Hi All,

I am a true Newbie to this. I have watched several videos showing how to trace a bitmap, however it doesn't show the steps when you think your done? How do I get the traced bitmap to save. I am not sure what the finished project should look like. I would greatly appreciate any help you can send my way.

The trace tools offer scanning the bitmap in 8 colors and a few more options that you can experiment with.
In this trace, you can see the effect of reducing the colors to eight, the image has a poster style look to it.


Once it is traced, the paths cen be edited and the bitmap can be deleted to reduce file size.

Hi Tyler.
Thank you for the link to the manual. My new favorite bookmark. I follow what you say about reducing it to 8, however once I have the bitmap traced with background remove, I am not sure what I do next? You said something about deleting the bitmap, but why/ Also how to I save the new bitmap trace into a file? Like I said I am a newbie and have never worked with this editing of photo's. If there is a step by step tutorial on making a photo a traced bitmap and wht you do after you have it traced? Thank you

Lori

You might search the web for information on the differences between editing images with vectors (Inkscape, Illustrator) or editing with bitmaps aka rasters (Gimp, Photoshop). Depending on your goals, each type (vector, raster) has benefits/drawbacks. Many people work with both types of programs for print media, web, games and apps, CNC, crafting, etc.

What is your interest in working with images?

For basic understanding of how Inkscape works and how you might use it, the tutorials in the Inkscape program Help menu are well worth your time.

Hi Tyler,

Again thank for the advise, I will keep reading. It is hard to follow sometimes when I have never done this before and don't know the basics. My interest in images is I have a woodcarving machine and would like to make signs, Name Plaques, Address Plaques and other stuff. Have a great day

Lori