How do I take a jpeg of a map and convert it to a line drawing in Illustrator. The resolution is 300dpi. Is there another way other than live trace?

[dihanna05]

Hello,

I am trying to convert 10 maps that I have in form of jpeg files. Trying to look for a quick way to convert them to vectors. So attempted to use the Live Trace tool but lost over 75% of the information. Is there another technique to extract this information on Illustrator. I need the lines to be of good quality as I will be rescaling them to an appropriate size.

Also how do you rescale an image on Illustrator?

Would appreciate anyones help.

[Myra Ferguson]

I'd recommend trying out different settings in trace to see if that helps you get a better result.

If not, then you could use your maps as a template to draw over with either the pencil tool (which will let you redraw segments easily) or pen tool. Here is some more information on the drawing tools:  How to draw with the Pen, Pencil, or Flare tool in Illustrator 

Double-click on the original map layer and select Template to have it lock the layer and dim it to 50%.

And here is some more information on the scale tool:  How to scale, shear, and distort objects in Illustrator

[Monika Gause]

The resolution settings tells us nothing. 300 ppi can be applied to an image that is just 4 by 6 pixels.

You you might want to show us screenshots of before and after tracing. I would assume that image quality just is not sufficient. Apart from that Illustrator has issues with autotracing black and white images.

[Sebastian Bleak]

Hi

Native in Ai I would use the Image Trace or use the map as a template and re-draw the entire illustration. You can use image trace several times to target specific areas. Layer 1 adjust image trace settings to get a good trace of the background or larger areas. Layer 2, bring in the image again, image trace and adjust image trace settings to get a good trace of the lines or details. Add additional layers as needed. You can also use Ps to make color adjustments to your image and get a better trace.

Aside from that, I heard there is software outside of Adobe that can get you some good vector trace results. I haven't used any so I can't recommend any.