Convert PNG to SVG Portable Network Graphics ↔ Scalable Vector Graphics Free Online Secure
Drop your PNG file in and take away an SVG. You choose what happens to the pictures: they become shapes, or they stay exactly as they came — and what each choice costs is written below, before you spend time on it.
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What makes a vector different
An SVG is not a picture; it is a set of instructions for drawing one — a circle of this radius here, a line from here to there, this shape filled with that colour. It became a web standard in 2001, and because it stores the drawing rather than the result, it can be printed on a billboard from the same file that renders a sixteen-pixel icon. A PNG or a JPEG stores the opposite: a finished grid of coloured dots, with no memory of what drew them. That asymmetry decides everything on this page. Going from a vector to a raster is simply drawing the instructions at a chosen size; going the other way is tracing — a program looking at a grid of dots and guessing what shapes might have produced it.
Where you meet them
Logos, icons, maps, diagrams and charts live as SVG, because they must be legible at every size and often need to be recoloured. Favicons and app icons are produced from them. The reverse direction is for the moment a vector must become a flat image: an email client that will not display SVG, a social preview, a document to be printed by someone whose software is older than yours, or an upload form that accepts only photographs.
Questions people ask
I traced a photograph and the result looks terrible. Why?
Because tracing was never meant for photographs. It works by finding regions of similar colour and drawing an outline around each one, which suits flat artwork — a logo, a stencil, a line drawing — and fails on a photograph, where every region shades gradually into the next. The tracer has to invent a boundary where none exists, and produces either a poster-like blotch of flat patches or a file with tens of thousands of tiny shapes. For photographs, keep the raster.
Why does my SVG look different in another program?
Usually fonts. An SVG that contains text refers to a font by name and expects the machine opening it to have that font; where it does not, something else is substituted and the layout shifts. The cure is to convert the text to outlines before exporting, which turns each letter into a shape and makes the file identical everywhere — at the cost of the text no longer being editable or selectable. Advanced effects such as filters and blend modes are the other common source of differences.
Does the file lose quality?
It depends on what the two formats can hold. Converting between formats that store the same thing — a PNG to a BMP, a WAV to a FLAC — loses nothing. Converting into a format that throws information away to save space, such as JPEG or MP3, loses a little every time, and converting back does not bring it back. Where a choice exists, this page errs towards keeping the original quality rather than making the smallest file.
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion happens inside your browser, on your own machine; the file never leaves it and there is no server here that could receive it. That is why a large file is limited by your own memory rather than by an upload, and why nothing you convert can appear in anybody's logs — including ours. The audio and video tools do fetch their conversion engine from this site the first time you use them, some thirty megabytes once; after that the work still happens entirely on your machine.
Why people convert PNG to SVG
A PNG is a grid of coloured dots. An SVG is a drawing described in shapes. The difference decides what you can do with them: a PNG has a fixed size and turns blurry when enlarged, while an SVG can be scaled to the side of a building and stays sharp. Logos, icons and line illustrations are often found only as PNG, because that is how they were saved or sent, and then the need arises to use them at a larger size, to recolour them, to cut them on a plotter or a vinyl cutter, or to put them on a site that asks for SVG. That is why people convert PNG to SVG: they have a picture, and they want a drawing.
It is important to be honest about what such a conversion can and cannot do. Turning pixels back into shapes is not a recovery of the original drawing, which is gone. It is a guess, made by looking at where areas of flat colour end. For a logo, an icon or line art, the guess is often close to right. For a photograph, it is close to useless. This page offers two choices, and tells you what each costs before you spend time on it: you can let the picture become shapes by tracing it, or you can keep the picture exactly as it came, wrapped in an SVG.
This page converts PNG to SVG in your browser. Your picture is not uploaded to a server, which matters for logos and designs that are not yet public. Below you will find how tracing works, how to choose the number of colours, what is kept and when the better answer is not to trace at all.
How the conversion works
Two choices for what happens to the picture
You choose what happens to the picture: it becomes shapes, or it stays exactly as it came. The first is tracing. The picture is analysed, areas of one colour are found, and their borders are written as shapes, filled with the colours you asked for. The second is wrapping: the picture is placed inside an SVG file unchanged, so the file is SVG on the outside and the same pixels on the inside.
Tracing is a guess, not a recovery
Tracing finds where flat areas of colour end and writes those borders as shapes. It is close to right for a logo, an icon or line art, and close to useless for a photograph, where it produces a poster of patches. Soft edges and gradients become hard steps between the colours you asked for. The more colours you allow, the closer the result is to the original, and the heavier the file.
Keeping the picture
Keeping the picture instead gives a file that is SVG on the outside and the same pixels on the inside. It is useful when something only accepts .svg, and it is not a way to get vector art. The picture will blur when enlarged, exactly as the PNG did.
What is kept
Transparency, whichever choice you make
Transparency is kept, whichever choice you make: a see-through background stays empty rather than turning white. A logo with no background remains a logo with no background, ready to sit on any colour.
