Vectorizing Bitmaps

As you develop your animation, you may want to integrate hand-drawn pictures. You can scan these pictures and import them as bitmaps into image elements. However, you cannot edit bitmap images in Toon Boom Studio. In addition, bitmap images are not as flexible as vector drawings when it comes to resolution and file size.

Rather than importing your scanned drawings as bitmaps, you can transform the scanned images into vector drawings so that you can benefit from Toon Boom Studio vector technology.

When you import and vectorize bitmap images, you must select an appropriate image filter and threshold. You may have to experiment with different settings to achieve the best results for your drawings.

All color bitmaps are transformed into grayscale during the vectorization process. Any pure color (with an RGB value of 255) will be converted to white and ignored during the vectorization process. If you are vectorizing color bitmaps, you should recolor pure color regions that you want to be vectorized, with another color.

To vectorize bitmap images:

1. Select a cell in a Drawing element in the Exposure Sheet or Timeline.

2. [Control]-click the cell and select Import and Vectorize > From File from the pop-up window. The Open dialog box opens.

3. Select the bitmap image you want to import and vectorize, and click Open. You can select multiple files.

Press [Command] to select image files in any order.
Press [Shift] to select image files in a series.

The Import and Vectorize Settings dialog box opens.

4. Select a bitmap filter. You may have to experiment with these settings based on the qualities of the images you are vectorizing.

If the lines in your bitmap are thin, select Smoothing + Loss of Sharpness. This filter blurs the lines in the bitmap slightly so that thin lines are picked up in the vectorization process.
If the lines in your bitmap are very fine, select Smoothing + Greater Loss of Sharpness. This filter blurs the lines in your bitmap more so that more lines are transformed in the vectorization process.
If the lines in your bitmap are thick, select Edge Enhancement. This filter merges fine lines (noise) into larger lines to create cleaner objects.
If the lines in your bitmaps are thick and include a lot of fine detail, select Sharpening With Clearness. This filter sharpens edges to enhance details in your images.

5. Select a Threshold percentage.

The Threshold value filters out noise in your bitmaps. Noise can be dirt or faint smudges on your scanned images.

For example, if your value is set to 70%, all color values below 70% are converted to white and ignored in the final image.

6. Click OK when you are done.

A progress dialog box opens while Toon Boom Studio imports and vectorizes your images. You can modify these vector drawings like you would any other vector drawing.