CorelDRAW Help | Fine-tune traced results

Fine-tune traced results

PowerTRACE lets you perform the following adjustments to fine-tune your trace results.

Adjusting detail and smoothing

You can adjust the amount of detail in the traced result and smooth curved lines. When you adjust detail, you change the number of objects in the traced result. If you used the Outline Trace method to trace the bitmap, adjusting the traced result also changes the number of colors. Smoothing changes the number of nodes in the traced result. You can also control the appearance of corners in the traced result by setting the threshold for corner smoothness.

Outline tracing with a low detail value (left); outline tracing with a high detail value (right)

Completing a trace

By default, the source bitmap is preserved after being traced, and objects in the traced result are automatically grouped. You can have the source bitmap automatically deleted after the trace is complete.

Removing and preserving the background

You can choose to remove or preserve the background in the traced result. With the Outline Trace method, you can also specify the background color to be removed. If the background color around the edges is removed but some background color still shows through some areas of the image, you can remove the background from the entire image.

Setting other Outline Trace options

By default, object areas that are hidden from view by overlapping objects are removed from the traced result. You can choose to keep the underlying object areas. This feature is useful for traced results that will be output to vinyl cutters and screen printers.

To reduce the number of objects in the traced result, you can combine adjacent objects of the same color. You can also group objects of the same color so that you can manipulate them more easily in CorelDRAW.

Undoing and redoing actions

You can adjust the settings in PowerTRACE and retrace a bitmap as many times as necessary until you are satisfied with the result. If you make a mistake, you can undo or redo an action, or you can revert to the first traced result.

To fine-tune traced results

1 Select a bitmap.

2 Do one of the following:

• Click Bitmaps

Centerline Trace, and click a command.

• Click Bitmaps

Outline Trace, and click a command.

3 Move any of the following sliders:

• Detail — lets you control the amount of original detail that is preserved in the traced result. Higher values maintain more detail and result in a greater number of objects and colors; lower values discard some detail and result in fewer objects.

• Smoothing — lets you smooth curved lines and control the number of nodes in the traced result. Higher values result in fewer nodes and produce curves that do not closely follow the lines in the source bitmap. Lower values result in more nodes and produce more accurate trace results.

• Corner smoothness — This slider works in conjunction with the Smoothing slider and lets you control the appearance of corners. Lower values maintain the appearance of corners; higher values smooth corners.

You can also
Change the tracing method	Choose a method from the Trace type list box.
Change the preset style	Choose a preset style from the Image type list box.
Keep the source bitmap after a trace	Disable the Delete original check box.
Discard or preserve the background in the traced result	Enable or disable the Remove background check box.
Specify the background color you want to remove (Outline Trace)	Enable the Specify option, open the color picker, click the Eyedropper tool , and click a color in the preview window. To specify an additional background color to remove, hold down Shift, and click a color in the preview window. The last specified color is displayed next to the Eyedropper tool.
Remove a background color from the entire image (Outline Trace)	From the Remove list box, choose Color from entire image.
Keep object areas that are hidden by overlapping objects (Outline Trace)	In the Objects area, disable the Remove overlap check box.
Group objects by color (Outline Trace)	In the Objects area, enable the Group by color check box. This check box is available only when the Remove overlap check box is enabled.
Merge adjacent objects that have the same color (Outline Trace)	In the Objects area, enable the Merge adjacent check box.
Undo or redo an action	Click the Undo or Redo button.
Revert to the first traced result	Click Reset.

You can also access PowerTRACE from the Trace Bitmap flyout button on the property bar.