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I used to do an effect in CorelDraw that converted an image to a bitmap. The way it did it was group similar colors together into one color chunk giving it a cool effect that looked kind of like this:

bitmapped image

However, the CorelDraw program I used is no longer supported, and I cant afford to buy a new license just for this effect. Is there another free tool that can do this (preferably on my Linux computer but I can do it on Windows too)?

Edited Note: while I understand that the information provided in this question was minimal, and more would have been ideal, I genuinely gave all the information I knew, and I am missing the vocabulary in this topic to fully explain what I was looming for. Thank you for your understanding. I did get the answers I was looking for.

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    \$\begingroup\$ This isn't necessarily off-topic here, but perhaps might get better traction at Graphic Design. The effect you're talking about doesn't really have a photographic context or application normally. Thus, I'd expect fewer people here to know about the effect, than actual graphic designers over at GDSE. \$\endgroup\$
    – scottbb ♦
    Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 21:49
  • \$\begingroup\$ What version of Corel Draw are you using? \$\endgroup\$
    – Rafael
    Commented Mar 13, 2019 at 1:59
  • \$\begingroup\$ I was using a very old one, version 8 maybe? Around 2014, no Windows 10 support. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mark Deven
    Commented Mar 13, 2019 at 2:05
  • \$\begingroup\$ You say that the effect looks "kind like this". Does that mean that the effect you want isn't exactly demonstrated by this example? In any case, can you please describe the effect you want more precisely? \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Commented Mar 13, 2019 at 3:43
  • \$\begingroup\$ You might search for the term "image segmentation". I've seen effects that look like that in image processing when implementing image segmentation algorithms. \$\endgroup\$
    – user1118321
    Commented Mar 13, 2019 at 19:30

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It looks it is a byproduct of vectorization.

Vectorization makes some "blobs" of flat colors. In this case the posterization the other answer points to, is one step.

The second step could be finding the edges between this blobs of color and adding a small white color to simulate a gap between the blobs.

But you can also try inscape, which is a real vector based program, and vectorize inside it.

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Reducing the color palette is "Posterization". Gimp will do this on Linux.

EDIT

Your sample is very small to use as a reference. Images are already bitmaps so there is no "converting to a bitmap".

Here is a quick grab of an old image I posterized in GIMP on Linux. If this is not what you are asking for then I'll need more information.

Full Color

Sample

Posterize to 8 colors Posterize-8

Posterize to 4 colors Posterize-4

Posterize to 3 colors Posterize-3

Posterize to 2 colors Posterize-2

Edit #2

From the discussion, it sounds like you actually started with a vector drawing and colored and converted it to a raster or bitmap drawing.

Since Corel is what you were using and lost, you may want to try their free trial CorelDraw to determine what exactly you are looking to do.

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    \$\begingroup\$ hi there, the "Posterization" effect in Gimp did not seem to have an effect like this. It did not create chunks of the same color, it just reduced the amount of colors used. If you look at the example I gave you will see a difference. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mark Deven
    Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 16:03
  • \$\begingroup\$ @MarkDeven It helps get better answers if you can describe the specific effect you are looking for in words. What one person sees might not be the same as another. \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 22:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ I added some posterization samples. If this is not what you're asking then I don't understand. \$\endgroup\$
    – user10216038
    Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 22:26
  • \$\begingroup\$ It looks like GIMP doesn't know how to count. The 2 color image is actually 2 colors per channel, or 8 altogether. I assume the higher numbers are similar. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mark Ransom
    Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 22:33
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes, I described it incorrectly. \$\endgroup\$
    – user10216038
    Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 22:35
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Try GIMP + G'MIC filter - some effects look similar to your example:

Artistic / Vector Painting

Vector Painting effect

Artistic / Posterize (it is not the GIMP built-in Posterize!)

Posterize effect

Contours / Segmentation

enter image description here

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Messing with that got a similar effect thank you. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mark Deven
    Commented Mar 15, 2019 at 1:36

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