>>5
I don't even touch aaeditor.exe. I only use trace.exe. Normally aaeditor is superior to trace.exe because it has a built-in jpeg-bmp convertor and an ASCII display, but I get only failed traces that way.
Tidbits:
1. Not all jpeg-bmp convertors are equal. PaintShopPro5 jpeg-bmp conversions result in failed traces for me. I use ACDSee's built-in convertor - this one never failed me.
2. From trial and error, I found out that the BMP has to be 16 millions colors. Not 2 colors. Not 256 colors. 16 millions colors.
3. Ideally the BMP is in black and white, but as you can see above where I used a color jpg, color works as well.
4. For best results, the outlines should be 1-pixel wide, and the shaded areas have all the same RGB/gray shade. Example, the hair would be RGB 128-25-255 everywhere. It's not mandatory but it is something to keep in mind.
5. There are more recent trace.exe versions out there. Little bit improved on the pattern recognition.
6. font.txt is you friend. There are 15 different font.txt out there, which all give a different trace. One font.txt may give a lighter result. Another may give too much details. Names are font01.txt to font15.txt. Replace font.txt with one of these and experiment.