Converting Bitmaps to Vectors.

Hi can anyone tell me how to convert bitmaps to vectors.

I have both Photoshop and Illustrator, is there any plug-ins to achieve this or any online tutorials that will help.

Any help would be great.

There is no "magic button" you can push to convert a raster (bitmap) image into a vector image. Vector images are based upon mathematical vectors to calculate line curvatures, giving you precise lines and shapes to an infinite degree of zoom. Raster images, however, are 1-1 for pixels, meaning that the pixels you see at 100% are all that are in the image. If you zoom in on a raster image, you start to see pixelation whereas you don't see this with vector images. (To put it another way, raster images are like ink on a piece of paper while vectors are like cutouts layed over it. When you enlarge a piece of paper with ink on it, the image gets interpolated because it has to fill in data that isn't there; when you photocopy a cutout over a piece of paper, however, you have a sharp line because the original is all there, er, yeah, something like that.) Get what I'm saying?

*Breathes* Anyway, to convert a raster image into a vector image with a tool like Photoshop, you have to use the pen tools to make a new shape over the original. It won't come out exactly like the original, but it may come close depending on how good you are. Try it out, see what works and what doesn't, and come back here if you need more help. (Yes, this is a very time consuming method, but if that's what needs to be done, well, there you go.)

Actually there is a magic button.

Convert your image to rgb (image>mode). Select all. Do a color range selection (selection>color range) and choose the black. Make new layer and leave it selected. Select the path menu (on the layers window). On the arrow choose new path. Delete first layer. Export as PDF. Import in Freehand and select all (you can't see it because it's white). Choose color (no outine). It will look bad, but just select "join". Then group.