1. Live Trace & Live Color
Adobe Illustrator

2. Overview What is Live Trace? Live Trace – Working with Line Drawings
Live Trace Graphic - Practice
What is Live Color?
Live Color a Drawing - Practice

3. What is Live Trace?
Process where Illustrator will take a raster graphic and convert it into a vector graphic
Can anyone remind me the difference between Raster and Vector?
Live trace works with any bitmap graphic:
This includes line drawings that are scanned in and you want to color in using the Illustrator program
Full color photographs you would like to edit/manipulate in Illustrator
Or just turn into a vector graphic
Caution: When working with photographs and converting them into a vector graphic via Live Trace:
Illustrator will try and turn each portion of the color graphic into a vector shape, this means paths and anchors
This can and will increase your file size, and also stress your computer
Less is more in this process!!

4. Live Trace – Working with Line Drawings
Some general tips when working with a line drawing (like a logo) that would be scanned in, placed and then live traced to be worked with:
Best if there are no open paths and the line drawing is dark (I like to go over mine with a black marker)
This process is assuming it’s just too much for the pen tool to handle
Overall, this process is nice because Illustrator will try and do the heavy lifting for you
When scanning in an image:
Do a pre-crop – Do not leave the white space of the 8.5 x 11 scan around the logo/image
Do not include color in your sketch!
color in illustrator

5. Practice in Illustrator
Live Trace a Graphic
Practice in Illustrator

6. Live Trace a Graphic - Practice
Begin by finding DogPractice.GIF in the assets zip
This was a hand-drawn picture that was traced with a marker and scanned into the computer as a .GIF document
Create a new Illustrator Document – Can name it DogTrace or something like that
In Illustrator, begin by doing a File > Place
Locate the Dog picture and select that and choose to place it
Place a graphic; Input an .AI file

7. Image Trace a Graphic - Practice
Keeping the dog graphic selected, go to the control bar and locate the Image Trace dropdown
Select the “6-Color Option” and notice what happens to the dog graphic
At this point – it is noa vector graphic:
Try zooming in on it and resizing it, notice you lose no quality!
Q: Which option would you choose for a photo of a person?

8. Live Trace a Graphic - Practice
Notice with the 6-color option what happens to the hat of the dog
Try some of the other presets and see how the lines change
For this example, the best preset option is ‘Black and White Logo’
6-Color Preset
Black and White Logo Preset

9. Image Trace a Graphic - Practice
Once you have the graphic how you want it, the final step is to expand it so we can see the paths and anchors, and prep it for Live Color
Look at the control bar again, and should see an Expand button
Click the button and now you should see the paths/anchors of the dog image.

10. What is Live Color?
Live Color is a process that can be done on a Live Traced Graphic
You add colors to a image traced Graphic using tools such as the Live Paint Bucket tool
The graphic must have been live traced first in order to use the live color tool
So just remember – You need Live Trace to Live Color!

11. Coloring in our Dog Sketch!
Live Color Practice
Coloring in our Dog Sketch!

12. Live Paint - Practice
Select your dog picture (Make sure you expanded it from the last example)
Keeping the image selected, go to the main menu bar
Object > Live Paint > Make – This will convert the graphic so that it can be painted with the Live Paint Bucket Tool
This is now considered to be a Live Paint Object

13. Live Color - Practice
Once you have a live color object, navigate and chose Live Paint Selection Tool selected:
Click in a shape to select it and then choose a fill color for that specific shape
Can choose a swatch from the drop down for the fill, or
Go to the Color Panel and select a specific color from there!

14. Live Color – Practice (Method 2)
You can either Ctrl + Z to Undo all you did or do File > Place to place a new copy of the Dog Practice image
If you do File > Place, Remember you have to re-trace the image AND expand it!
This time, after expanding the image, navigate back to the Live Paint Tools (Under your Shape Builder Tool) in the Tool box and choose the Live Paint Bucket Tool
Think of the Live Paint Bucket Tool like the old ‘Flood Fill’ concept – If you click in a Live Paint Area, that entire area will be colored in

15. Live Color – Practice (Method 2)
When you first hover the Live Paint Bucket over the graphic, it will show you all the options for the different areas that it can color in
Click on one and it will activate the Live Color Mode
The nice thing about the Live Paint Bucket Tool is it allows you to have three colors stored and ready to go
Use the arrows keys to navigate back and forth between the colors