JPG to SVG converter

How to

How to convert JPG to SVG

JPG (also written JPEG) is the most common image format, and the hardest one to vectorize well. It is lossy, so every save adds faint blocks and halos around edges, and it has no transparency, so there is always a background. This converter deals with both before it traces your picture into SVG, right in your browser.

1. Choose your JPG. Drop a .jpg or .jpeg file onto the box, pick one from your device, or paste a copied image. It is processed on your device and never uploaded.
2. Say what is in it. Logo or graphic for flat colors, text and icons. Photo keeps more shading. Black and white gives one cut layer.
3. Check the background. By default the solid color around the edges is removed, so the SVG holds just the artwork. Switch to Keep the background if you want it.
4. Download the SVG. Open it in Illustrator, Inkscape, Figma or Cricut Design Space, or paste the code into a web page.

Cleaning up JPEG artifacts

JPEG compression works in 8 by 8 pixel blocks and blurs color along sharp edges. You rarely notice it on screen, but a tracer does: it turns every faint block and halo into a shape of its own, so a simple two-color logo can come out as a hundred fragments. Three settings stop that. Clean up JPEG artifacts evens out the blocks before tracing. Snap to exact colors finds the main colors of the picture and moves every pixel to the nearest one, so halos disappear. The speck filter drops whatever is left. On the sample JPG logo, the result goes from about 90 shapes to about 10.

Removing the background

A PNG can be transparent, a JPG cannot. A logo saved as JPG always sits on a rectangle, usually white. The converter looks at the edges of the picture, finds the solid color that surrounds the artwork, and leaves that area empty in the SVG, whether it is white, black or any other flat color. Only background that touches the edges is removed, so the same color inside the design stays. If the edges are not one flat color, such as in most photos, nothing is removed.

Photos or logos?

Logos, icons, text, stamps and line drawings saved as JPG convert best: choose Logo or graphic and set the maximum colors to the number of colors in the design. Photos convert too, but an SVG cannot hold millions of shades, so the result is a simplified, illustration-like version of the picture. Keep the original JPG if you need the photo itself. For stylized results such as poster art or line art from a photo, the image vectorizer has presets for that.

Have a PNG instead?

PNG files have no compression artifacts and can already be transparent. The PNG to SVG converter keeps transparent areas empty and is tuned for crisp PNG edges.

What powers the converter

Tracing is done by VTracer, an open source vectorization engine, compiled to WebAssembly so it runs at near native speed in the browser. See the About page for credits and licenses.

Questions people ask

Can I convert JPG to SVG?

Yes. A JPG is a grid of pixels and an SVG is made of shapes, so the conversion traces the picture into outlines and fills rather than changing a file extension. Logos, icons, text and drawings convert cleanly. Photos convert too, but they come out as a simplified, illustration-like version of the picture.

What is the difference between JPG and SVG?

JPG stores a photo-style grid of pixels with lossy compression, so it is small but blurs when enlarged and cannot be transparent. SVG stores shapes, curves and colors as code, so it stays sharp at any size, can have a transparent background, and can be edited or recolored in a design app. JPG suits photos; SVG suits logos, icons and anything you need to scale or cut.

How to turn a JPG into a SVG for Cricut?

Choose Black and white for a single cut layer, or Logo or graphic for a multi-color design. Keep the background removed so the cutter does not trace a box around the design, raise the speck filter to 8 or more to drop tiny islands, then download the SVG and upload it in Cricut Design Space.