Test results

Image-to-SVG converters, tested on the same files

Most "PNG to SVG" tools look alike until you cut the result. We ran 15 designs through SVG Me and two of the most widely used free tracers, first as clean PNGs and then as the blurry, compressed JPEGs people usually have, and measured what matters when you cut, engrave or print.

By the SVG Me team · Updated September 26, 2026

The short version

SVG Me's result was the closest to the original on all 15 low-quality JPEGs and all 15 clean PNGs.
From low-quality JPEGs, SVG Me produced a median of 282 anchor points per design, against 1,450 for VTracer and 2,168 for Potrace. Fewer anchor points means smoother cuts and faster laser jobs.
VTracer kept a median of 133 colors per design from the JPEGs, because compression noise creates many near-identical shades. SVG Me kept 4: one layer per color you would actually cut.
Potrace, the engine behind Inkscape's Trace Bitmap, left a median of 91 stray specks per design, tiny shapes that turn into weeding work. SVG Me's median was 0.
SVG Me is not perfect: it can merge very small text and thin color bands into their surroundings. Details below.

Side by side

Each row starts from the same 200 px, low-quality JPEG. SVG Me is outlined.

a black-and-white mandala, as uploaded — **Your upload** 200 px JPEG

a black-and-white mandala, traced by SVG Me — **SVG Me** default settings

a black-and-white mandala, traced by VTracer — **VTracer** default settings

a black-and-white mandala, traced by Potrace — **Potrace** 8-color scan, as in Inkscape

a "hello sunshine" lettering design, as uploaded — **Your upload** 200 px JPEG

a "hello sunshine" lettering design, traced by SVG Me — **SVG Me** default settings

a "hello sunshine" lettering design, traced by VTracer — **VTracer** default settings

a "hello sunshine" lettering design, traced by Potrace — **Potrace** 8-color scan, as in Inkscape

a geometric fox head, as uploaded — **Your upload** 200 px JPEG

a geometric fox head, traced by SVG Me — **SVG Me** default settings

a geometric fox head, traced by VTracer — **VTracer** default settings

a geometric fox head, traced by Potrace — **Potrace** 8-color scan, as in Inkscape

a hot air balloon picture, as uploaded — **Your upload** 200 px JPEG

a hot air balloon picture, traced by SVG Me — **SVG Me** default settings

a hot air balloon picture, traced by VTracer — **VTracer** default settings

a hot air balloon picture, traced by Potrace — **Potrace** 8-color scan, as in Inkscape

Results from low-quality JPEGs

Each of the 15 designs was shrunk to 200 px and saved as a quality-45 JPEG, then traced by each tool and compared with the original, full-quality design. The best value in each row is highlighted.

Lower is better	SVG Me	VTracer	Potrace
Difference from the originalaverage per pixel, 0–255	2.6	7.9	11
Anchor pointsmedian per image	282	1,450	2,168
Colorsmedian per image	4	133	8
Stray specksmedian shapes under 4 px	0	0	91
File sizemedian	13 KB	104 KB	85 KB

Results from clean PNGs

The same designs at full quality. Every tool does better here, and SVG Me still used 1.7× fewer anchor points than VTracer and 5× fewer than Potrace.

Lower is better	SVG Me	VTracer	Potrace
Difference from the originalaverage per pixel, 0–255	0.7	3.5	3.7
Anchor pointsmedian per image	256	447	1,292
Colorsmedian per image	6	15	8
Stray specksmedian shapes under 4 px	0	0	145
File sizemedian	13 KB	39 KB	46 KB

Where SVG Me did worse

Tiny text. On a coffee-roaster logo, the small "COFFEE ROASTERS" line under the name broke into fragments in SVG Me's trace of the low-quality JPEG. Potrace kept it roughly legible.
Thin color bands. On a "Salt Life" sunset badge, SVG Me merged a thin green wave band into the blue sea and flattened the wave shape. VTracer kept both.

If a detail matters, upload the largest, sharpest version of your image you have, or raise the color count before you download. You see the exact result before you pay.

How we tested

The images: the 15 example designs used across this site: logos, lettering, badges, line art and simple illustrations, 400 × 400 px.
Two versions of each: the clean PNG, and a "degraded" copy shrunk to 200 px and saved as a quality-45 JPEG, like an image saved from a website or a phone screenshot.
The tools, all with default settings: SVG Me; VTracer, the open-source tracer behind many free online converters; and Potrace set up the way Inkscape's Trace Bitmap does multi-color tracing (8 color scans, speckles 2, smooth corners 1.0, optimize 0.2).
Accuracy: each SVG was rendered at 400 px and compared pixel by pixel with the clean original. The table shows the average difference per pixel on a 0–255 scale.
Structure: anchor points (drawing segments), distinct colors, specks (shapes whose bounding box is under 4 × 4 px) and file size, read from each SVG.

The test set is SVG Me's own example art: clean, flat-color designs, which is what SVG Me is built for. Photos, hand-drawn scans and very fine text weren't tested, and commercial tools such as Vectorizer.AI, Adobe Illustrator's Image Trace and Cricut Design Space's own trace weren't included. Tuning VTracer's or Potrace's settings can improve their results, but most people never change the defaults. We rerun the test when the engine changes and update this page.

Questions

Which image-to-SVG converter is best for Cricut?

For cut files, look for three things: few anchor points, few colors and no stray specks. In our test SVG Me led on all three from low-quality JPEGs. Whatever tool you use, preview the result before cutting. See how to make an SVG for Cricut from a picture.

Is VTracer or Potrace better?

It depends on the image. On our clean PNGs they were close; on low-quality JPEGs VTracer was more accurate but kept far more colors, while Potrace kept 8 colors but left many stray specks.

Can I see results on my own image?

Yes. Upload it to SVG Me; converting and previewing are free, and you can compare the SVG with your original side by side before paying for the download.