Sometimes I come across a logo, icon, or drawing online that I’d love to use, but it only exists as a tiny, pixelated image. Redrawing it from scratch in Illustrator or Inkscape takes too much time, so I’ve been using a quick two-step workflow that gets me a clean SVG almost instantly. Here’s how I do it.
Step 1: Upscale and Clean the Image
Low-quality images are pretty common, especially old logos or screenshots. That’s where Upscayl comes in.
Upscayl is an AI-powered image upscaler. You just drop in your blurry image, and it makes it sharper, cleaner, and bigger. It’s not magic, but most of the time it gives me a version that’s much easier to work with.
👉 Example: A 200px logo suddenly becomes a crisp 800px version with clear edges.
Step 2: Convert to Vector with VTracer
Once I’ve got a decent-looking image, the next step is turning it into a vector. For that, I use VTracer.
VTracer takes a raster image (JPG, PNG, etc.) and converts it into vector paths (SVG). The cool thing is that the output is fully scalable, so I can resize it without ever losing quality.
It works especially well for logos, icons, and simple graphics with clear shapes. For photos, it’s not perfect (you’ll get a very abstract look), but for anything graphic-style, it’s great.
👉 I usually set Curve Fitting → Simplify to Polygon, which gives me cleaner, more accurate shapes.
Why I Love This Workflow
- Fast: It takes me less than 5 minutes to go from a blurry JPG to a clean SVG.
- Free & Open Source: Both Upscayl and VTracer are open-source projects, so no subscriptions or paywalls.
- Saves me from redrawing: Honestly, tracing logos by hand is one of my least favorite tasks.
Final Thoughts
This little trick has saved me so many times when working on quick design projects. Whether it’s a client logo, a random icon I found online, or even a hand-drawn sketch, this workflow makes it super easy to get a vector version without pulling my hair out.
If you work with graphics a lot, give Upscayl + VTracer a try. You’ll probably end up saving yourself hours of work, too.