The proportions and the size
Tracing keeps the artwork's proportions and its own pixel size in the SVG's width and height, so it drops into a layout at the size it had. A picture of 600 by 300 pixels gives an SVG that is declared as 600 by 300, and that can then be scaled freely.
What you should know before you convert PNG to SVG
It works best on flat colour
Logos, icons, simple illustrations, signatures, stamps, diagrams and line art are the right material. Anything made of areas of flat colour with clean borders traces well. Photographs, textures and soft gradients do not.
Large pictures are read at reduced size
Pictures larger than 1000 pixels on the long side are read at that size. The SVG still carries the original dimensions, and being vector it scales back up. So a very large PNG is not a problem, but its finest details may be lost in the reading.
Fewer colours, cleaner shapes
Choose the number of colours to fit the picture. A two-colour logo wants two or three colours. A multi-colour illustration needs more. Too many colours produce noisy shapes; too few merge distinct areas.
How to convert PNG to SVG here
Add your picture
Drop the PNG onto the page or pick it from your device. It is read inside your browser and is not uploaded.
Choose tracing or keeping, and the colours
Decide whether the picture should become shapes or stay as it came. If you trace, set the number of colours.
Convert and compare
Press the button and download the SVG. Open it in a browser and zoom in. A good trace stays smooth. Compare it with the PNG side by side, and if it is not right, adjust the colours and try again.
A closer look at PNG and SVG
Raster and vector
A PNG is a raster format: it stores a fixed grid of coloured dots. An SVG is a vector format: it stores shapes and the rules for drawing them. Going from raster to vector means deciding where the shapes are, which the PNG never recorded. Going the other way, SVG to PNG, is exact. This direction is an estimate.
Why tracing cannot restore the original
When a logo was saved as a PNG, its curves were turned into dots, and some information was lost at the edges. Tracing reads the dots and proposes curves that pass through them. The proposal is often very good, but it is not the original curve. If the original SVG exists, use it.
When to avoid tracing
Do not trace photographs, and do not expect a trace to recreate the fine lettering of a small logo. For those, keep the picture as it came, or redraw the artwork in a drawing program using the PNG as a guide.
Common situations in detail
Logos that exist only as PNG
A client sends a logo as a PNG, and you need it larger or recoloured. Convert PNG to SVG, check the result and clean up in a drawing program. For a simple logo, the outcome can be excellent.
Cutting and engraving
Plotters, vinyl cutters and laser engravers work from vector outlines. A traced SVG of a silhouette or a stamp gives them what they need.
Icons and simple illustrations
Flat icons trace almost perfectly. You can then recolour them, scale them and use them on the web without loss.
Signatures and stamps
A signature scanned or photographed against a white background can be traced into a single-colour SVG that scales cleanly in a document. Take care to use only signatures that are yours.
Practical advice before you convert PNG to SVG
Start from the largest, cleanest PNG you have
The more pixels and the cleaner the edges, the better the trace. A small, blurry picture gives a lumpy result.
Remove noise first
Speckles, stray dots and compression artefacts become extra shapes. If you can, clean the picture in an editor before you convert PNG to SVG.
Use high contrast
Separated colours trace well. A picture in which two areas are nearly the same shade may merge them into one.
Keep the PNG
The PNG is the source. If the trace is not good, you will want it to try again with other settings.
Questions people ask before converting
Will I get my original vector back?
No. Tracing is a guess and not a recovery. It proposes shapes that follow the borders of the colours in the picture.
Why does my photograph look like a poster?
Because a photograph has no flat areas to find. Tracing turns it into patches of colour. Keep photographs as they came.
Will the transparency stay?
Yes, whichever choice you make. A see-through background stays empty.
What does keeping the picture do?
It gives a file that is SVG on the outside and the same pixels on the inside. It is useful when something only accepts .svg.
Is my picture uploaded?
No. The conversion runs in your browser and the picture never leaves your device.
Can I go back to a PNG?
Yes. SVG to PNG draws the shapes at the size you pick.
Choosing wisely when you convert PNG to SVG
Trace or keep?
Trace flat artwork. Keep photographs and anything detailed. If you are unsure, try tracing and look at the result next to the original.
Other starting points
If your picture is a JPG, JPG to SVG works the same way, though compression noise needs attention. For an icon file, ICO to SVG reads the largest size inside it.
Keep what you started with
Store the PNG beside the SVG. They are different things, and each has its use.
Getting a good result after the conversion
Open it in a drawing program
Look at the shapes and the colours. Delete stray specks, merge shapes that should be one and smooth curves that came out lumpy.
Check at several sizes
Zoom in and out. A good trace holds its shape at every size.
Simplify for the web
A traced SVG may contain many points. Tools that simplify paths can reduce the file considerably without visible change.
Preparing your PNG so that it traces well
Flatten the colours
If your picture has a faint gradient or noise in what should be flat areas, reduce the number of colours in an editor first. The trace will be cleaner when you convert PNG to SVG.
