A couple questions about Graphic Tracer

[Andy D]

I have been wanting to try this program for a long while, and finally signed up.
At first I didn't care for it, now that I'm getting used to it, I really like it but I
have questions:
1. when I don't have a font and have to download it, is there a quick way to have your program add it into the font list? I have even tried to add a font folder with just the two new fonts I download today & update just that folder... it took forever

2. There's not a crop tool, is there?

3. If I want to export to open in Corel, is there a way to keep the type as fonts?

I know I had more, just can't think of them right now.

 

[GTracer]

Andy,
Thank you for your comments. I keep telling people, "The tool that works the best is the one that you know". If people take a little time to learn the work flow (which is not difficult), and really understand how Graphic Tracer works, they don't want to go back to their old tools. The "update" button in the font database management folder only applies to the fonts that are actually installed on your computer. You typically will not need to update that very often, and yes, it can take a long time to update. I have a folder on my HD that I call download fonts. Inside that folder, I have sub folders for various locations where I download fonts, such as "Dafont". If i download a font, it goes into a designated folder, then in Graphic Tracer, I build a font database for each folder. I have a number of databases in GT, such as Corel, Adobe, Flexi, ect.. If I add fonts to a specific folder, I go to GT and delete my database for that specific folder and then rebuild it with the updated information. Hopefully, this makes sense... if not send me a note through the support portal on the graphicpowers site.
Fonts used in GT are for clean up purposes. New text can be added withing GT with any fonts that you own, even if they are not installed. Once used, they become part of the graphic and are not editable.

Regarding a crop tool... we added in release 9. Check and see what version you are using. If it is not release 9, go to your account page at graphicpowers.com and you can download and run the update.
Here you can see the crop or masking tool in use:

Steve

 

[gabagoo]

I like the sound of this program.... How many people are using this, and what are the limitations? Is it only used for typesetting or can it trace custom designed graphics?...and how good a job does it do on those?

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I have NO idea what you said about the fonts and it sounds like a lot of PITA work. I'm interested in trying it but that sounds confusing

 

[unclebun]

I think he means that rather than have it update the GT font database by scanning the entire Windows folder every time you add a new font, keep a separate folder for various font sources as you download and add them to your computer. Then in GT, make separate databases for each of those downloaded fonts folders, so that when you download a new font, you can just scan and update a small folder instead of the full database of thousands of fonts, which saves time.

 

[Andy D]

Steve, I have removed and re-added my font folder on my desktop a couple of times, tried saving the font folder to my C drive and adding it that way. For some reason your program isn't
matching fonts I know I have in there, do you know what the issue is?

 

[decalman]

Andy,
Thank you for your comments. I keep telling people, "The tool that works the best is the one that you know". If people take a little time to learn the work flow (which is not difficult), and really understand how Graphic Tracer works, they don't want to go back to their old tools. The "update" button in the font database management folder only applies to the fonts that are actually installed on your computer. You typically will not need to update that very often, and yes, it can take a long time to update. I have a folder on my HD that I call download fonts. Inside that folder, I have sub folders for various locations where I download fonts, such as "Dafont". If i download a font, it goes into a designated folder, then in Graphic Tracer, I build a font database for each folder. I have a number of databases in GT, such as Corel, Adobe, Flexi, ect.. If I add fonts to a specific folder, I go to GT and delete my database for that specific folder and then rebuild it with the updated information. Hopefully, this makes sense... if not send me a note through the support portal on the graphicpowers site.
Fonts used in GT are for clean up purposes. New text can be added withing GT with any fonts that you own, even if they are not installed. Once used, they become part of the graphic and are not editable.

Regarding a crop tool... we added in release 9. Check and see what version you are using. If it is not release 9, go to your account page at graphicpowers.com and you can download and run the update.
Here you can see the crop or masking tool in use:

Steve

I do a lot of vector tracing.
I currently use Corel x5.
This GTracer looks like Corel on steroids.
How much is this program?

 

[signage]

I do a lot of vector tracing.
I currently use Corel x5.
This GTracer looks like Corel on steroids.
How much is this program?

Did you even try to do a search on this forum or in google?
It is a subscription software and if memory is correct about $100.00 per year.

 

[decalman]

Did you even try to do a search on this forum or in google?
It is a subscription software and if memory is correct about $100.00 per year.

100 dollars..... WHAT.... DO I LOOK RICH?
The dog needs braces. Sink needs fixing, etc. Plus my KDP needs to be tapped.

A Dodge thing

 

[signage]

100 dollars..... WHAT.... DO I LOOK RICH?
The dog needs braces. Sink needs fixing, etc. Plus my KDP needs to be tapped.

A Dodge thing

If your in business and $100.00 is too much then you are not charging enough, even a handyman needs to be able to buy tools and most are $100.00 +.

