Trace an image for laser engraving and cutting (Beta)

Turn a logo or drawing into vector shapes for LightBurn, xTool and other lasers: fills to engrave, outlines to cut.

Opens: PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, HEIC, AVIF, BMP, TIFF, ZIP
Saves: SVG, PDF, EPS, DXF, ZIP

Vectorize

Pictures
Choose files… or drop them here
.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .jfif, .webp, .gif, .heic, .heif, .hif, .avif, .bmp, .tif, .tiff, .ico, .tga, .qoi, .pbm, .pgm, .ppm, .pnm, .apng, .zip · up to 200 MB each, 50 files max
    Add more files

    One picture or many, or a .zip of a folder (sub-folders are kept in the result).

    Options
    Picture type

    Each picture shows a sample: the original on the left, its tracing on the right. The choice sets every setting below; anything you change is laid over it.

    Tracing method

    Usually left as the picture type sets. Single lines (red in the pictures) follow the middle of each stroke, for engraving, plotters and embroidery.

    Empty: decided from the picture. The background counts as a colour.

    The colour around the edge of the picture is not traced.

    Trace pixels that are

    Unlike the background: any colour that stands out. Darker than a level: dark marks only, so highlighter and faint pencil drop out. Darker than the surroundings: pages with shadows or uneven light. Not transparent: the shape of a cut-out picture. One colour: only marks of that colour.

    0 is black, 255 white. Pixels darker than this are traced: raise it for faint pencil.

    A hex colour, e.g. #e30613.

    More options

    Empty: as the picture type sets (12 for logos, 24 for clip art, 32 for photos, 64 for pixel art).

    Optional, for vinyl or thread colours: hex colours separated by commas, e.g. #000000, #ffffff, #e30613. Every area takes the nearest of them.

    Layering

    Cut-out shapes fit together like a puzzle, with holes where others sit: right for cutting and editing. Stacked shapes lie whole on top of each other: fewer nodes and no hairline gaps on screen.

    Colour difference: about 2 is barely visible, 12 a clear shade, 30 or more takes in neighbouring colours.

    How far around each pixel the light is measured. A little more than the thickest stroke works well.

    How much darker than its surroundings a pixel must be: lower picks up fainter marks (and more paper texture).

    Traces the other part: use it when the tracing shows the background instead of the drawing.

    Empty: the drawing's own colour. A hex colour such as #000000 makes them all that colour.

    Evens out rough pencil and paper texture. Empty: as the picture type sets (0 to 0.8).

    Width of the single lines. Empty or 0: measured from the picture.

    Empty or 0: decided from the line width.

    Thicker ink becomes filled shapes. Empty or 0: decided from the picture.

    Removes dust, noise and tiny holes. Empty: as the picture type sets (6 for logos, 20 for scans, 30 for photos).

    How far outlines may stray from the pixel edges: 0.3 follows them closely, 1.5 rounds them off. Empty: as the picture type sets.

    0 keeps every corner sharp, 1.34 rounds them all, about 1 looks natural. Empty: as the picture type sets.

    How far joined curves may stray: larger gives fewer nodes. Empty: as the picture type sets (0.25 to 0.5).

    Circles and ellipses

    The squares mark nodes: an exact circle needs only four.

    Against JPEG blocks, film grain and scanner dust; higher also rounds off small details. Empty: as the picture type sets.

    The unit of the drawing's width and height. DXF files are in millimetres unless centimetres or inches are chosen.

    In the size unit above, e.g. 100 for a 100 mm wide design. The height follows the picture's proportions. Empty: from the resolution below.

    Sets the physical size when no width is given: a 960 px wide picture at 96 is 10 inches (254 mm) wide, at 300 it is 3.2 inches.

    What cutters and lasers follow as cut lines. Single lines keep their width.

    Paints the background colour behind the shapes (SVG, PDF and EPS).

    Some viewers draw faint seams where colour shapes meet. A thin edge in each shape's own colour hides them.

    For checking the tracing against the picture in Inkscape or Illustrator. Makes the SVG larger.

    Your files are deleted after processing.

    Laser software such as LightBurn or xTool Creative Space can fill-engrave closed vector shapes or cut along their outlines, depending on the layer settings. A traced vector file gives cleaner edges than engraving the pixels of a small picture, and it can be scaled to any size. This page traces logos, drawings and silhouettes into an SVG and a DXF, sized in millimetres.

    How to prepare a picture for the laser

    1. Upload the picture. High contrast works best: a black logo, a silhouette, line art.
    2. Keep Shapes to cut, which traces one colour with smooth outlines and leaves out specks and the background.
    3. Under More options type the Width in millimetres, for example 80. The SVG and the DXF are then exactly that wide, and the height follows the picture's proportions.
    4. Download the SVG (or the DXF) and import it into your laser software. Check the size after importing: some programs assume a unit for DXF files.

    Engrave, cut or score

    • Engrave (fill): use the SVG as it is. Every shape is filled, so the laser fills the inside of letters and shapes and leaves the holes empty.
    • Cut: the laser follows the outlines of the same shapes. Tick Outlines only under More options if your software should see thin lines instead of filled shapes.
    • Score or single-line engraving: a drawn line traced as an outline gives two passes, one on each edge. For a single pass along each line, choose Single lines (centerline) as the picture type.
    • Several operations: trace in colour (Logo or icon) and give each colour its own layer setting in the laser software; in the DXF every colour is a layer of its own.

    Tips

    • Thin details burn away. Lines thinner than the kerf of your laser may disappear or merge when cutting. Raise the speck size to drop the smallest pieces, or trace a bolder version.
    • Wrong part traced: if the tracing shows the background instead of your design, tick Swap drawing and background.
    • Photos are better engraved as dithered pictures than as vectors: tracing a photo gives posterised areas, not shades of grey.
    • Smoothness controls how closely outlines follow the pixels. Higher values give smoother, faster cuts with fewer nodes; lower values keep small details.

    More about what this tool reads and writes: Image Vectorizer.