Here’s a small demonstration of working with vector graphics as an intermediary step.
I started with a png of a Lorc icon from http://game-icons.net/ of a honeycomb style shield. There is an svg version available as well but I’ve found that due to some slight hackiness (which is normal) in the way the svg is made the following process turns out much better.
The original png version downloaded at maximum resolution.
I then loaded this image into CorelDRAW X6 and used the Outline Trace – Detailed Logo option to get just the white part out. For most of the Lorc icons this is the best way to go so that the corners are properly captured. Also he has a (mostly observed) rule on himself when creating that the content is white on black.
I exported this white only vector as png file. You might not be able to actually see it since it’s white with a transparent background…
Click on it to see the attachment page if you can’t see it now.
The next step was importing the png file into Corel PaintShop Pro X5. Once in, I simply applied two different gradients to give me a basic colored icon.
The shield created by converting to a vector as an intermediate step.
For comparison, here is the same thing without the intermediate vectorizing step. Oh, and it took some fiddling with selecting and such to get it at all.
This is the version without going through a vector step.
Notice that the version without the vector step has some awkward aliased edges and unblended interior segments. These are fixable but require more work and this version already took more time than the vectorized version.
Oh, and if you click on the images you’ll find that the vectorized version is super large and super crisp.
The moral of the story is that doing a simple vectorizing step on even a relatively large ping logo will vastly improve the final product as well as make it quite easy to work with!