How can I reduce the number of nodes in the output of Potrace?
Potrace already makes an attempt to reduce the number of nodes, and this behavior is controlled by the –opttolerance parameter (or can be turned off entirely with –longcurve). However, I have decided not to sacrifice quality for quantity, and Potrace will not reduce the number of nodes beyond what it considers tolerable. For many applications, the problem of reducing output file size can be solved by reducing the resolution of the input image. This sounds too simple to be true, but can give surprisingly good results. One of the most common “beginner’s mistakes” when using Potrace is to start with an image that contains too much detail or noise. Blurring the input image can also help, particularly with grey-scale images.
