Inkscape - Free Vector Graphic Drawing Progam

SignCut X2 - Vinyl Cutting / Sign Making Program ($12/Month)

Also please note, Many people say you cannot use these vinyl cutters on a Mac, this is just simply untrue. I have had even better results on my mac than on my pc!

Practice with our friend here.

Pro Tip: For images not so fabulously suited for this purpose, don't be afraid to use Photoshop to put it into grey scale. Also, use a Blur for smoother edges on images that you've enlarged. Pixelation is difficult for tracing.

1. Open a new Illustrator Document.

2. Paste our friend here into the middle of the document. You can leave his size alone.

3. While he is selected (You should see a blue box around him) go to the "Object" Menu.

Select "Ungroup". Then, from the "Object" menu again, select "Clipping Mask" (near the bottom) and hit Release.

4. Deselect the object by clicking on white space outside the blue box.

5. You're now ready to trace. Select the "Object" Menu once again, and go to "Live Trace" and then "Make".

Pro Tip: If for some reason, make is not available, you've not followed the previous 5 steps correctly.

6. Most of the time, You're done. Save in your favorite Vinyl friendly format, and get to cutting. However, sometimes, the trace looks like an impressionist painting of it's former self. If this is the case, read on:

7. From the "Object" Menu, select "Live Trace" and go to "Tracing Options"

8. In the top left hand corner of the menu there is a drop down box labeled "Preset". There is a TON of different options in here like "Line Drawing", "Comic Art", "Ink Drawing", etc. Try them all. Just because it says "Comic Art" doesn't mean it won't work awesome for your picture. One of these presets will solve 99% of all tracing problems.

9. If it doesn't work on ANY of the presets, find the one that works the closest. In the window there are lots of numbers and options. .... Start playing.