How to vectorize an image in Photoshop

Photoshop works with pixels, so it has no one-click way to turn a picture into vector shapes. It does have paths, though, and you can build paths from a selection. That’s enough to vectorize a simple one-colour logo or silhouette. Here is the method step by step, how to handle a logo with several colours, and an honest look at where it stops working.

Can Photoshop vectorize an image?

Partly. Photoshop has no Image Trace (that’s an Illustrator feature), but it can turn a selection into a vector path, and a path can become a vector shape layer. Adobe documents the selection-to-path step in Convert between paths and selection borders.

Step 1: open the image and select the shape

1. Open your PNG or JPG in Photoshop. If it’s small, enlarge it first (Image › Image Size, Preserve Details) so the edges have more pixels to follow.
2. Select the part you want as a vector. For a dark logo on a light background, Select › Color Range works well: click the logo colour, raise Fuzziness until the edges are fully included, and click OK. Select › Subject or the Magic Wand (W) also work for simple shapes.
3. Check the edges at 200 % zoom. Use Select › Modify › Smooth (1–2 px) if they look jagged.

Step 2: turn the selection into a path

1. Open the Paths panel (Window › Paths).
2. From the panel menu, choose Make Work Path and set the Tolerance to about 1.0–2.0 pixels.
3. The marching ants become a vector outline. Double-click Work Path and save it with a name so you don’t lose it.

Which Make Work Path tolerance should I use?

Step 3: make it a shape (optional)

With the path selected, choose Layer › New Fill Layer › Solid Color. Photoshop creates a fill layer clipped by your path, which is a vector shape: it stays sharp when you scale it up, and you can change its colour any time.

How do I vectorize a logo with several colours in Photoshop?

Repeat steps 1–3 once per colour: select colour one, make a path, make a fill layer; then colour two, and so on. Stack the fill layers in the same order as in the original. It works, but every colour boundary is traced twice (once by each neighbour), so tiny gaps or overlaps along the edges are common. Expect to touch them up.

Step 4: get the vector out of Photoshop

Photoshop no longer offers SVG in Export As, so the usual route is File › Export › Paths to Illustrator. It saves your path as an .ai file that you can open in Illustrator and save as SVG, EPS or PDF. If you don’t have Illustrator, a converter that reads PNGs directly is quicker (see below).

Where does this method fall short?

• One colour at a time. A path is just an outline; colour logos need one path per colour, lined up by hand.
• Selections follow pixels. Soft, blurry or JPEG-compressed edges give bumpy paths, and straight lines rarely come out perfectly straight.
• No SVG export. You need a second app to finish the job.

Is there a faster way?

Vectacle traces the whole picture at once, every colour included, and gives you an SVG straight away. It fits straight lines and arcs as real geometry, merges JPEG noise, keeps smooth gradients as true SVG gradients, and can remove the background. It’s free, and your image isn’t stored.

WebP

SVG

Prefer Adobe’s own tracer? See how to vectorize an image in Illustrator.

Starting from a scan in a PDF? PDF to SVG lets you pick the page, then traces it with the Vectacle converter.

Sources: Adobe Help: Convert between paths and selection borders