This lesson shows how to load an image in order to vectorize it so that it can be cut/penned/debossed/vinyled. A large, clean image is the best to work with. Any distortions in your original image will be repeated when it is made into a vector. 

Click the Vectorize tab.  

Click the Load File Image* button. 

*Alternatively, you could click the Take Picture or Load Server Image button.

Locate and click on the desired image to select it and click Open. 

The Design Bounds shows the current size of the image. If you need to resize the image, do it before you Vectorize/draw over the image. If you resize the image after vectorizing/drawing over it, only the image and the Design Bounds are resized, not the actual drawn/vectorized objects. 

If you need to scale the vectorized/drawn design, see Scaling Designs.

Enter the desired width of the image in the Width field in the Design Bounds section.  

The Height field will automatically adjust proportionately.

This also works vice versa if you have the desired Height. 

If desired, click on the Vectorize tab, move the Opacity slider toward the left to reduce the background image and make the vector segments easier to see as you are drawing.

Move the slider to the right to increase the visibility of the background image, which may make the drawn vector shapes harder to see.

Note that adjusting the image opacity will not have any affect on how the image vectorizes.

Click on the Vectorize Tab.

Click on the Vectorize button.

The image is vectorized.

Zoom in/out on the design as needed to make the object easier to edit.

I want to make adjustments to the vectorization to smooth out the segments of the larger letters to make them easier to cut. For this particular design, I'm ignoring the small letters on the top and bottom of the license plate since we'll be deleting them from the final design.

Make the desired adjustments to the vectorization adjustment fields and click the Vectorize button to revectorize it.

The adjustments available include:

• Turn Policy

• Ignore Area

• Tolerance

• Angle Limit

• Threshold

• Optimize

Continue making adjustments until the vectorized design reaches the desired outcome. 

After vectorizing the design, you may need to manually make the final tweaking adjustments.

If the vectorization still is unacceptable no matter what adjustments you make, try adjusting a copy of the image in your favorite image editor before loading it as the background image. 

Try:

• Increasing the contrast

• Changing the image to black and white

• Increasing the image size

• Increasing the image DPI

• Reducing the number of artifacts

The more that you can do to make the desired edges of the image stand out, the easier it is for the software to find and draw along the edges that you want.

If the vectorization of the design becomes a jumbled mess after experimenting with the vectorization adjustments, you can start completely over by clicking the Set To Defaults button. 

This will return all of the vectorization fields back to their default values and settings. 

Click the Vectorize button again to revectorize the design with the default values.

When you have vectorized the design, you can delete any unwanted objects to make editing and tracing easier.

Click on the Trace and Draw tab.

Hold down the CTRL key and select each object that you want to delete, such as the small letters on the bottom of this license plate image. 

Hit the Delete button.

The unwanted objects are deleted.

Check for Artifacts

Move the Opacity slider toward the left to reduce the background image and make the vector segments easier to see.

Zoom in/out of the design and make sure the lines and arcs are clean and don't display any artifacts. Remember that any distortions in your original image will be repeated when it is made into a vector. The image we used here had a lot of artifacts and shadows in the image, so it was not a clean image to start with.

If you have no other image to work from, and editing the image as described in If Vectorizing the Image Produces Garbage above, you will have to edit the vectorization manually.

If you can't move a point or edit the current segment because it selects the whole object, you will have to explode the object. This will break up the object into the individual segments that make it up, which can then be edited separately.

Click on the desired object.

Click the Explode button.

The objects is now broken up into the individual segments which can now each be edited separately.

Optionally, Click Edit > Explode All to break up the entire design into its individual segments.

After vectorizing the design, you can go back and move the points in order to tweak the design.

Click and hold the mouse on the end-point of the segment you wish to move.

Drag the point to where you want to move it and release the mouse button to place it. 

The point is moved.

Sometimes editing a line/arc doesn't give the expected results. In those cases, it may be easier to just delete the line/arc and redraw it. 

Before deleting the specific line/arc, you will need to explode it from any objects it is joined to. 

If you need to edit only a segment of an enclosed object, see Explode Object into Segments to Edit Separately above to break it up into editable segments.

Hold down the CTRL key and click on each segment you want to delete.

Click the Delete button.

The segments are deleted.

If you need to edit only a segment of an enclosed object, see Explode Object into Segments to Edit Separately above to break it up into editable segments.

Select the desired segment and hit the Delete button. 

The segment is deleted.

Click on the Draw radio button.

Select the desired drawing tool, such as Line or Arc.

Right-click on the end-point of the segment you want to start drawing from. 

Either click to place the next point or if drawing between segments, or right-click to snap to an existing point such as the first point of the next segment item.

Continue drawing and editing the design until it is completed.

Once your design is finished, connect the segments together so that it can be traced.

Click Edit > Join All Segments.

The segments are joined. 

You can confirm that the objects are joined by moving the cursor over the objects. 

If the entire object turns white, it is connected. 

However, if only the current segment under the cursor turns white, you will have to manually join the segments.

Click Edit > Convert Arcs to Splines. The splines can be tangified with less distortion, which will give a smoother cutting path for the design.

Click on Edit > Tangify all Circuits. This makes each arc tangent to each other for smoother cutting.

The degree of tangification is set in the Tangify field; the default is six degrees.

Trace the CutArt.

Save the CutArt.

Load the CutArt.

Cut the CutArt.

Optionally, you can also bring the CutArt straight to the Cut Preview from Trace.

The vectorized design is completed.