Two files that both end in .svg

Open two "converted" SVGs in a text editor. The first contains a single <image> element whose href is a long data:image/png;base64,… string. The second contains <path> elements with d="M12 4 L…" coordinate data and a fill colour each. Both open in a browser and both look right at the original size. Only the second one is a vector.

The wrapper is exactly what it sounds like: the original bitmap, carried inside an SVG container. Enlarge it and the browser upscales the pixels, so the edges blur the same way the PNG would. Cutting machines and vector editors cannot select a shape inside it, because there are no shapes — just one rectangle of pixels.

A traced SVG describes the picture as geometry. Each colour region becomes a closed outline made of straight segments and Bézier curves; the renderer fills that outline at whatever size you ask for, so the edges stay crisp at 10 mm or 10 m.

What png2svg.art outputs

The tracer groups the pixels of your image into a small number of flat colours, then hands each colour's mask to Potrace, an open-source bitmap tracer that fits curves to the boundary of a region. The result is one <path> per colour, filled with that colour and using the evenodd fill rule so holes (the inside of an "O", for example) stay open. There is no <image> element, no embedded bitmap and no script: the output check refuses anything other than <svg>, <path> and an optional group or title element before a result is stored.

Because the geometry is genuine, the preview reports a real path count and the palette that was used. If a logo comes back as 6 paths with 6 colours, that is literally what is in the file.

How to check any SVG yourself

  1. Open the file in a plain text editor. Look for <path, <polygon or <circle elements — geometry. Look for <image — a wrapper.
  2. Open it in a browser and zoom to 800 %. Vector edges stay sharp; a wrapper turns blurry or blocky.
  3. Import it into a vector editor such as Inkscape. A trace lets you click individual shapes; a wrapper selects as one picture.
  4. Compare file size. A wrapped PNG is at least as large as the PNG (base64 adds about a third); a traced logo is usually a few kilobytes.

What tracing cannot do

Tracing reconstructs flat regions. It does not recover detail that was never in the pixels: a 64-pixel-wide icon traced at any setting is still a 64-pixel-wide design with the curves guessed from those pixels. Photographs and smooth gradients become bands of flat colour (see the guide on why photos posterise). Text becomes outlines, not editable type. Those are properties of the technique, not a setting you can switch off.

Why the preview matters

png2svg.art renders a watermarked raster preview of the traced result before you unlock anything, and the clean SVG is only generated for download after the unlock. The preview is made from the same paths you would download, so if small lettering merged or a thin line broke, you see it before spending a credit. Unlocking a clean SVG costs 1 credit; every verified account receives 1 free unlock.