Crop closely
Remove empty margins and anything that is not part of the artwork. Less to trace means fewer stray shapes.
Test with a small piece first
If the picture is complex, trace a cropped part first. A quick look shows whether the settings are right.
Getting the best trace when you convert PNG to SVG
Start with the colours you expect
Count the colours of the artwork before you convert PNG to SVG. A logo that uses a blue, a white and a black asks for three, perhaps four with the transparent background. Asking for that number gives clean shapes that match the design. Asking for twenty invites the tool to find twenty slightly different blues in the compression noise and to draw each as a shape of its own.
Mind the edges
The border between two colours in a PNG is usually a soft line of in-between shades, because the picture was smoothed when it was drawn. Tracing has to decide where the edge lies within that soft line. It chooses the middle, which is nearly always right, but a very thin line may break into pieces or thicken. If the lines in your artwork are only a pixel or two wide, start from a larger version of the picture.
Think about white
White can be a colour of the artwork or the empty background. If your PNG has a transparent background, it stays empty, and nothing needs to be done. If the background is white paper, with no transparency, the tracing will include it as a white shape behind the artwork, which you may wish to delete in a drawing program so that the logo sits cleanly on other colours.
Use the SVG at the sizes it deserves
The great advantage of the result is that it scales. Use it for the poster, the sign, the embroidered patch or the favicon, and enjoy not having to ask for a larger file. When you need a pixel picture again, SVG to PNG draws the shapes at any size you pick.
Compare with redrawing
For an important logo, tracing may be a starting point and not the end. A designer can place the traced shapes on a layer, redraw the curves with clean points and end up with a file that is a joy to work with. If the logo is the face of a company, that hour is well spent. For everyday needs, a good trace is enough.
Be careful with trademarks and other people's work
Tracing a logo or a drawing does not give you rights to it. Use the conversion for artwork that you own or have permission to use. For your own marks, it is a convenient way to bring old pictures up to date.
Keep the settings you liked
When you find a number of colours that works for a particular kind of artwork, write it down. The next time you convert PNG to SVG for a similar logo or icon, you will begin from a setting that you know gives clean shapes.
Privacy and handling
Why local conversion matters for artwork
Logos and designs may be confidential before they are published. Many online converters upload your file to a server, process it and send back the result, and for a while a copy lives on a machine you do not control. Here your own browser does the work, so the picture stays on your device.
What happens when you leave
When you close the page, the converted file disappears from the browser, so download it first. Nothing about your picture is kept.
If something goes wrong
The trace is full of specks
The picture contained noise. Clean it in an editor, or reduce the number of colours.
The shapes are too coarse
Increase the number of colours, or start from a larger PNG.
The page freezes with a large picture
Everything runs on your device, and a large picture needs memory. Try again on a computer, or reduce the picture first.
Related tools
The same family of tools covers the neighbouring jobs. For a JPG, use JPG to SVG, and for an icon file, ICO to SVG. To go back to pixels, SVG to PNG, SVG to JPG and SVG to ICO draw the shapes at the size you pick. A vector page for print comes from SVG to PDF, and a lighter PNG from compress PNG.
A worked example
Say a small business sends you its logo as a PNG of 500 by 500 pixels: a blue shield with a white letter. You need it for a banner two metres wide. You drop the PNG here, choose tracing with three colours and press the button. A moment later you download an SVG with the same proportions, in which the shield and the letter are clean shapes. You open it in a drawing program, delete two stray specks and scale it to the banner. The edges stay sharp. The PNG stays in your folder.
A short checklist
Before converting
Check that the picture is flat artwork. Clean noise and crop closely. Keep the PNG.
While converting
Choose tracing or keeping, and set the colours. Stay on the page until the file is ready.
After converting
Open the SVG, zoom in, compare it with the PNG and tidy it in a drawing program.
Common mistakes
Tracing photographs
A photograph becomes a poster of patches. Keep it as it came.
Expecting the original curves
Tracing is a guess. If the original SVG exists, use it.
Using too many colours
More colours give noisy shapes. Use as few as the artwork needs.
Your picture stays on your device
The conversion happens locally. Your picture is read by your own browser, traced there and handed back as an SVG. Nothing is uploaded, so no copy ends up on a server and nobody else can see it. For unpublished artwork, that is the safe way to convert PNG to SVG.
Summary
To convert PNG to SVG here, drop the picture, choose what happens to it and press the button. You choose: the picture becomes shapes, or it stays exactly as it came, and what each choice costs is written on this page, before you spend time on it. Transparency is kept, whichever choice you make, and tracing keeps the artwork's proportions and its own pixel size in the SVG's width and height. Tracing is a guess, not a recovery: it finds where flat areas of colour end and writes those borders as shapes, which is close to right for a logo, an icon or line art, and close to useless for a photograph. Pictures larger than 1000 pixels on the long side are read at that size.