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Bitmap Import & Potrace

Not everything is a vector. OVB imports raster images (PNG, JPG, TGA, TIFF) two ways — as a bitmap dropped straight into a Bitmap art layer, or vectorized into editable pencil/fill art with the bundled Potrace engine.

Bitmap import

Two content types

A raster slot in the Inspector offers a content type:

  • Bitmap (Import as Bitmap) — the image is imported as a raster onto a Bitmap-mode art layer, at full resolution. No tracing; it stays a picture.
  • Vectorize (Convert to Vector) — the image is traced to vector strokes/fills you can edit and rig like any other line art.

Bitmap: Toon Boom Bitmap vs Original

When you import as Bitmap, a Keep As Original Bitmap (linked) checkbox chooses how the raster lands:

  • Import as Toon Boom Bitmap (default — checkbox off) — the image is baked into a native Toon Boom bitmap drawing in the scene. Self-contained: the drawing travels with the scene, with no dependency on the original file.
  • Keep As Original Bitmap (linked) (checkbox on) — the drawing stays linked to the original file on disk rather than baking the pixels in. Update the source file and the drawing follows; but the scene now depends on that file being present.

Potrace — the trace engine

Vectorize is powered by Potrace, the same C tracer behind Illustrator-style Image Trace. It ships bundled inside OVB (bin/potrace) — nothing to install. Potrace does the heavy lifting at native speed; OVB feeds it colour masks and fits the results into Harmony's field grid.

Vectorize mode with the trace preview

Live preview

Vectorize is live — move a slider and the trace re-runs; scrub a frame and the cached result is reused. The Previewer shows the traced vectors exactly as they'll import, so you dial in Detail, Colours, and Cleanup by eye.

Bitmap vs vectorize — which?

Use Bitmap when you want the picture as-is (a painted background, a texture). Use Vectorize when you want editable line art or flat-colour fills — clean, rig-ready, resolution-independent vectors traced from the image.

Next: the three trace modes and every parameter — Trace Modes.