Guide · 4 min read

Inkscape Trace Bitmap: the steps, the modes, and what it leaves.

How to turn a PNG into an SVG with Inkscape's Trace Bitmap: the steps, which mode to pick, what its settings do, and why it is not working, with what it leaves on a real PNG.

potrace
1,230anchor points in the whole file
VecSnap
77anchor points in the whole file

To trace a PNG in Inkscape, import it, select it, open Path › Trace Bitmap (Shift+Alt+B), choose a mode, and press Apply: the SVG paths land exactly over the picture, which you then delete. Single scan gives one color; Multiple scans with Colors keeps the image's colors, one object per color. Trace Bitmap is built on potrace, so it follows every pixel: expect many anchor points, then Simplify (Ctrl+L) them.

Updated 4 sources ↓

The steps

How do I use Trace Bitmap in Inkscape?

Import the picture, select it, open Path › Trace Bitmap (Shift+Alt+B), pick a mode, and press Apply. The traced paths are placed exactly over the picture; move them aside or delete the picture underneath.
  1. File › Import, and choose your picture.
  2. Click the picture to select it.
  3. Open Path › Trace Bitmap, or press Shift+Alt+B.
  4. Pick a mode: Single scan for one color, Multiple scans for several.
  5. Press Apply, then delete the picture under the new paths.
  6. File › Save As, and keep the SVG.

Which mode

Which Trace Bitmap mode should I use?

For a logo in one color, Single scan with Brightness cutoff. For a logo in several colors, Multiple scans with Colors. For pixel art, the Pixel art tab, which keeps its square pixels.

  • Single scan · Brightness cutoff

    What it makes
    One black shape from everything darker than the threshold
    For
    A one-color logo, a signature, a stamp

  • Single scan · Edge detection

    What it makes
    The outlines of the edges it finds
    For
    A drawing you will color yourself

  • Multiple scans · Colors

    What it makes
    One object per color, eight by default, stacked
    For
    A logo or an icon in several colors

  • Multiple scans · Grays

    What it makes
    One object per shade of gray
    For
    A black and white illustration

  • Centerline

    What it makes
    A single line through each stroke
    For
    Handwriting, line art for a plotter

  • Pixel art

    What it makes
    Pixel art redrawn without potrace, as smooth cells or curves
    For
    Game sprites and pixel icons

The settings

What do Speckles, Smooth corners and Optimize do?

They are potrace's three controls. Speckles drops specks smaller than its size, Smooth corners rounds the corners it finds, and Optimize joins curves to save anchor points. Inkscape opens them at 2, 1 and 0.2.

Not working

Why is Trace Bitmap not working?

Usually nothing is selected, or what is selected is not a picture. Select the imported bitmap itself, then press Apply: the preview only shows what a trace would make.
  • Nothing happensThe picture is not selected
    • Click the picture once, then Apply
    • A shape or a text is no picture: Trace Bitmap reads pixels only
  • It looks unchangedThe trace sits on top
    • The paths land exactly over the picture
    • Drag them aside, or delete the picture
  • It came out blackSingle scan makes one color
    • Brightness cutoff keeps one shape
    • Use Multiple scans with Colors for every color
  • It is slow, or freezesThe picture is large
    • Every pixel is traced, so a large picture makes a heavy, slow trace
    • Trace a logo or an icon: a photo turns into thousands of shapes

Without tracing

Is there a way to convert a PNG to SVG without tracing?

Yes: draw it again as shapes instead of following its pixels. Drop your PNG here; VecSnap gives back an SVG with every color, few anchor points, and paths Inkscape opens as they are.

Drop your PNG. Get its SVG.

  1. Drop the PNG you would have traced.
  2. VecSnap draws it again as shapes, every color kept, each one a layer.
  3. Download the SVG and open it in Inkscape: every shape is a path you can edit.

Questions

Trace Bitmap, answered.

Sources

Yes. Its tracing is built on potrace, Peter Selinger's library; its Centerline mode uses Autotrace, and Pixel art its own.

potrace, measured

More guides

Keep reading

Favicon size and format

Sizes, formats and the HTML, shown on one icon in a tab, a search result and a home screen.

Guide · 5 min read

What is an SVG file?

What the format is, and how to open, make and edit one, on a real file read line by line.

Guide · 4 min read

What is a vector file?

What one is, its formats, and how to tell a real one from pixels.

Guide · 3 min read

Image Trace in Illustrator, step by step

The steps, the settings and Expand, and what to do when Image Trace is grayed out.

Guide · 3 min read

How to change a logo's color

Change a logo's colors, make a white or a black version, and why a recolored PNG grows a halo.

Guide · 4 min read

How to fix a pixelated logo

Why a logo pixelates, the pixels each place asks for, and the fixes, shown on one small JPEG.

Guide · 5 min read

SVG viewBox, width and height

The viewBox, width and height, a responsive SVG, and why yours will not scale, shown on one file.

Guide · 4 min read

SVG vs PNG

Which format each job needs, shown on one drawing saved both ways.

Guide · 3 min read

How to change an SVG's color

Recolor an SVG in its text, with CSS or currentColor, and why one in an img tag will not change.

Guide · 4 min read

How to add a sticker border

A white edge and a smooth cut line, in Cricut, Illustrator, Inkscape or one step.

Guide · 5 min read

How to vectorize an image in Photoshop

Make Work Path, color by color, and where it stops: what Photoshop can vectorize.

Guide · 4 min read

SVG vs EPS

What differs, which to send a printer, and one logo opened both ways.

Guide · 3 min read

How to vectorize an image in Canva

Canva's own apps, why a PNG saved as an SVG stays pixels, and an SVG you can recolor in Canva.

Guide · 4 min read

How to turn a Procreate drawing into a vector

Procreate shares no vector file: export the PNG that converts best, and draw for it.

Guide · 2 min read

How to make an SVG for Cricut

Why Design Space wants an SVG, and how to make one with a layer for each color.

Guide · 4 min read

Image Trace in Affinity, step by step

The steps, the two settings, where it is, and why traced corners come out round.

Guide · 4 min read

How to make an SVG for laser cutting

Why a traced SVG engraves some areas twice, and the file each laser app wants.

Guide · 5 min read

How to vectorize an image in Figma

Figma's own Vectorize, how to import or paste an SVG, and what makes a file easy to edit there.

Guide · 3 min read

How to reduce anchor points

Why a traced SVG has thousands, what they cost, and how to keep only the few a shape needs.

Guide · 2 min read

Drop an image. Check the file.

Converting is free. You see the whole result before you spend anything.