Yes, tracing images is immensely easier. Problem is it yields lousy paintings. Photographs have different perspective and lighting than what you see with your own eyes and paintings that have been made by tracing or even merely copying photographs almost always look, well, like someone smeared paint all over a photograph.
If you look at a Vermeer painting, you'll find it does not look photographic at all. The objects in the picture are almost tangible and seem to jump off the canvas. This is an effect that is only achievable by having very strong 3D skills: you basically have to be able to paint even more realistically than mere realism. So it might very well be that Vermeer used some tools to get a feel for what it was he was going to paint and maybe even to study the fleeting effects of lighting, but the final paintings themselves are without a doubt made by someone with exceptional skill.
TL;DR;Vermeer did not use these techniques because his paintings are way better than what can be achieved using only these techniques.