Softonic

PNG to SVG Vectorizer

Step 1 / 4 PNG to SVG

Vectorizing a PNG means tracing its pixels into paths you can scale, recolour and edit. This tool runs Potrace and ImageTracer algorithms inside the browser to turn flat-colour logos, icons and line art into clean SVG. Photographic PNGs and soft gradients don’t vectorize well — use it for anything with sharp edges and limited colours.

How vectorization works

  1. 1

    Drop a PNG

    Best results come from a crisp source — at least 512 px on the longest edge, with flat fills.

  2. 2

    Pick a mode

    Monochrome (single-colour Potrace trace) or multi-colour (posterized palette with one path per colour).

  3. 3

    Tune threshold and smoothing

    Threshold controls what counts as black; smoothing rounds off jagged pixel stairsteps.

  4. 4

    Preview and download

    Compare the raster and vector side by side. When you are happy, download the SVG.

What vectorizes well

Source Expected result
Black-on-white logo Clean single-path SVG, pixel-perfect
2–4 colour flat icon Good multi-path SVG with crisp edges
Hand-drawn ink sketch Usable with smoothing at 3–5
Photograph Poor — millions of colours collapse into noisy blobs
Anti-aliased screenshot OK after thresholding, but lose sub-pixel detail

Settings that matter

  • Threshold (monochrome mode). The cutoff between what becomes filled and what becomes transparent. Default 128; lower it to capture thin strokes, raise it to drop grainy backgrounds.
  • Colour count (multi-mode). The number of palette steps. 4–8 is enough for most logos. Going above 16 gives noisy output that SVG viewers render slowly.
  • Smoothing / corner threshold. High smoothing rounds corners; useful for organic shapes, lethal for sharp icon edges.
  • Path simplification. Reduces node count. Aggressive simplification cuts file size but can warp thin strokes.

After export

Open the SVG in Illustrator, Inkscape or Figma and inspect node density. Hand-cleaned paths are always smaller and smoother than auto-traced ones. For logos destined for print, consider re-drawing by hand using the vector trace as a reference.

Frequently Asked Questions

Vector tracing collapses colour regions into paths. Photographs have millions of gradients; a trace produces a noisy mosaic of blobs. Raster formats like JPG or WebP are correct for photos.

Yes. If the source PNG has a transparent background, the traced SVG inherits that transparency. For a JPG source, use a background-remover first.

Yes. The SVG uses standard <path> elements with absolute coordinates, which any vector editor reads and lets you edit node-by-node.

512–2048 px on the long side is ideal. Very small icons lose detail; very large ones produce thousands of nodes and bloat the SVG.

No. Potrace runs as WebAssembly in the browser. Nothing is transmitted.

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