Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

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MZAdotcom
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Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby MZAdotcom » Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:32 pm

Hello all!

My 1st post, very excited. Though a newbie, I have fallen in LOVE with Inkscape and am becoming more and more enamoured with everything SVG as of late.

On to my question: I need help using the "Trace Bitmap" function correctly and effectively with a drawing of mine. The goal is to turn the pencil art drawing into what looks like an ink one with clean lines. Then, hopefully, I can add color to it, which is another process I have learn.

If there's another tool besides "Trace Bitmap" to achieve what I'm trying to do, please let me know.

The drawing I'm working with:

Image

Any and all help will be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance, cheers!

MZÄ

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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby microUgly » Wed Sep 19, 2012 10:18 pm

You won't be able to cheat with a drawing like that. Pull out the pen tool and start laying down nodes :)

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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby MZAdotcom » Thu Sep 20, 2012 5:13 pm

I was afraid of that. My drawing is a bit much for the "Trace Bitmap" function, though I've managed to get output that's semi-usable with some experimentation. Dang it if I weren't on a time crunch. The client I'm working for has just discovered vector art and wants to use it for this project.

Ok, so to be a complete newbie for a moment: the pen tool's the one in the red box below?...

Image

Also, are there any good tutorials for laying down nodes that can get me started?

Appreciate the help,

MZÄ

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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby brynn » Thu Sep 20, 2012 11:52 pm

If you hover the mouse over any button, a tiny bit of text will show up within a second or 2, idetifying what it is or what it does. http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL ... atomy.html Also http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Paths.html might be helpful :D

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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby Xav » Fri Sep 21, 2012 3:55 am

You might be able to use Trace Bitmap (depending on what sort of result you're looking for), but the original image will need some work first. I would suggest tracing the individual object outlines using dense black ink pens, then scanning those. Tidy up the scan using a bitmap editor, and possibly adjust the colour curve to make the black blacker (rather than the grey colour it's likely to be after scanning). You may not need to adjust the colour, but I always do. Import the image(s) into Inkscape and then Trace Bitmap. You'll get a single complex path. If you traced multiple objects in one image you can then separate them by duplicating the path, drawing a rough path round objects, and using the boolean operations to cut them out (doing it that way is faster than trying to delete lots of nodes using :tool_node: ). Finally you can rearrange your objects back into the positions you want for them, and colour them if necessary.

As an example, here's what we (me and my colleague, Vince) for our 'Monsters, Inked' comic:

1) Vince draws a pencil sketch of the characters, props or objects we need. We usually try to work with separate parts, rather than do the comic as a single image (apart from anything else, it makes it easier to re-use parts in other strips). There's lots of rubbing out and redrawing at this stage to get the image right.

2) He inks the drawing using dense black ink pens. Sometimes small mistakes are made, which we tidy up in the computer later.

3) The pencil marks are erased as well as we can. Any remaining marks are removed in the computer.

4) I scan the image and load it into The GIMP. I adjust the colour curve to give me a clear black outline to work with (example image attached - rescaled to 25% of the size I work with). At this stage I'll use the tools in The GIMP to do some minor cleanup or adjustments.

Prof_magnifying_glass.jpg
Scanned version of a pencil and ink drawing
Prof_magnifying_glass.jpg (10.2 KiB) Viewed 23614 times


5) The image is dropped into Inkscape and I use Trace Bitmap. That results in the attached SVG file - one big path with lots of nodes. Some minor node editing may take place at this stage, but we steer clear of using "Simplify" as it gets rid of too many details (one day I hope that Simplify will work on a selection of nodes, rather than all of them...). That results in big SVG files (by our standards, at least) which is one reason why we don't make these comics available for download (unlike our Greys comics, for which we provide the Inkscape files). The result is this:

Prof_magnifying_glass_outline.svg
Drawing outline, traced in Inkscape
(62.17 KiB) Downloaded 580 times


6) Finally I colour the image. Some people put the outline onto a separate layer to do this, but I just work on one layer. I flood fill large areas, then tidy up with :tool_node: afterwards. Much of our 'Monsters, Inked' artwork is flat shaded, but if I do add shadows and highlights they tend to be just drawn on by hand using :tool_pen: . Finally I group the outline and coloured panels to give me a single grouped object that I can easily move around. The final character then looks something like this:

Prof_magnifying_glass_colour.svg
Drawing coloured in Inkscape
(88.46 KiB) Downloaded 480 times


7) The final step is to combine this character with various other objects that we've drawn, scanned, traced and coloured to produce a final comic:

Image


Hopefully that might help to de-mystify the process a little, but be aware that this is just the way we do things, it's not necessarily the right or best way ;)
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RE: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby MZAdotcom » Sun Sep 23, 2012 3:43 pm

First, thank you brynn, Xav and, previously, microUgly, for all your suggestions and help, it is VERY much appreciated.

