Show HN: Bitmap to Vector conversion | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Bitmap to Vector conversion

image-vectorizer.com

25 pointsdgmid12 comments

I purchased the app because it's a problem that I've always hoped I'd find a solution for. However, I feel like I'm missing something fundamental...

  1. Import .png file[1] that I'd like to convert to a vector image.

  2. Click "Vectorize"

...and the resulting output is a black square.

I tried a couple of other .png and .jpeg files of different icons that I had and I'm getting the same result. After that I opened up Photoshop and converted the original icon from RGB to Greyscale and then exported it I tried again -- same outcome as the first attempt.

Definitely not a great first experience.

-- [1] https://nubits.com/sites/all/themes/nubits/assets/img/home/h...

If you're using Photoshop then you might also have access to other Adobe products, Flash has been able to do this for more then a dacade and depending on the complexity of the bitmap (photos obviously don't work that well), it had good results for me in the past. Since the output is a vector, often its quite easy to tweak the end result as well.

@Mtinie: sorry about that. You have encountered a rare bug in Image Vectorizer 1.4; this happens very infrequently and usually only after Image Vectorizer has been open for a long time. But sometimes it can also happen sooner. It seems to be caused by an underlying Cocoa bug, and I am working on fixing this.

Fortunately, there is a simple solution: just close and re-open the application. If this doesn't work for you, please let me know.

Here is the output from your image:

http://image-vectorizer.com/downloads/hero-logo.pdf

Thanks, -- Peter (Image Vectorizer)

Inkscape, which is free software and runs on both Windows and Linux, has a reasonably good vectorizer. (It's under Path->Trace Bitmap). You get .SVG files out.

(I did the first vectorizer for small computers, Autodesk CAD/Camera, in 1983. Vectorizing E-size drawings in 640K was the hardest part of the problem.)

IIRC Inkscape's trace is based on potrace originally (or uses it under the skin?). It can/does also use autotrace too.

http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Tools#Alternatives_t...

Looking in the footer of the website. This product also seems to be using potrace.

I'm interested in whether Apple will do anything about the use of the "Mac share icon" - it looks like both copyright infringement of this particular logo and contributory infringement (equipping others to use works without a license). My guess is they'll never know.

How does it compare to http://potrace.sourceforge.net/ ?

It's the same codebase, or at least closely related. Image Vectorizer's tracer is produced by Icosasoft, which is the company owned by the guy who wrote potrace (and licenses the non-GPL version)

You folks are correct. Potrace, Image Vectorizer, and Inkscape all use the same underlying vector engine. They have different user interfaces and appeal to different audiences. -- Peter (Image Vectorizer)

Are these Show HN posts payed ads or the stealthy kind?

Next step - convert real-life video to textured triangles?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com