Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

DMK · Jun 11, 2002, 12:38 AM

Hi people, I have a simple question - is there another program that performs the same function as Adobe Streamline? for you who are not familiar with it, it takes a sketch/bitmap/graphic and can convert it to working paths (converts it to eps paths so it can be used in Illustrator and others).
very useful but was wondering if there's anything else I could try, something OSX native would be nice but not necessary.

thanks!

zilmer · Jun 11, 2002, 05:50 AM

Macromedia Freehand. Although not as well as Streamline, but give it a try.

bluedog · Jun 11, 2002, 03:08 PM

<a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=11461&db=mac" target="_blank">Silhouette</a> is an app that claims to do what you want. I've only briefly looked at it, but at least its OS9/OSX native.

This app is what you're looking for. Same description though, streamline seems to have a bit more flexibility. Just wish Adobe would UPDATE it to work in the modern OS!

Corel also has/had an app called 'Trace' that did vectorization from bitmap graphics. But I don't know who owns it or whether it was any good.

[ 06-11-2002, 04:11 PM: Message edited by: bluedog ]

zilmer · Jun 11, 2002, 05:56 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Corel also has/had an app called 'Trace' that did vectorization from bitmap graphics. But I don't know who owns it or whether it was any good.[/QB]<hr /></blockquote>Hehe... Corel on a Mac is a TOTAL pain in the ass. Go for Freehand for sure before trying anything with Corel

godzookie2k · Jun 12, 2002, 06:28 AM

*Does* freehand have an auto trace in that mess it calls an interface? Is it on streamline levels? I'll have to take a look sometime I guess.

zilmer · Jun 12, 2002, 07:03 AM

It has Trace Tool. You can get some stuff done with that, but its performance HEAVILY depends on the complexity and quality of the image you are trying to trace.

I wouldn't call their interface a mess btw. But this thread is not for this issue. Some other time, some other place.

Mediaman_12 · Jun 12, 2002, 09:48 AM

It would be overkill to just get it for this feature, but Macromedia Flash will convert a bitmap image into vectors. it even does complicated stuff quite well.

zilmer · Jun 12, 2002, 10:23 AM

Well, you can always use the 30-day trial of Flash if it's a one-time project. I believe it's posted at <a href="http://www.macromedia.com" target="_blank">www.macromedia.com</a>

Vanquish · Jun 16, 2002, 12:56 PM

Yeah, whatever happened to streamline ?

Are they still selling this ?, if is so, why ? i don't think it even runs on XP-crap.

Jun 19, 2002, 11:50 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Vanquish:
Yeah, whatever happened to streamline ?

Are they still selling this ?, if is so, why ? i don't think it even runs on XP-crap.<hr /></blockquote>Actually, Streamline is an everlasting tool that works wonderfully in XP, I've used it extensively. A few of us introduced it to both DC Comics and Warner Bro's. Saved them from long and painful hours of production work

graphics84 · Jun 20, 2002, 11:42 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by <Will>:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Vanquish:
Yeah, whatever happened to streamline ?

Are they still selling this ?, if is so, why ? i don't think it even runs on XP-crap.<hr /></blockquote>Actually, Streamline is an everlasting tool that works wonderfully in XP, I've used it extensively. A few of us introduced it to both DC Comics and Warner Bro's. Saved them from long and painful hours of production work<hr /></blockquote>Not when I worked there... (San Diego Office)

Streamline does need to be updated to OS X... I use it in classic and it works great except for a few memory bugs... (like on a 600 dpi bitmap)

I'd like to see a better compatability with Adobe Illustrator 10
more color palets or just intergrate it into AI 10.5...

but Adobe won't even talk about it... I go to Macworld every year and I get the cold shoulder...