Vector Magic is a graphics manipulation tool that specializes in transforming raster images, such as digital photos and scanned artwork, into high quality vector drawings, which can then be edited and rescaled in other applications that support vector graphics. In a separate review, I looked at the online version of Vector Magic and was impressed with its capabilities. This review will focus on the desktop edition of Vector Magic, which includes all of the features found in the online version along with quite a few extras.
Vector Magic Desktop Edition is available for both PCs and Macs. In particular, the application is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Mac OS X 10.4 and higher. It's also recommended that you have at least a Pentium III (or equivalent) processor and a minimum of 512 MB of RAM. If you plan on working with a number of large images, it's best to have more RAM – at least 1 GB.
Now that we have the program's specifications and requirements out of the way, let's take a closer look at its actual capabilities.
For the purposes of this review, I tested Vector Magic on a Windows Vista PC with 4GB of RAM. The download and installation of the software was pretty standard, and no problems were encountered. If you've already purchased a registration key, you'll be prompted to enter it after installation. However, if you want to test out the software before actually making the purchase, you can download a free trial version of the software from the Vector Magic web site. The only function missing in this trial version is the ability to save the results of your vector conversions. So, the trial version is a great way to see if you like the features of the software and to test how well it runs on your computer.
Even though there are a number of training guides available for Vector Magic, the interface of the application is so straightforward and easy-to-use that you can start tracing images almost immediately without having to read through a lot of instructional material.
When you first start up the program, you'll be met by a screen where you can browse folders on your PC to locate the digital photograph or other image that you want to trace. The software also keeps track of recent folders and files opened, so it's easy to find images that you've converted in the past. There's also a handy batch processing option that allows you to open several files at once and use the same settings to convert them all to vector images at once.
After selecting a photo to trace, you can proceed in one of three ways. There is a fully automated option that applies the most common vectorization options and allows you to trace the photo with a single click. As with the online version, there's also a basic conversion wizard that gives you a bit more control over the software settings used to create the final vector image. This choice is still quite easy to use as the wizard walks you through a series of questions that will help you pick the best choices for your particular image.
However, unlike with the online version, the desktop edition of Vector Magic offers a third more advanced method of vectorizing your image. This third mode should be of particular interest to graphics professionals as well as anyone else who wants to create a truly amazing vector representation of a digital photo. Working in this mode will require a bit more practice and training than the other methods, but not quite as much as you may think. Even if you're not that familiar with vector terminology, the wizard that walks you through this advanced mode is very detailed and self-explanatory. This extra feature alone should be enough to convince any graphics lover, professional or hobbyist, to give the desktop edition a try.
Continue on to the next page to find out more about the features, performance, user documentation, and price of Vector Magic Desktop Edition.