Turn hand-drawn sketches and lettering into clean SVG vectors — photo, cleanup, trace, and refine.
Hand-drawn sketches, doodles, and lettering can be converted to clean SVG vectors for use in digital projects, merchandise, and cutting machines.
Step 1: Photograph or Scan
Take a high-quality photo of your sketch with good lighting and even contrast. Alternatively, scan at 300+ DPI. The clearer the image, the better the conversion.
Step 2: Clean Up the Image
Increase contrast so the lines are dark and the background is white. Remove noise, shadows, and paper texture. GIMP's Levels or Curves tool works well for this.
Step 3: Convert to SVG
For simple black-and-white sketches, upload to Shape to Vector for quick conversion. For more control, use Inkscape's Trace Bitmap with brightness cutoff mode — adjust the threshold to capture your lines without noise.
Step 4: Clean Up the SVG
Open in Inkscape and delete stray marks. Use Path → Simplify to smooth jagged edges. For hand lettering, you may want to manually adjust paths for smoother curves.
Tips for Better Results
- Use a thick marker or pen — thin pencil lines don't trace well
- Draw on white paper with no lines or grid
- Photograph in natural daylight for even contrast
- Consider the centerline trace mode in Inkscape for single-stroke lettering