Tracing 101

[Dee Gallo]

Hi Everyone-

I just threw together a simple small tutorial for anyone who wants to try my tracing technique. It's zipped and saved in CorelDraw version 10, so hopefully everyone can open it. It's a 2 page document you might want to print out and refer to as you do the exact exercise. If you do, click on the image and copy it, then just paste it into your new document before trying the trace yourself.

I used the Chinese character for LOVE since it is made up of random shapes (to most people) and was handy. It is a nice jagged jpeg, typical of the kind of thing you might need to trace. I only did two small pieces, but you will get the idea. As you gain experience, it will get easier! It's really quite simple.

Hope this helps someone, since I doubt I'll be able to get to everyone's house any time soon!

cheers, dee

[James Jaragosky]

Hi Everyone-

I just threw together a simple small tutorial for anyone who wants to try my tracing technique. It's zipped and saved in CorelDraw version 10, so hopefully everyone can open it. It's a 2 page document you might want to print out and refer to as you do the exact exercise. If you do, click on the image and copy it, then just paste it into your new document before trying the trace yourself.

I used the Chinese character for LOVE since it is made up of random shapes (to most people) and was handy. It is a nice jagged jpeg, typical of the kind of thing you might need to trace. I only did two small pieces, but you will get the idea. As you gain experience, it will get easier! It's really quite simple.

Hope this helps someone, since I doubt I'll be able to get to everyone's house any time soon!

cheers, dee

Thanks Dee. I can not wait to try it.
and i get to show up that brown nose teachers pet Steve by posting first!!!!!
Jim J.

[Richard Rumancik]

Thanks for taking the time to prepare this, Dee.

A few questions - the nodes will always be cusp nodes at the beginning, correct? If I was doing a shape where I wanted all the corners to be rounded, is there an easy way to change the node type of several nodes, or do you need to change them one at a time?

[Dee Gallo]

The nodes will always be straight line nodes after clicking corner to corner. The only thing you can do with them is to move the node itself.

I find it easiest and fastest when you change all of them to the same kind of node. I chose this one because each side of the node acts independently. You have more control. Some of the other ones interact with both sides at the same time and it is unpredictable sometimes. (ie: you pull one line and the next line moves where you don't want it to.)

BTW- sometimes when I want a curve to be smoother, I will eliminate the "hump" node after making the initial shape. This is especially helpful when you have a leaf shape (2 pointy ends and curves on each side). It starts out as a diamond (4 nodes) and ends up with only 2.

To select a few or more nodes at the same time, just surround them with the shape tool selected. You can also select a few at a time to change them without doing the whole thing. You can also change them to another type - I find that handy when I want a line segment to be perfectly straight and not play with the arrows at all. You can also keystroke control-A to get all of them selected quickly.

As you use them, you will get more familiar with what you like. But as I said, the fastest work is done when you use just one kind, since it will do what you want every time and not surprise you with crazy unexpected changes. I hate having to go back a rework something. When that happens, I'd just delete the node and make a new one where I want it.

Have fun, dee

[Steve Clarkson]

Dee,

I just credited your paypal account with a huge amount of money.

Thank you soooo much for taking the time to do this. You have no idea what I was doing before......but it involved PhotoPaint, the paint brush and the eraser.......

Clearly, I haven't mastered the whole node thing yet.....and I was thought...."a node is a node is a node".....I had no idea there were different kinds!

Next, you'll have to teach me how you made that really cool tutorial!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!

PS.....make sure you tell Jim that I'm still your favorite!

[James Jaragosky]

Dee,

I just credited your paypal account with a huge amount of money.

Thank you soooo much for taking the time to do this. You have no idea what I was doing before......but it involved PhotoPaint, the paint brush and the eraser.......

Clearly, I haven't mastered the whole node thing yet.....and I was thought...."a node is a node is a node".....I had no idea there were different kinds!

Next, you'll have to teach me how you made that really cool tutorial!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!

PS.....make sure you tell Jim that I'm still your favorite!

Large sums of money; well articulated flattery; I just can't compete on so many levels. I need a Prozac and some rest.

[Carrol Fleming]

Thanks Dee - a wonderful birthday present from you to us - hope you had a special day.
Carrol

[Carrol Fleming]

Confused with time zones - is your birthday today? Or rather once I have had my day and retired for the night?
Carrol

[Dee Gallo]

Large sums of money; well articulated flattery; I just can't compete on so many levels. I need a Prozac and some rest.

James and Steve - you guys are just too smooth for words!

Carol - I don't know what it is in Africa, but my day was the 22nd, thanks!

[Rangarajan Saravana kumar]

Hi,

Good Tutorial to start with... I remember trying to do with corel trace first and then match the output, draw to simplify my work.

Even another idea, try photo grav to clear noise in picture, then corel trace or adobe illustrator to proceed

Regards,

Saravanakumar

[Tim Bateson]

Dee, Thank you. Have you thought about making it a YouTube video?

[Dee Gallo]

Dee, Thank you. Have you thought about making it a YouTube video?

Haha - very funny - I gave up my video making days long ago!

So in the light of a new day, I proofed the document and made a few changes and additions. Here's the newest version. Not much different, just more instructions for finishing the job.

Kumar - BTW I had a student named Kumar and I always liked that name... my goal is always to streamline the process, so I remove the noise "in my eyes" as I go, rather than refine the image first in some other program. After you've done a bunch, you will be able to see what you want even through a really crummy image.

Steve, making the tutorial was just a matter of drawing, copy/paste, layout and typing...same as any other job.

cheers, dee

[Steve Clarkson]

Steve, making the tutorial was just a matter of drawing, copy/paste, layout and typing...same as any other job.

cheers, dee

Did you do it in Corel? Or did you make it in Word? How do you copy a picture of the cursor?

[Belinda Barfield]

Dee,

You are truly an asset to this forum. I truly appreciate your willingness to help anyone with a problem, share your knowledge and talent, and your overall positive attitude. I always look forward to your posts and I always learn something new. Thank you for being you.

[Dee Gallo]

Steve, I made the whole thing on CorelDraw, and I just drew the cursors and stuff freehand. I'm sure there is a way to copy them, with Grab or something, but it's easier for me to draw it straight off than to research weird ways to do stuff. I told you, I like to keep things simple. I think the whole thing took me under an hour to put together, most of that time was thinking about how much to include without making it too complex.

Belinda, thanks for the comment. I have always thought the same of you, looking forward to your posts and comments. This place is such a great atmosphere to share and learn it really encourages the best in all of us.

I really feel like I have some friends here, thanks, dee