I'm keenly looking @ all of the advice/tips provided. Xav: I'm blown away by the effort and detail of your reply. Man, you ROCK! Long ago I did comic books for the amusement of myself/close friends. Your work reminds me of a lot of those items years ago. Nice stuff, by the way. Yes, I checked out all of your profiles/links, ladies and gents.

Ok, I know about the hovering over icons to get a bit more info about them. Being a newbie, though, I was looking for one simply labeled “pen tool”/etc, which none of the pen tools are.

So as it stands now, the biggest challenge for me is going to be understanding and then implementing nodes to the semi-intricate drawing I'm working with. I've seen a few videos @ Youtube, but none really were clear or concise enough to follow for me.

I'm in the process of reading, rereading & reading once more any and everything Inkscape-related, including the fantastic, built-in manual. Xav: as far as your awesome tutorial here for me, I'm going to follow it and see what I can come up with. I'm sure I'll have questions.

Thanks again, everyone. I have a good feeling about all this. Cheers.

MZÄ

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RE: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby MZAdotcom » Sat Oct 06, 2012 3:59 pm

Just a quick update. This is what the project is looking like so far. As it stands now, the image is mostly raster and some vector. My goal is to go back and completely rasterize [that a word?] the image once I'm able enough with Inkscape.

Cheers.

Image

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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby druban » Sat Oct 06, 2012 5:15 pm

For a so-called newbie you seem to be exceptionally proficient! Nice going.
Off topic:
Is this the theme, "All around the world"? I only ask because a student of mine did a similar illustration for her eigth grade yearbook cover last year, on that theme...
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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby MZAdotcom » Sun Oct 07, 2012 4:54 pm

I need help with a new challenge: :tool_paintbucket: and Fill and Stroke worked perfectly with coloring, but now when I go to fill any part with color, it either crashes the program or fills in a very bizarre way. Before I set out, I've zoomed in to make sure every area I'm about to fill is "bounded" using :tool_pen: and there are no unconnected sections.

As you can see in the pics below, before I could fill any area, such as the tomato, tennis racket or continents/water on the globe. Here I was trying to fill in one of the squares in the boys sweater to red, instead I get a big blob fill.

Image

Image

This happens on any area on the page. Don't know what I'm doing wrong. I haven't changed ANY settings/etc. Kind of need help on this right away, if possible. I'm sweating over here because of a time crunch. Thank you!

druban: Appreciate the kind words! Yes, I am indeed a newbie but have totally fell in love with Inkscape, vector and SVG art/design. Trying to use and learn everyday. This image is actually part of a logo I'm designing for a client and it's suppose to depict kids from all around the world eating right and being active. Cheers!

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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby druban » Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:45 pm

1) check to see if your grow/shrink setting in thee bucket control bar has become very large.

2) if your :tool_paintbucket: preferences are set to use 'last used style' there might be a large stroke being added to the area rather than just a fill. To check for this all you have to do is glance down at the bottom left at the fill and stroke indicators.

I offer these suggestions because it looks like it actually is filling a square and then adding a large rounded border to it.

Also, what is your 'fill by' rule set to in the :tool_paintbucket: control bar? Is it set to anything other than lightness?

You might also try switching to the 'outline' view mode to see what is really happening, because in this mode the strokes are not seen, so you can clearly see the border of the new path created by the bucket...
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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby Xav » Sun Oct 07, 2012 9:13 pm

My money's on Druban's first suggestion. Looking at the first screenshot, it looks like the Grow/Shrink is set to 31.70px. For comparison, the picture I posted earlier was filled with a Grow/Shrink setting of 0.5px. This value may need to be adjusted based on the size of the image and thickness of the outlines, but 31.70px seems a bit too large to me.
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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby MZAdotcom » Thu Oct 11, 2012 5:06 pm

druban, xav: you guys are life-savers! Having Grow/shrink set so high was the problem. Don't know how it happened in the first place, but everything's back to normal now. Thanks a million! Back to the project I go.

