Inkscape

use trace bitmap to turn a line drawing into a single line not a double line "shape"

Asked by Karyn

I'm trying to use the trace bitmap tool to trace a simple line drawing. However, it is turning the "line" it is tracing into the object by making a double line around it, rather than making a single line like the original drawing. Is there a simple way to fix this?

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su_v (suv-lp) said : 		#1

You are looking for a feature called 'centerline tracing'. Inkscape's tracing tool does not support such a mode, but the request is known and tracked in
- Bug #211761 “Centerline tracing”
  <https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/211761>

Technical details:
The limitation is actually in a third-party library Inkscape uses for tracing: potrace
<quote>
Question: Does Potrace provide centerline tracing? Instead of tracing the contour of my image, I just want a single line in the center of each stroke.

Answer: No, Potrace is not designed to do centerline tracing, and for technical reasons, it is unlikely that this will change in the near future. Algorithms used for centerline tracing are quite different than those used for outline tracing; it might be more useful to write a separate program for this purpose. You could try Autotrace, which has such a feature.
</quote>
<http://potrace.sourceforge.net/faq.html#features>

The mentioned alternative tracing tool called 'autotrace' which supports such centerline tracing is not built-in into inkscape. It can be used as stand-alone command line tool, or you can test it via web interface (in case you don't have it installed locally):
<http://www.roitsystems.com/cgi-bin/autotrace/tracer.pl>

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