Successful raster to vector conversion of logos

Sometimes people contact us to say they're having difficulties using Scan2CAD to convert a logo. When they email us their problem logo we usually find that the root of the problem is one of the following:

  1. The logo is a GIF or JPEG file designed for web use
  2. The logo has been scanned at too low a resolution

These problems are detailed below, along with the best way to get a logo scan that will give you a good conversion.

The logo is a GIF or JPEG file designed for web use

The JPEG file below, "Jane's Flowers", looks fine on the web, because that's what it's been designed for - web display.
Janes Flowers logo
However, if you load it into Scan2CAD, Photoshop, Paintshop Pro or any similar program and zoom into the "r" in the word "Flowers" this is what you'll see:
Zoomed in r in JPEG format
Looked at close up, the "r" is not discernable even to the human eye. It's not surprising that Scan2CAD has difficulties with this type of logo.

An image with an intended end use of web display requires completely different attributes from an image with an intended end use of vectorization.

Images downloaded from the web are generally unsuitable for raster to vector conversion.

The logo has been scanned at too low a resolution

Logo artwork tends to be small and this means that we often see logos that have been scanned at too low a resolution. While we recommend 200 to 400 dpi as an optimal scanning resolution for most drawings, it is too low if the drawing you're scanning is a small logo.

To illustrate the problems you're likely to encounter when scanning a small logo we drew the "Jane's Flowers" logo artwork so that it measured approximately 1.6" x 1" (4cm x 2.5cm) in size.

Below is the "r" in the word "Flowers" after scanning the logo artwork at 300 dpi. You can see that the outline of the "r" is very jagged. This means that it is too low resolution.
Small artwork scanned at 300 dpi

You will not be able to produce a good vectorization from this image.
Vectorized small artwork scanned at 300 dpi

After scanning at 1200 dpi the logo outline is much smoother, but unfortunately scanning it at a higher resolution has resulted in a new problem.
Small artwork scanned at 1200 dpi
At the higher resolution the scanner has picked out tiny details that are not visible to the human eye when viewing the logo on paper. Because the artwork is so small, these details are large in relation to the size of the logo. This means that the corners of the "r" have become rounded and the lines of the "r" are bumpy instead of straight and smooth.

You will be able to produce a usable vectorization from this image, but the vectorization won't be as good as it could be (see Getting the best possible scan for logo vectorization).
Vectorized small artwork scanned at 1200 dpi
Note that the rounded corners of the scanned "r" have been reflected in the vectorization by chamfers.

To sharpen the corners, do the vectorization again, but before you do it go to the Type Menu, select Settings and enter a value for Corner Snap. Scan2CAD will then remove all chamfers shorter than the Corner Snap and join the main lines together, giving sharp corners.
Vectorized small artwork scanned at 1200 dpi, with sharpened corners

To conclude, you will never be able to get a really good scan from small original artwork and this will be reflected in the vectorization results you can expect.

Getting the best possible scan for logo vectorization

To get the best possible scan for logo vectorization, start with bigger artwork.

We drew the "Jane's Flowers" logo artwork again, but this time we drew it bigger so that it filled a letter size / A4 sheet.

Here is the "r" in "Flowers" after scanning the bigger logo at 300 dpi. The scanned outline is smooth and clean.
Large artwork scanned at 300 dpi
Note that to get a good scan like this your original artwork must be large. You cannot start with small original artwork and enlarge it on a photocopier before scanning. This will result in a scan that is no better - and that is probably worse - than the scan you would get if you scanned small artwork at a high resolution.

Once you have a smooth clean scan you will be able to vectorize it as follows.

  1. Go to Type > Outline.
  2. Click to vectorize the logo.

This will produce a vector image made up of lines and Bezier curves:
Vectorized large artwork with Beziers
If your CAD/CNC program doesn't support Bezier curves you can convert them to polylines or arcs on export.

Alternatively, you can vectorize the scan as follows:

  1. Go to Type > Outline.
  2. Go to Type > Settings.
  3. Click on the Object Identification Tab, select the Arc option, then click on OK.
  4. Click to vectorize the logo.

This will produce a vector image made up of lines and arcs.

If you can't see any vectors after you've done the vectorization, press C on your keyboard to display the vectors in different colors.

If you still can't see any vectors, or if your vectors look something like this ...
Vectors from a grayscale image
... it's likely that your image is grayscale or color, even if it looks black and white. Do the following:

  1. Press Ctrl+F8 to close down all the vectors.
  2. Go to Palette > Reduce Colors Auto > 2.

    This will turn your image into black and white. Turning a grayscale or color image into black and white often gives it ragged edges and leaves white holes in the black areas, so ...

  3. Click (Raster Effects > Smooth) to smooth the ragged edges.
  4. Click (Raster Effects > Clean > Remove Holes) to fill the holes.

Now repeat the vectorization.

And finally ...

Once you've scanned your logo, don't save it as JPEG as this will almost certainly reduce the quality of your scan. Save it as TIFF or BMP.

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