Hi - brand new user with Inkscape 1.3 on Windows 10 x64.
I'd like to use the trace bitmap to turn simple raster images with boxes, lines, and text into editable vector.
I pasted a bitmap image in the main window, selected it, and from the menu selected Path / Trace Bitmap.
Some control sliders appear on the right - I expand the right pane as wide as the left window. There is an empty region called "preview" below the sliders. Live Update is checked. I adjust the sliders throughout their ranges and nothing appears in preview. I try all the options in Detection Mode - nothing appears in preview. No vector objects appear above my bitmap in the main window.
What am I missing?
Online help is only for 0.92. I searched here first for other posts on the topic, and find: "No topics found with search 'trace' " and "No topics found with search 'bitmap' "
OK, after reviewing the manual, I see it says "Import a suitable bitmap image by using the menu File → Import." I had pasted the bitmap. So I import, and voila, I see tracing in the preview.
I can adjust the detection mode and get different results.
When I click Apply, the traced image appears on top of the bitmap. I can select it, but it doesn't seem to be a vector object. It appears to be another bitmap in black and white. I can't ungroup or break it into editable vector objects of lines and text. There are no handles as in the example of "Fig. 4: The rocket traced with the Brightness cutoff option" the only handles are the bitmap resize at corners and sides.
I found Path Break Apart and broke the object into components. Most of the boxes around the were solid filled with black, which would take a lot of editing to fix presumably. The biggest issue is the text is also vector shapes, not characters.
As I further explore the capabilities of Inkscape, I do not find any mention of OCR or text recognition. My graphics typically contain a lot of text, so Inkscape may not be the right tool?
The image I gave is a simple example, many are much more complicated with much more text. I thought if I could master the learning curve, Inkscape could save a lot of time in the long run.
As mentioned above, it would probably be faster to just redraw than try to trace to vector. I keep thinking that with all the advances in AI, there might be something that could recognize bitmaps with boxes, text, and lines, and convert them to editable vector boxes and lines, and editable text.
Beginners' Questions How does "Trace Bitmap" work?
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Hi - brand new user with Inkscape 1.3 on Windows 10 x64.
I'd like to use the trace bitmap to turn simple raster images with boxes, lines, and text into editable vector.
I pasted a bitmap image in the main window, selected it, and from the menu selected Path / Trace Bitmap.
Some control sliders appear on the right - I expand the right pane as wide as the left window. There is an empty region called "preview" below the sliders. Live Update is checked. I adjust the sliders throughout their ranges and nothing appears in preview. I try all the options in Detection Mode - nothing appears in preview. No vector objects appear above my bitmap in the main window.
What am I missing?
Online help is only for 0.92. I searched here first for other posts on the topic, and find: "No topics found with search 'trace' " and "No topics found with search 'bitmap' "
I downloaded the manual https://inkscape-manuals.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
The chapter on trace bitmap also looks different than the UI showing the Trace Bitmap as a separate dialog.
Can you post a screenshot that shows the entire inkscape window and bitmap settings... like this?
@TylerDurden, It's not clear how to add an image in the post, but I see there is an attachment function.
I wouldn´t autotrace but draw these few elements from scratch in Inkscape. Here´s a quick start which can be easily be expanded via duplicate objects:
Well done.
The information area of the status bar indicates that the object is grouped. I'd ungroup until there are no groups left, then try the trace bitmap.
Seems a grouped bitmap for whatever reason: group of 1 object
OK, after reviewing the manual, I see it says "Import a suitable bitmap image by using the menu File → Import." I had pasted the bitmap. So I import, and voila, I see tracing in the preview.
I can adjust the detection mode and get different results.
When I click Apply, the traced image appears on top of the bitmap. I can select it, but it doesn't seem to be a vector object. It appears to be another bitmap in black and white. I can't ungroup or break it into editable vector objects of lines and text. There are no handles as in the example of "Fig. 4: The rocket traced with the Brightness cutoff option" the only handles are the bitmap resize at corners and sides.
Again: why tracing?
The autotrace result is a group BTW. Open Object->Layers and Objects… to reveal your content.
I found Path Break Apart and broke the object into components. Most of the boxes around the were solid filled with black, which would take a lot of editing to fix presumably. The biggest issue is the text is also vector shapes, not characters.
As I further explore the capabilities of Inkscape, I do not find any mention of OCR or text recognition. My graphics typically contain a lot of text, so Inkscape may not be the right tool?
The image I gave is a simple example, many are much more complicated with much more text. I thought if I could master the learning curve, Inkscape could save a lot of time in the long run.
As mentioned above, it would probably be faster to just redraw than try to trace to vector. I keep thinking that with all the advances in AI, there might be something that could recognize bitmaps with boxes, text, and lines, and convert them to editable vector boxes and lines, and editable text.
The image I uploaded above in reply#4 is an Inscape SVG for your inspection.