Editing Pinball Cabinet Artwork with Vector Software
This article was originally posted on PinballRehab.com.
Reproduced with permission from terryb.
Written by terryb
Once you’ve copied a pinball graphic using a camera or scanner (see references for how to do this) it’s time to create a final graphic for publishing. While some will skip the editing step, you are going to get a much more professional looking product with a little editing work.
For these examples I’m using CorelDraw X6. It has a very slick tool called PowerTRACE for easily converting bitmap images into vector files. Other vector problems like Adobe Illustrator have similar tools or there are free online services that will convert a bitmap graphic to vector. You can also manually trace the image, which will give a more accurate representation.
For more info, see Restoring Cabinet Graphics – Overview, which covers the different types of pinball cabinet graphics and provides an overview of the restoration process. Links are then provided to individual articles (like this one) that cover each step of the process. All of the detailed articles are also included in the Related Articles at the bottom of this page.
Bitmap or Vector Graphics
Whether you use a bitmap or a vector graphics editing program depends on your final objective and to a lesser degree your personal preferences.
If you’re sending the final graphic out to a shop to have a stencil or silkscreen made you will need a vector file. If you are going to print out the graphic and then hand cut a stencil then you can use a bitmap or vector file. For creating decals you can use either a bitmap or vector file.
While vector software tends to be more expensive and has a higher learning curve, it is much faster than doing the same job with bitmap software. See this article for more info on Editing Graphics with Bitmap Software.
Some editing like merging images or adjusting colors is often easier to do in a bitmap, or raster, program and then imported into your vector program.
It is beyond the scope of this article to cover every aspect of vector graphics editing but rather I will focus on using PowerTRACE and provide a few tips on manually tracing an image (see video at bottom).
Anti-Aliasing
One of the inherent issues with a camera or scanner image is that it will be anti-aliased. This is the blurring of the transition where two colors come together. Pinball graphics are typically made with a stencil or silkscreen, which provides a well defined border between colors.
So while editing the image we need to remove the anti-aliasing to create a more original look. This issue will be taken care of by using vector software, but if you then save to a JPEG once you’re done the anti-aliasing will return. If you must go back to a bitmap file, TIFF is the best choice.
PowerTRACE
For my example I’ve scanned the front cabinet of a Bram Stokers Dracula. I intend to make a a decal to replace the very faded “Love Never Dies” but you could also create a stencil and spray paint the words.
The first step is to create a new image in CorelDRAW that is the same size as the image you will be importing. Then go to File -> Import and select the scan or photo image you’ll be working with. Once you’ve done that go to Bitmap -> Outline Trace -> Detailed Logo or High Quality Image (see Image 1).
Note: There are several other options under Outline Trace, but I find Detailed Logo is best for stencils or silkscreens and High Quality Image is best for decals (of course this also depends on the complexity of your graphic). You can always change this selection after the PowerTRACE window comes up and see which selection works best for your image.
Click on OK and you’re all set. In Image 5 you can see the results after I cleaned up the last little bit of unwanted graphics.
See Image 9 for the final graphics that I made decals from.
Manual Tracing
Most professionals will use manual tracing rather than an automatic tracing system. Just pull the graphic into your program and then add a raster layer on top with 50% opacity. Then use the “Pen Tool” to draw lines and curves to match the original image. This is explained in more detail in the video below.
While the person in the video is using Adobe Illustrator, the general concept is the same for any vector software program. He also uses a lot of hot keys (for example, pressing ALT while clicking the mouse), don’t let that confuse you, it’s just a faster way of working than using the menus to switch between lines and curves.
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