Vector Line Drawing

[DaveG28]

Anyone heard of this type of graphic and know where I cam get a program that uses it?

[jameswilkinson7]

I think PDFs are vectors?

[jimmy]

Adobe Illustrator is the best

I think inkscape is free? http://www.inkscape.org/

There are a few more.

[MatJohnson]

Expression blend uses vectors I think as well

[c0sie]

Vectors are great for logos, graphics and things that need to be resized without loss of clarity.

There are probably many other reasons why vector images are ace, Jimmy probably knows more than most cos hes a graphical god

I use Illustrator for what its worth

[blue_pinky]

I could geek out totally on this...but will resist...it's not that interesting really

I use Illustrator as well. Never seen Inkscape before but it looks like it'd def be worth a try!

[Aran]

illustrator is the best one, you'd probably be better off getting some one to do it for you.

[JCJC]

Coral Draw is remarkably good for vector line drawings, has layers, grids etc.

[smokes]

http://motoring-art.com/

is really good place to look at vector line drawings I am Cad man My self but help be amazed at the skills of these guys

[Body Paint]

Basically a vector drawing is made up of lines, it's much like drawing on paper. You make a box then fill it in. As opposed to bitmaps which us coloured pixels to generate an image.

Illustrator is ok as long as you know it inside out and you only want to work in Adobe based programs.

CAD programs work in vectors, some of which are super simple, but you wont be able to design coloured or multi layered logos in CAD.

Corel Draw is by far the best, and is so much more compatable with other software. The new X5 version is simply a-mazing! Though you do need to be a little more carefull with colour profiling in Corel if you are going to use it for printing through another software.

Depends what you want to do with it though really as to which would be the best package.

[smokes]

Err 3d CAD in parametric modeling not vector line, with the exception of autocad

[blue_pinky]

A little off topic maybe, but if you think about it, 3D CAD is vector based...somewhat more complex...but vector based none the less! It knows what type of lines/curves you've drawn, and where they are in space...just like autocad, and illustrator and Corel! But it uses those lines/curves as edges for surface/solid definition. It uses a more complex method of defining points/lines/curves and utilising them, which is what makes it parametrically editable, but that's the only difference

Corel vs Illustrator...horses for coarses I reckon...both do much the same things in reality I'd guess? Both been around for donkies, by now they must both have pretty much the same buttons, just with different names! Haven't used Corel since school Craig Corel is cheaper though, and wouldn't be surprised if it was easier to learn.

[smokes]

Sketches is are vectors but are defined in 3d space and by dimension in Solidworks catia etc based but it is use to form 3d parametric volume and is not layer based like autocad.

[DaveG28]

Anyway, have downloaded inkscape, can;t work out what file formats I need to save it as to be a "line drawing", can anyone help?

[JCJC]

I downloaded and installed inkscape after seeing it in this thread, quite capable and any of the SVG formats would be vector files (drawing applications are vector or bitmap, and it should be easy to convert a vector to bitmap, not go the other way). As I said above I have used coraldraw and tend to use it for building layouts, it has (and inkscape dont yet) the ability to set a scale so I can draw & print at 20:1 or whatever I pick. I have drawn shapes and printed onto large sticky labels, stuck em on plasticsheet or brass and cut them out as car parts.

I tend not to use the arty side of the application, what are you hoping to use it for ? the file format will only matter if you are giving the file to someone else to view/use.