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Convert raster image to vector with Pixelmator Pro help

wittydolphin

wittydolphin

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 26, 2025
30
5
Does anyone know how to convert raster image to vector using Pixelmator Pro? I thought perhaps it had an AI auto function. I’m a newbie to Pixelmator pro. I’ve looked online, but I can’t seem to find the answer. Any info, help, and suggestions would be welcomed and appreciate it.
 
Pixelmator Pro does not have a built-in automated raster-to-vector conversion capability, but you can manually create vector graphics from raster images by tracing them with its vector tools.
 
chabig said:
Pixelmator Pro does not have a built-in automated raster-to-vector conversion capability, but you can manually create vector graphics from raster images by tracing them with its vector tools.
Click to expand...
So basically, I can trace a raster image to convert to vector using the pen tool perhaps? I could import a vector image to Pixelmator Pro as well I assume. I was hoping it had ai capability. Thank you for your reply.
 
Yes. If you found another app to do the conversion you could import the vector layer. I am not savvy enough to know which apps can do that conversion.
 
There is logoist 5 which I have and online as well, the only thing I don’t like about logoist 5 is that I can’t create new document with a custom size. Thank you again.
 
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Pomeroy said:
You can export an Pixelmator pro File as an SVG.
Click to expand...
Yes, true but I’m looking for vectorization. Since pixelmator pro doesn’t have that feature, I’ll just try some online free sites or just use logoist 5.
 
I believe Illustrator has a raster to vector auto trace but in most other apps you have to trace it yourself or recreate it from scratch. I use Affinity Designer and there is no raster to vector converter. Simply exporting as SVG will result in a raster image. I've tried a few online converters and they never produced any decent results.
 
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Dolphins1972 said:
I believe Illustrator has a raster to vector auto trace but in most other apps you have to trace it yourself or recreate it from scratch. I use Affinity Designer and there is no raster to vector converter. Simply exporting as SVG will result in a raster image. I've tried a few online converters and they never produced any decent results.
Click to expand...
That’s all true but I believe Recraft may do a decent job for free. I’ll have to check it out. Thank you for your thoughts and reply.
 
Dolphins1972 said:
I believe Illustrator has a raster to vector auto trace but in most other apps you have to trace it yourself or recreate it from scratch. I use Affinity Designer and there is no raster to vector converter. Simply exporting as SVG will result in a raster image. I've tried a few online converters and they never produced any decent results.
Click to expand...

Illustrator's auto tracer isn't perfect (unless it's improved with AI recently, I don't use it much). But even still it's the best automatic tool I've found to convert raster to vector. It just requires a bit of touch up after the auto trace, depending upon the complexity of the image.
 
I've been using Illustrator's vector trace feature for years and always found it to be rather basic. Simple clip-art style tracing works ok, but for anything more I've had to go elsewhere.

VectorMagic is pretty darn good, but there are others out there as well.
 
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AJACs3 said:
You can give Vector Q a try… http://www.vectorqueue.com/ on Mac and iPad.
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How much do they charge for the Mac app? I'm interested in trying it myself, but they don't seem to indicate how much it costs and it looks like you have to purchase through the free trial download. If it's good, I'd rather just download the trial and buy outright, but I want to know how much first.
 
eyoungren said:
How much do they charge for the Mac app? I'm interested in trying it myself, but they don't seem to indicate how much it costs and it looks like you have to purchase through the free trial download. If it's good, I'd rather just download the trial and buy outright, but I want to know how much first.
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If you look at the entry in the Mac App Store, and scroll down to “in app purchases” you’ll see that it is $7.99 for the full product. 👀
 
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AJACs3 said:
If you look at the entry in the Mac App Store, and scroll down to “in app purchases” you’ll see that it is $7.99 for the full product. 👀
Click to expand...
Cool, thanks. Appreciate it.

EDIT - Bought it. Thanks again.
 
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MacGizmo said:
I've been using Illustrator's vector trace feature for years and always found it to be rather basic. Simple clip-art style tracing works ok, but for anything more I've had to go elsewhere.

VectorMagic is pretty darn good, but there are others out there as well.
Click to expand...
I have never used Adobe’s subscription software, can’t afford it. Yes it would be simple vector graphics for t- shirt design, I’ve heard vector magic is good, but out of my reach financially, I’ve tried a few online ones, I know recraft has free tools and it’s pretty good I think. I’ll have to test it more. Thank you for your reply.
 
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