Picture to DXF

Any picture, photo, scan or sketch, into editable CAD geometry.

"Picture to DXF" covers three quite different jobs, and the reason most converters disappoint is that they treat them identically. A photograph of an object needs its background removed and its silhouette extracted. A scanned drawing needs its lines thinned so they do not come back doubled. A rough sketch needs cleaning up before tracing is even meaningful.

This runs two modes for that reason. Precise Outline is purely geometric and suits photographs of real objects. AI Drawing redraws messy or low-contrast input as a clean line drawing first, then traces that. Both end at the same geometry pipeline, which fits curves properly and scales the result to a dimension you provide.

Who this is for

  • Anyone with a picture and no drawing

    The most common starting point in small-scale manufacturing, and the one every CAD package assumes you do not have.

  • Shops digitising paper archives

    Decades of printed drawings that need to become files. Scanned linework traces cleanly once strokes are thinned rather than outlined.

  • Hobbyists and makers

    No CAD operator, no budget for a $89/month conversion subscription, and a part that needs cutting this weekend.

Try it on your own image

Converting is free and unlimited, no account needed, and no charge for retuning until the result is right. You only pay when you download.

Output format

What are you converting?

Redraws rather than measures, so detail can shift. Check the preview.

Drop an image here or click to browse

PNG, JPG, or WebP · Max 10 MB

How to do it

  1. 1

    Upload the picture

    PNG, JPEG or WebP, up to 10 MB. Higher resolution helps up to a point. What matters more is contrast between the subject and its background.

  2. 2

    Match the mode to the picture

    Photo of a real object: Precise Outline. Scan of a drawing, a sketch, or anything low-contrast: AI Drawing. If the first choice disappoints, switching costs nothing. Converting is free and unlimited.

  3. 3

    Set the scale

    Drag across a dimension you know and type the real value. Skip this and the file still converts, but at an arbitrary scale you will have to fix in CAD.

  4. 4

    Download the DXF

    Standard DXF, AutoCAD R2010 compatible. Opens anywhere. The same conversion also gives you an SVG at no extra cost.

Which format to take

DXF for CAD and CNC, SVG for lasers and vector editors. Both are produced by every conversion and one credit covers the job, so take whichever you need, or both.

Image to DXFImage to SVG

What to check before you rely on it

  • A picture gives a 2D profile. Thickness and anything on the hidden side are yours to add in CAD.
  • Scale comes from the dimension you type, so a mistyped measurement scales the entire part.
  • Photos shot at an angle carry perspective distortion that cannot be undone afterwards.
  • Very low-resolution or heavily compressed images lose fine detail, JPEG artefacts trace as noise.
  • Handwriting and text trace as shapes, not as editable text.

Common questions

Is it really free?
Converting is free and unlimited with no account. You can retune a result as many times as you like, because charging people to iterate towards a good result helps nobody. Downloading is metered: signing up grants 3 free downloads, then £1.99 per file as a one-off.
What picture formats can I upload?
PNG, JPEG and WebP, up to 10 MB each.
Which mode should I use?
Precise Outline for photographs of real objects. It removes the background and extracts the exact silhouette. AI Drawing for sketches, hand drawings and low-contrast scans, where it redraws a clean line version before tracing.
Will the DXF open in my CAD software?
Yes. The output is standard DXF, so it opens in Fusion 360, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Onshape, FreeCAD and Rhino, as well as CNC and laser software such as LightBurn.

Read next

Any picture, photo, scan or sketch, into editable CAD geometry.

Convert an image