Delineate is a tool for converting raster images to SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) using AutoTrace or potrace. It loads images using JIU and displays results using Batik. Input formats are JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PNM, PBM, PGM, PPM, IFF, PCD, PSD, RAS.
A new Mac OS X version of Delineate 0.5 is released; it has Delineate bundled together with potrace and Autotrace in a single Mac dmg file. This release also resolves the Mac off-screen display problem that occurred at a display resolution of 1024x768. Special thanks to my friend Antony who put the Mac bundle together!
Users can now choose to convert to SVG with potrace instead of AutoTrace - potrace produces superior black and white SVG results compared to AutoTrace.
Increased number of supported raster input formats by using Java Imaging Utilities (JIU). Now support: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PNM, PBM, PGM, PPM, IFF, PCD, PSD, RAS.
User is now prompted to select the location of the autotrace or potrace application file when running a conversion for the first time. In earlier releases an environment variable needed to be set.
Use SVG as a medium to visually repurpose data to create your own interpretation of the world. SVG is perfect for dynamic media works combining text and graphics.
For creative inspiration check out: culture jamming at Adbusters; and sequential art with a message in Channel Zero by Brian Wood.
To obtain dynamic data for your SVG generation process, read tricks for Web scrapping in Spidering Hacks.
potrace is a raster to vector converter for black on white images, similar to AutoTrace. It's algorithm produces very impressive images with the default settings. Like AutoTrace, potrace is a command line tool; I will be adding potrace support to Delineate in the near future.
Now my favorite programmer's text editor has a plugin for viewing SVG.
Nov 4, 2003Fixes bug that occurred when running group by color optimization in Windows.
Optimized file size by not using style attribute in output SVG; instead use separate fill and stroke attributes. Reload image after doing 'group by color' optimization, so now you can see if this optimization results in bad layering of image paths in result SVG.
Oct 26, 2003Now Delineate produces optimized output that is better suited for rendering in the Sodipodi SVG editor and the Mozilla Web browser.
Bug fix release.
Oct 12, 2003This release reduces output file sizes through the use of more concise SVG, improves handling of background color settings, and adds a few usability enhancements.
Sep 16, 2003New features include improved user functionality and status display.
Aug 25, 2003A participant on the AutoTrace list pointed out that Delineate works on Mac OS X, if you launch it from the terminal as described in the notes for installing/running under GNU/Linux.
Aug 23, 2003Special thanks to the following for their great open-source tools:
"As more and more culture becomes digitized, more and more becomes controllable, even as laws are being toughened at the behest of the big media groups.
What’s at stake is our freedom—freedom to create, freedom to build, and ultimately, freedom to imagine."
"[C]orporate personhood, friends, is why corporations are able buy elections, why they often get away with false advertising, ... and why it so often seems as if there is nothing at all in place to curb the actions and whims of the all-powerful corporation.
...[W]hen a corporation speaks, millions hear it. Not so with the individual. And it is inherent in the nature of the corporation that money and profit are its sole interests. Corporations don't have hearts. They don't distinguish between right and wrong. They only distinguish between profit and deficit. Their motives are not for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but for profit. And if profit becomes the ultimate recipient of protection in this country, it seems inevitable that the rights of the individual will get lost in the balance sheet."
--Sarah Stodola, Nov 2003, The Brooklyn Rail
Im a Person, Too, You Know: How Corporations Stole our Identities