How to install Delineate

I had some “trouble” installing Delineate along with Potrace and AutoTrace, so I thought I might as well make some quick instructions on how to do it. This is in case anyone is interested in using the program, but is having trouble figuring the installation out. After all, it’s not as easy as just clicking on an executable file to install the program for you and waiting as most Windows users are used to. Also note that this information is for Windows XP users.

1. Download Delineate.
2. Unzip it.
3. Download AutoTrace and Potrace and unzip them. It might be a good idea to keep all of these, i.e. Delineate, AutoTrace, and Potrace in the same directory.
4. Download Java J2SE 1.4.2.
5. Accept the license agreement.
6. Download and install the “Windows Offline Installation, Multi-language” version.
7. Go to the following in the Classic version of the Control Panel:
   1. System
   2. Advanced
   3. Environment variables
   4. Under “User variables for *your username here* click the New button.
   5. For variable name enter JAVA_HOME.
   6. For variable value enter the folder where Java S2SDK was installed to. Example: C:\J2SDK_1.4.2_14
8. Go to the directory that you downloaded Delineate to and then through the folders delineate and 0.5.
9. Run delineate.bat
10. Once Delineate starts up, try it out. It shouldn’t be hard to figure out what you have to do next if you’ve gotten this far. If for some reason you can’t figure it out, see the “official” guide, which elaborates on some things, but for other things (such as the Java installation) that guide isn’t as helpful. However, if I can figure it out without much trouble, you probably can too.

Note, 2007-11-15: You may also want to try VectorMagic, a tool to vectorize raster graphics online.