Trace in X3... looks bad

[Mitchell Andrus]

Does 'trace' have just one method? I'd like to, for example, scan a circle drawn with a pen on paper, and cut it out.

I scan it in and get a bitmap. In X3, I get a black ring. The closest I can get to a vector line for cutting is a double (traced) line... one inside the ring, and another outside the ring.

Is there a way to split the difference and get one vector line down the middle?

Someone said that Draw 11 had a single line trace option. Did that not make it to X3?

Mitch

[Lee DeRaud]

Off the top of my head, I don't know how the trace "styles" in X3 map to the CorelTrace options in earlier versions. But...

Did you upgrade to X3 from an earlier version? If so (unless you went out of your way to delete it), the old version's CorelTrace app is still there, just a bit less convenient to get at.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Naw, fresh brandy-new X3 out of the box.

Mitch

[Lee DeRaud]

Wonder if Corel will sell you (cheap, preferably free) a copy of v12 CorelTrace? Can't hurt to ask...

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Mitch;
Yeah- I have the same problem, but luckily kept a copy of Corel 12 on my computer. It appears that, in their haste to make Trace a part of Draw, that Corel decided to eliminate a lot of the options/features of the previous stand-alone version-at least I haven't been able to access things like "centerline" trace, a neat solution to the double line problem you mentioned.
Maybe there's a way to do it in X3 but I haven't found it.
George

[Mitchell Andrus]

I recieved these replies at another forum..

>> There is no centerline trace in X3 and I have never really used it in 12 but it requires a 1-bit image, only black and white. If you have to get 12 and you can buy student software, it is going for dirt cheap at the academicsuperstor.com.

There is no substitution sometimes in being able to draw and trace by hand.<<

>>Scan the image in B&W.
Trace using High quality
move the detail slider all the way to the right.
Under options remove background specify color and using the eye dropper remove the white.
Click ok. Whe it is finniahed you should only have the black object. You might need to clean up some nodes depending on the quality of the art scanned and the quality of your scan.
This should render a object that will have one line for your cutter.<<


I think I'll see if I can get Corel 12...

Mitch<!-- / message -->



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[Rodne Gold]

With X3 and its snap options , dynamic guidelines and so forth , the way to do this is import the scan , lock it and use the draw tools to recreate it using the scan as an underlay. The centreline option is hopeless for any device that is capable of any precison and caused more problems than it was worth. We have vinyl cutters , lasers , and multiple engravers and have never had any joy whatsoever in using centreline in any version of corel and found it a useless option.
Centreline can ONLY work with 1 bit scans and if you scan anything that is NOT just black , you will lose a lot of stuff when converting.
In essence you need a sophisticated CAD raster to vector covertor to do this properly , there are a few on the net , google "raster to vector software free" or the like

[Mitchell Andrus]

Draw over the scan... Yea, I putzed around with that too. I just know the first time I tell someone that I'm going to charge them $60.00/hour to redraw their art, I'm in for a long explanation.

No fast solutions here....

Can't wait for the first time art comes over the fax machine.....

Mitch

[George M. Perzel]

Hi All;
With all due respect to our esteemed colleague, Rodne, in South Africa, the centerline trace function (available in C12 but not X3) is very usefull for providing quick vector traces of objects/art where accuracy is not critical. I use it all the time for wood/veneer inlays of objects/logos-not a big deal if the object is 1.25" or 1.28", as long as the insert and cavity are the same size. True, it only works on 1 bit black and white images, but that's all inlaying is anyway. Cheers
George