you're quite right, that rollercoaster thingy is an illustrator tool, which brings one thing to mind -- i often use both programs to trace bitmaps. if the bitmap is relatively simple, i'll do it in illustrator, but i'll go to photoshop when more complicated images make doing it in illustrator very tedious. you're also correct about the magic wand, though you can use any selection tool (such as painting in quickmask mode) to set up your trace. then choose the make work path command in the path palette. hint: for smoother & less complex paths, increase the tolerance value. and the above caveat applies to these tips as well.