Convert PNG to SVG

Tracing, not wrapping

Many online “PNG to SVG” converters put the PNG inside an SVG file and stop there. The file ends in .svg, but it is still pixels: it blurs when enlarged, cannot be recolored shape by shape, and a cutting machine or a sign maker cannot use it.

Octoolo traces instead. Image Trace finds the areas of color in the picture and draws their outlines as smooth curves, so the result is made of real vector shapes: each one can be selected, recolored, reshaped or deleted, and the whole thing stays sharp at any size. The tracing runs inside the Octoolo app itself, with nothing to download and nothing uploaded.

When you press Trace, the shapes are placed exactly over the picture as a group called “Traced image”, and the PNG is hidden underneath, so you can trace it again with other settings if the first try is not right.

Which preset for which PNG

The sliders then fine-tune it. Colors, from 2 to 64, sets how many colors the color presets keep. Detail decides how small a speck can be before it is dropped. Smoothness merges small curves into longer, cleaner ones. Corners sets how sharp a turn has to be to stay a corner rather than a curve. The preview follows each change a moment later.

Getting a clean result

• Start from the best PNG you have. The largest, sharpest version traces best. Very large pictures are traced at up to 2,400 pixels on their long side, which is plenty for a logo.
• Fewer colors, fewer problems. A logo with four colors traces cleanest with Colors near four; extra colors turn soft edges into thin slivers.
• Watch the shape count. It shows under the preview. A simple logo should be dozens of shapes, not thousands; if it climbs, lower Detail or Colors.
• Tidy up after tracing. Select › Same fill color picks every shape of one color to change it at once, Object › Path › Simplify… takes out extra anchor points, and the Direct Selection tool (A) moves the ones that are left.

A PNG with a busy or colored background is easier to trace once the background is gone: remove the background in the Photo Editor first, export a PNG, and trace that.

Exporting the SVG

File › Export… writes a clean, small SVG for websites, design apps and cutting machines. Under Size in, choose px, mm, cm, in or pt, with 1 to 4 decimals; the size is written into the file at 96 pixels to the inch, the SVG standard's ratio. Untick Artboard color as a background, or the artboard's white is written in as a rectangle behind the shapes.

The same window also exports PDF, with a page per artboard, and PNG, JPG or WebP at 1×, 2×, 3× or an exact width, drawn from the shapes, so a small PNG logo can come back as a sharp, large one.

File › Save (Ctrl S) also writes an SVG that opens anywhere, but it carries a copy of your whole document, the hidden PNG included, so Octoolo can reopen it exactly. Keep that one as your working file and export the clean SVG for everything else.