Upload a photo or sketch

The image tracer turns the dark areas of a picture into closed outlines you can cut, engrave or edit. Tracing runs in your browser.

Steps

1. In the studio open Import in the left rail and choose the Image tab.
2. Choose Choose PNG / JPEG / WebP and pick your file.
3. Adjust Threshold until the preview shows the shapes you want; the automatic value is a good start. Switch on Invert if your artwork is light on a dark background.
4. Use Noise removal, Min. area and Simplify to drop specks and jagged edges, and Smooth curves for flowing outlines.
5. Set the Output width in millimetres — a picture has no physical scale, so this is where you decide the real size — and the Layer the outlines go on.
6. Choose Add N outlines. The outlines appear on the canvas as editable paths.
7. Open Check & output to confirm the result validates for your process.

Good inputs

• High-contrast logos, line drawings, silhouettes and lettering scanned on white paper trace well.
• Shaded photos, very thin lines and photos of finished 3D objects trace poorly. The preview shows exactly what will become outlines.

Dimensionally exact copies

Tracing is decorative: the shape is right, the size is the width you typed. To copy a flat template with measured accuracy, the calibrated Photo tab uses a printed marker sheet and a measured cross-check where it is enabled on this site.