How to convert a small logo into a big one in illustrator?

Question

I have a small old personal logo the biggest would be around (update:: 88x88 original:: ~100x100 pixels (before it starts to look pixelated) so everyone is telling me to convert it to a vector in illustrator but I was wondering how can I keep the same shape (its a old simple cutout) to become a smooth lets say 500x500px (or bigger...)

basically I like it to stay (look) as much as it did in a PSD just bigger so I can make a wallpaper out of it without looking blurred and pixelated.

PS: I have never used illustrator before.

edit: Here is what I wanted to make but bigger (the max dimensions are 88x88)

PPS: It doesn't have to be with gradient and shades I just want to convert it into a blank (dark or white) vector so it can be scaled down or up without making it look pixelated.

Answer 1

In this instance, I'd redraw it by hand.

They are basic simple shapes and the aspects you may be trying to preserve, such as the gradient, bevel, drop shadow, will not translate well to tracing.

Redrawing the shapes, adding a gradient fill and a gradient stroke (to simulate the bevel and emboss effect), then duplicating to create the solid drop shadow would be easier than any automated method. The most difficult aspect may be familiarity with Illustrator itself.

Answer 2

This is my trick for converting low-res rasterized artwork to vector files:

Open the art in Photoshop, then change the resolution to something ridiculously high (1200 x 1200 or 2400 x 2400). Use your Unsharp Mask filter to clean up blurriness. Use Levels or Curves, and select areas with your white and black eyedropper tool to clean up any noise. You want to get the lines and defined color areas as clean as possible. Save a flattened EPS (don't save over your original, as you may need to have another try).

Open the file in Illustrator. With the artwork selected, click on Image Trace. Use the Image Trace panel to select the amount of colors you are trying to isolate.

The higher the resolution, and the cleaner the lines, the easier time Illustrator has with auto-creating a vector file.

Answer 3

You're not going to get any kind of decent size out of that logo without it looking horrible.

You could try experimenting with the path tools within Photoshop.

Enlarge the logo to the size you want and use it as a template. Grab the pen tool (P) and open the Paths panel (Window > Paths). Click the little page button at the bottom of that panel to start a new path and then start tracing the logo by clicking to place anchor points. Once you close off a path by clicking the start point again, you can click the fill button or you can Ctrl click the path on the panel to select the areas and fill them with a gradient. To make a new shape, click the page button again. To cut a hole in a filled out path, just start clicking, with the pen tool still selected, and draw out the inside of the shape with the main shape already selected. You can select the areas you create and apply gradients to them if you choose.

If you hold your mouse button down on the pen button then there are other options to move/add/delete anchors on your paths too.

Oh and you can snap to (default 45 degree angles) with the shift key which will probably be helpful!

It all sounds complicated but with a quick experiment you'll catch on very fast! Use it as an introduction to vectors and you can hopefully dive into Illustrator as soon as possible as it's a really powerful vector tool and well worth learning!

tl;dr Experiment with Photoshop's path tools... Don't be afraid of Illy if you have it though!