TracerPNG to DXF
PNG to DXF converter
Turn a PNG into a DXF a machine can actually cut. Real paths, set dimensions, ready for a laser or a router.
SVG export is free. DXF, EPS and PDF are on the Pro plan.
A DXF is not just another image format. It is a drawing file that cutting machines read, and it carries something a PNG never does: physical dimensions.
That difference is the whole job. A PNG is 1000 pixels wide, which means nothing to a laser cutter. A DXF is a specific number of millimetres wide, which means everything.
How it works
How to convert PNG to DXF
Upload your PNG
Clean artwork cuts better. Crop tight and remove anything you do not want cut.
Trace it as a single colour
For cutting you want one continuous outline, not a stack of coloured regions. Logo / Line art, Sketch and Tattoo / Stencil all give monochrome output.
Export as DXF
Tracer writes DXF in millimetres with the longest side at 100mm. Set the real size in your machine software before you cut.
What's in the file
Tracer writes a plain R2000 ASCII DXF. Inside it:
- One closed polyline per shape, all on a single layer. The inside of a letter is a closed shape of its own, which is why the holes below need a look.
- Millimetres as the unit. The file declares its units, with the longest side at 100mm.
- Short straight segments instead of curves. DXF polylines have no Bézier curves, so every curve is flattened into a run of short straight segments.
- No specks. Shapes smaller than 0.8mm at the default size are dropped and every contour is simplified, so the cut follows the outline rather than the pixel staircase.
Before you send it to a machine
Check the holes. A letter O cut as a single outline drops its middle onto the bed. Sometimes that is what you want. When it is not, add small bridges connecting the inner shape to the surrounding material before cutting.
Check the thin parts. Anything narrower than your material can handle will snap, burn through or lift. Look at the artwork at cut size, not at screen size.
Check the path count. If a simple shape came back as dozens of fragments, the machine will lift and drop the head dozens of times. Tracer already drops specks and simplifies contours on export. If fragments remain, raise the contrast before uploading, or adjust Threshold in the full editor.
Set the size deliberately. The 100mm default is a starting point, not a decision. Scale it in your machine software to what you actually want.
When this works and when it doesn't
Works well: logos, lettering, silhouettes, line art, stencils, flat shapes, anything already designed as a cuttable form.
Works badly: photographs and anything with soft gradients. There is nothing for a blade or a beam to follow.
FAQ
Questions, answered
No. SVG is free; DXF, EPS and PDF are on the Pro plan.
Ready when you are
Drop an image,
get clean paths.
Upload a PNG and export a DXF your machine can read.