IBM(tm) penguin image bleg

(bleg, not lazyweb, because I’ve looked high and low and still can’t find what I need for this project.)

I’m looking for a high-res (ideally vector-AI/EPS/SVG) version of the old IBM penguin:

IBM penguin

I promise it will be used for good and not for evil; I just want to print one copy, albeit in a fairly unusual way.

Thanks in advance…
(Yes, I’ve tried tracing this one, which was the best I could find (cropped out of a screenshot of a flash app), and no, it came out unacceptably poorly.)

15 comments

  1. If it isn’t stored as a bitmap in the Flash app, you (or I, since I’m a nice guy) can use Swfdec to extract it to SVG.

  2. I traced it too but find it reasonably good (with small manual fixes):
    http://setanta-labs.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/stuff/ibm-penguin.svg

  3. tracing it with the gimp worked well enough. just open it, use the magic wand to select the white bits, then: selection, to path, and save the path as a svg.

  4. Let me guess, you’re printing it on a cake? Tell me you’re printing it on a cake! :)

  5. Aron: Way better than a cake. ;) I will document it once I’ve done it, I just don’t want to spoil the surprise :)

    Benjamin: FWIW, the swf I used was here: http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/linux/passport.swf

    The version of swfdec I have installed doesn’t seem to have a CLI interface, so I wasn’t sure how to poke at it that way.

    [And thanks to everyone who has responded; I still would not object to more tracings or particularly an official one if there are any kindly IBM readers lurking ;)

  6. tattoo on your ass!tattoo on your ass!
    Not that i want you to document it very much though

  7. For an vector version of it, Inkscape’s “Trace Bitmap” produces excellent results with simple images like this one.

  8. Here’s one I got from somewhere. May have been a trace, I can’t remember. I used it to make a sticker at CafePress for my laptop.

  9. This was probably adapted from the postcript version here http://www.isc.tamu.edu/~lewing/linux/penguin.eps.gz

    Should be fairly easy to re-create it.

  10. potrace is a command-line utility which was made for tasks like this.

  11. FWIW, inkscape (which is based on potrace) didn’t work well for me, though it did for others. I’ve got several great samples now; thanks.

  12. Jean-Baptiste Note

    I’ve got a high-res version, but not in digital form:

    http://picasaweb.google.com/jbnote/PeaceLoveAndLinuxBike

  13. Jean-Baptiste: I have a huge poster of it in my bedroom (which used to hang in my office when I have one) but analog objects are cumbersome to trace into SVG. ;)

  14. An svg of Tux is available http://thetuxproject.com/node/190 at the tux project. Of course it’s not quite the same as you’re asking for.

    -james.


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