Fireworks inquiry

manulekamanuleka
edited October 2007 in Hardware
just playing around with fireworks cs3, i'm curious if its possible in a simple way to change a bitmap file to vector...

for example, i've got a picture and i want to curve the edges...

is there a way of just converting the bitmap to vector and change the roundness to accomplish this?

or can anyone give me a quick direction/quide on how to tackle this?

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    Vector graphics and bitmaps are <i>vastly</i> different. BMP files contain only the information to produce each pixel of each color in each location for the given resolution of the image.

    Vector files are infinitely scalable, and retain the information to make the image any size you want. If you make a vector into a bitmap, it loses all ability to be resized and retain its resolution, but if you convert a bitmap into a vector, you've accomplished nothing.

    If you want to make your BMP a vector file, you must recreate the image from scratch as a vector piece.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    Not always the case. Many people want bitmaps converted to Vectors, just for that reason (scalability, quality, etc.) I don't know much about Fireworks, manuleka, but in Illustrator you can use the trace tool to do this. It requires some work, refinement, etc... but it is much faster than recreating something from scratch.

    I've seen some vector wizardry - vector files that look photographic, using the blends, gradient meshes, and other effects that are available with modern vector editors such as illustrator.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    Like I said, you can't convert a BMP to a vector. You have to create it from scratch (By eyeing it or tracing it). Either way, you're recreating the image.
  • manulekamanuleka
    edited October 2007
    thanks guys! ...
  • NomadNomad A Small Piece of Hell Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    I would use the live trace method in Illustrator and try refining that, Fireworks is kind of not so good.. It's not possible to use one tool that will convert any rasterized image flawlessly to a vector graphic.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2007
    Actually Corel Trace (now part of CorelDRAW) is the best tracing app I've ever seen. It's far more accurate than illustrator live trace or fireworks.
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