Best raster-to-Vector software

[Gregg Vaughn]

I spend a lot of time creating vector images from raster using Coreldraw X3. The images I work with rarely convert well with the Coreldraw trace function and I am left with usoig the other Coreldraw drawing features to trace the images.

Does someone know of software that does a much better job than the trace function in Coreldraw?

[Dan Hintz]

Try Inkscape... free, and a much better converter.

[Scott Shepherd]

Better yet, there are many good sources out there that will do it for $15-20 each image. Pay them, charge $60 for doing it and you'll be money ahead.

[Zsolt Paul]

Illustrator's trace is much better than Corel's according to a lot of graphic sites. I had only used Illustrator and I must say its pretty good.

[Ron Chapellaz]

Dan, I recently bought X5 coming up from version 12. In your opinion, do you think inkscape is better than X5? I was amazed at how much things were improved from 12 to X5.

[Dan Hintz]

X5 is vastly improved, but Inkscape still wins hands down.

[Tim Baude]

One of our own creekers offers the service. William Derochers with Excalibur Creations has converted several of my projects for me. His work is awesome and reasonable prices....and the best thing I usually have the same day or within 24-48 hours. I hope it is ok to put his link up...
http://www.excaliburcreations.com/

Even in the process of moving he did a conversion for me..... I would highly reccomend him, especially if you are a newbie, do this part time and have little time to do your own conversions.
Thanks
Tim

[Mike Christen]

I agree with Dan - my vote is for Inkscape, better and faster than any other I have tried, amazing for something that is free

[Jiten Patel]

Inkscape vs Illustrator? I use Illustrator and find it pretty good when converting images to vector. Some edges might be a bit ropey but nothing a little design work wont fix. I have recently tried vector magic which it extremely easy to use and the results are fantastic.

[Mark Ross]

Inkscape is free, I use it and I am happy with it for the most part, based on the price I had to pay.

[Frank Corker]

I would nominate Vector Magic, you used to be able to do it online, but now you can purchase a computer based version and it works very well

[Joe De Medeiros]

I use wintopo, there is a freeware, as well as a professional version, it's very fast and I get good results. I used it for very large cad scans, that seem to break Corel draw. it's best used when you want center line tracing.

[Gregg Vaughn]

Thanks everyone!

[Ross Moshinsky]

I used Inkscape for a simple logo yesterday and it worked wonderfully. The only thing I didn't like was I was working with a color logo and I couldn't figure out how to keep the logo in color. I'm sure I could keep the original image, suck up the color, and fill it back into the letters, but it seems like a few extra steps I would like to not have to deal with. Otherwise, Illustrator's live trace is pretty good. My biggest issue with Illustrator is although it might look nice, when I bring it into Gravostyle the image needs a lot of work to get is grouped back together properly. Their paths can sometimes be a HUGE mess. Sometimes I just say screw it, make a stupid high resolution PDF file and that imports in as almost like a SVG. Obviously this is not good enough for CNC machines, but it works on the laser.

I've also used Vectormagic several times and been happy with the result. If I know the logo is beyond just a basic trace, I have a company in India I deal with that will recreate artwork for me for $10 typically. I'd say I do a 50/50 split between doing the artwork conversion myself and sending it out. I'd say 15-20% of the artwork I receive is not even usable for conversion purposes and I'll either have to find a better image, substitute an image, or flat out deny the service. It's amazing how many people give me 80px images out of a Word document and expect it to engrave wonderfully.

[Ross Moshinsky]

I received a few PMs from people who wanted to know who I work with in India. You may need to be an ASI account holder to work with them. Frankly, I'm not sure if they care. The company is Nittany Creative. So far, I've been mostly happy with them. On highly detailed logos like plants you might find them making substitutions of similar looking artwork. Also sometimes they send me something that doesn't look that great. With that said, I've never had an issue with telling them to fix it and them actually fixing it.