Image to SVG
Trace a bitmap image into a real vector SVG using colour quantisation. Best for logos, icons and line art; photos come out stylised rather than exact.
Drop your image file here
or click to browse files
Trace a bitmap picture into a real vector SVG by quantising its colours into flat regions. The output is genuine vector paths, so it can be scaled to any size without pixelation and edited as shapes rather than pixels.
This works best on artwork with few colours and clear edges: logos, icons, line drawings, stamps and simple illustrations. A photograph traced this way becomes a stylised poster-like image with a limited palette - that can be a nice effect, but it will not be a faithful copy of the photo.
How to convert an image to SVG (vector trace)
Choose a PNG or JPG image
Set the number of colours and detail level
Download the traced SVG
FAQ
Will my photo become a clean vector?
No. Tracing reduces an image to a limited number of flat colours, so a photograph comes out stylised with visible colour bands. For photos, keep the raster original; for logos and icons, tracing works very well.
How many colours should I use?
Start low - four to eight colours - for logos and line art. More colours mean a closer match but also a much larger SVG with more paths to manage.
What does the detail setting change?
It controls how much small-scale shape is kept. Higher detail preserves fine lines and speckles but increases file size and can make the result noisy on grainy scans.
Can I edit the result?
Yes, the SVG contains real paths, so you can open it in Illustrator, Inkscape or Figma and move, recolour or delete individual shapes.
Why is the SVG larger than my image?
Vector tracing stores every boundary as path data, which can be bulkier than a compressed JPEG for complex images. Simple logos usually come out smaller than the equivalent high-resolution PNG.
Is my image uploaded?
No, tracing runs entirely in your browser.
At a glance
| Input | image |
|---|---|
| Multiple files | No |
| Where it runs | In your browser - files are never uploaded |
| Works offline | Yes — once the page has loaded |
| Price | Free, no sign-up, no watermark |
Why a traced photo looks different
Tracing replaces continuous tone with a limited number of flat colours separated by curves, so a photograph comes out looking like a screen print or a paint-by-numbers picture rather than a copy. That is not a bug - it is what vectorising means. Results improve dramatically when the source is simple: few colours, strong edges, clean background, no gradients or noise. If you want the traced look, start with a graphic. If you want a photograph at a smaller file size, use JPG or WebP instead, because tracing it will both look wrong and often produce a larger file.
Vector and raster are different kinds of file
An SVG stores shapes as coordinates and curves, so it can be scaled to any size without losing sharpness and usually stays tiny - which is why logos, icons and diagrams belong in it. A JPG or PNG stores a grid of pixels, which is what a photograph actually is. Converting vector to raster is normal and lossless in appearance if you export at a high enough resolution. Converting raster to vector is a different operation entirely: it estimates shapes from pixels, which works beautifully for flat logos and scans of line art, and produces a stylised, poster-like result for photographs. Knowing which direction you are going tells you what to expect.