Having an extra $100.00 wouldn't make someone rich, sell the dodge and add $0.50 and you could get the tools :-{)-

 

[WildWestDesigns]

You actually have 3 options if I'm looking at the correct place.

$15 a month
$120 a year
$595 Lifetime (essentially perpetual)

Regardless of what my stance is on subscription software, here you have a choice, that's something that I can get behind. As to what one prefers or not and how much they can afford that's specific to them. I'm more about choices.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

We tried it. It was clunky and slow to use and was disappointed by the font ID. I got better results from inkscape for $0.

 

[Andy D]

We tried it. It was clunky and slow to use and was disappointed by the font ID. I got better results from inkscape for $0.

Agreed, the font identification was bad.
I would put art in that had a font I knew I had & it wouldn't identify it.
I could put the font in manually but it wouldn't match anything in the art, like an arch.

 

[decalman]

If your in business and $100.00 is too much then you are not charging enough, even a handyman needs to be able to buy tools and most are $100.00 +.

Having an extra $100.00 wouldn't make someone rich, sell the dodge and add $0.50 and you could get the tools :-{)-

Thanks for the pep talk. Your right, but I'm soo poor. What an awful business man I am. I'm the worst.
I know Jesus though, so I'm Rich in other areas. I will soon retire. Yay . I got 200 a month coming . ( never thought I'd live this long

P.S. that does seem like a baad tracing software.

 

[GTracer]

Agreed, the font identification was bad.
I would put art in that had a font I knew I had & it wouldn't identify it.
I could put the font in manually but it wouldn't match anything in the art, like an arch.

If you were searching for one of your own fonts and Graphic Tracer could not find it, then something was not set up properly. There are three main reasons the FontEye tool in Graphic Tracer does not find the correct font, assuming the program has been correctly set up 1. the font you are trying to identify is not one of the 100,000+ fonts of our online search database or in your own font collection 2. the font has been distorted in some way by a graphic designer (the FontEye can identify a variety of distorted fonts, but not all) 3. the operator has made a procedural error in the setup or in using the program. I conduct regular live interactive webinars showing how the program works, and often do those webinars using graphics provided to me by webinar attendees. I have used this software in my own shop for many years and would be happy to interact with anyone desiring more information. contact info steve@graphicpowers.com

 

[GTracer]

I have been wanting to try this program for a long while, and finally signed up.
At first I didn't care for it, now that I'm getting used to it, I really like it but I
have questions:
1. when I don't have a font and have to download it, is there a quick way to have your program add it into the font list? I have even tried to add a font folder with just the two new fonts I download today & update just that folder... it took forever

2. There's not a crop tool, is there?

3. If I want to export to open in Corel, is there a way to keep the type as fonts?

I know I had more, just can't think of them right now.

Hello Andy,
I just say your post and would like to answer your questions. 1. When you don't have the correct font, Graphic Tracer can often take you to a website like DaFont where you can possibly download it for free, or a commercial site for purchase. If you don't need the actual font, it often will allow you to quickly clean up the type in your graphic using precision vector shapes. Fonts can be quickly added to the search database for you to use with the "quick add" feature. There are instructional videos in how to us that on the Graphic Powers website.
2. There is a crop tool that you can use in the bitmap editing screen. It does have to be used before you vectorize your image. Once the graphic has been vectorized, you are often dealing with multiple objects. Cropping a vector graphic is different than a bitmap. We will have to see if we can possibly make that happen in a future version. For now it is not available.
3. Graphic Tracer accesses font data to identify and clean up text in an image. This happens within the program. No fonts are "installed" into the operating system. Any text in a graphic that is cleaned up is exported as an object. At this time, there is no way we can keep text as a "live" font.
I hope this answers your questions.
Best regards, Steve

 

[Boudica]

Sadly, Andy hasn't been active on the forum for a couple of years now.
As for graphic tracer pro... We used to have it. It was meh.

 

[Johnny Best]

Andy got the Covid shot.

 

[GTracer]

meh??? Really? We all know the program that works the best is always the one you know how to use. With that said, I believe that I could change your mind if you would be willing to spend a little time in a live online demo together. I have been in the sign business for over 35 years, and have used at one time or another various versions of most of the popular programs in the industry. I also realize that every program has it limitations. What is your program of choice for cleaning up graphics?

 

[Boudica]

Yep. Nothing outstanding about Graphic Tracer. It was no better or worse than anything else. I use Illustrator when I need to trace something. Between Vector Magic, Graphic Tracer and Illustrator - I've found Illustrator to be the most useful. By the time I would monkey around with the settings and options in the others, I could have actually redrawn the artwork myself. If it's not saving me time, I'm not interested.