Good morning, I was looking around this morning for a program to resize vector images...alot of those are too small and I need larger...so I found this page that talks about a few different programs available Free...love Free.. anyhoo...can some of you go to the link I provided and read and tell me which one in your opinion would be the one I should get...remember I only want it to be able to make vector images larger. Now please remember, I cannot afford Illustrator or Coraldraw..way way pass my money level.

http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/publishing/articles/71860.aspx?p=3

Please and Thank you
Micki

I recommend Inkscape. It is a free and open source vector image editor.

I use it for enlarging images fairly frequently.

http://inkscape.org/

and if you want a real easy way, try this link......
http://www.resize2mail.com/advanced.php

As was mentioned before and I second it, Inkscape is primarily a vector editor but is very good at working with bitmaps and does it simply.

Inkscape, you'll have a ton of additional help and resources. Anything else, you'll find yourself stranded.

I have to go with Inkscape also, for the following reasons:
1) It's free;
2) It uses a fairly easy-to-understand drawing environment, with basic tools on its tool bar, and more advance capabilities through the menus;
3) For what it's worth, I use it to turn screenshots and other photos into vectors that I resize into wallpapers.
The image below started life as a 640x480 cell phone picture. I used Inkscape to turn it into a vector, then resized the vector and used a couple of Inkscape filters, then into Gimp for finishing. And no, that's not me...

okey dokey, I have inkscape downloaded to puter..now can someone point me towards tutorials for how to resize..which icons to use etc etc?

please and thank you
Micki

If you just need it bigger for print, just open the vector in GIMP and size it before importing it using the GIMP interface. Do this all the time for vectors. If you need it as a vector, then, like the others, use InkScape.

http://inkscape.org/
http://inkscapetutorials.wordpress.com/
http://planet.inkscape.org/
http://inkscape.org/books/index.php?lang=en
http://www.openclipart.org/
My personal favorite
http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/
and last but def not least the beloved HeathenX website video tutorial site
http://screencasters.heathenx.org/

I hadn't considered that but it's true.

Ok guys, this is what i'm wanting to do...the picture below, I'm wanting to make the coffee cups bigger..but I don't want fuzzy..I want it to stay clear like the size at now..make sense? I did find a tutorial on this board for resizing that I saved to desktop...so thats cool...

ok first picture..is original..see how clear each cup is..no blurry at all?

now second is after resizing up some..there is blurry...grrrrr

If it's a true vector it won't blur, a vector can be scaled up or down almost infinitely.

But what if they are not vectors? Is there a way to convert them to vectors and then resize them in all their sharp glory?

You can use Inkscape to convert bitmaps into vectors. It's the "CorelDraw" or "Adobe Illustrator" of the open source world. It just uses the scalable vector graphic method (XML based).

Very nice icons designed here!

Inkscape or Gimp???

Well i turned them into vector for you Mick. =)
I saved them as a PNG file at 2000x1400 or so.
296.8 dpi
Here you go

How many colors did you use, Rod? Each image is segmented into groups.

I used vector magic, to turn them into vector, and Inkscape to save them larger as a png.
The svg file has exactly 370 pieces in one group.
I probably could have smoothed it out a bit more though.
Still they look okay i think. =)

micki,
If the original image is a vector (have an extension of .svg, for example), the resize process is very straightforward.
1) Open the vector in Inkscape.
2) On the File menu, Select Document Properties.
3) Set the size of image you want, either from the list or enter a custom size. Also select the orientation (portrait or landscape). This is similar to setting the canvas size in Gimp. Note there is no Save or OK button on this dialog; when you are done, just close it.
3) From the left toolbar choose the Select tool (should be the top tool).
4) If it is not already selected, click on the vector image.
5) To keep the picture in proportion, on the toolbar directly above the image is an icon of a padlock. Normally it is in the open (unlocked) position; click it and change it to closed (locked) position.
6) On each corner and side of the image are arrow handles. Click and drag to resize so that it fits in the canvas.
7) When you have it how you want, save it.
Vector images resized this way will always have clean sharp edges. The trick is that they have to be vector images at the beginning or transformed into a vector. Raster images (bmp, jpg, png) will eventually blur when scaled up, even if they are very high resolution images.

There are a couple of ways to transform raster images to vectors. Inkscape provides a method, and VectorMagic is another. I've used both methods and the thing to remember is that the initial results will resemble the difference between a full-color image and the same converted to a gif (gradients won't be smooth). This is because vector images are mathematical constructs: collections of various shapes that have color applied to them. It is possible to make more realistic vectors, but it is a time-consuming process. Using the Inkscape conversion process or VectorMagic is only the first step.