Custom Windows 7 Wallpapers [continued]

Thanks so much for that arc!!!

dre@ms said:

We prefer PNG as it maintains the transparency and best compression. GIF also maintains transparency and mainly used for animation.

BTW, nice work you got there :)

Thanks Dreams, I appreciate the compliment.

I understand (at least from what I've read), and would agree that PNG is a vast improvement over GIF, particularly for web based images. Considering the speed of most ISPs (and CPUs/Processor speed) these days it allows for some pretty creative web designs. However, as a lossy compression it is double the size of a comparable JPEG/JP2 (nary a perceptible difference to this naked eye). When transparency is not an issue, wouldn't one rather go with JPEG for the sake of portability? Without much experience with PNG I have ask too if there is any of the "artifact" inherent with the "other" compressions? After all... if one is taking an image that is originally JPEG (for example, that is, not generated digitally and saved as PNG) what is the advantage of saving to PNG after any edits...

All my best :)

PooMan UK said:

Well as promised here's the tutorial.

<snipped>

Thanks PooMan, excellent tutorial. Much appreciation for the time and effort. I have to admit that I mistakenly took the basis of this side thread to mean "convert" a raster image to vector (now the would be an interesting process, is that even possible??). The techniques and methods you've demonstrated are essentially the same I ofter use to produce line art copies from a bitmap source (the recent Harley-Davidson medallion knock-off for example). The bulk of that base image was generated from the original (example of which I also uploaded). I typically just make a vector line drawing then bring it into Photoshop/Photo-Paint for the color work. I know that vector tracing can also be done in PS but it's a very awkward and cumbersome process (tho certainly helpful if one doesn't have access to a vector based proggy).

A couple of comments though... I miss the occasional audio prompt (if there are any, they are muted on my system). I do have a certain familiarity with Corel, so it's fairly easy for me to follow along. I'm guessing that for the neophyte it might be a bit more difficult. I have Corel Suite X5 so there are some minor differences with the interface but I still got the gist. Short of a running commentary, a few more sticky notes may be helpful to guide the viewer along (Corel can do that for you if leave the hovering hints active). Indecently, X5 has a pretty slick "trace" feature that automates a lot of the simple stuff, I don't recall if X3 had that capability.

At the very beginning of the process you drew a rectangle. I recognize most of the icons in your customized toolbar, but I am curious about the one you used (or process rather) to hide the rectangle after moving it behind logo layer??? Also, what is the need for it (the rectangle that is)?

Thanks again for sharing

PooMan UK said:

Soz pal

I don't do audio, my welsh accent is a bit strong and some may struggle to understand

Perfectly understandable, since this is the "world" wide web we all have to take the varied dialects into consideration.

Although I use x5 unfortunately my screen recording software was on my other PC that only has x3 installed (I've since updated this box so if I do any future vids this should be ok) I do have hovering hints on but I find that they can be a pain sometimes. Although your right I should wack up some more notes explaining some of the actions.

The hovering hints can be a nuisance at times but they do come in handy when the old brain starts to get frazzled. I only mention it as a possible aid in the tutorial as they can give a visual hint to the viewer (fewer sticky notes to deal with - ??).

The "trace feature" which is available in x3 through x5 is is pretty rubbish and I rarely use it. Hence the reason for doing it manually. :)

I agree in essence but I do find it does a fairly decent job if certain steps are taken to help find the edges I'm after. You are correct though, sometimes it's just as easy/fast to do it by connecting-the-dots.

That rectangle I drew and sent to the back was just to show the white block that surrounds the bitmap, so I could emphasise the fact that once it's converted to vector you no longer have these constraints

I had a feeling that's what you where up to. I am still curious though... what was the icon you clicked to make it disappear?

But if you have any further questions please feel free to ask and I'm sure I'll be able to help where I can

Good to know, thanks for all your help!

Oh, and BTW I just noticed at the bottom of your posts is the Superman wall. Is that one of yours - it's one of my favorites (it gets heavy rotation on HTPC desktop)

You can just delete your post Kirsch, click on the edit button, go advanced, choose delete this post.