4 Alternatives to Illustrator to Convert Handmade Drawings into Vectors

We recently talked about alternatives to the Adobe CC suite, but now I'd like to dive one step further and talk about software that's specifically similar to Adobe Illustrator in terms of converting handmade drawings into vectors.

Within Illustrator, you can easily drag in a scanned piece of artwork, then use Image Trace to convert your black and white lines into vector shapes, then recolor and touch them up. But what if you don't want to drop money on Creative Cloud? Here are a collection of 4 software alternatives to Adobe Illustrator that can help you convert your drawings into vectors, plus one bonus application.

Inkscape

I recently saw Inkscape in action. Its bitmap tracing options are quite robust, allowing for tweaks to the brightness and edge detection thresholds. Not a bad option, especially since it's free! (Mac and PC, free. Artwork by RebirthArt) More info →

Corel Draw

While Corel Draw is a little more on the expensive side, you can download a free trial to see if you like it for its tracing functions. There are a lot of great video tutorials and demos for how to use CorelDRAW's PowerTRACE function, which allows for adjustments with detail, smoothing, corner smoothness, and removing the background amongst other features. (Artwork by Alexandra Malysheva)

Serif Drawplus

Within the AutoTrace studio, you can easily convert for black and white artwork, color artwork, or photos. (Windows only, Beta for Mac right now; $99.) More info →

Vector Magic

I uploaded a photo from my sketchbook to the site (you get two free downloads). While it takes a while for it to process, the results are pretty good. You can download the result as a JPG and only have to spend one "token" once you decide to download your results. (Windows, Mac, Online. Free Trial, or $295.) More info →

Almost there: Affinity Designer

Affinity Designer is a powerful tool that is compatible with the Adobe suite. Its list of features is quite impressive. Just earlier this week, a new beta for Mac was launched which can be tried for free. Recently, CreativeBloq listed 10 reasons to try this software. This is an impressive product that will be available for purchase for around $50 come October. Unfortunately, there's no live trace option yet, but it's been at the top of the feature request list for a while, so I wanted to include this software so you can download the free beta and keep your eyes out for more feature releases.

What alternative software do you use for Illustrator-like Image Trace functionality?