After scanning through these various "Solutions" i have yet to see a quality vector from these shortcuts that everyone is trying.
The 3d effects i was referring to was that shading. Illustrator has 2 basic gradients. Linear and radial. There is a newer freeform in Adobe CC and the gradient mesh tool too. The latter 2 do require some trial and error to make it look good. I would rather turn down a job than disappoint a customer. This job is certainly not impossible in Illustrator and i am confident the freeform and gradient mesh tool would do a pretty good job but i am not experienced enough with either to do it correctly. I have done over 100,00 conversions over the years but i steer clear of gradient mesh conversions because they are not straightforward and i am hesitant using them. When i have fiddled with them the results are not what i expected. I have enough of a workload that i can afford to turn down these types of jobs
The most important part is file compatibility. The gradient mesh and freeform gradients don't open/import well into other programs. Many of my customers don't use the latest Adobe cc software
I think you always strive for 100% Matching copies where you wouldnt be able to tell the difference between the 2 no matter how hard you try... But most customers don't care. They'd rather something close, because the alternative is to blow the current graphic up 5 FT And it'd look like ass... While yours may be missing a detail here or there, or you may be inferring a few things... I think the customer would be more than happy with the way you set it up.
I think I've used you half a dozen times now... mainly for complicated, pain in the butt stuff we dont have time for, or know it'd take us 10X longer to do than what you charge.... I always preface every single quote request to you with "doesnt have to be exact... I know the file is garbage and you wont get it perfect, we're fine with close, customer just needs better than what they have"
Never been let down yet! I think you should add a checkbox on your site where people can point that out if its not a job that needs to be perfect.
Otherwise... You get people using auto trace where the results are 1/2 as good as what you'd produce...and the customer ends up stuck with that anyways.