I am using Illustrator CS3 on Windows XP SP3, 3gb of RAM

I am making an ad for a clothing botique that constantly rotates logos every ad (every month) based on whats popular at the time.

There are competing publications that also make ads for this place and of course they never want to give up the editable files.

I have run across a file or 2 and notice all the logos are vectorized. They are perfectly done too.. results that I can't fathom how they came by...

I have given Live Trace a ton of my time and I cannot seem to figure out the best way to get these logos vectorized.

The reason I need them vectorized is so I don't have backgrounds, and they all blend into a black background the same.

Here is a logo that I need to vector that seems particularly daunting
<http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f216/annick_eve/draven_logo.gif>

notice the jaggedy outline.. I've seen other artist work come across my desk that was vectorized exactly like this.

How are they doing it?? Don't tell me its the pen tool, because on this logo in particular (on the link) I cannot believe its true!

[...]and they all blend into a black background the same.




Uhm, with that logo, it would just be all black...

Try this place for lots of logo's in vector format: <http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/>

For live trace, try resampling the image.

Bert

Brands of the World doesn't have it.

I'd first contact the company and tell them what you need, and why. If you can establish you legitimacy, they shouldn't have a problem with sending you a vector version.

If they won't, you should find a bigger raster version of the logo to trace from in Illustrator.

And although it's a longshot for most corporate logos (though I have found a few corporate, band and others this way), you may be able to find a font that will have either the logo itself as a character in it or the font set itself which will allow you to create it.

However, the likely path you'll need to take is Phos' recommendation. For something as detailed as the logo you linked, Live Trace simply will not do.

You can search their site for PDFs and open those in Illustrator. Some of them might have the logo in vector form. Annual reports and product brochures are good thing to look for. Google site:[domian.com] filetypedf

I've been in the same situation several times and have found that too many people at those corporations have no clue what a vector is. I even had a reasonably high-up advertising rep at a pharma company send me a lo-res GIF and tell me it's all she had. Draw your own conclusions, but I've generally found that companies will seldom provide vector logos to outsiders, no matter how legitimate the use.

My solution has been to recreate the logo from scratch. In most cases, it's easier than you might think and it will also hone your Illustrator skills. Usually, the hardest part is identifying the fonts, but I've found this website to be very helpful:

<http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/>

You can search their site for PDFs and open those in Illustrator. Some
of them might have the logo in vector form.




I can vouch for this procedure as I have done that twice this week for vendor logos for our upcoming catalog.

I didn't have any luck finding a PDF, either. That was my first thought after striking out on the vector logo repository sites I checked.

Don't know why I didn't think to ask this earlier but... did they hire you to create an ad for them (the Draven folks)? If so, they should provide you with the logo art.

And yes, it is likely to have been created using the pen tool. That or they went the much easier route and started with clean letters (either from a font, edited from a font, or custom created) and ran roughen on them. Maybe a few individual tweaks after that.

I can't imagine someone at that company not having a vector file of their logo since I have found it in more than one place online and the art (of that treatment) is the same in each one. Rotated different, yes. Sized different, yes. But, the same art.

The "rebellious artsy" types still have some smart people among them; there's a vector logo out there somewhere.

Again, if you're doing this ad for them, they should provide the logo art.

OP is making an ad for a retailer, not the manufacturer.

make a genuine effort to get the vector or high-resolution file from the manufacturer. If (more likely, when) that fails, search their site for the largest image of their logo you can find, then trace that. It's their own damned fault if it's not perfect. Although I looks on their site and found three distinct type treatments for the logo.