How to Vectorize Hand Lettering

Both of these boards are available in the store link.

Vectorizing your own writing can sound intimidating but I’ve broken down how to achieve the hand-written look that can be infinitely scaled. Vector type is perfect for headlines, call outs, and even personalized signatures. Check out the boards in the image here.

Write.

For this style I like to use the Tombow Brush Pen. I write the word or phrase on a white sheet of paper. 

Scan.

After getting the desired look, I scan the word or phrases and open in a photoshop document. 

Levels.

In the adjustment panel, there’s an icon that looks like a mini mountain range, that will be your vectorizer’s best friend. 

Add a levels adjustment layer above the scanned image of the word/phrase. In the properties panel, it will you show you the levels of your image. What we’re most concerned about is making the black colors very black.

Dropper.

Select your levels layer. In the properties panel there will be a three droppers. Click the top dropper on the list. This will allow you to select a lighter shade of grey and identify similar shades of grey as black.

Merge.

Select the levels layer and the layer of your word/phrase, right click and select merge layers (it’s almost at the bottom of the list).

New.

We’ve made it to the part where we actually open illustrator. Make a new illustrator document, preferably with the specs that are the dimensions of your final document. 

Select.

Back to photoshop. With the layer of your word/phrase selected, press ‘L’ this brings up the lasso tool. Select the word/phrase, copy, and paste into the illustrator document.

Trace.

Great, you’ve made it this far. You’re at the finish line. In illustrator, make sure the “image trace” panel is open (windows>image trace). Click on the image you just pasted. In the image trace panel, click the the little arrow to the left of “advanced”.

Advanced.

Look at the bottom of the image trace panel, there’s an, “option” section. The box at the bottom will be unselected by default. Check the box, “ignore white.”

Expand.

You’re one click away from vectorized hand lettering. Click the expand button and now your type has been vectorized. Now, you can change the color to whatever you like or keep it black, either way the vector is fully editable.

The vectorized hand lettering was used for Etsy product photos. These beautiful cutting boards are available for purchase from the company (Her)itage Cutting Boards.  The below board is the Maple & Padauk Footed Cutting or Serving Board and the Oak and Walnut Footed Cutting or Serving Board.

Recap.

Write your word, scan image and open in photoshop. In photoshop use a levels layer to make the greys black. Merger your layers, copy, and paste into illustrator. Using image trace, ignore white, and click expand.  You now have vectorized hand-lettering, perfect for any of your design needs and fully editable. 

Time-Lapse.

Here’s a time-lapsed video of how to vectorize hand lettering.