How to install Autotrace on a windows system

Post questions on how to use or achieve an effect in Inkscape.
trader4300
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Jul 11, 2017 5:27 am

How to install Autotrace on a windows system

Postby trader4300 » Tue Jul 11, 2017 1:58 pm

On a previous post I made about removing double lines on complicated drawings, it was suggested I used Centerline Trace. This feature seems to make sense as a possible solution. I was able to install it however when I run this, it complains that I do not have Autotrace installed. (hello, package it in with the install of centerline duh) Anyways, I found a 32 bit download for windows. There is not much information on where to install or unzip this to. So I just picked a new folder in programs86 and installed it there. When running Centerline Trace on a bitmap image, it still complains that it cannot find the Autotrace program. There just isn't much documentation out there on installing Autotrace, at least for a windows computer. Has anybody been successful in completing this task? If so, please share the method on how to install Autotrace so that Centerline Trace will operate correctly.
Thank-you so much for listening to my silly questions.

User avatar
brynn
Posts: 10309
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2007 4:34 pm
Location: western USA
Contact:

Re: How to install Autotrace on a windows system

Postby brynn » Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:24 pm

You need to put the .py and .inx files into this folder. If they are in a zip file, you need to unzip or extract, to make the .py and .inx files available for Inkscape to use.

C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Inkscape\extensions (for \username\ insert the name on your account)

If there is no extensions folder there, you can make one. Sometimes AppData is hidden, so you might need to show hidden files. I think MS usually has it hidden by default. So unless you've previously displayed hidden folders, there's a good chance it will be hidden.

In Windows Explorer, Tools menu > Folder options > View menu > Show hidden files, folders and drives > Apply. Might need to restart Windows Explorer.

I don't have this extension installed, so I'm not sure exactly how it works. But I do know where extensions must be installed. I'd say there's a good chance it will work, once installed properly.

(All this info is explained in the links which were provided in the other topic. You must have overlooked them?)

PS - but I still think manual tracing will give you the best results - see tutorial I put a link to, in your other topic

Polygon
Posts: 393
Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:27 am

Re: How to install Autotrace on a windows system

Postby Polygon » Tue Jul 11, 2017 5:04 pm

Not sure if inline tracing will really help here.
Attached a autotraced version from the SuperVectorizer:
Flower_vectorized.svg
(4.94 KiB) Downloaded 305 times


Cheers
P.

Moini
Posts: 3381
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2015 10:44 am

Re: How to install Autotrace on a windows system

Postby Moini » Wed Jul 12, 2017 12:22 am

For those who really need autotrace/centerline tracing, and have installed autotrace from http://autotrace.sourceforge.net/, but it does not work yet:

Open the command line and enter
autotrace --version

if this outputs a version number, then it will work. If it does not, you may need to add autotrace to the path first, similar to how it is explained in the FAQ for ghostscript: https://inkscape.org/en/learn/faq/#how- ... es-windows
Something doesn't work? - Keeping an eye on the status bar can save you a lot of time!

Inkscape FAQ - Learning Resources - Website with tutorials (German and English)

trader4300
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Jul 11, 2017 5:27 am

Re: How to install Autotrace on a windows system

Postby trader4300 » Wed Jul 12, 2017 1:19 am

Thanks for the help so far folks but no luck. I went to the command prompt and entered "autotrace" and it complained that it is not a recognized command.
The directory that autotrace is installed in is in the Program Files (x86) directory. This directory is stated multiple times in my PATH variable.
When I installed centerline trace, I did put the .py and .inx files into the correct extensions directory.
So, what else am I missing?

Moini
Posts: 3381
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2015 10:44 am

Re: How to install Autotrace on a windows system

Postby Moini » Wed Jul 12, 2017 1:22 am

Can you post your PATH variable here? If you haven't added anything, it's probably still lacking the /bin directory of autotrace.
Something doesn't work? - Keeping an eye on the status bar can save you a lot of time!

Inkscape FAQ - Learning Resources - Website with tutorials (German and English)

trader4300
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Jul 11, 2017 5:27 am

Re: How to install Autotrace on a windows system

Postby trader4300 » Wed Jul 12, 2017 1:54 am

Autotrace appears to be a flat file. All the files are in one directory so there is no bin directory.

trader4300
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Jul 11, 2017 5:27 am

Re: How to install Autotrace on a windows system

Postby trader4300 » Wed Jul 12, 2017 2:15 am

So, I created a directory called Autotrace in the program files (x86) directory because I noticed this was in my path. Copied all the files into this directory. Still doesnt work. Tried a directory on my desktop. Nothing. I have attached a photo of my path which is shown on the screenshot.
Screenshot 2017-07-11 12.05.52.png
Screenshot 2017-07-11 12.05.52.png (93.33 KiB) Viewed 3707 times

v1nce
Posts: 696
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2010 4:36 am

Re: How to install Autotrace on a windows system

Postby v1nce » Wed Jul 12, 2017 3:46 am

if you copy the files in c:\program files (x86)\autotrace then you should add c:\program files (x86)\autotrace in your path

see
https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000549.htm
to add an entry into your path.

Don't forget you need a ";" to separate 2 items

trader4300
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Jul 11, 2017 5:27 am

Re: How to install Autotrace on a windows system

Postby trader4300 » Wed Jul 12, 2017 4:25 am

I did this and now Centerline Trace doesn't complain about Autotrace anymore, as it can now find it. So, thank-you all for that.
Why the executable doesn't modify the path is another problem the author can worry about. Sure would save everybody a lot of trouble.


Return to “Help with using Inkscape”