Convert PNG to SVG
Drop a PNG and download an SVG: shapes are redrawn as curves, and a transparent background stays transparent.
- Real curves
- Every shape becomes a vector path. Zoom as far as you like: the edge stays smooth.
- True to the image
- Colors and detail level are chosen from the image, and the fidelity of the result is measured.
- Nothing leaves your device
- Vectorizing runs in your browser. The image is never uploaded anywhere.
PNG is the best format to vectorize
PNG is lossless: the file holds exactly the pixels the program wrote, without the smearing JPG leaves around edges. For tracing that changes everything — the boundary between one color and the next arrives crisp, and the curve fitted over it lands where it should.
It is why a logo exported as PNG almost always vectorizes better than the same logo as JPG, even at identical pixel dimensions.
What happens to transparency
PNG has an alpha channel, and a logo in PNG usually arrives with a transparent background. Tracing respects that: the transparent region becomes no shape at all, and the SVG comes out with the background cut through — which is exactly what you want when the file goes over another color.
One case to watch: partial transparency, like a soft shadow or a feathered glow. Vectors have no per-pixel opacity, so a shadow turns into a step of color or disappears. If the file has a shadow, it probably will not survive.
Screenshots work too
Screen captures are where this pays off most, and almost nobody thinks of it. A screenshot of an icon, a chart or a diagram is flat color with crisp edges — the ideal case for tracing. You recover an editable file from something that only existed as an image.
Small text is the exception: letters 10 or 12 pixels tall have no shape left to redraw, and the result comes out mushy. For those, raise the detail level and check the fidelity the page reports before downloading.