Conversion question

[Jared Greenberg]

Excuse my ignorance...we typically don't do this in our business, but we were asked to make promotional baseball bats and engrave a company's logo on them.

I had the .jpg converted into an .eps and .gif file types.

My question is how would I get these into corel to engrave? I have attached the gif file.

thank you

[Craig Matheny]

Open a new file and go to file import..

[AL Ursich]

The Est. 2007 is so small it will blend together depending on the size....

AL

[Bill Cunningham]

If you have a larger version, import it, then use the trace function and trace it to a black and white vector.
The image supplied is only a 72 dpi RGB file.. A 300 dpi 2 bit black and white, or even a grey scale converted to 2 bit by the trace function will end up with a better file for engraving..

[Dee Gallo]

Jared,

I spent under 10 minutes redrawing your logo. It is not a difficult image. I recommend you practice working with CorelDraw to save yourself future anxiety. You can use this drawing if you like, although you will have to find the correct font, as I did not have the exact one needed. It is saved in v.9 so you should be able to open it.

I found that doing this is a lot easier in the long run, and gives you better results than working with a scan or trace.

good luck, dee

ps- the "est. 2007" is thicker to allow for the engraving to show

[Larry Bratton]

I too took a shot at this. I think got close on the fonts. Use it if you like.
205054

[Tony Lenkic]

Here is another try ......

[Dee Gallo]

hahaha if you take the A from Larry and the S and C from mine, you're closer!

Nice job, Tony, what is the name of the font?

[Jared Greenberg]

Your time and efforts are appreciated...

I have sought out some classes to figure out how to use Corel the way it was meant to be used. We use Corel and the laser for one application and at this point don't need it for anything else. Although I have converted to bitmaps before, this was my first attempt at a logo.

Would someone mind letting me know how to do it? I feel bad for not knowing and everyone doing the work for me.

I did try prior to this, but lines were not smooth and I was basically lost....

[Dee Gallo]

Jared,

It is simply looking at the symbols of the tools which will tell you what they do. Square, Circle, A for typing, etc.

Place your sample on the page and lock it so it stays put. Draw directly on top of it (I usually change the line color to red so I can see what's what). Start with the piece in the back... in this case it was the big circle. Draw the circle close to the right size, then adjust it to fit exactly over the sample using the handles on the corners (click and drag to move it). The hairline should be in the center of the sample's line.

To adjust the line you go to:
1. right click on the color you want at the right side of the window
2. the pen tool on the left (or the drop down at the top) to change the thickness of the line

Fill by left clicking on the color square you want. After you're done, you can unlock the sample and delete it.

Try it with just the 2 circles to get the feel of things. Then, read the manual, watch some videos, search this forum for tips on how to trace an object, and practice! Nobody can teach you the whole program in a few sentences.

This should get you started, but really just spend the time to learn the tools and play around BEFORE you have a need for it. It is not hard, but does take most people some time to learn it all. When I taught this to students, I usually had them start by drawing a snowman. Lots of simple parts to manipulate. Try it!

cheers, dee

[Mike Null]

I would first do what Craig suggested. Import the eps file into Corel. Use the proper filter and click--you should be able to bring it into Corel as easy as that without any drawing.

[Larry Bratton]

Your time and efforts are appreciated...

I have sought out some classes to figure out how to use Corel the way it was meant to be used. We use Corel and the laser for one application and at this point don't need it for anything else. Although I have converted to bitmaps before, this was my first attempt at a logo.

Would someone mind letting me know how to do it? I feel bad for not knowing and everyone doing the work for me.

I did try prior to this, but lines were not smooth and I was basically lost....

Jared,
It's worthy to note here, that it not a necessary thing that your file be a bitmap. The CDR files and the PDF file are vector files that have been created from your original bitmap. It is always best where possible to work with vectors. Vectors can be made just as large as you need them without any loss in quality. Corel Draw is a program that creates vectors, but incidentally can use bitmaps if imported into your document. Your Corel Photopaint module, which interfaces with Corel is a bitmap editing program. A basic understanding of these two file formats is essential in working with your laser.
Good luck,
Let us know if you need further help.

[Tony Lenkic]

Hi Dee,

Fonts I used were Futura MD BT, Trebuchet MS & Zurich BlkXT BT for phone #
Matching the fonts is hardest in this case. Redrawing logo is easy part as you know.

