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kn5836689
Known Participant
February 6, 2018
Question

Should I first save my Adobe Illustrator file as PNG and thén vector it or should I first vector everything?

  • February 6, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 3082 views

I'm a complete noob to AI so please don't burn me and I tried Googling for the answer, but I get other related stuff to this subject.

I am planning to put a simple picture on a mug, but soon realised I can't just send my PNG file to the company that will print it on a mug for me. So I have decided to do it myself. So I made the design with almost the same style as you  see below in Adobe Illustrator and it looks good. Now I need to send it in EPS and I need to vectorize it so it has no pixels if I am correct.

Seems like a very noob question, but should I vector every single image, square and text in the AI file or should I first save the AI file as png and then open it back in AI and thén vector it as a whole?

I think for myself I should first save it as png and then open it back in AI to vector it, because I tried vector the very first image in the upper left, but it also took some of the white square with it making it disappear and become black like the background.    

PS: Picture below is a example, not my actually made AI design, but it's the same words except for bike and with no background. 

455571.jpg

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3 replies

K
kn5836689Author
Known Participant
February 10, 2018

Thanks everyone for thinking with me!

Eventually I simply used ''image trace'' for the 4 boxes that were not AI native. When this was done I also checked some box below that made it back transparent which I found through a tutorial.

So problem solved, but still thanks to the community for thinking with me

K
kn5836689Author
Known Participant
February 6, 2018

I see there is some misunderstanding here about how I exactly did it, so I will try to explain it better now. Please forgive me if I use words wrong or don't know the basics, I'm kinda of a noob in this.

I simply google 4 png pictures I needed and downloaded them and opened them in a AI file. in this AI file I then made the 4 squares with AI native tools and also the text with AI native tools. I then moved the pictures within the squares as you see in the example image I uploaded above.

Now I am completely done and need a vector image in eps. file for my printing provider, just read that PDF or AI is also accepted.

From what I hear from you guys is that if the AI file has been made completely from AI native tools it IS ALREADY vector and I should technically just send this AI file to my printing provider as they accept AI files also.

The problem is that I did not use only AI native tools and thus need to make it vector first.

S
SJRiegel
Legend
February 6, 2018

If you created the file in Adobe Illustrator, there is a good chance that it is already vector. (unless it contains placed pixel images or blur-type effects). If that is that case, all you have to do is save your file directly from AI to an EPS (if that is the format the mug printer is asking for.

K
kn5836689Author
Known Participant
February 6, 2018

The 4 images you see in the example are also the way I did it. So I DO have placed pixel images.

So I actually already experimented and saved as an EPS and opened it in EPS to see it. You could see it was sharper indeed, but still blury... and that's not the case when it's vector so I was surprised. See picture below when zoomed in.

What I then did was save the AI file as a PNG and then opened the PNG file in AI and vectored that and it was much sharper. I think 30 colors or something I chose and it was like I said not blury when zoomed in and that is the case when vectored right?

How do you explain that? I also NEED to know for in the future why and how so I get more smarter in this.

K
kn5836689Author
Known Participant
February 6, 2018

kn5836689  schrieb

So I have a non-vector AI file now which I want to make vector. How should I do it?

Depends on the nature of the source image.

Best would be to draw it using the shape tools, pen tool and then pathfinder/live paint/shapebuilder.

Some content might also be drawn automatically using the Image trace function.

BTW: do you have permission to vectorize the artwork?

When you're done, save as an AI file. That would be the native file format. Only afterwards export whatever file format you need on top of that.


I know what you mean, but I really don't want to make those shapes with AI native tools. I would like to keep those images I got from internet and yes I checked it and it said free to use. It even gave download links lol.

So I have this AI file with the 4 images not vector which I need to make vector. And like the guy earlier said it's not good to make a png. file and then open it back with AI and thén make it vector by ''image trace''.

What would you suggest then?

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