Adobe Creative Suite 2 How-Tos: 100 Essential Techniques

#39. Using Live Trace

Years ago, Adobe Streamline was the definitive tool to take your scanned bitmap images and convert them into vector artwork so you could continue to work on them within Illustrator. Now this can be done directly within Illustrator CS2 using the new Live Trace feature. Live Trace automatically converts your placed images into vector graphics with a click of a button. If you're not satisfied with the default results, change the settings (or the placed image) and Illustrator dynamically updates the vector artwork in response.

Although there are a couple of different ways to apply a Live Trace to your selected image, the most convenient is to use the new Control palette (see #17). Once you click the Live Trace button (Figure 39a) in the Control palette, your image is immediately converted to vector artwork.

Notice that once you apply Live Trace, the Control palette options change, presenting new options for your tracing. You can select a different tracing preset, adjust the threshold and minimum area, select different preview options, expand the artwork into editable paths, or convert the tracing to a Live Paint group (Figure 39b). All of these options except Expand and Live Paint allow you to freely experiment with different settings and automatically update the tracing. After you decide on a set of tracing settings you're pleased with, convert your tracing to a Live Paint group (see #40) by clicking the Live Paint button.