Mutoh ValueJet and Graphtec

[Jim Doggett]

... Creating useful contour cuts on bitmaps is trying at first, but becomes much easier ...

In my experience, some node/path tweaking is always needed when creating cut-paths around bitmapped images. But I use either CorelDRAW or Photoshop to do most of the heavy lifting.

CorelDRAW: I use Trace Bitmap, and then ungroup/break apart/weld to turn the trace results into an outline. Here's the result on a 100 dpi image using the default, quick trace option in DRAW X3:

Photoshop: magic wand-select the elemenets you want (or the background and then invert selection), and then create a path from the selection. Depending on the image, choosing a tollerance of between 0.5 and 1.0 usually come pretty close without too many jaggies. Always use the Make Work Path from the menu so you can adjust tollerance:

Then export paths to Illustrator and import the outline into Corel, Flexi or whatever you use to combine print-cut graphics. Here's the path using a 0.9 tollerance and then imported into Corel:

My $0.02, if others have tricks for creating cut-lines around bitmaps, please contribute.

Best Regards,

Jim

 

[PressPrintGraphics]

About the same as I do Jim. I posterize and trace the bitmap to 2 color (black and white), weld it, then cut the resulting vector image outline, layered over top of the original bitmap jpeg etc. etc.