The WebXealot  Page 7

Bitmap Tracer (Continued)

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Here are some things you can do with traced bitmaps. (You can think of them as serving suggestions). I started out with this attractive BMW from the Clipart Gallery > Photographs 1 section (images on the Xara X CD).

I traced the bitmap with the Bitmap Tracer and increased the Accuracy setting to 80% which produced a more detailed trace. Good, but not spectacular.

For an effect, I placed the bitmap over the traced version and applied an Elliptical, Mix transparency. The center of the transparency was changed to 100% transparent while the outside value was changed to 0%. This produced an interesting rough outside image that becomes smoother and sharper towards the center.

If you visit the TalkGraphics.com Xara Gallery, you have probably seen Ross and Eric, and Bill, and many others emboss their bitmap traced images. It's easy and looks a lot better than the traced image. Just ungroup the traced bitmap and apply a Bevel effect of your choice to all the pieces. You can use this technique to create a heavy paint palette knife painting effect.

A Circular envelope was applied to to the traced version to create a fish eye type distortion.

A black and white Circular filled circle was placed on top and transparency added.

A pale blue highlight with a Linear transparency completed the effect.

For the final effect, the traced bitmap was selected and the outline changed to light blue and the fill to white creating an outline drawing. This was placed over the BMW photo bitmap image and Linear transparency applied to create a "from drawing to reality" image.

And that wraps up another action-filled WebXealot. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, recipes, TIPS, helpful hints, jokes, or just want to say hey, use the form on the next page.

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