Get the files here to try it for your self: zip or sit
A series of sprites that can be used for gaming.
Zip
file or Sit
file
A series of buttons created in Flash.The .fla and .swf files
are included.
Zip
file or Sit File
Looking for some "prerolled" and "precoded" Director
buttons?
Zip
file or Sit
File
The Glass Wall is an 89-page .pdf document that
follows the redesign of the BBC's home page.
Zip
file or Sit
File
The autotrace tool is one of these features of Vector Drawing applications that developers tend to avoid. The main reason is there is a distinct lack of precision. The other factor is the number of points kicked out by the tool. For example, you can draw a cirle that only needs four points. Autotrace will create an object from the same circle consisting of multiples of the original four points. Still there are some really great uses for this tool when it comes to web use.
For example, Flash animations or drawings of the human figure, for example, can be kept manageable if the number of colours and control points are kept to a minimum. Bitmaps in Flash MX consume tremendous amounts of bandwidth whereas vector drawings in Flash MX have minimal bandwidth. Also, keeping colours on a web page to a minimum reduces the bandwidth demand and actually makes images load a lot quicker. For example, here is the Home page for Max Payne:
One aspect of the page to note is the major graphic elements are 1-bit (two colours) and quite large. The colour elements are very small. If you hit this page- Max Payne 2- it loads, it seems, almost as soon as you arrive.
The Autotrace tool in Freehand MX is ideal for achieving these effects. What makes it so useful is the ability to either:
1. Save the resulting trace as vectors for use in Flash and Fireworks.
2. Save the resulting file as a jpg image for placement in Dreamweaver or optimization in Fireworks MX.
3. Copy and paste the image into Fireworks MX 2004 and thereby avoid the extra file size added by the unused page area.
In this example, using our Stare Image, you can see how each effect looks when the Autotrace tool in FreeHand MX is set to 2, 8,16 and 32 colours. Each file was then copied and pasted from FreeHand MX into Fireworks MX 2004 . The files were simply saved out as .jpg files with no optimization and each one , regardless of colour depth, had a final file size of around 12K.
The two colours option for the Freehand Autotrace tool is to be avoided. It is quite unpredictable. To achieve the Black and White effect I simply autraced using 8 colours. I then selected the Subselect tool (the hollow arrow) and filled the selection with either black or white.