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RE: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby MZAdotcom » Tue Oct 30, 2012 4:14 pm

Hi, all. Finally done with the project.

Image

Whew, was a FANTASTIC learning experience with Inkscape, one which I'll be able to use on so many other images/ideas moving forward. Thank you very much, Xav, druban, brynn and microUgly, for lending a hand. Couldn't have done this without you guys and gals.

All the best, cheers. :D

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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby brynn » Tue Oct 30, 2012 6:54 pm

Awesome!!

I'm so impressed that you stuck with the project, and didn't back down after learning that it wasn't going to be so easy as tracing. You learned a lot in a very short time! Very nice work :D

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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby MZAdotcom » Wed Oct 31, 2012 4:27 pm

Thank you, brynn! I actually love a good challenge, so that's the attitude I took into this deal. In the end, it paid off big dividends for me :mrgreen: .

Noticed that there's a section called "Finished Inkscape Work", should I put this work there, too? Or is it for 100% vector/Inkscape output, my project being mostly raster and some vector?

Also, now that I have the time, I would like to friend everyone who offered me a hand on here, including yourself. How do I go about doing that?

Cheers! :D
Last edited by MZAdotcom on Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby brynn » Wed Oct 31, 2012 10:16 pm

Oh gosh, I didn't even realize that it wasn't all vector! You're welcome to post it in Finished Work subforum. It's for any work done in Inkscape, even if it's only a little bit Inkscape. It doesn't matter if some of it isn't vector. Some people post images in individual topics now and then. And others post all their images in one topic. It just depends on how you see yourself using it.

I'm not sure what you mean by "friend everyone". I might guess you mean either direct links to members' Facebook pages, or sometimes I've seen forums which have that kind of feature. Or like I think deviantArt does. Well, actually this forum does have Friends and Foes in the User Control Panel. I know that Foes is used if for example, some member annoys you and you don't want to see their messages. You can put them in the Foes list and not see their messages. I'm actually not sure what Friends is for. I think perhaps it puts some kind of icon in the topic index, indicating that one of your friends has a message in there. That would be easy enough for you to experiment with, and you don't need permission to do it.

This forum does not have direct links to Facebook, unless a member has put a link into their forum signature. Personally, I don't have a Fb account, and I'm not even sure which members do and which don't. But to show appreciation, I think we're all really satisfied with a simple Thank You :D

And since you've already said thank you, I'll say -- you're welcome :D

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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby Xav » Thu Nov 01, 2012 1:36 am

MZAdotcom wrote:Noticed that there's a section called "Finished Inkscape Work", should I put this work there, too? Or is it for 100% vector/Inkscape output, my project being mostly raster and some vector?


I would definitely suggest posting it there. That section is a great resource and source of inspiration and I think this piece belongs there as much as any other.

As Brynn mentioned, you could either post it as a one-off topic, or start a topic into which you'll post all your works (assuming there will be more to come). If they're likely to be frequent, I would suggest the latter (there are now 100 of my Greys strips - if they'd each been a separate post I think people would have got fed up with them 'spamming' the forum). If you think you'll only be posting every now and then, on the other hand, then each image might warrant its own post, especially if there's no real common theme between them.


MZAdotcom wrote:Also, now that I have the time, I would like to friend everyone offered me a hand on here, including yourself. How do I go about doing that?


Again, reiterating what Brynn said, the forum doesn't really have a notion of friending people - or at least not as a mechanism for improving points, likes, karma, or whatever term is used on other sites. As for myself, you're more than welcome to follow my comic creations on Facebook or Twitter (see my sig for links) - they're both low traffic, being mainly used for a weekly(ish) announcement of each new comic and not much else.


Finally, a question: which parts of your drawing aren't vectors? And is there a particular reason why that's the case?
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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby MZAdotcom » Fri Nov 02, 2012 11:17 am

brynn and Xav: Thanks for the quick replies and advice! :D

brynn wrote:Oh gosh, I didn't even realize that it wasn't all vector! You're welcome to post it in Finished Work subforum. It's for any work done in Inkscape, even if it's only a little bit Inkscape. It's for any work done in Inkscape, even if it's only a little bit Inkscape. It doesn't matter if some of it isn't vector. Some people post images in individual topics now and then. And others post all their images in one topic. It just depends on how you see yourself using it."


Xav wrote:I would definitely suggest posting it there. That section is a great resource and source of inspiration and I think this piece belongs there as much as any other.

