I have got a very simple logo in jpg format. The logo is mostly text, think something like “ABC inc.” with a very simple styilized shape which merges A, B and C preceding the text. Only two “pure” colors are used.
This logo is used everywhere, resized for every occasion, with an evident degradation of quality. I think (am I right?) that a vector version of it
- should be very easily obtained, since I am tracing something which is more traceable than “a drawing”, in my case simple geometric shapes and fonts
- and should provide for a solution to the image quality degradation.
I have asked the “graphic dept” if they already had a vector version of the logo. Disappointingly for my purposes, they sent me a larger jpg to start with.
So, I have downloaded Inkscape, and I have traced the bitmap. The result, even if not perfect, is very good (mainly because the font has sharp angles, while the tracing uses smooth curves and so there is a “roundish” feel to the letters.
Now I would like to fill the (interior region of the) traced shape with the original colors. The trouble is that the “fill” tool doesn’t work like I am accustomed to in an image editing program (say, Gimp). In particular, it doesn’t “fill” the shape but it is apparently “tracing” another path within mine: and so while a good approximation, one can clearly see the “white” space between the two shapes.
What am I doing wrong, and how can I rectify it? I can live with a “rounded” text, at least as a first approximation. But the white space between the boundary and the interior region is so evident that it is not acceptable.
Please note: I am a complete beginner in the field of vector imaging. So I am aware that my approach could be easily wrong from the first step, and the whole question may be “missing it”.
UPDATE: as requested, I am adding an example. This is a “dot”, like at the end of “Inc.”:
.
As you can see, when I filled the interior of the dot, a white space remained around. What am I doing wrong?
Answer
The thing you’re doing wrong is thinking in raster 🙂
The fill tool is actual pretty useless for neat design. What it does is basically take a raster version of what’s on the screen, then find the “area” clicked in a similar way to a raster editor (photoshop, gimp), then creates a vector shape that roughly covers that area. Because of the conversion to raster and back again, you loose some fidelity, and the fill tool is conservative, in doesn’t go over outlines.
There are a couple of ways to do it. You could manually draw a rough outline of the area you want to fill, with the bezier tool (which will give you the minimal number of nodes needed, saving some space) like this:
Then fill it with what ever colour you want, and lower it below the outlining shape (in this case the R), using Object > Lower (PgDn):
You could also use the Fill tool as you have done, and then use the Path > Outset tool a few times, to make the filled vector large enough to overlap the outlining object.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Francesco , Answer Author : naught101