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The images below is my bitmapped starter image. It is a live action picture of the basketball player Shaquille O'Neal. I used the video tutorials to learn how to create this vector images. For the image what I did was I searched up Shaq and found this image, and then imported it into a background remover. After that I imported it into CorelDraw and selected the trace bitmap button, outline trace, and then high quality image. After I got into the the bitmap window it showed me the wireframe of the design, which is where the laser cutter will engrave certain lines into the piece of leather. Then I increased the detail and the smoothness of the image. It may sacrifice the specific details of the image but this way it will become a vector image that doesn't have any pixels. Instead it will have smooth lines that look good when engraving using a laser cutter. Vector images are created by using mathematical equations than create straight and smooth lines.
This was the original raster image that I had before I converted it to vector. I found it on the web.
This was after I followed the steps above to create this vector version of the image above. The way you are seeing it is in Enhanced view, so that you can see the bitmap and the colors of the design.
The final version of my desgin. The outline around it has the same outline as the leather keychain so when I cut the cardboard version of the leather keychain, they should be the exact same size. To create this I imported a photo of this leather keychain into CorelDraw. I then pressed trace bitmap and then logo. After that I deleted all the colors except the outline of the image, which removed all other bitmaps except the outline of the design. I then used that as the outline of the leather keychain and converted the width to hairline so it became a raster image. It still has the same vector image as seen above it on the keychain itself.
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Above and to the left you can see a video of the laser cutter cutting out the cardboard design of my image with the raster image on it as well. It didn't show up well, but with leather it showed up much better. When importing my design into the computer connected to the laser cutter there are very important steps to follow. I needed to make sure my design was in the correct spot, use the correct preferences for leather cutting and engraving, and finally make sure that the material is firmly set in the correct spot on the bed. After I cut my design with cardboard I removed that version and kept the rest of the cardboard outline. I then fit the leather keychain into the same spot that the cardboard one was in and changed the preferences to fit. It then cut in the exact same spot only for leather and engraved my vector design into the the leather, only this time with out the raster design outline. .
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My leather keychain design unfortunately changed from my digital version to physical version because the cardboard was raised a little too high and the laser cutter arm starting hitting the cardboard. This caused my design to look a bit grainy and pixilated in some parts. Other than that though it mainly remained the same as my original design.
This vector design process is different from my previous raster design process because of how it created the design and how I executed it. For the vector image, I had to import a photo from the internet into CorelDraw and change it from there into a vector image. Meanwhile for the raster design, I simply created the raster lines and designs in CorelDraw and created my image in CorelDraw, not from the internet. The execution of the processes is different as well, for raster we simply had to test our design on a smaller piece of cardboard before cutting our pieces out on another piece of cardboard. But for the vector design I had to test my design on cardboard first and then I removed the cut out cardboard work. I replaced the area with a piece of leather and had the program run the exact same system as before only for the leather presents. I also removed the outline of the design.
I had a few problems while designing and creating this keychain. The first one being that I made my raster outline for the cardboard design a vector image on accident. Luckily I caught myself and converted the thickness of the outline to hairline so it would convert to raster instead of vector. Another problem I had was when I was when the cardboard was too high up and the laser cutter arm starting hitting the cardboard. This distorted the image a little. Unfortunetly I cannot resolve this problem and the keychain is tuck like this unless I make a new keychain.
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