Poor photo to high quality graphic?

[barris]

I would like some advice about turning a poor quality picture of my wifes family crest sourced from a old book into a high quality graphic that can be used in a print/web application .I hope that this is the right forum to use?I am currently using Photoshop Elements 4 but have recently managed to get hold of Photoshop CS2 and Adobe Illustrator so am experiencing a very uphill learning curve. I don't expect this work 'just to be done for me,' unless someone feels they want the challenge! I just need to know what options I have , recommended techniques , in fact any advice at all?

Many thanks.....barris

[DJSoulglo]

Looking at that, you'll probably need to remake it in Illustrator.

Which is gonna take time and a lot of patience.

But if you do that, you'll have it in the best quality there is..... vector.

[barris]

Thanks for the input ,the same thoughts had crossed my mind.

[Dave.Cox]

I agree, you are going to need to create it in Illustrator. The nice thing about Illustrator is, you can import it, and then trace it while in Illustrator. That will make the job much easier.

[Xaran]

If you have a PC and you dont have Illustrator download a copy of Xara Xtreme and try it in that - great program and really easy to use.

www.xara.com

Christine

[barris]

Thanks to you all
Looks like this is the way to go .I have just got Illustrator so it probably will be a bit of a uphill struggle but I think worth it .Any further advice very welcome.

[RokcetScientist]

Hi Barris,

in heraldry, applying the correct colors is very important. That image is unclear in that respect. If that coat of arms has been registered somewhere, that registration will contain an exact description of the colours. To be adhered to very strictly. Get a copy of such a registration.

Good luck!

[barris]

Thanks for that , it wasn't something that I thought of.Any ideas where you can find that kind of information.Tried Google but all I seemed to get were sites trying to sell me stuff?