Learn how to recreate a scanned logo using Illustrator with this detailed tutorial. Explore the steps to set up your workspace, strategies for recreating the logo, and tips on using tools like Pathfinder and Pen.
Key Insights
- This tutorial guides users through the process of recreating a scanned logo in Illustrator, aiming to produce a crisper version of an imperfect original.
- The first step involves opening a grayscale Photoshop file of the old AT&T logo.
- Users are instructed to keep the scan on its own dimmed layer to ease the tracing process.
- Creating a new layer is also crucial for this exercise.
- Recreating the logo involves strategic thinking about elements like repetition, black and white elements, and whether the logotype is in a font on the system or a customized typeface.
- Finally, users are advised to save, print, and inspect their work, modifying it if necessary for perfection.
This exercise is excerpted from Noble Desktop’s past Adobe Illustrator training materials and is compatible with Illustrator updates through 2020. To learn current skills in Illustrator, check out our Illustrator Bootcamp and graphic design classes in NYC and live online.
Build a Logo
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Sketch First
Pen and paper before pixels — work out the concept.
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Build with Shapes
Geometric primitives + Pathfinder for clean construction.
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Refine the Curves
Pen tool with smooth handles for natural curves.
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Test at Small Sizes
Scale to 16px favicon size — does it still read?
Topics Covered in This Illustrator Tutorial:
Recreating a Logo Graphic & Text, Drawing from a Scanned Template
Exercise Preview
Exercise Overview
You are being supplied with a grayscale Photoshop file made from a scan of an older AT&T logo. Unfortunately that scan is not perfect, because the original, as happens so often in these cases, was not perfect either. You’ll recreate the logo in Illustrator to make a better, crisper version.
Getting Set up
Go to File > Open and from the Illustrator Class folder choose the Photoshop file logotemplate.psd. The logo scan will open as an already placed piece of art on your Illustrator page.
In order to trace this, you will want to keep this scan on its own layer as a dimmed image. To do this, go to the Layers panel and to the right of the layer’s name, double–click on the current logotemplate layer (do NOT click the layer name). Check on Template and next to Dim Images to, type 30%.
Click OK.
Create a new layer by clicking on the Create New Layer button
at the bottom of the panel.
Recreating the Logo
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Read this whole step before starting to work! Recreate the logotype and symbol you see with the placed image as your guide. If needed, refer to the original logo at the top of this page. Remember that the placed image may not be perfect. Sometimes you have to smooth out a few rough edges.
As you think about recreating this logo, keep a few things in mind. Are there consistent elements that repeat themselves? Will you draw each black element, or each white element? Is the Logotype in a font on your system? Or is it a typeface that has been customized?
A Couple of Hints and Strategies:
- You are best off creating a black circle, then removing the white areas. Maybe the Pathfinder could help with that…
- If you can’t find a font that closely matches the type, you may need to trace it with the Pen tool
. Remember that you can convert type into Outlines (in the Type menu) so you can modify it if necessary.
- When you are finished:
- Save the file.
- Print the final product.
- Inspect and modify it if it’s not perfect.
