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Jim Huston
07-18-2008, 10:22 AM
I see they now have a desk top version. Is everyone happy with the results from vector magic? Do you think it is worth having?
Thanks

Mike Null
07-18-2008, 10:34 AM
If that's the Stanford program it was when it was free.

Mark Winlund
07-18-2008, 10:58 AM
I threw some files at it when it was online. In my opinion, it is not any better than Corel, worse actually. Their promotion on the web site is BS in my opinion. The files I tried were very similar to their samples, yet did not come out very well at all. This program requires just as much editing, if not more.

Mark

Bruce Volden
07-18-2008, 11:18 AM
I threw some files at it when it was online. In my opinion, it is not any better than Corel, worse actually. Their promotion on the web site is BS in my opinion. The files I tried were very similar to their samples, yet did not come out very well at all. This program requires just as much editing, if not more.

Mark

I'm happy someone said this first!! I tried the "free" version with several files and never had the results their homepage showed. Of course after using it and editing the "after" file I got fantastic results!! Exactly as I would had I stuck with Corel. :D :D

Bruce

Darren Null
07-18-2008, 11:40 AM
it is not any better than Corel, worse actually
Really? I got much better results from it that I got from Corel (X3). In fact, I get better results from AI, the free online Vector Magic, and the free Inkscape app....I'm not that impressed at all with Corel. Maybe X4 is different.

I found Corel lacking in detail, even when you set everything to 11, as compared to other programs. You have to tidy up all the traces afterwards, but you end up with a better image if you have a good one to start up with. Corel to tracing is like cameraphones are to photography...you can get a result if you're not too fussy.

The best trace (to black and white) I've yet found is the Inkscape one. The problem with that is it gives you 5Mb vector files that Corel explodes at the sight of. But lovely detail.

Scott Shepherd
07-18-2008, 1:27 PM
I had the same experience with Vector Magic. I think it does okay, but nothing like their demo. I found the stock settings aren't even close. My "vision" of how it should work is if I put a bitmap of an oval into it, then it should give me something close to a oval when it vectorizes it. However, it ends up as one heck of a mess with little bitty steps, pockets, and just a mess in general.

You can tweak the settings and get it better, but if I have to spend 30 minutes tweaking it, it would have been cheaper for me to pay someone $15 to convert it, someone who does 100's of them weekly, so they are good at it. I just don't have the time to invest in getting good at it.

I use it from time to time, but not as much as I'd like to say I do.

Mike Christen
07-19-2008, 9:34 AM
I second the vote for Inkscape, use it all the time with great results. Best of all it's free

Mike

mike klein
07-20-2008, 7:41 PM
I downloaded the tryout desktop version, tried a few bitmaps and was not satisfied. I have to admit its better than corel. For now, my conversions still go to Eric, the vector doctor. I must say that his work is perfect, everytime.

Mike