[clue-tech] gimp fonts for [printed] graphics

[Michael J. Hammel]

On Thu, 2004-12-23 at 11:47, Jed S. Baer wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 10:39:01 -0700
> Matt Gushee wrote:
> 
> > Furthermore, you can usually import raster graphics into vector, but not
> > vice versa.
> 
> That seems counterintuitive. No doubt because of ignorance on my part. But
> rasterizing a vector image is something that happens all the time. But
> doing the opposite seems fraught with difficulties of edge-detection --
> particularly when anti-aliasing is involved, and probably other things as
> well.

You can import raster into vector programs but they remain raster images
when managed there.  So if you scale the raster image in the vector
program it starts to become distorted very quickly.  There are limited
features for handling raster images in vector programs.  When imported,
the raster image is seldom converted to vector, though there are
programs that can do this.  Inkscape uses an external tool (whose name
escapes me at the moment) that can do this for line drawings.  Sketch
something on paper, scan it, then import it to Inkscape and convert it
to vector.  Pretty slick.  But this trick only works well for line
drawings.  It would work very badly, if at all, for things like color
photographs.

You can import vector images into raster programs as well.  What happens
to them in this case depends a lot on the raster program.  GIMP imports
(I believe - I'll have to check this) SVG images as paths, which means
you keep the vector information for the lines but probably lose
information about colors and gradients and so forth.  

I haven't tried this in quite some time and seldom use it.  If the image
needs to scale up, I do most of the work that can be scaled up in a
vector tool (Inkscape on Linux, when appropriate) and then import
appropriate sized raster images into that work near the end of
development.

-- 
Michael J. Hammel           
The Graphics Muse                If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.
mjhammel at graphics-muse.org                        -- Author Unknown
http://www.ximba.org