tools (sorry I don't know what they are called). Duplicate the image so that you have a backup.

Then go to Filter->Sketch and play with the settings. After the Ok you will not be getting a black image so go adjust image and convert the image to black and white. But the image will be gray so make the image black adjust (contrast/brightness, levels, curves, etc)

However, the image and the sketch will have portions that are white blending with the white background such that you won;t have a complete outline of the car. To create a slim outline of the car use the magic wand and click on any area outside the image. Select Filter->inverse, then Filter->Modify->Expand. I think I expanded it by 5 pixels but try changing the values to get the desired thickness. Create a new layer then use Edit-Fill to color the image black. Move this layer below the "sketch" layer and if the outline looks right then merge the 2 layers.