Short answer: Trace it: in Inkscape use Path > Trace Bitmap (Shift+Alt+B) with Brightness cutoff, or in Illustrator use Image Trace with the Black and White preset, then click Expand. Delete the original image, remove specks and extra nodes, check every outline is closed, and bridge any floating islands such as the centers of letters. Scale it to the finished size and save as SVG or DXF.
Key facts
- Inkscape: Path > Trace Bitmap (Shift+Alt+B), built on the Potrace engine. Free.
- Illustrator: Window > Image Trace, Black and White preset, then Expand.
- Best input: sharp, high-contrast black-on-white art, roughly 1,000 px or more across for a logo.
- For cutting: you need closed outlines. For photo engraving: don't trace; send the image.
- Always check: stray specks, open paths, floating islands, and the final size.
Do you need to convert it at all?
- To cut a shape out (a logo, a silhouette, letters), you need vector outlines: SVG or DXF.
- To engrave a photo or detailed image, a high-resolution image can be engraved directly as a raster. Tracing would lose the shading.
- To engrave a logo crisply, a vector version gives cleaner edges than a low-resolution image.
Start with the best image you can
Tracing works best on sharp, high-contrast images: black artwork on a white background, at least 1,000 pixels across for a logo. The Inkscape manual is blunt that results depend heavily on the input; blurry, small, or heavily compressed JPEGs give lumpy, wobbly outlines. If a designer made your logo, ask for the original AI, EPS, PDF, or SVG. It's probably vector already.
How to trace an image in Inkscape
- Import the image (File > Import) and select it.
- Open Path > Trace Bitmap (Shift+Alt+B).
- Choose Single scan, Brightness cutoff. Adjust the threshold until the preview shows the shapes you want. For a drawing made of single lines you want engraved as strokes, try Centerline tracing instead (added in Inkscape 1.0).
- Set the options: raise Speckles to drop tiny blobs (lower it if dots on letters vanish), and leave Smooth corners and Optimize on for fewer nodes.
- Click Apply. The trace lands exactly on top of the image. Drag it aside and delete the original image.
- Simplify with Path > Simplify (Ctrl+L) only if needed, and lightly; it removes nodes at the cost of detail and rounds corners.
How to trace an image in Illustrator
- Place the image (File > Place) and select it.
- Open Window > Image Trace and choose the Black and White preset. Set View to Tracing Result with Outlines to see the paths.
- Adjust Threshold (darker or lighter result). Under Advanced: Paths (higher fits the pixels more tightly), Corners (higher keeps more sharp corners), and Noise (Adobe suggests 20 to 50 for high-resolution images, 1 to 10 for low-resolution).
- Turn on Snap Curves To Lines for geometric logos; it straightens near-straight edges.
- Keep the background from becoming a shape: in current versions use Ignore Color (pick white) or Transparency for a transparent PNG; older versions call this Ignore White.
- Click Expand (Control or Properties panel) to turn the trace into editable paths, then delete the original image.
How do you clean up a trace for cutting?
- Delete stray specks and tiny shapes. Each is a separate cut, and very small ones won't survive (smallest laser-cut detail).
- Redraw wobbly straight lines and circles with the line and ellipse tools. Traced circles are rarely round.
- Check outlines are closed. Traces usually are, but edits can open them. Our laser file checker flags open paths.
- Turn cut shapes into strokes: set fill to none and use a thin stroke so it's clear the outline is a cut. Keep filled shapes only where you want engraving.
- Union overlapping shapes (Path > Union in Inkscape, Pathfinder > Unite in Illustrator) so the laser doesn't cut lines inside the shape or cut the same edge twice.
Floating islands: the centers that fall out
Any shape fully enclosed by a cut comes loose. The centers of O, A, B, D, P, Q, and R, the inside of a ring, or an animal's eye drop out of the sheet. Decide what you want:
- Cutting the shape itself out (a standalone logo): the islands become holes. That's usually fine, but make sure every part of the design is connected, or the unconnected bits become separate loose pieces.
- Cutting a stencil (the design as holes in a panel): the centers fall out. Add bridges at least the sheet thickness wide, or use a stencil font. See acrylic stencils.
- Only want to see the design: engrave it instead of cutting, and nothing falls out.
Check the size before you save
A trace has no idea how big your part should be. Set document units to inches or millimeters, then scale the whole design with proportions locked to the finished size. Measure a known feature, such as the overall width or a letter height. Then save as SVG (Inkscape) or export SVG or DXF (Illustrator). The rest of the checklist is in how to prepare a file for laser cutting.
Or send us what you have
If tracing isn't your thing, send the image anyway. We offer design help and can turn simple artwork into a clean cut file. Upload your file or describe what you want made.
Questions
How do I trace a color logo?
For cutting you only need the outline, so trace it in black and white. For multi-color engraving, trace each color separately (Inkscape's Multiple scans, or Illustrator's Color mode with a limited palette) and keep each color on its own layer.
Are online image-to-SVG converters good enough?
They work for simple, high-contrast images, but the results usually still need cleanup: stray specks, too many nodes, and the wrong size. Check the file before ordering.
Should I save as SVG or DXF?
Either. SVG keeps curves smooth and is the natural choice from Inkscape or Illustrator. DXF is standard from CAD programs; set the units correctly when you export.
Why does my traced file have thousands of nodes?
Tracing follows every pixel edge, so noisy or low-resolution images produce huge node counts. Raise Speckles (Inkscape) or Noise (Illustrator), use a cleaner source image, then simplify lightly.