Turning raster logo into vector

[Michelle243007171z7l]

I am having trouble turning my jpeg and png into linework (vector art) in Illustrator. When I hit image trace, I get this. Tried both files (jpeg and png)

Then I went into Photoshop and removed the background. Imported it in illustrator and got this result. A little bit better but the type is a little wonky and needs alot of work.

[Monika Gause]

After autotracing it, it makes no sense at all to open it back in Photoshop.

This is best traced manually. But if you want to do it automatically: first make the green black.

Then trace black and white. Ignore white.

THen expand the autotrace and make it green in Illustrator.

[Michelle243007171z7l]

I don't know what is worse. My illustrating pen tool skills or illustrator's image trace.

illustrator:

mine 

this is not a program I work in very often. I was really hoping Illustrator would trace it better😕

Thank you for your help.

[Christina_Robinson8547]

In my experience, Live Trace is a bit of a double-edged sword — it's great for quick, rough conversions but rarely delivers polished results. It's decent for tracing hand-drawn sketches or loose, organic artwork where precision isn't the priority. But when it comes to lettering? Especially if you're aiming for clean, sharp lines — Live Trace tends to make things look a bit distressed or grungy, which might work for certain aesthetics but usually misses the mark for typography.

Now, about the "Plastral" text — it looks like the letters have been stretched horizontally, messing with their natural proportions. That kind of distortion throws off font recognition tools like Illustrator’s Retype or MyFonts' WhatTheFont. These tools rely heavily on accurate shape and spacing, so any warping makes identification a guessing game at best.

[Monika Gause]

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@Christina_Robinson8547  schrieb:

In my experience, Live Trace is a bit of a double-edged sword —

...

Now, about the "Plastral" text — it looks like the letters have been stretched horizontally, 

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Since you post this as an answer to my posts: I have written both of that already.

[Tina_Irvine]

Hi @Michelle243007171z7l,

You could try to bump up the contrast before image tracing it; however, it might be easier, and a better end result, if you try to match the typeface with "retype" in Illustrator (or "match font" in Photoshop since you mentioned that you also have this app), and redraw the icon yourself.

[Michelle243007171z7l]

Thank you, I tried that, but found no matching fonts. That's a great idea if the font matched.

I did change the green to black and that seemed to help a bit. As you can see in the comment above. I don't know which is worse. Auto trace or my attempt to draw it. Seems like such a simple logo that illustrator should have no problem with it.🧐

[Bobby Henderson · Accepted solution]

Live tracing gives, at best, only quick and dirty results. Live tracing isn't bad to use on hand-drawn/sketched elements or other "organic" shapes. It doesn't work so great on lettering (unless someone wants the lettering to have a somewhat grungy, stressed appearance).

The "Plastral" letters look like they've been horizontally stretched out of their normal proportions. That will throw off any font ID tools, such as Retype in Illustrator or the What the Font tool at MyFonts.com. The letters do look familiar yet a bit odd; I suspect the font that was was something from a free fonts site like DaFont.

[Michelle243007171z7l]

Thank you. Another contribitor helped me find the font. When I stretch it, it worked perfectly.

Also thank you for your advice on the limitations of Live trace. Good information to know. Stopped me from wasting more time trying to make it work! 👍 Much appreciated.

[Tina_Irvine · Accepted solution]

With image trace on fonts, there is usually some cleanup...sorry 😞 

You can try Path > simplify or the smooth tools, but I do think you're best to match the font as closely as possible. There are some other font-matching websites you could search online for, and try as well.

[Michelle243007171z7l]

Thank you Tina. all your advice was very helpful. It's nice to know when enough is enough and stop expecting more than the program can handle. Through another contributor, I found the typeface that matched and was able to stretch it.

I just about have the logo done perfectly at this point and have one last hang up. I think I am just asking the question wrong in the prompt. I know there is one tool that will get rid of this shape and I can't seem to find it.  I want to keep the P WHITE  because it is going on a patterned background, so the circle does need to be closed. The P needs to be it's own shape. Right now it is a compound path of a circle and a P

HELP one last time 😳

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

THis one could fit: https://www.myfonts.com/de/collections/niveau-grotesk-font-hvd-fonts?queryId=undefined&index=univers...

I think the type in your logo is stretched.

[Michelle243007171z7l]

Perfect! that worked! Needed to be stretched.
Thank you for your help

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

The font is Niveau Niveau Grotesk Light, stretched horizonatlly to 134% (give or take)

That being said, as an FYI, the logo is available in vector in several places on the Plastral website. I think you're making unnecessary work for yourself.

Here it is. Pantone 3395, btw

[Michelle243007171z7l]

Thanks for the heads up! I actually did check the Plastral website earlier and looked through a few different sections, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a usable vector version of the logo.(Only a png.) 

Yes! I did waste a ton of time, but I also learned a few new things-so I'll take it as a win. I don't know where you found this logo on their website?  Mine version turned out pretty good, but I will definately use this one on my project.

Much appreciated! Thank you ☺

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[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

PDFs on the website are a great source. In this case, I extracted it from their main catalogue available there.

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

btw: It's never a waste of time to learn how to do things! 🙂

[Bobby Henderson]

While the Plastral lettering does look like it was set in Niveau Grotesk, something about the letters looks funky (aside from the artificial horizontal stretching). It's almost like they used a knock-off of Niveau Grotesk or they fiddled with the glyphs to "personalize" it. Either way, a vector-based logo in a company PDF solves the problem.

Adobe Illustrator is a better app to use than any of its vector graphics rivals for extracting vector-based elements out of PDF files. However, all sorts of quirks may exist in PDF-based artwork -quirks that are there for reducing file sizes and improving compatibility across various platforms and devices.

Art elements in PDF files will often contain duplicate objects that are invisible; they'll have no fill or stroke. There may be various clipping masks and clipping groups bound to the artwork. Some formerly closed paths may be broken open or even missing line segments. Rectangular elements, such as a capital letter "I" may be turned into a 2 point line stroke. Some complex effects involving transparency and gradients can turn into a real mess within PDF files if the effects have been expanded/flattened. The appearance may still be the same but it's not something anyone would want to edit.

These issues with PDF artwork aren't all that big a deal if the artwork is only going to be printed or viewed on an electronic screen. They do create all sorts of hassles for further editing or modification of artwork. Such artwork can be really hazardous if it is going to be run through something like a vinyl cutter or routing table. If a PDF logo has 1 or more invisible copies of letters stacked on top of each other the plotter blade will cut each one of those copies. The blade might end up cutting through the roll of vinyl and create a big mess or a jam in the machine. On a routing table if the aluminum, plastic or whatever material being cut isn't taped down really well the router bit may fling an already cut letter or shape when it is trying to rout a duplicate in the same location. Or the cut piece will pop up and jam the entire machine. Not good.

For anyone that has to harvest art elements out of PDF files on any kind of frequent basis, I definitely recommend the Vector First Aid plugin. It won't catch every problem in a PDF file, but it will spot and fix most of them.