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KnotWorker

Knotwork Tracing Tips

How to Make Your Knots Resize Smoothly

Knots created using Goldcup KnotWorker are in bitmap format, that is, they are made of coloured pixels or dots. Although you can set the size of your knots by using larger or smaller KnotStyles, there are times when greater flexibility is required.

Say, for instance, you wanted to make a knot that could be easily printed up to poster size. The problem with a bitmap is that when enlarged the coloured dots can be very big, making the image look very blocky. The alternative is to use a vector graphic.

Vector graphics are made of mathematical formulas defining lines that make up the image, so they never appear blocky when enlarged. Their resolution is dependent on the printing or display device.

Converting a KnotWorker Bitmap into a Vector

To convert your KnotWorker knots into vector graphics you will need some KnotStyles specifically designed for tracing. You can download some of these Trace KnotStyles from the KnotWorker Goodies page.

You also need tracing software such as Corel Trace, which will analyse your graphic and convert it to vector format, plus vector graphic software such as Corel Draw for editing the vector knot.

Quick and Easy Steps

There are a few easy steps to making a vector Celtic knot:

1. Make the knotwork design in KnotWorker using the Trace KnotStyles with a dark colour against white, then save or export the design as a Windows Bitmap.
2. Open the bitmap in your trace software, convert it to Black and White, then generate the vector graphic. In Corel Trace the following settings work well: Outline Trace with Node Reduction 10, Noise Reduction 5 pixels and Color Tolerance 0. You can try different settings to get the best results.
3. Save the vector image in the format you require. From Corel Trace you can save as a Corel Presentation file (CMX), which will transfer well into Corel Draw.
4. Import the file into your vector graphics software, then edit, resize and rotate all you like. If Corel Draw is used you can then save the graphic as a CDR file.

The End Results

To see what's possible you can download a few knots made using the 'KnotWorker, Corel Trace and Corel Draw' method from the Free Celtic Clipart page.