• Zaxwerks

  logo, proanimator and Ai problems

  Posted by Barbara Daly on January 28, 2010 at 6:24 pm

  I am having a terrible time getting zaxwerks to see a logo I brought in from Ai using live trace. I’m not sure if I’m messing up the parameters in Ai (but have spent 2 days trying various configurations) or if there’s something wrong with the logo or Zaxwerks.
  The most success I’ve had is when I used the default presets in Ai which includes B&W. I was able to see the logo in ProAnimator but it was a solid, single color block with some of the lettering punched out. My logo is fairly simple, 4 color including text.
  Thanks for any help you can provide me. I’m using CS4. ProAnimator 4.5.1
  Barbara

  b

  Edward Wu replied 16 years, 3 months ago 2 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

• 

  Edward Wu

  January 28, 2010 at 7:26 pm

  Hi Barbara,

  Sorry to say, but sometimes the “Live Trace” feature in Illustrator does not work very well. Depending on your logo, you may have a little to a lot of clean up from using the Live Trace.

  In general, the first thing you have to do after you used the “Live Trace” feature is to “Ungroup” all the elements, then select the outer canvas outline that the “Live Trace” tool created, and delete it. What I mean by the “outer canvas outline” is the image canvas size. So, say you created a canvas in Photoshop that is 300×300 pixels big, and in the middle of the canvas, there is a 200×200 pixel logo. Illustrator not only traces your 200×200 logo, but also the 300×300 canvas as well. So be sure to delete the canvas outline after you use the Live Trace tool.

  Usually, by deleting the “outer canvas outline”, you won’t get the letter punch out effect that you’re seeing. Your logo should then open up properly in ProAnimator. However, depending on how your logo looks, you may want to separate different elements to different layers.

  If you’re still having any issues, you can send your Illustrator file to me at ed@zaxwerks.com

  I’ll take a look at your file, and see what you’re running into.

  Best,
  Edward
• 

  Barbara Daly

  January 28, 2010 at 10:41 pm

  Before I send you my logo I’d better make sure I’m using the correct procedures.
  In Ai I create a new document
  profile: custom
  artboards 1
  size: letter
  color mode RGB

  file-place
  colored logo is in center of page with wireframe around it.
  livetrace
  tracing options
  Preset: color 6
  mode; color
  max colors 6
  trace settings (fills is checked, strokes is not)
  Trace
  save
  version illustrator cs4
  options checked:
  create pdf compatible file
  embed icc profiles
  ok
  Open proanimator
  select ai file
  check:
  open by layers
  use illustrator colors
  move objects to center

  oddly, when i get in proanimator this way i have no grids visible even though floor and alpha has been selected. If i go thru all the views i see the alpha channel in the front view but no grid or alpha in any of the other views.
  Does this make sense to you?
  Thanks for your input, I soooo appreciate it!
  b

  livetrace

  b
• 

  Edward Wu

  January 28, 2010 at 11:48 pm

  Hi Barbara,

  After the Live Trace, you will want to “Ungroup” and delete the “outer canvas outline” as I mentioned in the previous post. This is especially important if your logo is on a white background or transparent background.

  If you tried those steps already, are you able to see your Illustrator logo open correctly in ProAnimator now?

  I’m not certain what could be causing the Alpha and Floors to not be visible, but if your logo is not opening correctly (for example, you may see large spikes going all over the place), it can cause the views to not display correctly.

  If you’re still having issues opening up the logo in ProAnimator, feel free to send the file over and I’ll take a look at it.

  Best,
  Edward

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