What is PNG to SVG Tracer?

PNG to SVG Tracer converts raster images (PNG, JPG) into scalable vector graphics. It uses edge detection and path tracing to produce SVG output that scales to any size without quality loss. Works well for logos, icons, and illustrations.

Five presets cover the usual jobs: Logo/Flat, Icon, Illustration, Line Sketch, and Photo. Threshold, smoothing, detail, color count, path simplification, and a despeckle filter are all exposed as sliders, so you can fine-tune until the SVG path count drops without losing edge fidelity. An Invert toggle handles light-on-dark artwork, and a color-layer editor lets you hide noisy layers before you download. Output stays under ~5 KB for most flat marks.

How to use

  1. Upload a PNG or JPG image you want to vectorize.
  2. Adjust threshold, smoothing, and detail settings to control the tracing quality.
  3. Preview the SVG result and download the vector file.

When to use

  • Rebuilding an old company logo that only exists as a low-resolution PNG.
  • Preparing icons for a design system that need to render crisply at 16 px and 256 px.
  • Turning a hand-drawn sketch scan into editable vector paths for Figma or Illustrator.

Result

A designer uploads a 200×200 pixel logo PNG. The tracer detects edges and generates a crisp SVG with smooth Bézier curves that looks sharp on a billboard.

FAQ

Will this give me a usable SVG from a photograph?
Not really. Photos have continuous tone gradients that translate into thousands of overlapping paths, which bloats the file and looks blotchy. Use the Photo preset only for stylized posterization effects, and stick with raster formats for actual photos.
Why does my output have so many tiny paths?
Usually the source PNG has noise or anti-aliasing along the edges. Raise the Despeckle filter to drop isolated specks before tracing, increase Simplify to merge nearby points, and lower the Colors count to flatten subtle gradient steps that get traced as separate regions.
What's the difference between threshold and detail?
Threshold decides which pixels count as foreground vs background (the black/white cutoff). Detail controls how closely the path follows the pixel edge after that decision. High threshold + low detail gives a clean silhouette; low threshold + high detail captures texture.
Can I keep the original colors?
Yes. Increase the Colors slider above 2 and the tracer quantizes the image into that many color regions, each becoming its own SVG path with the corresponding fill. Two to six colors works well for flat illustrations.
Is the SVG smaller than the original PNG?
Usually yes for logos and icons — a 50 KB PNG often traces down to 2-5 KB of SVG. For complex illustrations the SVG can grow larger than the PNG, in which case dropping the detail slider helps shrink the path count.

Related Tools