If you're starting with an image on paper, you'll need to scan it in or use a digital camera. Once your image is in bitmap form, you can clean it up in a paint program like Photoshop, Corel PhotoPaint etc. You can also alter your image by experimenting with filters. Once you're finished with this step, you'll want to move on to vectorizing. Vectorizing Once you're ready to go, you'll need to select a method to change your bitmap into a vector format.
Type is a vector format.
If you've ever tried to enlarge a GIF, you'll understand why vectors are more flexible than bitmaps. If you're not happy with the results of your first try at tracing, try resetting some of the trace settings from within Streamline or CorelTrace. If you're still not getting a good tracing, open your bitmap up in the paint program, convert to grayscale, and try increasing the size of the image. My traces seem to do best if each letter bitmap is around 600 pixels or larger. Once you have your traced bitmap.