As Brynn mentioned, you could either post it as a one-off topic, or start a topic into which you'll post all your works (assuming there will be more to come). If they're likely to be frequent, I would suggest the latter (there are now 100 of my Greys strips - if they'd each been a separate post I think people would have got fed up with them 'spamming' the forum). If you think you'll only be posting every now and then, on the other hand, then each image might warrant its own post, especially if there's no real common theme between them."


Very awesome to hear. I wanted to make sure, since, again, this image isn't "pure"/100% vector. As to if I'm going to post more vector images now that I have a basic hold on the concept, we shall see. I would LOVE to experiment and come up with some original stuff, like a lot of the works posted in the "Finished Inkscape Work" section. My plans @ the moment are to go back and "vectorify", to quote George W. Bush, all my artwork that will benefit from it. I have about 100 pieces to go through. Plus, I've never done coloring, so most of my stuff is in black and white. But with Inkscape, it's a snap to add color, in my humble opinion. Very excited about the prospect of going back and adding different layers to my works.


brynn wrote:I'm not sure what you mean by "friend everyone". I might guess you mean either direct links to members' Facebook pages, or sometimes I've seen forums which have that kind of feature. Or like I think deviantArt does. Well, actually this forum does have Friends and Foes in the User Control Panel. I know that Foes is used if for example, some member annoys you and you don't want to see their messages. You can put them in the Foes list and not see their messages. I'm actually not sure what Friends is for. I think perhaps it puts some kind of icon in the topic index, indicating that one of your friends has a message in there. That would be easy enough for you to experiment with, and you don't need permission to do it.

This forum does not have direct links to Facebook, unless a member has put a link into their forum signature. Personally, I don't have a Fb account, and I'm not even sure which members do and which don't. But to show appreciation, I think we're all really satisfied with a simple Thank You :D"


Xav wrote:Again, reiterating what Brynn said, the forum doesn't really have a notion of friending people - or at least not as a mechanism for improving points, likes, karma, or whatever term is used on other sites. As for myself, you're more than welcome to follow my comic creations on Facebook or Twitter (see my sig for links) - they're both low traffic, being mainly used for a weekly(ish) announcement of each new comic and not much else."


brynn: I'm in the same boat as you when it comes to Facebook. I do have an account there created years ago, but hardly ever log in. Maybe once every couple of months. I should probably just close it down. VERY reluctant/hesitant about social media sites and the privacy questions they bring up. That said, I thought there might be a way to be friends with people who've helped me on here through the forum itself. But if there's no real mechanism for that, no worries. I know who you guys are. :mrgreen:

Xav: I will definitely follow you, however I can. I will Stumble your pages, for sure. Not sure if you're familiar with StumbleUpon, great bookmarking/webpage fave'ing site. I've already checked your alien/humor work, The Greys, @ all of your links @ your signature here. Funny stuff! Nice work.


Xav wrote:Finally, a question: which parts of your drawing aren't vectors? And is there a particular reason why that's the case?"


Great question. For me, the biggest factor in this whole experience was the time crunch. I had to finish the project in a certain time period *while* learning a brand new concept/program. I simply could not go and lay down nodes on the entire hand drawn image, what with work/life/my main writing/graphic design projects. So, the parts created with Inkscape are:

    - bits of the kids, like maybe a section of clothing/etc.
    - ALL of the coloring
    - the kid's eyes
    - the veins/details in the fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices
    - finally, there are parts that I have not included in the posted image here for privacy reasons, like the actual logo [above the image] and info about the project [below the image] that were created with Inkscape.

Everything else, I hand drew and inked the old-fashioned way. I want to add that I very much appreciated your tutorial in the earlier replies. That still blows my mind! I studied it and will go back and impliment the concepts you suggested in the future.

Again, thanks again guys/gals. Cheers. :P

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Re: Help ~ Effectively Using Trace Bitmap with Drawing

Postby Xav » Fri Dec 28, 2012 8:42 am

Although I've already mentioned this over in my "The Greys" thread in the Finished Work area, it seems appropriate to put it here as well...

I've made a timelapse video of one of our 'Monsters, Inked' strips being created - drawn, scanned, edited, traced, coloured, composited and lettered. Though the pace does speed up as the video progresses, so you can't really follow all the fine details of the process. Nevertheless, if anyone wants to see how we create our comics in the form of an 8 hour process compressed down to a couple of minutes, follow the link below.

WARNING: Contains flashing images.

http://vimeo.com/56377939
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