HOW TO VECTORIZE AN IMAGE IN ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR Introduction: Congratulations on purchasing Adobe Illustrator! You are now equipped to create anything limited only to your imagination. Materials Needed: • Adobe Illustrator CC for Mac • macOS version 10.12 (Sierra) or Mac OS X version 10.11 (El Capitan) • 2 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended) • 2 GB of available hard-disk space for installation • Preferred display screen of 1024 x 768 • Internet connection recommended • Image: This process can be replicated with multi-color (color) images, but it is most clear with a solid color (monochrome) image. Directions: 1. Prepare to screenshot the photo you want to trace: On Mac computers, this command is Shift+Command+4 For the purpose of these directions, screenshot the image to the left.
2. After simultaneously pressing Shift+Command+4, use the the crosshairs of your cursor, draw a box around the image you want to screenshot. Your computer will save image to the desktop. This screenshot image is what will be vectorized in Adobe Illustrator. Note: Vectorizing will separate the image into component parts that can be individually modified. The individual components resolution remains static. So the image remains stable/clear at any size.
3. Open Adobe Illustrator CC.
4. Click on “File” on the main menu bar, then click on “New” on the dropdown menu.
5. Pick a size for your new Adobe Illustrator project then click “Create.”
6. Locate your image on your desktop, click on it, and then drag it to the new document on Adobe Illustrator CC. This will open the image on a new window in Adobe Illustrator CC. 7. Select “Window” tab on main menu bar on Adobe Illustrator CC and click “Image Trace” from the pulldown menu. The image trace window will open up.
8. Click on the “Advanced” button on the Image Trace window. More options will appear. Note: If you are unable to select any options in the Image Trace window, you may have deselected the image you want to vectorize. To reselect the image, simply click on it once. Once you do this, you should be able to use the Image Trace window.
9. Click the “Ignore White” box. Make sure the check is marked before moving to the next step.
10. Click the “Trace” button. The image is now traced. Now, we will expand it.
11. Select “Object” tab on the main menu bar and click “Expand” from the pulldown menu. A new window will pop up in Adobe Illustrator CC.
12. Click “Expand” in the window without changing the default settings. Click “Okay” once to expand your image.
Troubleshooting: If the menu options are not available, the image may be deselected. If there is not a box around the image, the item is deselected. Click the image once and repeat your steps from selection. Congratulations on vectorizing an image. Now, you can change the size, color and proportions of the image and save it an any resolution without the risk of pixelation.