Vectorizing a Logo From an Image

11. The next step is to separate the colors of the logo. First we will strip out all the orange color to leave only the green color. We will use the Color Range Selection Tool in Photoshop® to accomplish this because it is very interactive and we can cut away the orange in chunks a little at a time. Start by selecting the layer that contains the artwork (not the white layer). Click Select > Color Range. Below is a QuickTime® movie showing you how to do this step. (If you don't have the free QuickTime® player installed, you can download it from Apple® here). Play the movie by clicking the start arrow in the control bar.

(click the picture to play video)

12. When you exit the Color Range dialog after making your selection, you will see the familiar "marching ants" pattern of the selection marquee. Next, we want to copy the selection, then paste it as a new layer. Simply click Ctrl + C (Windows®) or Cmd + C (Macintosh®), followed by Ctrl + V (Windows) or Cmd + V (Macintosh).

In the previous step, we inverted the selection. This will copy everything except the orange.

13. Please note that in the Layers Palette, there will be a new layer (Layer 3 in the example graphic below). To view this new layer by itself, simply click the layer visibility icon (the little "eye" icon to the left of the layer thumbnail) on Layer 1 in the Layers Palette to toggle visibility off for this layer for the moment.

14. Here you can see the result of the first removal of orange color. There are hints of it left as light colored edges ... we will go after these in the next round of color selection. This is a gradual process. It's too much to try to get it all at once, so you have to approach it a little at a time to avoid losing some of the pixels in the areas we are trying to preserve.

15. Next, make sure Layer 3 is still selected, then click Select > Color Range to bring up the Color Range selection dialog again. Below is another QuickTime® movie that demonstrates additional technique to accurately select only the pixels you want. In this round of color selection, we want to use less "Fuzziness" to keep from selecting the areas where the green color mixes with the orange color. Use the various selection previews by choosing them from the Selection Preview drop-down menu at the bottom of the dialog. This will help visualize what is being selected.

(click the picture to play video)

16. Below is a close up of the selected pixels.

17. Just as we did in a previous step, we want to copy the selection, then paste it as a new layer. Simply click Ctrl + C (Windows®) or Cmd + C (Macintosh®), followed by Ctrl + V (Windows) or Cmd + V (Macintosh). Again, note the new layer in the Layers Palette. It is "Layer 4".

18. In the document window you can see that most of the unwanted pixels are cleared away. This should be sufficient for this phase. In the next phase, we will use adjustments to minimize the remaining artifacts of orange color while at the same time heavy up the lines we want to trace in Adobe® Streamline®.

19. Below is a screenshot of the image with the bulk of the orange color removed.

20. We want to adjust the levels a bit to heavy up the lines. Click Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels. You will see a dialog like the one below. Click OK to create the adjustment layer, then View the QuickTime® movie below to see how to do the levels adjustment.

Tip: By using an adjustment layer you can make the adjustment without permanently affecting the pixels.

Please see the following tutorial for more info on making levels adjustments in Photoshop®:

(click the picture to play video)