[Larry Bratton]

Hi Dee,

Fonts I used were Futura MD BT, Trebuchet MS & Zurich BlkXT BT for phone #
Matching the fonts is hardest in this case. Redrawing logo is easy part as you know.

Agreed, it took me longer to figure out the fonts than drawing the couple of ellipses and a rectangle. I used Franklin Gothic Medium and Impact for the Western and the phone number.

[Dee Gallo]

Thanks Tony and Larry, I need to get some more fonts installed. Apparently a couple hundred isn't enough...

cheers, dee

[Jared Greenberg]

I'm in the process of taking another logo and using some suggestions from above. Will upload once complete.

[Jared Greenberg]

This was a pretty simple logo, with a couple of of ellipse's and I knew the font.

[Larry Bratton]

This was a pretty simple logo, with a couple of of ellipse's and I knew the font.

Huh? If that's the case, why did we do what we did? What am I missing here?

[Jared Greenberg]

I wasn't aware of how to do it before Dee explained the process; so you're not really missing anything.

I thought you took an image clicked the convert and away you went. I did not know you had to actually trace the objects with the tool bar on the left in Corel.

[George M. Perzel]

Jared;
You really don't have to convert anything or need it in vector format if the image (jpg,bmp) is high enough resolution-especially if you have a large image and are shrinking it down to laser=just drag it into Coreldraw and laser it. If you are going the oither way-small image to big, you'll probably get a lot of jaggies which will make the image a bit fuzzy-then vectorize it by tracing.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[Dee Gallo]

I wasn't aware of how to do it before Dee explained the process; so you're not really missing anything.

I thought you took an image clicked the convert and away you went. I did not know you had to actually trace the objects with the tool bar on the left in Corel.

Hi Jared,

For future reference, not everyone uses the same version of CorelDraw as you, so saved anything you want to share in v.9 (the option is given as you save on the right side of the window). I could not open the file you posted, but I'm glad my post helped you to try doing it yourself!

As Mike mentioned, it is not always necessary to re-draw, although I always do. Sometimes you can convert the image to B&W line art and then trace for good results. But be careful - sometimes you get extra stuff in there you can't see (hairlines, nodes, shapes) that will surprise you when you go to print and especially when you cut. As you get more proficient with CD, there are hundreds of things to learn.

cheers, dee

[Larry Bratton]

Ohhh OK. Great! Glad you learned something. Actually you can use the Trace feature to automate the process, but you need good quality bitmaps to achieve good results with that. Good luck in the future.

[Jared Greenberg]

Hi Jared,

For future reference, not everyone uses the same version of CorelDraw as you, so saved anything you want to share in v.9 (the option is given as you save on the right side of the window). I could not open the file you posted, but I'm glad my post helped you to try doing it yourself!

cheers, dee

Dee, can you explain exact on the right side of the window...for future questions.

I took the logo I traced, and engraved it on the back of a cell phone cover. Turned out good for my first go at it. I followed the settings in the manual, but they were a little bit off. I tried to color fill it as well, but should have used a mask. All in all it turned out good for my first run at it.

On more complex images is free handing the way to go as far as tracing?

[Tony Lenkic]

Jared - What Dee is saying is when saving your file window will popup where you have choice to save in an earlier version of CDR. If file is saved as CDR version 9 every one can open it. I also like to "Publish to PDF" (found under File/publish to pdf drop down menu) so people without Corel can view/print/open with another program.

[Martin Boekers]

I know this is finished, but this may help if you don't have much time on your next project.

I opened the file in PS converted back to grey scale (was index color make sure you start with greyscale.)
Be careful with converting to an eps as you have watch how you save it. The default for this may have cost you resolution and file size.

Next I went to image and kicked up the resolution to 600dpi.

Then I went to levels and move the "White" balance slider to the left.
(always check your white levels esp. with lower resolution graphics if it's not "pure white" you will get a box around it.)

then sharpened it up a bit. Although what I got isn't as good as recreating it
it took less than a minute to achieve.

So just another tool to play with, sometimes if its real jaggy I'll knock it out of focus
a bit then do the level and sharpen.

I tried to upload it but for whatever reason it wouldn't let me? I changed sizes formats etc.
gave a red ! but wouldn't tell me why?
If you PM me with an email I'll send it off to you. PM's don't allow attachments. That way you
can see the difference from doing it right or a quick fix.

One thing though, since you already recreated this you may want to check with the client
and see if you can make the font bolder and a bit bigger on the "est." part. That may
disappear on wood.