[Clipart] Clipart mining guide

[Greg Bulmash]

Inkscape has a very capable tracing tool.  Most times I find it quicker 
and better than Adobe LiveTrace.  I've run them side by side and just 
don't use LiveTrace any more.  Yes, given a choice, I prefer Inkscape.

If Inkscape did a good PDF import, a good SWF export, and improved its 
EPS export, I might well dump Illustrator for good.

- Greg

John Olsen wrote:
> I have had a couple of people ask me to go through the steps I use to 
> get images  from old books.  I am happy to share them.  I can only do a 
> version using an Adobe Creative Suite workflow as this is what I am most 
> familiar with and it seems the GIMP needs some additional helpers to 
> handle  PDFs.  So I imagine this all can be done with an Open Source 
> workflow.  I just am not the authority to write on it.  Maybe someone 
> can translate it.
> 
> Anyway, I have a draft below.  I was thinking of adding it to the Wiki 
> section "http://openclipart.org/wiki/Clipart_Acquisition" but wondered 
> if that clutters up that section.  maybe it is better in a separate 
> subsection under either "Clip Art Information" or "Contributor & User 
> Handbook".  If so someone who can unlock the top level would need to set 
> that up for me.  Ryan?
> 
> Any suggestions or ideas are appreciated.
> 
> John Olsen
> 
> 
> == Guideline for Mining Images from Online Book Libraries ==
> * Sites such as those collected under the texts section of 
> www.Archive.org <http://www.Archive.org> offer a gold mine of Public 
> Domain images.  This is a guide to how to extract these images for use 
> here on OCAL.  Please note the author uses a workflow using Adobe 
> Creative Suite 3 because he is most familiar with this software.  It 
> probably can all be done using Open Source software.  Someone else will 
> need to add those instructions.
> * Find a book with images you would like to extract.  Keep in mind that 
> the resolution is not extremely high so small images may not have enough 
> resolution to extract good SVGs.
> * Download the PDF version of the book.  It usually has the best 
> resolution.  The black and white PDF will be made for reading the text 
> and might not have the best images.  it is better to get the full color 
> PDF and do your own adjustments.
> * Open the PDF in Photoshop.  You will be asked to select a page.  Pick 
> the page you want and open it.  Then crop the image tight around the 
> graphic you want. 
> * Alternatively you can extract individual pages using Adobe Acrobat and 
> then open these single pages in Photoshop.  This can be faster and less 
> memory intensive when mining large books.
> * Using Image>Adjustments>Black & White convert the image to black & 
> white.  The High Contrast Red Filter Preset usually does a good job.
> * Further enhance the image using Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast 
> to increase contrast and brightness if necessary so you get a nice high 
> contrast image.
> * Save the file as .PSD or .TIF or any format that Adobe Illustrator opens.
> * Open this file in Adobe Illustrator.
> * Use Live Trace to convert photo to vector art.  The following presets 
> usually give the best result.  One Color Logo (give black lines 
> only-smallest file size), Black & White Logo (white parts are filled 
> shapes as well) and Comic Art.
> * When happy with the image, Save as SVG.  Do not preserve Illustrator 
> editing so file is basic SVG. 
> * Using File>Save for Web & Devices make a PNG file to upload with SVG.
> * Upload file to OCAL.
> * You usually get better results with strong black & white images.  They 
> make nice clean traces with reasonable file sizes.  It is easier to 
> color these afterwards then try to trace a full color image and expect 
> clean, crisp lines.
> 
> 
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