I would like to take a Photoshop image, use magic wand or other selection tool, and make a work path for each selection so I can export them to Illustrator, thereby converting a rasterized graphic into a vector graphic. So far, no matter what I have done, I cannot make perfectly smooth work paths that follow the shape of the rasterized graphic exactly. No matter what I set the tolerance on the magic wand, the work path always looks dinked up. What can I do?
#1
You doing the only thing you can if you don't want to redraw the paths by hand with Illustrator's or Photoshop's pen tools.
I recommend you ditch that plan, roll up your sleeves, and get into the pen tool. Anything less will be lousy.
#2
either that or use masks/alpha channels instead of paths.
#3
Use a high resolution photoshop file. You can blur the image to simplify the path from the start. Use the Smooth filter in Illustrator to simplify the path further. It wont be totally accurate, but it will be smooth.
#4
Yes, you can also use other filters that simplify the image to give a special effect. But blurring helps a lot to smooth out the selection.
If you ALT+click onthe make work path, you can also set the "sensitivity" of the path.
#5