Converting Raster to Vector

A
Posted By
A._L.
Feb 14, 2007
Views
292
Replies
9
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Closed
Ok, someone is trying to tell me there is a way through Photoshop you can convert a raster image to a vector image. From all I’ve been taught, this is typically impossible. These are files sent to us, they arrive in pdf format, we bring into photoshop to convert to eps and print. Could someone either prove this theory or agree with me that this is not possible.
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conversion raster vector

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P
Phosphor
Feb 14, 2007
Depends on the nature of the image, and how adept you are with the Pen/Path Tools. Some images just don’t lend themselves to rendering in vectors very well, or very easily.

There are ways to help automate the process <http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bb3a081>, but again, the quality will depend on the nature of the image you start with. This must be decided on a case-by-case basis, and the results of ANY automation will almost always require manual tweaking. Often, the tweaking takes as long—or longer—than tracing the image manually. And if you’re going to do that, it’s smart to use the application meant for the job: Illustrator (or Freehand).

Then, there is Live Trace in Illustrator. This can sort of work. Same caveats here, too.

Bottom line: There is no magic solution. You can tell that "someone" that they are generally wrong.
R
Ram
Feb 14, 2007
Well, depending on the nature of the graphics, you might be able to bring it into a program such as Streamline or Illustrator in order to trace the object and turn it into a vector shape.

But within Photoshop? No way I know of.
MO
Mike_Ornellas
Feb 14, 2007
hmm…

um……
R
Ram
Feb 14, 2007
Right…
A
A._L.
Feb 14, 2007
Well, what they are wanting to clean up the text. We’ll get a file with graphics and text and some type might be so small that the line screen really muddies it up. The only way I’ve ever gotten around this is to clear problem text in photoshop and retype in InDesign. They’re trying to tell me that "oh yeah, you can convert it to vector, I’ve done it before" They are all self taught and thought pagemaker was "da bomb"
MO
Mike_Ornellas
Feb 14, 2007
Then why don’t they do it themselves if it’s that simple.

Cuz it’s not…

Oh – my friend said it’s easy right? Tell them to stick their finger in a hot wall outlet and get back to you if it hurt or not.
P
Phosphor
Feb 14, 2007
"…some type might be so small that the line screen really muddies it up."

Aye, the rub is even bigger than I imagined.

If it’s so easy, perhaps they should be building and sending you files that are comprised of elements and type-point sizes that will print properly based on the output specs you provide to them, n’est pas?
J
jhadmark
Feb 14, 2007
A PDF can contain raster and vector elements. As soon as you open it in Photoshop, you are rasterizing all of the data. It is entirely possible that the original PDF your client is sending is already full of vector data. If you absolutely need to convert it to EPS, open the PDF in Illustrator and save as eps (though this may cause some font issues — you could get around that by placing the PDF in a blank Illustrator document and saving that as an EPS). If at possible print directly from the PDF file. EPS is a dinosaur.
AS
Ann_Shelbourne
Feb 14, 2007
A PDF can contain raster and vector elements. As soon as you open it in Photoshop, you are rasterizing all of the data. >

A Photoshop PDF file won’t rasterize when you re-open it — provided that it was originally saved with "Preserve Photoshop Editing Capabilities" checked.

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