Any better way to recreate this logo?

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xhorntail
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:43 am

Any better way to recreate this logo?

Postby xhorntail » Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:55 am

I tried doing Bitmap to Vector, but it doesn't come out sharp enough for my needs. So I have to re make the logo for a client before I can use it.

Image

I've found some tutorials on putting things along a path, and that should work for me, but is there a way to make a group of rectangles get systematically narrower without doing it all by hand? I may end up doing it that way anyway, but it'd be nice to know a trick like that in the future.

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prkos
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Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:45 am
Location: Croatia

Re: Any better way to recreate this logo?

Postby prkos » Wed Jun 30, 2010 12:49 pm

use tiled clones with scale set to some percentage viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5242&p=22693#p22693
just hand over the chocolate and nobody gets hurt

Inkscape Manual on Floss
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very comprehensive Inkscape guide
Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator's Cookbook - 109 recipes to learn and explore Inkscape - with SVG examples to download

xhorntail
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Joined: Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:43 am

Re: Any better way to recreate this logo?

Postby xhorntail » Wed Jun 30, 2010 1:03 pm

Thanks! I'm having some trouble making all the objects follow a path (circle) to get the other half of the effect though.. Any ideas for that? I've been trying to use Pattern along Path, but it's not working as expected, even when I have the rectangles on the top Z-Order..

erroneus
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:25 am

Re: Any better way to recreate this logo?

Postby erroneus » Wed Jun 30, 2010 6:27 pm

Yeah, while that one would take some tweaking and trial and error, its elements would seem to vary only in width and not in length. The rotational range is 270 degrees.

I would start by creating the thinnest rectangle and moving its rotational axis outside of itself. Then do the tiled clone where you vary the rotation and width with each step. The elements seem to be equally spaced. The hardest part will be getting the numbers right and may take a while to get it just right.

Actually, as I played around with my own suggestion, I found that the amount of time spent tweaking and adjusting wasn't well spent. I am not entirely certain this image is mathematically balanced but even if it were, I came up with something simply easier to implement.

spiral.svg
Not quite perfect but close
(4.03 KiB) Downloaded 178 times


Now, it's not perfect. The rotational axis of each object seems to be shifted to the left a bit and is of course up to the center of the circle. I drew in two lines to act as guides. I first created an array of clones then unlinked them. In the array, I specified that each object get wider by a percentage... tweaked that until it was just about right. Then I selected each object individually into rotational mode so I could see its axis. Then with the CTRL key pressed, I moved the object to align its axis point with the established center. I then grabbed the rotation handle to swing it into place. Repeat for each object.

I started with object #3 and when I got to objects 1 and 2, I eye-balled the width a bit and then used the method described above to put them all into place.

It's all pretty close, but if you want 99.99% accurate, you just have to tweak each object carefully because once it is no longer a bitmap, the flaws in the original design become more visible.

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prkos
Posts: 1625
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:45 am
Location: Croatia

Re: Any better way to recreate this logo?

Postby prkos » Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:01 pm

Here's how I did it:
  • import the logo image into Inkscape twice and rotate one of them (I think I used about -65°) so that the widest square is straight on top, this makes scaling easier (because if you clone a rotated object and scale it won't be a rectangle any more)
  • create a rectangle on top of the widest one, make it the same size and position (zoom in, it can only be done approximately), color it so you can see distinguish it from the ones in the image, maybe even make transparent
  • click on it twice to get the rotating mode, hold Ctrl while dragging the rotation center downwards until it reaches the circle center (create guides first to locate the center if needed, I was able to do it without them)
  • Open the Tile clones dialogue, click Reset to get defaults and enter these numbers: Rows, Columns: 1 x 22, On Shift tab tick Exclude tile per column (if you don't have that option enter -100% into Shift X Per column box), Scale X per column -4.3%, Rotate angle per column 12.6 and hit Create. The clones will be aligned on top of the ones from the image
  • Delete the clone on top of the original rectangle
  • move the image away
  • Select all the rectangles and group them
  • Rotate the group 63° to align it with the image that hasn't been rotated
  • Select the original rectangle and make it black and opaque

