Live Trace resolution

[jttuck]

Please forgive me if this question has been answered before, but when using Live Trace is there any way of improving the resolution? Many times I run a Live Trace all of my straight lines get all messy and look like they were drawn free hand. I am fairly new to this, so I might be using the wrong tool for the job. I want the ability to take a picture and vectorize it. Then go in and change colors and/or remove certain objects. I can vectorize the image, but like I said the lines are not as crisp. I have also found that shadows become hard and flat. Any help would be most appreciated.

Jason

[Jacorre]

You have to play with the settings of your live trace, but even after that the results may not be perfect. The only way to get a great result is if you do the tracing yourself using the pen tool. That way you have full control of what's being traced.

[jttuck]

Originally Posted by Jacorre

You have to play with the settings of your live trace, but even after that the results may not be perfect. The only way to get a great result is if you do the tracing yourself using the pen tool. That way you have full control of what's being traced.

LOL....I was hoping you weren't going to say that. Thanks for your help Jacorre. I am still new to Illustrator and converting images to vectors, so again this next question might show my ignorance, but when using the pen tool, how can I maintain the color and shading of the objects I am converting? Do I have to outline every color/hue, or is their an easier way? What about objects that have fades or gradients?

[Jacorre]

You're basically replicating the original by tracing all the shapes, but you'll have to fill the shapes with the relevant colors, gradients, etc. You could sample the colors off the original using the Eye Dropper tool. Take a look at the following site for examples of vector tutorials. Not all are using Illustrator but the techniques you can learn from.

[75samsonite]

This is the best video tutorial that I could find. This should definitely help.

http://www.howvids.com/Computer/Adob...ize_photos.ad2