The Best Way to Vectorize Your COLOR Photoshop Art

Sometimes you need to create vectors from your flat, raster-based artwork. Image Trace in Adobe Illustrator works well for some situations but not all — especially when there are a lot of fine, intricate details. Learn how I use Photoshop to separate my colours onto separate layers and then convert them to perfect vector files in Illustrator. It takes a bit of extra time but the results are way better than what Image Trace can do. By the end of this video you'll be able to convert a PSD file into an Adobe Illustrator (EPS or AI) file. This is in response to many of your questions from my previous video about vectorizing detailed artwork in Photoshop.

Thank you to Lilliia Stefanyshyn for providing today's demo art.

TIME STAMPS
00:00 - INTRO
00:29 - Background Info (for Context)
00:55 - Image Trace Test
01:39 - Requirements
01:51 - 4 Colours
02:14 - Overview of the Process
03:08 - Stage 1 (Separating the Colours)
03:22 - Separating the Black
05:27 - Separating the Red
09:14 - Separating the Dark Grey
14:48 - Separating the Light Grey
17:35 - Converting Separations to Fill Layers with Alpha Masks
18:45 - Creating an Alpha Mask from non-black artwork
20:45 - Comparing My Results with Original Art
22:10 - Stage 2 (Creating Vector Paths)
22:24 - Vectorizing the Black
23:06 - Vectorizing the Remaining Layers
23:17 - Stage 3 (Combining Paths in Adobe Illustrator)
23:27 - Exporting Paths to Illustrator (.ai Files)
24:00 - Opening Files in Illustrator
24:14 - Colorize the Paths
24:27 - Knock Out Shapes with Exclude in Pathfinder
25:43 - Pasting All Layers into One File
26:19 - Move the Black (line art) Layer to the Top
26:36 - Comparing Results
27:44 - Conclusion


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