I didn't embed the images in my svg, you can import them, send to back of the canvas and align with the clones if you want to check it.
Attachments
spirallogo.svg
(19.86 KiB) Downloaded 170 times
just hand over the chocolate and nobody gets hurt

Inkscape Manual on Floss
Inkscape FAQ
very comprehensive Inkscape guide
Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator's Cookbook - 109 recipes to learn and explore Inkscape - with SVG examples to download

erroneus
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:25 am

Re: Any better way to recreate this logo?

Postby erroneus » Thu Jul 01, 2010 6:06 am

nicely done prkos!

When I started the circle, I started with the #3 rectangle which is why all of my other measurements were off. As demonstrated in your lower sample, the #3 rectangle is off by like 5 to 10 degrees and the position of #5 is also off. This is best attributed to the inaccuracies of bitmaps I think. Everything else seems right on.

Rotating a bitmap seemed risky to me where accuracy was concerned but it seemed to have worked out for you.

vwanweb
Posts: 169
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 1:48 pm

Re: Any better way to recreate this logo?

Postby vwanweb » Thu Jul 01, 2010 11:27 am

had a crack at this, seems like the original does NOT have a perfect circle/arch reference. And I stayed away from 15.5 height. (Bitmap rendering will blur non-whole numbered objects)
..

1. Create a 9.0x15.0 rectangul, Convert to Path (Shift+Ctrl+C)
-----------------------
2. Cloning/Path Conversion/Combine/to Clipboard
>Edit>Clone>Create Tile Clones...
SHIFT tab, Shift X: 100% per column
SCALE tab, Scale X: -4.2 per column
>Unlink the Clones, (Shift+Alt+D)
>Convert to Paths (Shift+Ctrl+C)
>Combine (Ctrl + K)
>Ctrl+C (copy to Clipboard)
-------------------------
3. Create Path for Arch reference
>Create a perfect Circle with SHIFT+CTRL
Remove fill, Set Stroke Width .50
ZOOM into each ENDPOINT of the arch
(Drag inside Circle to create an Arch)
ensure the stroke is lined up with the
START and END of the original images arch
reference.
-------------------------
3. Pattern Along Path Effect, Setting FILL
>Convert Arch to a Path, Keep Selected
>Open Path Effect Editor (Shift+Ctrl+7)
>Set Effect to Pattern Along Path
- Normal Offset: -7.0
>Paste Path from Clipboard (Ctrl+V)
Set Fill to Black &
Remove Stroke (Shift+Ctrl+F) done.
Attachments
spiralWorkup.svg
(32.19 KiB) Downloaded 168 times
Last edited by vwanweb on Thu Jul 01, 2010 5:51 pm, edited 3 times in total.

vwanweb
Posts: 169
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 1:48 pm

Re: Any better way to recreate this logo?

Postby vwanweb » Thu Jul 01, 2010 11:42 am

If you need to fine tune the rotation of the Pattern Along Path use the "Tangential Offset" in the Pattern Along Path Effect menu..

erroneus
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:25 am

Re: Any better way to recreate this logo?

Postby erroneus » Thu Jul 01, 2010 4:24 pm

This is a terrific thread. Many different ways to accomplish the same thing. Pick your favorite approach but learn them all so you can appreciate different methods for different situations in the future. I wonder how many other ways people can come up with?

xhorntail
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:43 am

Re: Any better way to recreate this logo?

Postby xhorntail » Fri Jul 02, 2010 8:52 am

Wow, this forum is great. Thanks erroneus, vwanweb, and prkos, I learned a lot from those posts. The examples of work with all the guess-and-check work already done was well beyond the call of duty, and much appreciated. You guys are fantastic.


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