About the PNG to SVG
PNG to SVG traces a picture and rebuilds it from filled vector shapes. It first reduces the image to a small palette, finds the outlines of each colour area and writes them as SVG paths, which you can scale to any size without blur. This suits logos, icons and simple drawings with flat colours. It is an approximation, not the original design file: photos become large, blotchy SVGs, text turns into shapes rather than editable text, and smooth gradients turn into bands of flat colour. Tracing runs in your browser.
Updated September 2026
How to use the PNG to SVG
- 1Select a PNG, JPG or WebP image. Flat-colour logos and drawings trace best.
- 2Pick a preset: Black & white, Logo, Illustration or Detailed.
- 3Adjust Detail, and add a little Blur if the picture is noisy.
- 4Click Convert to SVG and compare the result with the original.
- 5Download the SVG file, or copy the SVG code.
How tracing turns pixels into shapes
A PNG or JPG is a grid of pixels. A vector file describes outlines instead. To go from one to the other, the tracer first picks a limited palette of colours, then sorts every pixel to its nearest palette colour. It follows the border of each same-coloured region and fits straight lines and smooth curves along it.
Each region becomes a filled path in the SVG. Because the shapes are mathematical, you can enlarge them to a billboard without pixel blur. What it cannot do is recover information that the picture never contained, so the result is an interpretation of the original.
Presets: black and white, logo, illustration
Black & white uses two colours and suits signatures, stamps, line drawings and stencil-style artwork. Logo uses eight, which covers most brand marks. Illustration uses sixteen and Detailed uses thirty-two, for artwork with shading.
More colours give a closer match but a heavier file, and can add small specks. If you start with Detailed and the result is messy, step down a preset before touching the sliders.
Getting smaller, cleaner SVG files
Start with the simplest preset that keeps the colours you care about. The Detail slider decides how tiny a shape can be before it is discarded and how closely curves follow edges. Lower detail drops specks and gives smoother, lighter files.
- Use a clean, high-contrast source; a crisp PNG traces better than a small compressed JPG.
- Add 1 or 2 levels of blur to remove JPG noise before tracing.
- Crop empty margins first with Crop Image so the shapes fill the frame.
- Check the shape count under the preview; a few dozen is typical for a logo.
When tracing is not the right tool
If you need editable text, ask the designer for the original vector file or recreate the words with the right font. If you want a photo that stays sharp when enlarged, tracing will not help; try Image Enlarger for a bigger raster copy instead.
To go the other way, from SVG to a normal picture, use SVG to PNG. Image Converter handles JPG, PNG and WebP swaps, and Favicon Generator builds browser icons from a simple logo.
Features
- Four presets from 2 to 32 colours
- Detail and blur controls
- Side-by-side original and SVG preview
- Shape count and file size shown
- Transparent areas stay transparent
- Download the file or copy the code
- Private: tracing happens on your device
Frequently asked questions
Can I convert a photo to SVG?
You can, but the result is rarely useful. A photo has millions of subtle colour changes, so the tracer produces thousands of shapes, a big file and a posterised look. Tracing is meant for logos, icons, signatures and drawings with clear colour areas.
Why is my SVG file so big?
Every shape adds path data, so many colours and high detail add up quickly. Choose Black & white or Logo, lower the Detail slider, and add a little blur to noisy pictures. Fewer, simpler shapes mean a much smaller file.
Can I edit the SVG afterwards?
Yes. The file opens in vector editors and any text editor. You can recolour or move the shapes, but text in the picture becomes outlines, so you cannot retype the words as you would in a design file.
What is the difference between PNG and SVG?
A PNG stores a fixed grid of coloured pixels, so it blurs when enlarged. An SVG stores shapes and curves as instructions, so it stays sharp at any size. That is why logos are often supplied as SVG.
How many colours should I use?
Count the distinct colours you can see. Two-colour artwork, like a signature or stamp, suits Black & white. Most logos work with the 8-colour preset. Use 16 or 32 only for illustrations with shading, and expect larger files.
Is my image uploaded?
No. The picture is decoded and traced by code running in your own browser tab, so nothing is sent to a server. Very large images are shrunk to 1,024 pixels on the long side before tracing.