Drawing > Tracing artwork > Tracing an image

 

Tracing an image

You can trace an image by selecting an area or by selecting an area of similar color. With either method, FreeHand creates the traced paths directly above the object that you traced.

When you select by color, FreeHand selects only those colors that are adjacent to the initial selection and within the tolerance set in the Trace tool options. You can add additional areas of any color to the selection. For example, you can select all of the red roses in a picture, or you can select a red rose and its green stem.

To trace a selected area:

1

Click the Trace tool in the Tools panel. The cursor becomes a wand.

2

Drag a selection area around the object to trace. Hold down Shift to constrain the Trace tool's selection area to a square.

To trace a contiguous area of color:

1

Click the Trace tool in the Tools panel.

2

In the document, click to select an area of color.

To add to the current selection, Shift-click additional areas.

To subtract from the current selection, Shift-click a selected area.

To deselect all areas, press Tab.

3

Click a selected area to open the Wand Options dialog box.

4

Choose an option:

Choose Trace Selection to trace the selection using the settings in the Trace Tool dialog box.

Choose Convert Selection Edge to trace only the edges of the selected areas.