The first thing you want to do is find a photo. It's best to pick a photo that doesn't have a ton of background. I went with this picture of me and my daughter paddle boarding. It's obviously a color photo and while you can trace a color photo I find it easier to trace a black and white image since the trace feature works on finding contrast. Never did I think I'd share a picture of me in a bathing suit on this blog....but...
To change your photo to black and white go to PicMonkey > Click 'EDIT' > navigate to your photo. Once the photo is open click on the icon along the left side that looks like a wand with some stars (in blue along the left side). Scroll down until you find 'black and white' then click Apply.
Now click the very top icon (in blue along the left side) and pick 'Exposure'. Move the bars around until the blacks and whites are pretty drastic. The contrast bar is a good one for this.
Save the photo and then reopen it Silhouette Studio by dragging and dropping. If you need a step by step tutorial on opening PicMonkey images in Studio read this tutorial.
And we're ready to trace...
Click the Trace icon (in blue along the top bar) > Select Trace > Select around the photo > TRACE. You'll have red lines everywhere and it will look like a whole big mess.
So go back to your jpeg and trace again. Only this time, you want to UNCHECK high pass filter and adjust the threshold. Finish your trace by clicking 'TRACE' and again fill in the red cut lines with black fill and black lines. These are what your two traces look like.
Neither is perfect (although some may want to go with the second trace alone), but when we layer them together, we get the best trace with the most detail. So go ahead and move one on top of the other.
Zoom in and focus on one area so you can see exactly how to align the two traces. Once you have it perfect, GROUP THE TWO TRACES!!!!
Now you can print, print and cut, cut on vinyl, black cardstock, sketch...there are so many options. I decided to print mine on printable Silhouette cotton canvas (because can you honestly image me trying to weed that water?!) and it turned out beautifully!

Here's a close up so you can see the texture of the canvas sheets material.
Next week, I'll be sharing how I took this photo one step further by adding a custom color background...all designed in Silhouette Studio.
Note: This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing products through my links, I received a small commission. That's what helps fund Silhouette School so I can keep buying new Silhouette-related products to show you how to get the most out of your machine!
Thanks for coming to class today at Silhouette School. If you like what you see, I'd love for you to pin it!
This is the best tracing tutorial, I've seen. I struggled with other ones, but I was able to actually do this. I'm still working with the threshold and what it does and what's a good number (though, I'm sure it's picture dependent), but even with that, the tracing's came out well.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the process if you do not have PicMonkey?
ReplyDeleteI know this was asked nearly two years ago but... You can go to objects->effects in the old version or panels->image effects and change the grey shade or scale. You can also adjust the contrast in the effects/image effects area as well.
Deleteugh.... where are the "fill and line tools"????
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to next weeks add-on!
ReplyDeleteI finally decided to try tracing a picture. Of course, I came here first to figure out how to do it. You made it so easy. Thank You!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you adjust to the Threshold to?
ReplyDelete