Image to SVG Converter for Laser Cutting

What it does

Image Trace turns a picture made of pixels into vector paths a laser can follow. Load a PNG or JPG of a logo, a drawing or a silhouette, and the studio finds the edges and draws them as clean shapes you can cut out, score as an outline or fill-engrave. Because the result is vector, it stays sharp at any size, which a bitmap never does.

How to get a clean trace

1. Load the largest version of the image you have. A 2000-pixel logo traces far cleaner than a 200-pixel one from a website header.
2. Threshold. Auto (Otsu) picks the light/dark cut-off for you. Turn it off to adjust by hand, and use Invert to trace the light areas instead of the dark ones.
3. Clean up. Pre-blur softens jagged pixel edges before tracing, curve smoothing rounds off corners, Simplify reduces the number of points, and Remove specks drops stray dots.
4. Choose the output. Cut, engrave fill or outline, and add a backing plate if the design needs one.

Beyond a simple trace

Option	What you get
Levels (2 to 6)	A photo posterised into stacked layers for layered portrait art; each level is its own sheet
Layered logo sign	The logo plus a backing layer that follows its outline
Stencil with bridges	Thin connections that keep the middles of letters and shapes attached
Backing plate	A plate behind the cut design so loose pieces stay in place

Trace or engrave?

If the picture has shading you want to keep, such as a portrait or a pet photo, don’t trace it: engrave it with Photo Engrave, which uses dithering to show the tones. Trace when you want shapes with hard edges: cut-out lettering, a logo on a sign, a silhouette ornament, or the outline of a part.

Exporting

Export SVG for LightBurn, xTool Creative Space, Glowforge, Inkscape or a Cricut, DXF for CAD and CNC software, or PDF and EPS for Illustrator and CorelDRAW. Cut, score and engrave paths come out in separate colours, so each one can get its own layer settings.

If you have an SVG already and only need a different format, or want to pack several parts onto one sheet, use the Import & Nest studio instead: it converts an SVG to DXF, PDF or G-code and nests parts to save material.

Use only artwork you have the rights to

Tracing a logo doesn’t change who owns it. Trace your own artwork, your customer’s own logo with their permission, or designs licensed for the use you have in mind. For ready-to-use artwork that is cleared for products you sell, the design library in the app has more than 4,500 designs.