Editing

avierra · Postby **avierra** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 1:32 am

I own a print to garment business which I'm just getting going on and I am recieving files from customers which are not cleaned up enough for printing. I am laying down a white underbase and as such have to CLEANLY pull the artwork off the file to send to the printer. How do I make all backgrounds transparent and edit the images including rounded corners to get crisp lines around the images?

Lazur · Postby **Lazur** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 6:17 am

Can you show an example image and post an elaborate description of what you want to achieve?

Without that it could be a t-rex eating an ice-cream or a cow jumping over the Moon with a T-Ford.
(But those are at least clean images.)

Postby **brynn** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 5:04 pm

I've heard that a lot of print businesses require that their customers provide the print-ready files. Or they charge a fee to have their own artist do it.

If they are submitting raster format files (JPG, PNG, etc.) there will likely be a lot of work ahead for you....depending on the design. Some designs will be easy to convert, and others will take a lot of work

avierra · Postby **avierra** » Fri Aug 14, 2015 1:33 am

That exactly the problem. Png files and the backgrounds need to be cleaned up in order to print the "base coat" white so the color will pop. I can stipulate an additional charge for this and understand completely having paid that charge myself in the past but that wouldn't cure my navigation issues with the work itself. I just need to be familiar with where to go about the actions without just trying to use the eraser which is not clean enough. Is there a point to point system to lift or save the images and then delete or erase all other background?

Xav · Postby **Xav** » Fri Aug 14, 2015 2:01 am

The cleanest approach would be to outline the shape using a path, then subtract it from a large rectangle to get you a "negative" path. Then you can use that to clip the PNG. See parts 6, 7, 13 and 15 of my tutorial series: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11981

Postby **brynn** » Sat Aug 15, 2015 10:04 am

Basically, the raster format (whether PNG, JPG, GIF or other) will need to be converted to vector. Images like this will be easy to convert:

: simpleplus.png (3.4 KiB) Viewed 2705 times

Images like this will be nearly impossible:

: tw217.jpg (120.52 KiB) Viewed 2705 times

There are basically 2 ways to convert the images:

1 -- Path menu > Trace Bitmap
advantage - fast and easy
disadvantage - almost always some tweaking of nodes afterwards will be required, sometimes just a few tweaks, sometimes so many, you may as well use the 2nd way.

2 -- Redraw the image from scratch as vector, in Inkscape
advantage - much better results than trace bitmap, increased (and sometimes perfect) precision and accuracy
disadvantage - probably would take longer, especially if you have a learning curve, to learn how to create vector graphics

ALL of the above considerations depend on the particular image involved. For example, my first example will trace very well with Trace Bitmap, and require only a couple of minor tweaks, if any at all. However, because it's so simple, an experienced Inkscape user could draw the whole thing in 5 or 10 minutes. Not so experienced might take a half an hour or more, if it's the first time you're tried to use Inkscape.

As a new fabric print shop owner, it sounds like you will need to either learn how to use Inkscape yourself, or consider hiring an artist to do this work for you. If you plan to charge an extra fee for artwork, maybe that would allow you to hire an artist. But the decision is all yours. If you can do it yourself, maybe you could undercut your competitors on price. There's a lot to consider I'm sure. Good luck

Postby **brynn** » Sat Aug 15, 2015 10:18 am

Oh! Well having said all that, there may be a 3rd way....or actually it's more of a variety of the 1st way I mentioned - auto tracing (Trace Bitmap). For certain images, it may be possible to remove a background. It still converts the image to vector, but can remove the background, in some situations. Read up on this part of the manual: http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL ... -SIOX.html

Note that the example shown in the manual is not a very good example. If you follow the instructions, you'll probably get much better results, assuming there is enough contrast between the background and the subject of the photo. This technique will not work on landscape photos, for example. But a portrait probably would work very well.

Lazur · Postby **Lazur** » Sat Aug 15, 2015 9:32 pm

Still wondering what's it all about.

Like you get portrait photographs, that you want the backgrounds to be removed from/filled in all white?
For that, probably a raster editor like gimp would make a better use. Still, details like hair can be rather painful.

avierra · Postby **avierra** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 1:04 am

Ok. All of this information is extremely helpful and first off thank you very much, second I apologize for not looking at this for a while I've had trouble with my login. I will look through the info charts listed and try the tips you all have provided. Its not that difficult of an image to recreate or alter I don't think but I am first time to inkscape and therefor simply don't know the commands. I am creating a total image with twitter, facebook, insta, and tube logos, with the Co. addresses under and their logo in the middle. Not too complex but I didn't know where to start. Since I've finally gained access again I have another question. I start working on a file and when I try to import another image to the file the program keeps closing down and I have to start over? Ideas???? Thanks.

Postby **brynn** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 4:46 am

Most likely it's a larger image than Inkscape can handle, on your computer. (http://forum.inkscapecommunity.com/inde ... article=35) But it's hard to say, without having the image to test with.

Can you share the image with us? If not, can you tell us the size of the image, along with how much RAM on your computer?

Edit
If that's the case, maybe you could crop the raster image (using a raster editor like GIMP) before you import to Inkscape.

avierra · Postby **avierra** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 12:53 am

lets see if this works.

Postby **brynn** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 2:20 pm

Well, that doesn't seem so large! I'll download and try to import.....

Edit
I can import without even any delay. How large is the SVG file you're trying to import into?

Lazur · Postby **Lazur** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 10:11 pm

Your customer only provided that png and wants the background to be removed?
If there is no vector source file you can only approximate it. Cleaning up anti-aliased edges can take some time.
For that example image, I would use gimp.

Postby **brynn** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 11:25 pm

Your customer only provided that png and wants the background to be removed?

Oh, are we still talking about the same problem? I thought this was a separate problem.

Regarding the unexpected shutdowns -- There's a new bug with 0.91 related to Undo, and it seems to hit me a lot right after I open a new file. I read about what causes it, but don't remember exactly. Only it crashes right after I click Undo in a new file. After I've been working for 5 minutes or more, it doesn't seem to happen.

pearlypuff · Postby **pearlypuff** » Wed Oct 14, 2015 1:25 pm

Hi Everyone and thanks in advance. I am a very new user of this program. I created one file and it worked fine. But since closing the program and starting again. Inkscape keeps closing down when it shouldn't (like when I click on another open menu window etc)

Any ideas or help would be appreciated...is it me or the program???

regard
[email protected]

tommi20 · Postby **tommi20** » Wed Oct 14, 2015 7:15 pm

wow thanks, i really need a heads up here, aprreciate it . . . . .

______________
Es Krim

Postby **brynn** » Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:17 am

I created one file and it worked fine. But since closing the program and starting again. Inkscape keeps closing down when it shouldn't (like when I click on another open menu window etc)

Just to be clear, you're talking about using File menu > Open ?

Is it just 1 or certain files that won't open? Or does that happen to any file you try to open?

Or if I misunderstood, please tell us exactly which steps you took, before the crash.

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