Designers and illustrators often manually trace photos or sketches to get a vector version of the same. But in some scenarios, Adobe Illustrator's built-in raster-to-vector conversion feature is the best way to move forward. It eases the design process and saves time. In this guide, we'll learn how to vectorize raster images in the best possible way. If you're good at sketching, simple and straightforward designs must be vectorized through the built-in tool. Otherwise, go for the manual tracing process for the complex designs. Once you get the hang of it, you'll prefer automated vectorization in certain conditions.
Third-party vectorization tools either do not give the desired results or are available only as a paid tool. With Illustrator, you get a built-in image vectorization feature at no extra cost.
If you are already using this feature but are not happy with the results, this tutorial will help you tweak and customize the right settings to get the correct image vectorization result.
Raster vs Vector: What’s the Difference?
Before diving into the actual process, let's quickly see the difference between the two formats. It'll give you a clearer picture of why vectorization is necessary for designs and illustrations.
In a nutshell, raster images lose quality when zoomed in, whereas vectors are infinitely scalable without affecting the quality.
Now, let's start learning the raster-to-vector conversion process in Adobe Illustrator.
Step 1: Choose the Right Image
Before you launch Adobe Illustrator, you must ensure you are picking the right image that'll convert well in the application. The best results come from:
- High-resolution images
- Images having clear edges and strong contrasting colors
- Images with simple shapes and solid color fills
For best results, avoid the following:
- Low quality and blurry images
- Too many gradients
- Complex photos with no clear edges
For demo purposes, here's a sample PNG image we'll convert to the vector format.
Now that we have selected an image, let's move on to the next step.
Step 2: Open and Select the Image in Illustrator
First, we'll open and select the image in Adobe Illustrator.
- Launch Illustrator and go to the File → Open option. You can also use the Ctrl + O key combination.
- Select the JPG/PNG image you want to convert through the file opening dialogue box.
- If the image is large, press the Shift + O key to resize the artboard to fit the dimensions of the image.
- Now press the Ctrl + 0 key to fit the artboard in the workspace window.
- Finally, click on the image to select it. A blue bounding box around the image indicates it's currently selected.
Step 3: Open the Image Trace Panel and Choose a Preset
Now that the image is opened and selected, it's time to start the conversion process. Here's how to go ahead.
- Open the image trace panel through the Window → Image Trace menu option. It is also available on the top toolbar, but I recommend opening the full-fledged panel as it gives you granular control over tracing attributes.
- Instead of fine-tuning every tracing parameter from scratch, you can use the most common presets available in this panel to speed up the conversion process. The following are the most used presets and their common use cases:
- High Fidelity Photo: Use for detailed tracing with many colors. (slow process and heavier file size)
- Low Fidelity Photo: Use for images with fewer colors. Gives an artistic look.
- 3 Colors / 6 Colors / 16 Colors: Use for simple poster-style tracing.
- Shades of Gray: Needless to say, it's good for grayscale images.
- Black and White Logo: Use it for logos and solid shapes.
- Outline: Use it for only tracing the edges in the image.
- Depending on your use case, select the appropriate preset and wait for the preview to appear after the tracing is complete.
Step 4: Refine with Advanced Settings and Expand the Vector
Most of the time, simply choosing a preset doesn't give you the desired output. To remedy this issue, you need to fine-tune the tracing attributes to improve the tracing process as per your needs.
By default, advanced options are in a collapsed state in the image tracing panel. Click the Image Trace → Advanced option to expand it.
The following attributes can be tweaked to improve the tracing result:
- Threshold (for black and white preset)
- Lower: More white trace (less detail)
- Higher: More black trace (more detail)
- Paths
- Lower: Few points with a smoother trace
- Higher: More details with jagged trace
- Corners
- Lower: Softer and rounded corners
- Higher: Sharply angled corners
- Noise
- Higher: Omit tiny details in the trace (often used for cleanup)
- Lower: Capture and trace every detail (can mess up the entire image)
Finally, click the Expand button on the toolbar to transform traces into vector paths. You can now edit these paths at will.
Step 5: Clean Up, Recolor, and Edit the Vector
Although all the steps mentioned below are completely optional, generally, a few or all of those are exercised to edit and polish the vector before saving the final copy.
1. Delete Unwanted Areas
Use the 'Direct Selection Tool' (Keyboard shortcut: A) to select and delete the unwanted objects (if any) in your vector image.
2. Merge or Split Shapes
Next, use the 'Shape Builder Tool' (Keyboard shortcut: Shift + M) to merge or split the desired objects in the vector image.
3. Refine Jagged Edges
If there are jagged edges in the vector, use the Smooth tool to reduce the points, straighten, and declutter the object path. You can find this utility under the Pencil tool.
4. Edit Individual Parts from a Group
If you want to edit parts of a group, ungroup them through the Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + G keyboard shortcut. Once editing is done, you can group them again through the Ctrl/Cmd + G shortcut.
In addition to these steps, you may want to recolor, add effects, modify shapes, or add other vectors to the converted image. If yes, go ahead and make the necessary edits.
Step 6: Save and Export the Vector
Once all the editing and tweaking work is finished, it's time to either save or export the SVG file. You can use the File → Save As → .AI option to save the file in .ai format. This way, you can edit it later or make copies of it for distribution.
To save the vector in SVG format, go to the File → Export → Export As... → SVG option. Select the SVG options you want for the vector file. These options are selected based on how and for what purpose you want to use the SVG file.
For general usage, leave the default options as it is and click the OK button to export the SVG file.
Conclusion
Vectorizing images in Illustrator is a core skill every designer should know. Once you master Image Trace and cleanup techniques, you can easily recreate logos, icons, sketches, and artwork that scale infinitely without losing quality.
