Adobe Photoshop Tutorials

How to vector an image

These tutorials were written and created by yours truly in Photoshop CS, though they should work fine on most earlier versions. All tutorials are marked according to the skill level requirement. Please do NOT copy these tutorials elsewhere.

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Vectors, when referring to graphics, are images created using bezier curves connected by points, that are mapped out by equations. This means that a vector can be resized and enlarged without losing quality.

Skill level: Intermediate and up (for PC)
First, an example:

	This is the vector at the size I created. Note how the upper blue bar says 100%.
	Zoomed in, the vector doesn't lose any quality. Note how the upper blue bar now says it's at 800%.
	These are the bezier curves I drew to create the outlines.
	Here, you can see the anchor points making up the bezier curves. The different colored lines just mean they are on separate layers.

 

Now onto the tutorial:

	The tool used in the creation of vectors is the pen tool. The pen tool is quite scary to first timers, but once mastered, it is your best friend. The pen tool is quite useful in many aspects, including vectoring and extracting images. I will soon write my own tutorial for the pen tool, but for now, read Shinta's Pen Tool Tutorial if you don't know how to use it.
	Now, open the image you want to vector. I usually double click the layer and check the box for Dim images to 50% so I can see where I have already traced.
	Change the fill color to none, and the stroke color to black. In this example, I set the stroke thickness to .25. Lock the layer with your image on it so you don't accidently trace on the wrong layer.
	Create a new layer, zoom in, and start tracing the outline of your image. Don't use the alt key to change the direction of your path since it will put a kink in your line. Instead, if the path doesn't line up with your image, undo your action and move your anchor point closer to the last one you put down. When you're done tracing the outline, lock that layer.
	Now that your outline is done, you can start coloring in the image. I like to create a new layer for each new color so I don't have to be as precise toward the end. Make sure these layers are underneath your outline layer. You may use the alt key here since the fill colors are underneath your outlines layer.

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