How to vectorize a person on a white background?

[Webgage]

I need to have a friend I took a picture from standing on a background vectorized for some project. How can I do this nicely so its very suited for print too? I need it to have that http://www.designchapel.com/ chick on the frontpage look!

Please, help would be appreciated!

[nayades]

open illustrator and trace it.

if you don't have ilustrator flash will do. although paths in flash will then look a bit scruffy and with many useless points.

once you've traced everything with lines and paths, use the fills for gradients. one tip: use gradients with alpha values and on different layers. this will make the colours blend perfectly.

[asun2art]

Originally posted by nayades
open illustrator and trace it.

yep.

to be exact. Open image in Photoshop > greyscale > posterize #levels 4-6 > Import to Illustrator then trace.

Takes a LONG time. that piece on designChapel is probably ~10-20 hours.

[tonytryout]

I have not used Illustrator before but I drew a vector version of my picture using Flash (see my portfolio).

It was not too difficult -- just takes time to get used to the pen tool and using a lot of trial & error.

The main problem is the colours which can take a while to get right.

[nayades]

illustrator takes a bit more.. at least for me. but the result is neater. if you try importing vectors from flash to illustrator and zoom into paths, you'll see what i mean.

[Webgage]

Thanks for all the replies!