12.4. Autotracing
Autotracing is the operation of generating a vector contour for a glyph from a bitmap image without any intervention from the user. In this section we shall describe two systems for autotracing fonts. We have placed this section at the end because we are reluctant to discuss this topic at all. Indeed, there are too many fonts of poor quality that were produced through autotracing. We have seen in this chapter how to obtain contours described by precise and elegantly arranged Bézier curves. Autotracing software cannot recognize symmetry, the thickness of equal strokes, or the heights and depths kept consistent throughout a font; in short, the intelligence of a good vector design cannot be obtained automatically. And when we speak of "intelligence", we are alluding, of course, to artificial intelligence, whose limitations are by now well known.
After this introduction intended to discourage the reader from using autotracing software, let us see when we can use such software without doing too much harm:
When the font is of a "free design", in the sense that there is no calculation hidden behind its proportions, dimensions, etc.
When the font represents handwriting. Who has never wanted to publish entire books in his own handwriting? In this case, autotracing cannot make any more flaws than the human hand already has, with regard to the precision of the strokes.
When the image whose contours we wish to autotrace is large and has a high resolution and when the perfection ...