One of Adobe Illustrator’s primary uses is to convert a bitmap (raster) image into a vector. Pixels, the small dots that create a bitmap image, cannot be resized without losing quality. This is a problem for any product decorator with a design that will need to be resized often to decorate different products. Vectors, however, use lines, curves, and mathematical formulas to create artwork, which allows them to be resized without any problems. The elements, or paths, of a vector design are also more easily selected because their colors are constrained by their lines, as opposed to bitmap images that solely consist of tiny dots.
It is actually quite simple to vectorize a bitmap image with Illustrator. You can either use the “Live Trace” button located in the menu bar or click the black arrow next to the “Live Trace” button and select a different kind of trace. “Live Trace” is the quick, easy way to vectorize a bitmap, but there are a lot of other trace options. You can easily test all of the tracing options in just a few minutes to get a feel for what each does. Depending on the artwork, some types of traces will produce better results than others. Once you have selected the right trace for your artwork, simply let Illustrator perform the trace.
