: How should I trace/vectorize my logo? First of all I would like to say that I'm new to AI and PS, therefore there's probably lots of things I'm not doing right. I am using CS5 version.

@Kristi927

As Scott said, never assume that's the best there is. Someone, somewhere has the clean art.

My favorite way to try to find vector art is to search for the company name and PDF. So in this case, search for "Governo de Portugal PDF".

Almost every time, I can find a newsletter or something that the designer exported the PDF with a vector logo in it. You can then open the PDF in Illustrator and pick out the logo from the document.

In the case of this logo I found the PDF of their brand guidelines (jackpot!) here: www.promar.gov.pt/Download/Beneficiarios/Normas_Graficas_MAM.pdf
If you download the PDF, Page 11 has the vector art in Black & White. Page 19 lists the fonts to use for the Secretario part.

And here is the vector art for dgARTES: www.naodamores.com/marcos/Dosier%20Danza/marcos%20de%20contenido/IMAGENES/Logos/CORNUCOPIA.%20PATROCINIOS/logo_dgartes_vertical.pdf

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@Murray976

Never assume the logo file you are given by any client is the "best" they have. This is especially true if the file is a raster image. If the client does not provide a vector version of their logo, the chances that there are higher quality raster images on the web are generally pretty good.

In this case, a quick google reverse image search finds a much larger version of those logos.....



Using Illustrator's Image trace on that larger version yields much better results.



This would still require some minor clean up, but it would circumvent the need to redraw most parts.

While redrawing will almost always provide the best results, in some cases tracing a large raster image can be sufficient depending upon your needs.

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