Hi guys,
I'm trying to do a vector trace of the Atlas Shrugged cover, and so far am happy with what I got with the exception of one thing: some of the parts of the image (for instance where the lower leg and thigh meet) aren't smooth transitions (you can tell they're two different objects). Are there any tricks or techniques to smooth these out? Or is that not possible yet?

Here's the image:


Thanks!

Hi.

You can try to use a combination of blurring and clipping, or masking, or
to try out the gradient mesh tool in development.

Simulating a complex gradient tutorial by Hulf2012
gradient mesh

Hmm, I'm not really sure how I'd apply that technique to this, but I'll try.

As for the gradient mesh, if there's no other way with regular SVG (as apposed to SVG2), I'll use the beta version.

In your other topic I posted some explanation too.
Based on the image I wouldn't recommend to rely on the gradient mesh tool as what you want to achieve is so complex, and as that feature can crash inkscape sometimes.
http://www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=16400&p=60539#p60539

Just another two cents....

@ sta|ker

I presume that you have some knowledge about shading, otherwise I would like to know why and by which criteria you`ve chosen this particular picture, since this would be a huge bite for you. So, presuming that you know how to grade shades - why don`t you start with following the form instead of seeking for shortcuts? I`ve seen your other uploaded image and according to what I`ve seen - reverse the method and begin with the dark shades. If you succeed to accomplish that kind of shading, highlights would come as a relief ,)

Lazur URH wrote:In your other topic I posted some explanation too.
Based on the image I wouldn't recommend to rely on the gradient mesh tool as what you want to achieve is so complex, and as that feature can crash inkscape sometimes.
http://www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=16400&p=60539#p60539

Thanks, I didn't even know that the other one posted. I'll take a look at that technique.

Maestral wrote:Just another two cents....

@ sta|ker

I presume that you have some knowledge about shading, otherwise I would like to know why and by which criteria you`ve chosen this particular picture, since this would be a huge bite for you. So, presuming that you know how to grade shades - why don`t you start with following the form instead of seeking for shortcuts? I`ve seen your other uploaded image and according to what I`ve seen - reverse the method and begin with the dark shades. If you succeed to accomplish that kind of shading, highlights would come as a relief ,)

Not really just looking for shortcuts, but something that would look better. That's part of the reason of using vectors, is its ability to make things look really smooth.

I actually have it retraced quite well (at least in my opinion). I tried the technique in the silk tutorial, but no matter what it appears to just turn out blurry


Is there a step I'm missing?

EDIT: The url might not show up right, sorry about that, dunno why. Here's the link itself: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2z5o32pejteqyt3/atlas.svg

We cannot see that image you just posted, the dropbox url doesn't work right.

Edit:
That url will be good, if you replace the www part with dl it will be displayed here fine:


Here is a quick example how blurring could work:


Maybe it is completely messed up and needed to change the blurred parts, to achieve a really clean look.
I'm thinking making it right could take even days of work.
Think about the benefits: if you can make this image, you can possibly draw-paint anything else with no problems.

Lazur URH wrote:We cannot see that image you just posted, the dropbox url doesn't work right.

Edit:
That url will be good, if you replace the www part with dl it will be displayed here fine:

Code: Select all

[url=https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/2z5o32pejteqyt3/atlas.svg][svg]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/2z5o32pejteqyt3/atlas.svg[/svg][/url]


Here is a quick example how blurring could work:


Maybe it is completely messed up and needed to change the blurred parts, to achieve a really clean look.
I'm thinking making it right could take even days of work.
Think about the benefits: if you can make this image, you can possibly draw-paint anything else with no problems.

Wow, what you did that you considered "Quick" was way better than what I was even expecting out of it. I don't even know where to begin to figure out how you did that. If you have a youtube account, you should definitely do a video on the technique or something. I guess I'll just keep messing with the Blur's and Transparency settings until it comes out right.

@ sta|ker

Perhaps, if you use Ctrl+5(on numPad)* you`ll be able to see all the paths which might give you the closer look to how Lazur URH done it.

* Those keys are the shortcut for toggling the Display mode / Normal-No filters-Outline. If you continue working on things like this, this shortcut could become one of your favourite ones in future ,)

Also check this this one